Next day being Sunday, Naina decided to wash her clothes which were piling up for a week now. After oiling her hair, she tied them in a high bun on her head.

Washing of clothes took half an hour... she brought them all to her balcony, spreading them on the stand after carefully wringing out the excess water.

Satisfied, she wiped her face with the sleeve of her suit. It was time for a bath, her hair were ready to be shampooed.

By the time it was all done, she was feeling hungry, realising that it was lunch time.

Lunch on Sundays was usually a gravy with rice, along with raita. Naina, being extremely fond of rice, thoroughly enjoyed her meal.

A phone call from home cheered her up even more. When chachiji came to know the amount of money Naina was being given, she was worried, asking her to tie a black thread around her ankle to ward off any evil eye casting its spell. Knowing that the girls did not believe in all this, she made Naina promise that she would do it right away.

Getting back to her room, Naina fulfilled her promise, only for chachiji... she herself had no such belief.

The time after that was given to working on the creation of episodes for the show. She got completely absorbed in it and had two episodes ready by late evening, when it was time to go and meet Sameer.

She combed her freshly shampooed hair, leaving them open, knowing fully well that they won't remain tied up for long even if she tried.
Going through the dresses she had, for today, she chose a top in black. It had full sleeves in net. She had never worn it before. Pairing it with blue skirt with a print of tiny flowers, she was ready.

Sameer had a long day with nothing to do... most of the boys had gone out for a movie. They had asked him but he refused, not wanting to get late to meet Naina. And now, he had been waiting... Naina was late today. He was feeling grumpy, planning to get annoyed with her today... pretend to be annoyed... he smiled, knowing that getting angry with her would never happen.

Hearing some sound, he realised she was here. To carry on his plan, he sat with his hands around knees, looking ahead, with a grim face.

Naina reached him, standing quietly, waiting for him to see her.  But Sameer did not move.

"Sameer", she called out softly.

Her voice melted him... but controlling himself, he remained quiet.

Her heart was now filled with fear, "Kuch hua hai kya, Sameer? Tum baat kyon nahi kar rahe?"

"Kyonki main guss... " The words died in his throat as he half turned.

He gaped open mouthed... Naina stood there in a new outfit... black transparent sleeves, hair flying, she was glowing... as his eyes travelled down, he saw a black thread on her delicate ankle.

"Tum... tum kya, Sameer?" She waited for him to complete his sentence.

He gulped, the resolve of showing anger slipping away.

She stood wrenching her fingers nervously, waiting...

He got up, going towards her, "Gussa hun... tumse... late aayi ho."

His voice did not match his words. The softness had no trace of annoyance.

Naina relaxed, her tension gone as she saw through his pretence.

"Oh! Toh aaj tum gussa ho?" She asked, raising her brows.

He nodded.

"Manana padega?" She said softly.

He nodded again, faster.

"Umm... pyaar se?" Her voice was dipped in honey.

He moved his head vigorously.

She kept looking at him with love filled eyes... making his expectations go higher.

Suddenly, a veil of blank look dropped in her eyes and she turned, "Chodo... tumhe gussa hona hai toh akele baith ke ho... main ja rahi hun."

He was faster than she had anticipated.

Holding her hand, he pulled her...

Naina crashed against his chest as his hand went around her, "Subah se intezaar kar raha hun iss time ka aur tum aise hi chali jaogi?"

"Tum toh gussa the na?" She reminded him, trying to keep her heart in control which was ready to jump out at the sight of his dark jaw line.

"Gussa tha toh tumhe manana chahiye tha", he slowly moved his hand from her wrist up her arm.

Naina shivered as the flimsy net did not provide any barrier... she could feel his palm on her skin.

"Main manane wali thi... sach mein thodi jaa rahi thi", she said slowly.

"Manao... main abhi bhi gussa hun." His dark eyes did not comply with his words.

Her eyes fell to his chin, the dark, prickly growth never failing to quicken her pulse.

Lifting herself, she placed a kiss on his jaw as her hand cupped the other side of his face. Not giving him a chance to react, she placed another kiss close to the first one... and continued her trail, coming to the chin and moving on to the other side of his face as her hand slipped down to his neck.

Sameer was lost... each touch of her lips to his skin was awakening hundreds of cells in his body... as her hand moved to his neck, her fingers brushed the skin under his collar... he closed his eyes... seeing stars of different colours flashing over his eyelids.

When the feel of her lips was lost, Sameer opened his eyes to find her looking at him.

"Maan gaye ya aur manau?" She asked innocently.

He placed a quick kiss on her plump cheek... watching her go crimson.

"Aise manogi toh roz rooth jaunga", he whispered.

"Roz aise thodi manaungi", her eyes were shining.

"Achha, toh aur kya kya karogi?" He felt another wave of excitement hit him.

She slowly rose again, and bit his chin.

"Ahh... Naina", his hand around her went lose as the other one felt the skin where her teeth had touched him.

"Yeh kya tha? Aise manate hain?" He frowned.

She quickly kissed at the same point, "Ab theek hai?"

His hand around her waist tightened again, "Aath dus baar aur kiss kardo fir theek ho jayega."

"Hato", she pushed him and walked to the tree to sit.

His gaze again fell to her ankle.

Sitting along with her, he asked, "Yeh pair mein kaala dhaga kyon bandha hai tumne?"

She had folded her legs as she sat. Instinctively, her hand went to the thread as she looked back at the ankle.

"Chachiji ne promise karaaya hai... kaha ki itne paise mile hain toh pakka kisi ki nazar lag jayegi... isliye pehnna padega... ab unka dil nahi tod sakti isliye bandh liya... warna main yeh nazar wagerah mein vishwas nahi karti", she explained.

His eyes stuck on the thread, he mumbled, "Achha kiya chachiji ne... warna meri nazar toh subah bhi lag jaati aur ab bhi."

"Kya?" Her eyes opened wide, "Subah? Tum kab aaye subah? Aur kaise?"

He pouted, "Kya karta... itni yaad aa rahi thi tumhari... hostel ke sab log picture dekhne gaye the aur main akela tumhari yaad mein yahan wahan ghoom raha tha... tabhi tumhe dekha... balcony mein kapde sukhate hue... baalon ko upar karke baandha hua tha tumne... itni pyari lag rahi thi ki man kiya abhi pipe se aa jaun... par tumne ujale mein aisa karne ko mana kiya hai na... isliye ruk gaya."

Naina slapped her forehead, "Shukr hai ruk gaye... aur aage bhi kabhi mat sochna din mein romeo banne ke baare mein... pakde jayenge dono."

He tilted his head in acceptance.

She remembered that she had oiled her hair in the morning... and she had been washing clothes before going to the balcony... she was covered in sweat, with an untidy bun of oily hair.

"Sameer, uss samay toh main bohot buri dikh rahi hongi... tel wale baal, ekdum paseene se bhari", she herself did not like the sound of it.

"Mere liye toh tum ek gudiya jaisi lag rahi thi... ekdum khili khili." He looked straight into her eyes.

She lowered hers, still not over the fact that he had seen her like that.

"Achha batao aaj kya kiya tumne din mein?" He asked, leaning back.

She told him about the episodes she had written. Sameer was excited to know she had already done two of them.

"Naina, kyon na tum isme apni heroine ke man ki baat bhi logon tak leke aao", he suggested.

"Man ki baat kaise? Uske liye toh Kalpana ko har samay bolte rehna padega... warna uss ke man ki baat viewers tak kaise pohochegi?" She wondered aloud, thinking about her lead character, Kalpana.

He sat up straight, eyes shining with a new concept, "Tum na ek alag awaaz de do usse... jab bhi uske dil ki baat logon tak pohochani ho woh awaaz sunayi degi... isse Kalpana ko bolna bhi nahi padega aur dekhne walon ko clear bhi ho jayega ki uske man mein kya chal raha hai."

Naina loved the idea... they immediately started discussing how to incorporate it in the script.

In their excitement, they didn't realise that the cover of darkness had fallen all around.

"Ab chalna chahiye, Sameer... aaj late ho gaya", looking around, Naina realised the time.

He got up immediately, extending his hand towards her, " Chalo."

She held his hand to get up but Sameer pulled her close, circling his hands around her, "Aaj bohot sundar lag rahi ho... pehle kabhi yeh dress nahi dekha... naya hai?"

She lowered her eyes, "Nahi, naya toh nahi hai par pehenti nahi hun."

"Kyon? Itna achaa toh hai", he again let his fingers move over her arm.

She hesitated, "Woh... iska kapda thoda aisa hai na... matlab sab dikhta hai... toh mujhe ajeeb lagta hai."

His heart missed a beat... she had worn it in front of him in spite of being conscious of its transparent material.

"Aaj ajeeb nahi laga? Mere samne?" He asked, waiting for her answer with bated breath.

"Tumhare samne kuch ajeeb nahi lagta... tumhari nazar toh saaf hai", she smiled at him.

He could not tell her that his thoughts were going in all wrong directions seeing her like this.

But her confidence in him sowed the seed of a new idea in his mind.