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This chap is affectionately dedicated to - Reader_Vibhu🖤✨

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"Despite the chaos... I'll always choose you."

No sooner did Shaurya closed the door behind Priyal, then the sound of someone's rushing down the stairs outstretched to his ears. Though he guessed who was coming down because the sound of these pair of flip flops' was too familiar to his hearing than anybody else's. Moreover, this person's way of getting down the stairway was entirely different from the rest of the family so guessing was easy. Although his supposition was correct but still he took time to turn around and look..... to be honest he wasn't frightened yet he could sense his mouth drying with a slight and unappreciable panic.

Turning around he caught sight of a perturbed pair of eyes standing and directly looking at him.

"She left?"

She questioned him frankly with the same chastity and incorruptibility in her voice. Hearing her calm tone of innocence, he took a sigh of relief. Trying his best to sound as casual as he usually sounds when he's with her, he uttered these words while motioning his hand towards the empty couch

"No,
Look she's still sitting here looking at you..."

After listening to his this sarcastic reply, she glared at him with snappishness but didn't say anything. Looking at her frown, he added

"Why you always ask these kind of witless questions???
Wise up a little..."

Rolling her eyes in disbelief and irritability, she made her way towards the kitchen putting up an act to ignore him and his pitiless satirizes successfully.
Whereas eyeing her this silly act a small smile graced his lips unconsciously. He actually teased her intentionally this time hoping to lighten the atmosphere in the hall and also to not make her suspicious and misunderstood about anything.

"What's wrong with him??
One thing is sure for now that I'm definitely not gonna say anything to him from now onwards...."

Making a pledge she murmured this to herself while huffing and biting her lip in vexation. At one moment she made a new deal to herself and in the other she noticed him entering inside the kitchen. Despite feeling his gaze on herself, she didn't dare to look up at him. Omitting or rather can say completely unacknowleging his presence, she continued her work and picked up the tea pan from the utensil rack.

"What you intend to do here??"

She mentally rolled her eyes hearing his question. She wondered
"Now who's asking this silly thing...
Dr. Shaurya doesn't this question of yours counts in the list of witless questions?
What does a normal person do in the kitchen? Huh???"

Though she answered his question in her mind.... but by her frown which was disguised as an awkward calmness already gave an answer to Shaurya. He clearly figured out that she wasn't in a mood to talk. Grabbing the tea pan from her hands he told her plainly,

"Today I'll make the tea for you all..."

She paused for a moment not sure she heard him right then. When their gazes met he offered her a tight lipped smiled apologetically causing her to look at him dumbfounded. She again mentally questioned herself,
"Is this his way to apologize or he just wants to advertise and show off his culinary art to me?.....
My God! He's really unpredictable... uff!"

"No it's fine I'll make it myself, give that back."

And guess what his time he ignored her and started pouring water in the pan after putting it against the stove.

"Umm ... Are you making for the neighbors too?"

Seeing so much water in the vessel, she had to comment even though she didn't want to.
Giving her an apologetic look he took out some water from it....

"Now?"

"It's still too much for two people.... By the way only Dadi and Jiju will have so put the other ingredients accordingly."

She told him this while taking out some water from the pan herself. And with this she started going out of the kitchen remembering her pledge which she took to herself a while ago.

"Hey! Who will help me with the other things?"

He called her from behind. She turned around and told him plainly

"Everything is kept there in the first rack..."

"Umm! Actually I'm not used to doing these things myself....
Moreover, I always get confused with the measurements of the ingredients to be put so if you...."

He told her this simply while scratching the back of his neck. Though his tone was still calm, but it was not hard to tell that he was a little embarrassed. At then seeing and hearing this she wanted to laugh out loud but anyhow she tried hard to stifle her laughter inside herself. She again mentally questioned him,
"If so, then who told you to act smart?"

At then suddenly the little voice inside her head chided her,
"You can't get carried away with his these useless words...
Don't forget that you're angry with him. Keep your pledge in your mind." So eyeing him plainly and folding her hands to her chest she made her way to the place where she was standing originally.
He kept on putting the same quantity of ginger, tea leaves and sugar in the vessel as she told. While she started rinsing some used utensils which were lying in the sink.

"Now where's the milk?"

She motioned her finger towards the fridge after hearing him without even looking at his direction. He went and took out. As soon as he was about to pour, she comes from behind and held his arm to stop him.

"Hey! Wait!.... Do you even have an idea what are you going to pour?
This isn't milk, it's unsalted buttermilk."

She uttered these words slightly loudly and displeasingly. His nonchalant action fuelled her irritation.

"You helped a lot.... But now let me handle this and you go."

To be honest he gulped down a little hearing her loud tone. After all no one shouts like this on him. At that moment he only hoped that no one else had heard all this, otherwise it would become a matter of great insult for him. His lips moved a little but he did not dared to say anything viewing her angry and frustrated face. An incomprehensible depth appeared in his eyes under the black frame of his specs as he stared her. He kept peering her for a few seconds before turning around and walking back to his room. While climbing the stairs he wondered,
"What's wrong with her today?
Why is she behaving out of her character?
Man! She's really an unpredictable girl...."

"There is sea between us.... and I'm still learning to swim."

~~~

"I be in my head more than I be on this Earth....."

Facilitating her path through the crowded corridors Manjiri is about to enter the library after attending her last class of the day. Suddenly her phone vibrated due to the incoming notifications. She immediately tapped her phone's screen, entering the password she found a text message from Shaurya.

"Dev informed me that he'll be late so he won't be able to pick you up."

"Oh!
Ok."

Typing out this she thought to book a cab to home right away. Because now she had to wait for none, neither Dev nor Badi Maa as she was on a leave today. Suddenly her phone vibrated again and she received another two texts from him.

"Well I'm done with my work here..
So I'm coming to pick you up."

"Ok."

Reading this she simply typed out this as according to her it was pointless to speak or argue with him. They both didn't interacted with each other after that kitchen episode. And Manjiri genuinely regretted behaving with him that way.

Soon she came out of the college and stood waiting for him to come.

He was getting late due to traffic and on the other side she was getting very bored while waiting for him this long. Unexpectedly she saw Tara and her boyfriend Uday coming towards her.....

"The worst part of life is Waiting.... And the best part of life is having someone worth waiting for."

-

-

-

" I LOVE YOU is a scam.
The real deal is I WON'T GIVE UP ON YOU....."

Leaning against his car Shaurya was keenly observing Manjiri and the other two standing with her. He couldn't hear the conversation going between them as he was a little far away from them. But he could surely notice that the boy in that small group was telling Manjiri something to which she was smiling at him.

Shaurya guessed and questioned muttering to himself,
"Is he flirting with her?
And is she enjoying it?"

The sad part was that he wasn't enjoying watching them as much as they were enjoying talking with each other. Suddenly he felt a startling pang of slight jealousy, though according to him he had no reason to feel that way but still it did. It really bothered him if not immensely but somewhat it did to some extent for sure.

Abruptly Manjiri's gaze shifted only for it to lock with Shaurya's scowling gaze. She quickly bid bye to Tara and Uday and made her towards the car. Looking at his facial expressions she inquired herself,
"Is he frowning at me?"

Both were already on their to home but much to the hopelessness neither of them spoke up to break the silence in which the inside of the car was submerged.

Manjiri thought of apologizing to him. However, when she saw Shaurya's indifferent expressions she decided to swallow her words back.

In order to blow off the awkward silence and also to distract his mind from his troublesome thoughts, he switched on the FM radio. Some advertisements were playing on it at then.

"Should I ask her or not?
Will she mind me asking this?"
He debated these questions in his mind time and again. Finally he couldn't stop himself from asking this,

"Who was he??? Umm... I mean who were they?
Your friends?"

Blinking her eyes and sparing him a look she wondered,
"Do I owe him an explanation?.... Maybe I guess!"

"No only Tara is my friend..."

"And he?"

"He's her boyfriend."

Listening this Shaurya felt his mood improving. Manjiri too noticed this change and this seemed to her a right time for apologizing. She hesitantly spoke softly,

"I'm... sorry for yesterday!"

"It's not a big deal, just don't let it happen again because I hate people yelling at me.
Moreover, I'm sorry too."

Unknowingly she found her smiling at his weird apology. She too replied him with a hint of playfulness,

"You should be.
But don't worry I forgive you."

Raising his eyebrows in amusement and glancing at her smiling face he said playfully,

"Thank you Ma'am for doing this huge favour to me."

She chuckled a little hearing him. Soon the advertisements on the radio ended and a nice song started playing.

Mann yeh sahib ji, Jane hai sab ji...
Phir bhi banaye bahane!
Naina nawabi ji, Dekhe hain sab ji...
Phir bhi na samjhe ishaare!
Mann yeh sahib ji haan karta bahane,
Naina nawabi ji na samjhe ishaare...
Dheere dheere, nainon ko dheere dheere!
Jiya ko dheere dheere, bhaayo re Saibo!!!
Dheere dheere, begaana dheere dheere!
Apna sa dheere dheere, lage re Saibo!!!

No one uttered anything after that but this time both were having a faint smile pasted on their faces. They kept on stealing glances at one another time to time.

Surkhiyan hain hawaon mein,
Do dilon ke milne ki!
Ho... arziyan hain nazaron mein,
Lamha yeh tham jane ki!

O kaisi "HUZOORI JI" yeh lav dikhlaye...
Chuppi laga ke bhi ghazab hai yeh dhaye!!!

Dheere dheere, nainon ko dheere dheere!
Jiya ko dheere dheere, bhayo re Saibo!!!
Dheere dheere, begana dheere dheere!
Apna sa dheere dheere, laage re Saibo!!!

"Someday someone will hear you in the same way that you listen to your favorite song......."

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This is it for now. Hope you liked it. I am sorry for the mistakes.

In case if you want to share your views or suggest something, you are more than welcome.

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