Gauravi had always heard about the grandeur of the Oberois but today she was witnessing it.

Her granny, Jaya Devi Rathore was best friends with Kalyani Oberoi. When her grandmother's friend, on a casual chat with her, learned that Gauravi had been staying in Mumbai in a hostel hell broke loose.

Kalyani emotionally blackmailed Jaya Devi to convince her only granddaughter to stay at the Oberoi Mansion during the remnant of her study.

Thus, here she was, standing in the lavish living room of the super-rich Oberois. On reaching she had leaned that, the majority of the family was away to attend a wedding. Kalyani's affectionate welcome and delicious snacks had reminded Gauravi of her own home.

She had personally led her into a room on the first floor. The kind old woman had also with the aid of servants helped her to set up her room. The air conditioned room with spectacular furnishings and soft mattress was like heaven after the hostel room.

That night it was just the two of them at the dinner table, in the silent mansion. Kalyani had jokingly told her that she had come at a very chosen time. The house was never so silent.

Gauravi genuinely loved the affection she was showered with within the span of a day. Her initial prejudice of being away from her friends had faded away.

Life at a hostel sucked, even more if your warden hapoens to be nothing less than a witch.

Gauravi had slept comfortably that night, thinking about how the other Oberois would be. She had occasionally heard about the family in conversations with her grandmother. They would apparently arrive later the next morning. She hoped they were as warm and kind as the senior Oberoi was.

* * *

Gauravi and alarms had a strange relationship. There were days when she'd be up minutes before the alarm went off. And then, there were those where she had no clue why the alarm never rang. She could swear she never heard the peppy music blast pulling her out of the land of dreams and slumber.

It was an important day at college today as she woke up late.

Splendid.

And that was just the start of the unfortunate day.

The flow of water in the washrooms of the first floor had ceased. As unbelievable it was, it was true. Perhaps, even rich households couldn't escape the problem of water shortage.

Kalyani was clueless, she had said that it was after years, a problem such as this as occurred. She had asked one of the maids to help Gauravi to find her way to the guest room on the ground floor.

The maid got busy cleaning the washroom that had been used for the last few days, as per instructions she received. Once done the maid realized that the flush wasn't working. She had asked Gauravi to wait a few minutes while one of the other servants fixed it.

She had almost begged Gauravi to not complain about it to Kalyani as she might end up losing her job.

Gauravi sighed. If she waited any longer, she would be extremely late. So she paced up and down the passageway considering her options.

What if she took a bucket full of water from the garden's tap? That was an excellent quick idea. One of the servants would probably help her hget the filled bucket up the stairs.

To her disappointment, the garden taps were dry as well. She was told that water would come only after two hours.

Hell! She couldn't wait that long.

Today was the briefing from Archs & Styles the start-up that had hired her as an intern. There were about fifteen students from her college that had been hired as interns. She couldn't afford to be any later today. But she couldn't walk into the seminar hall without a bath. What if she smelled unpleasant? On the spot, a full stop to her establishing good contacts and image.

Gauravi, you're smart, think. She mumbled to herself biting her nails.

Seconds later, she heard the old maidservant exclaim that there was water in the gym's washroom to the other. A bright smile lit up Gauravi's face like the idea in her brain.

She happily got her clothes, towel, and toiletries in hand. Suddenly the smile dimmed. What if Kalyani came to know? It wasn't exactly a good idea to walk into any washroom just like that and take a bath. She already had the image of her grandmother shaking he read in blatant disapproval.

No, she wouldn't, the servants wouldn't tell her because that would cost them their own job. Convinced, Gauri wore a proud smile and made her way to the gym, humming to herself.

She peeped inside the wide room that had all sort of equipment from treadmills to fixed training bi-cycles. The mirrored walls at both ends made the gym appear bigger than it was. Lavish must be the middle name of the Oberois, she thought to herself, as she ran a careful gaze around.

Clear route.

She turned to the left and then right.

Clear Again.

One two three, she sprinted across to the washroom, like a rat scuttling across a room.

She was amazed at the interiors of the washroom. There was a steam room. A jacuzzi cabin. Two shower stalls. If the washroom of the gym was so luxuriously made, why would anyone want to bath in their rooms!

Realizing she did not have all the time in the world to appreciate the tiles, and the mirror behind the wash basins and the shining metal fittings of the washroom, she shut the door. What! It did not have a lock! Seems like they spent too much on other things that could not afford a lock for the door. She chortled at her own joke.

Who would come there anyway?

She had to just take a quick shower. To add, there were three other shower stalls. She took the last one. Stepping inside she quickly slid the glass door. Stripping out of her clothes, she slid into the shower area, spreading the curtain with haste.

Gauravi could stay in for an hour. The pressure from the spray was just right, not too hard not to soft. But she had to stop if she had to reach college in time. She could probably sneak in again, for a longer shower.

She stepped out and dried herself. This was one of the best bath experiences for sure. Even the water was just right. Neither too cold nor too hot.

She stepped out of the shower cabim and was amazed to find a hairdryer fixed at the end of the wall. She quickly connected it and dried her hair roughly. Reminding herself she did not have all the time, she quickly got dressed looking at the clean wide mirror.

All she needed was the background music the character of Pooja, fondly called as Pooh, had in Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham.

A grin broke out on her face. As she gave herself a flying kiss. "Not Fair," she whispered looking at the mirror like the character from the movie.

Her mind quickly brought her out of her stupid teenage fantasy and she hurried. She went over to the bathing enclosure to grab her clothes. She was about to step out when she was jerked backward.

She shrieked. There was another scream.

Soon she found herself pinned to the wall. She looked at the man dreadfully. He had a charcoal black face, and scary eyes. She squeezed her eyes shut. Was he a tribal man.

What?

She slowly opened one eye to catch his glimpse. Yes, the face was smudged with a black substance. Like... black mud?

Eeew.

Why did he look at her like he was going to hurt her? He was staring at her like she was an alien. Did she look like Jaadu from Koi Mil Gaya?

His gaze eased. Probably he realized she was human like him. She /took a breath of relief. She must really stop watching horror shows and movies.

The man had beautiful yet intense brown eyes. Thick eyebrows. Perhaps he was trying the charcoal face pack. It was so in. Oh and his lips, they were perfect, pink and kissable.

She blinked as her gaze steadily ran all the way back up to his eyes.

What was she even doing?

Checking him out? Yes.

Oh no!

She had beautiful doe-shaped eyes that stared at him enraptured. He cursed himself as his eyes drifted down to look at her lips. They appear soft and wet. He gulped. He was suddenly thirsty, his lips felt parched.

He moved his gaze back to her eyes. Those light brown orbs were so damn... gorgeous. She had the prettiest lashes he had ever seen. He inched his face closer to hers while his hand pinned, her hands to the wall.

Her hazel brown eyes looked at him in anticipation and fear. But the second she parted her lips slightly to breathe, he knew what he wanted. He pressed his hard lips against her soft ones. He felt sparks not just on his lips but in every cell of his flesh.

He moved his lips against hers. She was inexperienced he could say. He left her hands and cupped her face, tilting her head to kiss better. Soon she was responding, though steadily. Her hands clutched on to his shirt.

Breathless, he broke apart. He had never kissed anyone like that. He had never felt so many things in just one kiss. He had never felt those sparks and that need.

A minute of staring, and the reality began sinking in. Their minds began gauging the situation and the two panicked. He had kissed a young woman, a strikingly pretty one, in his gym's washroom; a lady he did not know.

He had kissed a stranger!

She widened her eyes in shock. For the first time in life, she had kissed a man, a devilishly handsome man with intense eyes, in a washroom!

So much for harbouring thoughts of a perfect first kiss. All her dreams of the perfect kiss under the moon like the prince-princess type after finding true love met a tragic end.

Gauravi, that's the least of you worries! An alarm went off in her mind.

She did not even know him. Her first kiss with a stranger in a gym's bathroom!

She jerked out of his proximity and grabbing her stuff from the marble slab, sprinted away.

What on earth was even wrong with her! In the spur of the moment, she had literally kissed a man.

"Hey listen!" He said behind her. His palm flew up up hit his forehead. Why was he so blown away, to think? Hell, who was she? More importantly, why was she in his gym's washroom? Still more important, why was she kissing him back?

He should run and find out who was the intruder. Late thinking.

Still, he decided to run, but before he could act on his thoughts, his phone rang.

"Hello, yes...

what?

No..

Okay. Whatever.

Fine I will do it, Boss. " he ended the call.

Great, first the unexpected woman in the bathroom, next, the unwanted duty he had been assigned by Shiv, his boss at office amd brother otherwise! He wondered why he even decided to train under his workaholic elder brother. His dad would have been a much milder option perhaps.

* * *

"Sir, my partner is late, she can explain on the call." Viddhi vocalized Gauravi's idea. Mentally making a note to hammer her best friend's head later. Leave it to Gauravi to invite trouble.

All the interns had been assigned to work on a problem statement and present it on the first briefing. Viddhi's partner was, unfortunately, the ever impulsive Gauravi.

Gauravi had a fantastic brain, but she rarely consulted it, especially when she had to the most.

Nishaant looked amused. Every new incoming batch came with their quirks. The girls were lucky, it was him instead of the person who was intended to be there "She will give her presentation over the call?" He remarked. He had to agree, this was making the otherwise boring presentations entertaining.

"Yes." The girl said hesitantly knowing that Gauravi's stupid idea would meet an embarrassing death.

"Cool. Let's see, how. Go ahead!" He said watching her curiously.

Viddhi was surprised, the man didn't ask her to get out on the ground of zero professionalism.

She quickly put the call on speaker after informing Gauravi on the other end.

The presentation began. Viddhi was glad that the two of the were well versed with the presentation after their dry run, all Gauravi had to do was pick up the cues from what Viddhi said and swipe the slide on her phone accordingly, perfectly doing her part.

Nishaant was impressed by the confidence of the young women. He had never seen someone present so well. There were very few glitches compared to the other teams. Well, he really wasn't into judging people and all, Shiv did that well. But he had to admit he was impressed.

"Miss Rathore, you did well, but the fact remains that you couldn't make it here." He said aloud into the mic of the mobile phone.

"Sir, I am here, May I come in?" Gauravi bit her lip slightly hoping he would let her in. Nishaant turned to the entrance of the seminar hall and colour drained down his face. Her, again!

Gauravi walked inside and soon her face coloured-up with the hue of pink as she recognized the man from an earlier encounter that morning.

Viddhi's voice rang in their ears, "Sir. This is Gauravi, Gauravi this is Nishaant Sir!"

She had kissed her new boss. Wonderful!

Gauravi blinked unbelievably. Nishaant stared right back at her. They could believe what just happened! Neither could they forget what had happened.

But, indeed,

..................It Had Just Happened!

• • • • • • ★ • • • • • •

I hope you enjoy this book!

-Anami!♡