"Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much." ― Oscar Wilde

Chapter 35: A Friendly Encounter

   "You had it all planned, didn't you?" Madhan scowled, dripping water on the mat at the entrance of the door.

   "What?" Riya asked, quite shocked. What could possibly have let him guess?

   "Why would you decide to clean the pool all of a sudden?"

   "I told you, I didn't like being cooped up at home."

   "I needn't have let all my gadgets in the car just to clean the pool. I wasn't going to get wet. Besides, my clothes are on the sofa, and you made hot chocolate."

   "Guilty as charged," Riya stuck her tongue out. She bent over to pick up the towel and threw it at Madhan. "Go change. You're going to catch a cold."

   "Your fault," Madhan said, bending over to pick his own clothes. He went into his room and shut the door.

   Riya took a sip, leaning on the living room wall. She waited patiently till Madhan came out with a towel over his neck, his hair still dripping wet.

   "Aren't you going dry it off?"

   Madhan sighed. "Yeah, but I'm feeling too weak."

   "I'm sorry," Riya said. She really was. "I saw a TV show and it mentioned that to calm someone down, you had to do something drastic to take their mind off of it. You were so agitated I didn't know what to do. And it felt worse since it was because of me."

   Madhan removed the towel from his neck and started wiping his hair. "That was very friendly of you," he said, quietly. "Thank you." Madhan's anger completely dissipated, and it was replaced with elation. He couldn't believe Riya would do something like that for him, albeit it was such a bizarre thing to do.

   Riya paused. It was something a friend would do. "It was friendly, wasn't it?"

   Madhan didn't comment. He continued to wipe his hair.

   "That makes us friends, doesn't it?" Riya hesitated.

   Madhan looked at Riya, stopping his hand midway. "I guess it does," he smiled.

   Madhan was so happy he didn't know what to say. He excused himself for a moment and rushed to his room, and the moment he closed the door, he fist pumped in the air. He took a minute to calm himself down, and came out. Riya was making him dinner.

   "Riya, I have something to do. Is it okay if I come back in fifteen minutes?"

   "Yeah sure," he heard her say, hearing the sound of something sizzling on a pan.

   Madhan pounded on Armaan's door.

   "I'm coming," Armaan shouted. He knew it was Madhan at the door. He got into a ninja position the moment he opened the door but was tackled by Madhan onto the floor anyway.

   "I still haven't forgiven you for what you said about Riya, but thank you," Madhan said, snuggling Armaan's chest.

   "Armaan, who wa- holy cow," Sheila exclaimed as she took in the sight in front of her. Armaan was lying with his back on the ground, with Madhan on top of him in a very compromising position.

   "I'll come back when you guys are done," Sheila said, chuckling at Armaan's expression, who was signaling her to help him get Madhan off of him.

   "Madhan," Armaan choked out. "Don't give my fiancée any wrong ideas."

   Madhan turned beet when he realized what position they were in. "Sorry mate."

   "Gotta say I'm impressed, Armaan. That trigger escalated very quickly." Sheila ignored Armaan's warning expression.

   "What trigger?" Madhan asked, perplexed.

   "That verbal charade he made today morning? That trigger. You couldn't possibly think he would say such derogatory stuff about Riya, could you?"

   Madhan didn't know what to say. "You the man, bro." Madhan pretended to wipe away his fake tears.

   Armaan rolled his eyes and shooed Sheila away into the kitchen. "You've done enough damage to my reputation," he hissed at her.

   "Yeah right," she said, giving him a light peck on the cheek. "Go find out what happened. I'll get dinner ready in a few."

   Armaan nodded and turned his attention back at Madhan. "So what happened?"

   Madhan explained the events that unfolded from the morning.

   Armaan whistled.

   "That's really great. I'm happy for you. Now go back before she changes her mind."

   Madhan hugged Armaan again and left to his house. He shuddered to think what would happen if Riya changed her mind.

   He smiled throughout dinner. Riya questioned him about it, but Madhan waved it off. He wasn't going to jeopardize it again. He was going to keep his feelings to himself. And for the rest of the night, the smile never left his lips.

  Riya was certain Madhan's happiness was because they were friends now. His happiness was contagious, and Riya found herself smiling for no reason whatsoever.

   The next day morning, Madhan went back to the gym after a week. He came back after two hours of workout. He was absolutely pumped for the day.

   Taking a quick shower and gobbling his breakfast, he placed all his files in his suitcase.

   "Okay friend," he mock saluted. "I'll see you in the evening." Riya laughed and saluted back. "See you soon, friend," she smiled. She peeped out the door and waited till Madhan disappeared in the staircase.

   Friend. She liked the sound of that. She now had a friend in this huge lonely world.

   A moment later, she groaned. It was time for her to hit the books.

   Riya hadn't realized she fell asleep on her books when she woke up to a loud shatter.

   Madhan peeped out of the kitchen to see if he had woken Riya up. "Sorry," he winced when he realized he had. "It's just the pan."

   Riya looked at him blankly. She was still so tired, and her body ached all over from sleeping in that awkward position. She felt the drool leak from her mouth when she yawned. Grossed out, she got up as soon as she could before Madhan could see her again.

   She limped to the restroom with her sleeping leg, to do her usual duties and came out freshened up. It was a sunny Saturday morning, and she was feeling pumped.

   "Let me do it," Riya said, taking the handle from Madhan as he was about to flip the pancake. "No, it's okay. I'll do it. You had a rough night."

   "I haven't been keeping up with my side of the deal ever since I fell sick," said Riya, as she flipped the pancake to the other side.

   "You have," he said.

   Riya looked at him, who was leaning on the counter, popping an almond into his mouth.

   "I'm following the diet plan you've created for me."

   "Oh, that. You approve?"

   Madhan nodded. "It's perfect. How's the preparation going?"

   "You saw for yourself how that went," Riya groaned.

   Madhan chuckled as he pushed himself off the counter and grabbed two plates from the cabinet. He took out the maple syrup from the fridge and followed Riya as she placed the stack of pancakes on the dining table.

   The two took a seat and ate in silence.

   "Are you sure you don't want me to teach you?"

   Riya made a face. "No, I'm not sure." Madhan had seen her struggle with keeping her eyes open every time she sat in front of her book for the past two days. He offered to help, but Riya didn't want to bother him unless she really needed to. Which was now.

   Madhan took that as a yes. "I'm guessing that's a yes. I'll teach you. After that, I've a surprise for you."

   "What surprise?" Riya asked, leaning forward eagerly.

   Madhan leaned forward too. "It wouldn't be a surprise if I tell you, would it?" he chuckled.

   Riya whimpered. "Please?" she requested, giving him the puppy dog look.

   "Nope," Madhan said, shaking his head. He took his and Riya's plate and kept it in the sink. "Go get ready. I'll wait here by the books."

   "Don't feel like showering. We can start right now."

   That was a first, he thought. Riya just said she wasn't going to shower. He got reminded of Reshma who used to make a fuss about showering. His father would keep saying how the Almighty must have gotten his children's genders switched. Madhan always showered first thing in the morning.

   "What?" Riya asked, her hands on her hip.

   "Uh, what? Sorry, I was thinking about something else. Let's start."

   Riya was secretly pleased. Madhan didn't say anything about her not showering. He shouldn't have anything to complain about, though. She wore a lot of deodorant. She reminisced about how her dad would literally beg her to shower but her mom supported her saying that she hardly stepped out of the house so she was basically clean. It made her tremendously happy that she needn't change the way she was.

   Riya sat next to Madhan on the sofa, who was intently flipping through the pages. She looked at him properly. Was it her eyes or was his face growing on her? He no longer looked unattractive. He looked normal to her. And that was a huge improvement.

   "...so that's why it's a file distributed system. Tell me, what type of system is Apache Spark?" Madhan asked.

   Spark? Yes, his face had sparkles.

   "Yes," she said, involuntarily.

   Madhan looked at her funnily. "Is there some kind of full form for yes?"

   Riya snapped out of her thoughts when she saw Madhan looking at her intently. Was she thinking about Madhan the whole time? She looked at the book in his hands and groaned inwardly. That was probably why she was thinking about everything else except that.

   "I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention."

   Madhan was incredulous. "For the past ten minutes?" Riya blinked. She had been thinking about him for ten minutes?

   "Do you want the surprise or not?" Madhan asked. Riya bobbed her head vigorously. "Then pay attention," he said, flipping the pages again.

   Madhan enjoyed teaching her for the next couple of hours. They took a break only for lunch. Riya was a good listener and student. He had no idea if she was faking it, but judging from her partial accurate answers, he guessed she wasn't. He was extremely excited to take her for the surprise.

   "Enough! I'm brain dead," Riya muttered, enclosing her head with her hands on each side. It was four o clock, and Riya was dying to know what the surprise was. "Okay, what's the surprise?"

   Madhan patted the back of her head affectionately. "I already told you that it won't be a surprise if I tell you. I can tell you, though, to get dressed traditionally cause it's almost time, and we need to go."

   Riya shot up. "Okay," she said, hopping like a bunny to her room.

   Riya showered in five minutes, only to realize that she left her clothes on her bed. Although the restroom was joined to her room, if she came out, people could see her from the living room because the room door was right beside the bathroom door.

   She never used a towel so she had nothing to wrap herself with. Not wanting to risk it, she yelled to Madhan to close her room door.

   Once she was sure Madhan closed it, she skittered out, locked her room door, and wore her white and blue salwar kameez. She wore a big red bindi, a pair of jhumkas, and blue glass bangles.

   Madhan knocked on her door asking her if she was ready. "I'll be out in ten minutes."

   She needed to do her hair. Taking out her curl brush, she brushed it continuously for five minutes, until she was sure it was absolutely tangle free. She had just taken a hair bath the previous day, so thankfully it was still a good hair day for her.

   She did a side partition and gathered all her hair to one side. She brushed it some more and tied it with a white velvet rubber band. Pleased with the way she looked, she twirled around in front of the mirror, gave a little squeal of excitement and unlocked the door.

   Madhan was about to knock once more when the door opened. It had already been twenty minutes, and they were really getting late now. But the worry was pushed aside when he saw Riya. 

   He hadn't realized his jaw was open when Riya gently pushed it up, and pushed past him, grinning.

   "I'm ready. Let's go," she said, clapping her hands in glee. She had no idea what the surprise was going to be, but she didn't care. She was excited to go out somewhere. With her friend. 

Annnnnd Hi <3 So all my final exams are over :D Am moving on to my final semester of Engineering. It's so freaky, since after this, I'll start working!  :O Which means that I'll no longer be a kid :'( Haha, it's pretty exciting but I'm also very nervous!  

Anywho, MADHAN AND RIYA ARE NOW FRIENDS! WHO'S HAPPY? :P I sure am ;-) Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Please vote and comment! Thanks for reading! :) xx

Oh and last question! Where do you think that surprise could be? :D A dedication to the person who guesses the closest, next update! :D

Also, an hearty thanks to those readers who have been reading this book right from when I first updated. Thank you for not giving up on this book! I feel terribly horrible for putting this book on hold for so long, but rest assured that you'll be getting REGULAR updates(once in two/three days). I'm so excited for you guys to read the upcoming chapters. I'm absolutely certain you guys will love them! 

Thanks a bunch for reading this far!

Guess I'm just feeling so grateful haha.

Love you guys <3