The city was peaceful.

No blaring horns.

Clearer skies.

The pollution levels had declined and the air had become clearer. However, the days seemed to be getting longer, hotter and weirder. Life had become slow for everyone except for those in emergency services. Cases were steadily increasing and the country had started to feel the pinch of the pandemic.

It was seven in the morning and Ruhi woke up to the gorgeous sight of Vicky working out in the balcony.Her eyes soaked in broad shoulders, lithe hips and powerfully built thighs and groaned in frustration. She got out of the bed reluctantly and after shooting him another thirsty look, she stormed into the bathroom.

She must be a pathetic human being, she thought. She was the one constantly endorsing the 'we are friends' strategy. She was not supposed to be so captivated by his dominating yet endearing presence. This was not her fault, she told herself. Why did he have to be so perfect? The perfect eye-candy of a male. It was natural for her to react this way.

It was a Saturday and she didn't have to work. She took a long shower and headed to the kitchenette. Vicky had gone to the supermarket early that morning and got fresh groceries. He was now cutting some tomatoes. The toaster was on.

Ruhi felt a bit guity.

"Good morning." Ruhi said.

"Morning."

"Why don't you take your shower? Let me make the sandwiches." Ruhi offered.

"Feeling guilty, Ruhi? Don't worry. You are going to sanitize all the groceries." Vicky replied with a grin. He took out the bread from the toaster and put a slice of cheese, tomatoes and lettuce in Ruhi's sandwich. For him, he used some Vegan Mayonnaise.

"Okay," Ruhi said and sighed. She hated this sanitizing business.

She removed the groceries out of the bag one by one and put it carefully on a plastic sheet. Then she filled up the sink with water and put some salt, vinegar and turmeric to it. After dropping the veggies into the sink and started scrubbing religiously.

"I told you last time that the virus does not get killed by salt. Or for that matter vinegar. Or turmeric. And how much turmeric have you used?" Vicky exclaimed looking at the water in the sink which looked too yellow.

Ruhi ignored him and continued to clean the vegetables and fruits with gusto.

"Ruhi, I have bought a bottle of produce wash. Use it."

"Okay Mr. Expert Santizer , you do this tiresome job if you are so particular," Ruhi looked exasperated.

Vicky shot her a glare. After putting the sandwich plate on the tiny dining table near the kitchenette, he gently pushed Ruhi aside and pulled out a bottle of produce wash from under the sink.

"I don't want to eat soap," She said in a bored tone.

"This isn't soap. It is totally safe even if ingested." Vicky remarked. "And for your information, sanitizer is a liquid that sanitizes, not a person who does the cleaning."

"I'm not dumb." She muttered under her breath.

Vicky stood next to her. He then poured some liquid into the sink and worked up a lather. But Ruhi was lost when he read out the content list on the bottle. She only saw his virile forearms dusted with dark hair. She was oblivious to everything else.

After what seemed like an eon, Ruhi heard his voice.

"What are you waiting for? Are you satisfied with the contents? There is nothing harmful in it." Vicky said to her.

Ruhi realised she had been day-dreaming.

"Mmm, I think so." She didn't know what else to say.

The rest of the morning passed slowly.

Vicky was on his laptop.

Ruhi was a bunch of nerves.

She realized she was being magnetically drawn towards Vicky. She had missed him terribly when they had stayed apart. After declaring her single status, she had tried to put him out of her head. Not that she succeeded in doing so. Every time she tried forgetting him, memories of Vicky possessed her with a vengeance.

She knew she was in trouble now.

But the current situation was unprecedented.

A virus, a pandemic, a lockdown? What was happening? How long would this crazy situation last?

Her head reeled. Both due to her internal conflicts as well as due to the situation outside. There was no way she could ask him to leave. So, she would just have to endure whatever she was going through and worry about the consequences later.

"I shall make some Brinjal fry today, Bengali style." Vicky said.

Vicky missed Bengali food. His mom was an excellent cook and authentic fish curry cooked in mustard sauce was her speciality. Amazon was not delivering anything so he had bought mustard oil and mustard sauce a couple of days back from the supermarket.

"As in Begun bhaja?" Her mouth had already begun to water.

Vicky smiled. When they were together, they used to always try ot different cuisines when they ate out.

"Yes, the same."

"Are you missing your home food, Vicky?" She asked ,feeling a little sorry for him. He was having to put up with her rudimentary cooking skills.

"A little."

"Then we should make some gravy too." She said enthusiastically and opened you tube to browse for Bengali gravy recipes. Vicky glanced at her and suddenly felt warm and fuzzy.

He took a deep breath. "Don't you miss aunty and her cooking? How's she by the way?"Vicky knew that Ruhi's mom had great culinary skills too.

"She is okay," Ruhi replied, her tone flat/grave

"What's wrong?"Vicky queried. Something was troubling her.

Ruhi nodded and explained how the pandemic was affecting her mother.

Ruhi hailed from coorg, a hilly district in Karnataka. Her mother, Sapna , was an exceptionally resilient human being.She had a degree in home science but had been a home-maker when Ruhi's dad was alive.

After her father's death, her mother sold some of her ancestral property and built a small cottage amidst the coffee plantation they owned. That was how 'the Blue Cottage' homestay came into existence. She had a middle-aged couple who lived on her property and they helped her run the place.

Most of the property had already been squandered by Ruhi's dad after he fell into a bad company. Nothing much was left now except for the homestay, their modest house and some

Theirs was one of the oldest homestays in Coorg. Tourists were not consistent so finances had always been difficult for them. But she managed to give Ruhi the best of everything.

But now due to the lockdown, the scenario was looking bleak. With no other source of income, Sapna was now shelling out money from her savings to meet her monthly expenses that included the salaries of the old housekeeping couple.Ruhi had never told him much about their financial condition till now but Vicky could imagine their struggles.

He felt proud of Ruhi. She had managed to land such a good job in a reputed internationally acclaimed Advertising firm all on her own.

"It's just a matter of time Ruhi. Once the lock down eases, tourism will pick up. And you are earning well. Aunty can always bank on you."

"She is quite happy. She has always been strong."

"Yeah."

Both of them then got to work. Vicky made the brinjal recipe and Ruhi made masoor dal. After enjoying their simple lunch, they did the dishes together. Ruhi went straight to bed for a nap. Vicky opened a new word document in his mac-book and started typing something.

After about twenty minutes, he got an email notification. It was sent from the London office in acknowledgement to the email he had sent couple of days back. It said that Vicky could continue working for the Chennai office till further notice.

What a turn of fate, he thought.

Ruhi woke up with a start. She had totally forgotten about the Prime minister's address to the nation. She jumped out of the bed and looked at the time in her mobile. Five- forty- five.

"Vicky, hurry up," Ruhi screamed and literally pushed him off the sofa.

"What happened?"

"Oh God. You don't remember? It's going to be six. We have to stand in the balcony or at the gate and clap. Or make some noise with plate and spoon. Then light a candle or lamp." Her eyes twinkled in obvious joy.

Vicky had seen the Prime Minister's address earlier but he hadn't thought of the execution part. He didn't want to look stupid standing in the balcony and clapping for no particular reason. He didn't even clap when India won cricket matches. He was more of a foot ball person. He was not lacking in patriotism but he just was not interested.

"I do remember but I don't want to do it."

"Come on Vicky, don't be a spoil-sport. Give me a minute please," she said and dashed into the bathroom to wash her face. She came out, her face beaming and padded to the kitchenette. From the cupboard, she took out a steel plate and a ladle, turned around and waved at him excitedly.It didn't end there. She handed him the plate and ladle before darting off to retrieve a scented candle from her cupboard.

Vicky stood there bemused, his eyes widening incredulously. Was she crazy? But then it was so very typical of her.

"Are you serious?"Vicky asked her despite knowing what her answer would be. "Are you aiming for a place in the Prime minister's PR team?"

Before answering him, she walked into the balcony while he followed her rather unwillingly.

Vicky tilted his head down and realised he was still holding the plate and ladle. He didn't want to look stupid, so he deftly handed them to her and took the candle from her.

Ruhi gave him a critical look and then struck the back of the plate with the ladle.

Clang!

The sound-waves hit Vicky's ears and it set off an uncomfortable ringing sensation. He suddenly remembered some old bollywood movie scenes where some jail inmates would announce the lunch time in the jail by doing something similar.

"This sound-therapy won't work against the virus. It doesn't have ears," he said with an amused expression. A slight smile tugged the corner of his lips.

There were people in the balconies of adjacent buildings too ready with their miscellaneous sound making equipments. Some of them were waving frantically. Ruhi reciprocated their gesture while Vicky looked at all the drama unfolding infront of his eyes.

There were some kid jumping up and down while an old couple were clapping with an unmatched enthusiasm. Some people were lighting lamps as they would do for Diwali. Few overenthusiastic people in the colony even came out of the houses and a crowd had started forming by now.

Damn. Brainless nitwits. Didn't they know they were supposed to stay put in their own houses. What were they celebrating?

"See,I told you you would feel better." Ruhi announced proudly. "This will boost our morale Vicky. We are all going through such tough times."

He sighed deeply.

"I don't know about boosting our morale but this definitely would give me a throbbing headache."

Ruhi hit his shoulder and giggled.

.........................

Hope you liked this chapter!