The raindrops pitter-pattered from the sky that had darkened with grey clouds. It was half past five in the evening but it looked as if it was already eight. Neha cursed herself standing under the shade of the building of the forex department of the Federal Bank of India.

“Why do you had to hand over the file personally? Now book the cab.” Her brain chided as she finished her hand inside her bag to find out her phone. She searched over all the taxi booking services however, she was disappointed when she found that no cab was available in the area because of the bad weather.

She contemplated to stand under the shade and wait when the lightning struck in the sky and clouds thundered indicating that these rains were not supposed to stop soon. Now she was left with only one option that was to walk into the knee-deep waters and seek an auto-rickshaw on the main road however, the only issue she had was, she lacked an umbrella.

Going home was not a difficulty since Delhi had impeccable metro services for the convenience of passengers however, reaching the metro station was a tedious ordeal in the rains without an umbrella despite, it was just a fifteen minutes walk. Finding the auto-rickshaw in the Delhi rains was almost a zero possibility.

Cursing herself for not carrying an umbrella in the monsoon season, Neha dreadfully plunged into the knee-deep waters as began to walk towards the main gates of the Federal Bank of India. Since the office was empty and all her colleagues had left, she decided to ask one of the security personnel to lend her an umbrella or a raincoat for the way.

Neha was completely drenched in the  heavy rains as she walked past the lawns of the premises. She was wearing a white shirt and to her horror, it appeared too transparent as she shivered in the cool raindrops. Walking in the deep waters wearing black heels was not easy but she was helpless as of now.

She hung her black backpack covering her front has she continued to walk towards the main gates. She was bothered what if the rainwater would seep into her waterproof backpack. She was carrying her laptop and getting it damaged was the last thing, she wanted. She was lost in her thoughts as she heard someone honking.

She turned back to see a steel grey Honda City when the driver roll down the windows of the car and said, “Get inside”.

Neha closed her eyes in embarrassment as she recognised the owner of the familiar voice. It was none other than Mr. Arjun Verma, the new manager who was giving her a lift. Neha wondered, “Should I or should I not?”

“As much as you like to get drenched in the heavy rains, I don’t think it is a good idea to do so right now especially when it's going to be dark soon”, Arjun yelled getting pissed off as lightning struck in the sky and a loud thunder was heard once again.

His head was aching badly and he was cursing himself for engaging Neha into a conversation after looking at the weather because he was concerned of the fact that Neha travelled through the metro and finding a means of transport to reach the metro station in the heavy rains was neither easy nor safe for a woman.

Arjun had been elated to see Neha inside the premises of the Federal Bank of India however, he was surprised to see her walking in the rains even without an umbrella after being completely drenched. “This stupid girl should have asked to drop her but no, she needs to get drenched and then get sick”, he mumbled to himself when he saw Neha standing cluelessly after he had asked her to get inside the car.

As much as Neha did not like getting favours from her colleagues as of now, she was helpless. She had two options either to walk all alone in the rains jeopardizing her safety and health or to get inside the car and ask Arjun to drop her at the metro station. Weighing both the options, she chose the latter.

“Thank you”, she mumbled when Arjun opened the door for her and she got inside the car. A smile crept on Arjun’s face as he realised that it was their first car ride together. His happiness knew no bounds but soon his smile was replaced with a frown when he realised that she was shivering. Switching on the heater, he sped his car on the road after they passed through the iron gates of the Federal Bank of India.

Neha, on the other hand, felt guilty when she looked at Arjun frowning. “He seemed to tired and different while he was sitting in his cabin and now, you burdened him with the duty of dropping you.” Her brain chided her and after contemplating a lot, she spoke, “Please drop me at the metro station”, meekly and Arjun’s frown deepened even more.

“Just tell me your address I’ll drop you at your home. It is already training too heavily and as a colleague, it is my responsibility to make sure you reach back home safely when I caused you a delay of half an hour.” Arjun reasoned logically and Neha’s heart fluttered witnessing his caring gesture.

“It’s okay, Sir. Don’t ’t worry I will manage.” She replied casually while heart was thumping loudly. Somewhere in her heart, she wanted to ask him if he was okay but her brain was against this idea.

Waiting at the signal for the red light to turn green, Arjun explained, “See you know that we both go to the same community park which means that both of us are either saying staying in the same locality or the nearby localities so, I guess, dropping you is a better option”. Arjun was quite disappointed as he wondered that Neha did not feel safe with him.

He wished to tell her that he was not amongst those men who would act inappropriately with a woman but he decided to drop the idea as he did not want to sound like someone who was too desperate to  be in her good books.

“If she can think so low of you then you should maintain a strict professional relationship with her. Drop her at the metro station if she asks the same again.” His mind suggested and he decided the same with a heavy heart.

As of Neha wanted to reach as quickly as possible. She was completely drenched and she needed to change quickly to prevent cold. When Arjun offered to drop her at her home, she mumbled, “Sir, I stay at Signature Apartments so if it is on your way, please drop me”.

With immense joy, Arjun glanced at Neha who had a sheepish smile on her face. “I stay at Akash Ganga Apartments so your housing society is on my way”, Arjun chortled.

“Why were you persistent on getting dropped at the metro station?” Arjun asked as he looked towards the left upon reaching a four-way intersection.

“You seem to be different today so I thought that I should not bother you”, spoke Neha truthfully after contemplating if she should speak these words or not.

“Good kind of different or bad kind of different?” Arjun chuckled appreciating her observation skills.

“Actually, tired kind of different”, mumbled Neha with a sheepish smile playing on her rosy lips and Arjun was guilty of judging her moments ago.

“Truthfully I will accept that I had got a slight headache today”, spoke Arjun contemplating if he should actually confess or not however, his brain had told him, “When you expect her to tell you the reason of her gloomy eyes then you should build a rapport by sharing about yourself and your issues”, and surprisingly his heart was also in agreement with his brain.

“I’m so sorry to bother you”, spoke Neha with guilty in her pitch black eyes.

“You are not bothering me. I have to anyway, drive up to my destination so dropping you on the way is not at all a trouble.” Arjun clarified though both his heart and mind were elated when they realised that not only Neha cared for him but  also she was gradually trying to let her guards down. He loved this caring gesture from reserved Neha who had all the rights to mess up with his heart.

Neha passed the soft smile and an eerie silence prevailed. Arjun glanced at her slim frame only to realise that she was completely drenched in water and her white shirt was clinging to her like a second skin. Arjun had a weird sensation in his body when he realised that her black bra was highlighting her curves under her white shirt while her backpack was hugging her covering her modesty.

“I know you are cursing the backpack for obstructing your view but please, concentrate on the road instead of peeping at her while you drive because I don’t want to stop beating and pumping blood this early”, his heart lamented inside his body and he realised that he needs to concentrate over the road.

Anticipation hung thickly in the air as silence prevailed inside the car when Arjun and Neha were stuck inside the traffic. Due to heavy rain falls and drainage issue, the roads were blocked and a long queue of cars were standing before Arjun’s Honda City.

“Are you okay?” Neha asked meekly when she was tired of seeing a frown on Arjun’s forehead instead of his dazzling smile.

“Frankly speaking, I am a bit better but this traffic is doing no good”, Arjun replied.

“Do you need a pill?”, asked Neha as something inside her urged to do something that would vanish his headache and bring his charming smile back.

With a glint of amusement in his eyes, he raised one of his eyebrows and bit the insides of his cheeks. “So, all you need is to feign a bit of ill health from the next time to get a bit of her sweetness”, his heart told him and he couldn’t stop himself from asking, “Do you carry headache pills at work? Are you overworking?”

“Sir, I carry some pills and some bandages for emergency”, she replied.

“In which class are you?”  Arjun asked as politely as he could controlling his laughter.

“Sorry”, she exclaimed getting offended as a frown marred her pretty face.

“Neither am I an oldie nor am I your school teacher”, he chuckled and Neha was lost in his full blown laughter.

“Come on I have a wonderful name and it is called Arjun”, he piped in embarrassing her even more.

“But you are my senior, Mr. Manager”, she retorted fiercely. Despite, referring him as ‘sir’ outside the office seemed childish even to herself.

“That relationship is confined in the premises of the Federal Bank of India. You can call me Arjun or Mr. Verma, whatever suits you”. Arjun offered while he wanted her to call him Arjun and the clouds thundered as if the Gods had heard his plea.

Closing her eyes in irritation, she muttered, “Do you need a pill, Arjun?”, as she wanted to call him with his name but she didn’t know what she should talk about. She was never going to accept the fact that she referred to him as ‘Sir’ just to demarcate a professional relationship because somewhere, she wanted to be more than just colleagues but her brain always stopped her from having an inappropriate conduct.

“I don’t take pills usually but since you are insisting, you can give me one Aspirin”, Arjun chimed in relishing their first informal conversation where Neha had called him with his first name.

“Arjun sounds so better from her mouth”, he thought with a wide grin on his lips as she passed her with the tablet along with her water bottle.

Arjun gulped the tablet and drank the water. For the man who had been into relationships in the past, suddenly the act of sharing the water bottle seemed really intimate and his joy was unnoticed by Neha.

“So do you belong to Delhi?” Arjun asked making a small conversation as he despised the silence between them. The traffic was cleared and he was driving on the road that was overflowing with muddy waters.

“No, actually I am originally from UP”, answered Neha to which Arjun mumbled, “You must be missing home, right!”, as he share the same sentiment however, oblivious to him Neha was not missing home at all since, she had found her home in her cute, little apartment.

Flashing a small smile, Neha mumbled, “You must be missing your family”, trying to hide her emotions.

“Yes”, he answered enthusiastically just like a two year old kid after all, he had an amazing parents and a wonderful home along with a sweet family to miss Mumbai.

With a forlorn smile on her face, Neha looked outside the window glancing at the gloomy weather with heavy downpours while Arjun stopped the car in front of her housing society still contemplating if she would invite him inside or not.

••••••••••••••♥️•••••••••••••••

Hi everyone

So this is a new update! 🤔

How's the journey from Sir to Arjun even when she had an option of calling him Mr. VERMA 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Some important questions,

1. Should Neha invite him inside since he is having a headache? Or she should act intelligently like me thinking headache goes within 10 minutes of gulping an Aspirin 😉?

2. How frequently you gulp Aspirin to reduce your headache? I prefer PAN MUDRA usually and it works for me.

5 minutes of this exercise combats headache for me. One is required to close his/her eyes and relax while doing this exercise. It is called PAN MUDRA.

Image source - Google, these beautiful hands aren't mine. 🙈

3. How's the new cover? 🤔

Take care and share this story with your friends. I deserve some votes and shares, I guess I am giving frequent updates this time 😜

Take care🧡

With immense love, I sign off only to be back soon 💜