Vidhushi stood beside her guide as they both stared at the car that decided to stop right in the middle of the road. She wondered if Dr Nambudiri will cancel their little trip to the conference. It was in the other city, not very far from where she was currently dwelling. She really wanted to attend the conference, not because it was her first time; no, she had attended numerous conferences; but this one was on her favourite topic. And the delegates were honourable scientists.

She felt sad for being unable to go because of a car!

"Well, what should we do?" Her guide asked her as if she would know the answer.

"We could call for a cab, sir." She suggested.

"It's another city, Vidhushi! No cab would agree to go that far."

Both waited to think of something. Both didn't want to lose hope.

"Okay, I can think of only one way. I'll call my son and he will drop us off at the conference." He said.

"Umm...okay, sir." She answered, not knowing he had a son. Hence, she sat inside the car waiting for him to call his son.

After about thirty minutes, a black car slowed down in front of them. Dr Nambudiri, who was standing outside the whole time, signalled Vidhushi to come out and enter his son's car.

She came out, carrying her backpack with her. She wondered who'd take care of her guide's car once they go away leaving it behind.

She walked towards the new car. But, because safety comes first, she managed to walk behind the car so that she could take the photo of the car's number plate, just to ensure her safety. She didn't know this new guy, so, better take precautions first. She was busy sending the photo to her mother as she entered inside and sat in the backseat.

'Mumma, Dr. Nambudiri's car had some issues. So, we are going with his son. This is his car plate no.. I'll call you once I reach there.'

She texted her mother.

Finally, she closed her phone and looked up to greet the new person. She gasped in surprise as her eyes narrowed.

'Advith!' She mouthed but he wasn't looking at her. He was busy in his phone.

It all confused her. Dr. Nambudiri was going to call his son and turned up calling Advith instead. But then she recalled him one day calling Advith as son.

So, he must have been referring to Advith when he said that he was going to call his son. But then she wondered why her Guide didn't call his own son? Does he not have any son? Or daughter? Then she realised that he didn't keep any family photos on his desk, unlike other seniors in the laboratory. She shrugged off the thoughts claiming it to be a mere coincidence.

As soon as Dr Nambudiri entered the car, he handed over the bill to Advith. Advith chuckled.

"You are so misusing your authority, uncle. Asking your nephew to pay the bill for your own car is real mature." He commented in his native language as he kept the bill in his pocket.

Of course, Vidhushi didn't understand their native language and she wondered why all of a sudden he switched to his mother tongue. He never talked in Malayalam with his uncle before...not in front of her atleast.

That made her self conscious. Was he talking about her in his native language so that she doesn't understand their conversation.

She looked out of the window, completely ignoring them as they continued to talk in a language she didn't understand.

After a while when she started feeling sleepy and she had almost closed her eyes, a blazing ear piercing music startled her. She was wide awake in an instant with her eyes scanning whatever was happening.

She looked at Advith and saw him smirking playfully. Then her eyes went over to the radio and saw that he had played a rock music in full volume.

"What, are you crazy?" Dr. Nambudiri shouted as he got startled too.

"Everybody was sleeping in my car! That was going to make me sleepy as well! So, I did this to distract myself." He said, completely lying.

His real motive was to tease her.

"I was not sleeping. And turn down that thing." Dr. Nambudiri complained as he reached for the radio himself and switched it off.

Vidhushi looked at him through the back-viewing mirror and narrowed her eyes at him as she realised him looking at her and smiling more widely.

He did that on purpose! She understood.

But why! He was ignoring her since she entered his car. And now, he wants to play! She thought and looked out of the window again, ignoring the glances he was throwing at her through the mirror.

The scene was beautiful. Green fields with so many coconut trees. She felt herself in heaven until her torturer decided to speak.

"I am getting bored, Uncle!!" He complained.

"So? Do you want me to sing for you?" His uncle asked sarcastically.

Vidhushi gave her Guide a plus point for his sarcasm. Who knew this brainy man was so good at this modern thing as well.

"That would be terrible!" Advith joked as well. "But I am sure that everybody is getting bored here. Right, Ms. Vidhushi?" He asked her looking at her through that mirror again. She wanted to smash that mirror so he won't see her like that....the look that sent bubbles throughout her stomach.

"No. I am enjoying myself pretty well." She answered back.

Advith signalled to his uncle when she was looking outside.

His uncle brows narrowed at his nephew's childish behaviour. It was clear to him that Advith was trying to hit on her student. And he was not going to be a part of it.

But then he thought that the girl might be getting bored in their company. So, he decided to ask some personal questions so that they could get to know each other well.

"Vidhushi, how is Goa?" Dr. Nambudiri asked.

She turned to look at his guide.

"It is beautiful, sir. It is almost like here....beaches and all." She said.

"I have travelled to many places in our country, but Goa is one of the few that I couldn't go to." He said.

"You should visit there someday." She didn't know what to say.

"So, you moved here with your family?" Dr. Nambudiri asked. Advith listened intently.

"Yes, sir. With my mother. "

"Father?"

"Sir, he...died of heart disease."

"Oh! I am so sorry."

Vidhushi only nodded with a strained smile.

They all remained silent after this.

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.
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"Why do I need to attend this, Uncle! I won't understand a thing here." Advith tried to reason with his uncle who was forcing him to attend the conference as well.

"I remember the last time when you left me alone in the family get-together, you ran away. Let's just say, I do not want the repeat of that day. You will sit with Vidhushi in the audience section.

"You are not going to sit with us?" Advith asked, getting a little confused here.

"No. I will be sitting at the front. That's how the things go. Now, don't waste my time and take your seats." He said as he moved towards the front of the conference hall, after instructing his student.

"Vidhushi, don't forget to make notes of the lectures and do ask doubts. Okay! Don't be shy." He said and left as she nodded.

Vidhushi scanned the audience section to find a suitable seating area that will give her a good view of the stage.

But when she looked around her, she noticed that Advith wasn't at her side. Did he leave as Dr. Nambudiri had predicted! She thought.

"If you wanna stand there all day, then I will give this seat to someone else." Came Advith's voice as he comfortably sat in one of the seats.

Vidhushi looked at him and went near him to see that two seats were vacant beside him. So she took the alternative seat from him. Advith noticed how she left one seat in between  them and chose to sit as far as she could.

Fine! Advith thought angrily, obviously not liking her action. But he knew he had no right to complain.

After about two minutes, the girl sitting beside her, left the seat. To her horror, two girls of about her age came near her seeing the empty seat.

"Could you please shift!" One of the girl asked her politely. How could Vidhushi refuse to such a request. She could see that the two girls were friends and of course, would prefer to sit together. She looked around herself to see that the hall was almost full by now. Rarely any seat was left.

"Yeah! Sure!" She said and moved towards the seat beside Advith so that the two girls can sit side-by-side...together.

Well, call it fate or coincidence, but, now Advith and Vidhushi sat beside each other, with their shoulders almost grazing each other.

'Who made these damned seats!' Vidhushi thought irritated. Because of the compact nature of the seat, she was in such a difficult position. She wasn't able to pay attention anywhere except for the closeness they had to share.

Whereas, Advith's mind was a frenzy. If she had shown any sign of interest in him, he would have chose this opportunity to openly flirt with her. But he was aware that this was no place to disturb her. She was here for stuff that was important for her and he wasn't going to nag her with his male hormones.

But that doesn't mean that he wasn't liking the way their bodies almost touched.

'Bad, Advith! Bad!' He scolded himself of the dirty thoughts moving around in his mind. Then he remembered how rude she was with him when she told him to forget her completely. And the old anger returned.

The conference began soon. They all stood to sing saraswati vandana, in Sanskrit, before the delegates started pouring out their priceless wisdom.

Vidhushi was amazed how Advith sang the prayer so well. The lyrics were so clear. It was a common thing in her profession, but a man outside of the education sector, knowing this prayer was uncommon.

She wanted to ask how and why he knew this particular prayer but didn't gather the courage to. What if he starts thinking that she was trying to talk to him again, as he thought the previous time they had met.

'No misunderstandings!' She decided and remained silent.

After about two hours of her scribbling notes and him scanning his phone for his business purpose, the host of the conference announced a half-hour break. Everybody sighed in relief as everybody wanted a break.

In the meantime, water bottles and some refreshment boxes were being circulated for the participants as well as the audience. Vidhushi patiently waited for her turn to get the food item, wondering what was inside. She really hoped it was Samosa.

The volunteers reached her row and started distributing the refreshment boxes along with the water bottle. It was a pass-on system because the volunteers couldn't reach the middle or end of the row. So, they gave to the one sitting at the front of the row, and that person passed it along. The chain continued till it reached the end, so that everybody got the things.

She also passed the content to her right as Advith passed her the content from his left.

Soon, when the girl beside her got the item, she was ready to get hers but Advith decided to mess with her again and instead of giving the content to her, he kept it with him and did not pass it to her.

"I didn't get it." She informed him, thinking that he might have forgotten to pass it to her.

He didn't listen though.

"Advith! Give me the box." She ordered seeing his childish behaviour. It was no longer about the box now...it was about his behaviour.

Still, no response. So she did what she shouldn't have done.

She snatched it from his hand, like a child does. He wasn't expecting that, so the box left his grip. She smiled sarcastically at him when the box was in her control. He was in the mood too. So, he tried to take it from her as well.

"I had it first." He reasoned.

"Oh, really! I thought we had to pass the boxes till the person next to you get it." She answered back.

To someone, who knew their relationship, it would be clear that they weren't really concerned about the box but the fact that who has better control over their emotion...him or her.

But, for a stranger, they appeared to be someone fighting over....food!

"Fine! Keep it." He said, faking irritation that she took seriously.

She opened the bottle and drank water to bother him even more. But he just looked at the front.

After drinking it half, she felt bad for him. So, slowly, she moved her hand to her left and gave him the bottle. Advith looked at her hand and then at her.

She nodded her head to let him get the signal.

"Just....don't mess with me again." She sarcastically said.

She was thankful that he took the bottle from her hand and had it otherwise it would have been so awkward for her.

When the lecture was about to finish and few students thanked all the speakers, Advith caught her hand out of blue.

Vidhushi instantly tried to pull back her hand, involuntarily. But when he didn't let go, she stopped the struggle.

"What are you doing, Advith?" She asked, confusion clear in her voice.

"Tell me honestly, Vidhushi. Why did you tell me to to stop seeing you...and to forget you?" He asked.

Vidhushi was all the more confused as to why he was asking such a question at this time. This was no place and definitely not the right time to ask for such a thing.

"I told you that this is what Kunal wants." She answered, a little hesitantly.

"Is it really Kunal, or is it your own fear?" He asked.

"What fear?" She asked suspiciously.

"I don't know! I have been thinking about this the whole night. And I just can't believe that an independent and educated girl like you, would let another person, especially a man, guide your life!"

"Kunal isn't guiding my life! He has always been like that. He doesn't like me getting associated with any other man."

"And you do that because...?" He asked, trying to trap her in her own words. She couldn't reply to that.

"So, it is him who will decide your friends too!" He asked.

She looked at him. He was asking for her friendship. She thought he was having.... she brought herself out of that bubbly thoughts.

"What are you proposing?" She asked, trying to come straight to the point.

"I just want to ask you...if you are denying our friendship because of your fiance or does it have to do something with me."

"What about you? I don't understand!" She asked.

"Because I am a guy of another State, another language and most probably not of your caste." He said, knowing all too well what he was doing.

Trapping her in the words so that she would dissolve the walls around her, herself.

"What!" She asked, completely shocked.

"I don't see any other reason!" He said looking straight, purposely not meeting her eyes so that it would give the impression that he was hurt.

Vidhushi tried to make sense of his words.

"Advith, I have no idea what and how you got this deranged idea! But, my denial towards your....friendship is not because of where you come from! You are a good person. I have seen that. "

"Then I don't think you should have any problem in accepting my friendship!"

"I told you....it is all about Kunal!"

"**** Kunal! Take decision once for yourself! What do you want! Do you want to be friends with me or not!" He asked straightly. His choice of words surprised her. He never cursed in front of her before. This was something new. Was he that upset! Or furious!

"If it was upto me...I would never have said no to your friendship, Advith. I don't see any reason. But....why are you so hell-bent on this friendship issue! I am sure you must have many friends. It shouldn't bother you." She reasoned.

"I like your spirit, Vidhushi. I have never seen a girl so independent, focussed and let's just say....intriguing." He said.

This was the second time he had used that word for her...intrigue. Why did he find her intriguing! She wondered.

They were silent after that. Both not knowing what to say.

When they came back to their city, Advith had first dropped his uncle at his house and then drove to her residence. It was night already.

As she thanked lowly and opened the door, he broke the silence.

"I will come to your lab tomorrow. Tell me then, if you want to continue our friendship or not. And please...for once, decide from your heart. Don't let anyone else decide for you. If you would still say no to me, I promise I will not bother you. However...think over my offer of... friendship." He concluded.

Vidhushi continued to stare at him.

Why did it appear to her that he wasn't just referring to...friendship...but something more...more intense than friendship.