Are you free this Sunday?

Was Pallavi hearing this or did her ears drums picked the wrong vocals? This was the kind of line that played out in hundreds of modern romance movies and novels. Good thing Adhvik wasn't looking, otherwise he would have noticed her eyes almost popping out like a ghost. No, she must compose herself.

“Y- yes.”

“Uh, I was thinking of checking out that aqua Metro train that started recently. The one Tulsi was talking about... We could, you know, check in there on Sunday. Travel upto a few stops and return back. Just for fun sake.”

“Sure.” Her voice almost dropped to a delicate whisper when she asked to confirm, “Just you and me?”

“Yeah. Just the two of us.”

“Okay.”

“Although...” Adhvik spoke as if there was a but in this. “I'm not sure if I'll come 100% so um, don't keep your hopes up.”

“Okay...”

“I'll inform you, then. Bye.”

“Okay.”

While Pallavi barely responded to him as she left, she swore her heart was having a party by itself. She was that pleased. So pleased that she had an irreversible smile plastered to her face.

It didn't matter when Tulsi said their cab ride was cancelled. It didn't matter when they had to wait for another twenty minutes for the next cab they booked. It didn't even matter whether Adhvik showed up or not. The fact that he asked all by himself was a hope in itself. Hope that perhaps it will come true someday. Perhaps tomorrow.

Pallavi could imagine it all. Imagine them sitting inside the train. Imagine watching the cityscape from above through the windows. Although she went a little beyond her reality by visualising them flirting, holding hands, snuggling and kissing his cheek. Oh, she would cling to him so much. How about travelling all the way to Delhi to visit a famous spot? Now that would be a perfect date.

Soon, Sunday arrived.

Still reeling from Adhvik's words from yesterday, Pallavi waited in anticipation for his call or message. She kept checking her phone from time to time. She checked in the morning and then early afternoon, too. Deep down, she knew. She knew he wouldn't come but her hopeless 'hope' still insisted her to wait.

By 4pm, she had given up by distracting herself with a K drama called ‘Strong woman Do bong Soon’. Still, she had to swallow her pride and ask. His reply:

'Actually Ma had to meet
our distant relative today so
got busy in that instead. Sorry.'

It didn't matter whether he was making that up or telling the truth. It didn't change the outcome.

Can we go later? She wanted to ask. That's what 'hope' did to maidens in love. It made them hope all over again, regardless of how futile it sounded. As long as future existed, Pallavi would hope.

But maybe she shouldn't have hoped after all.

****

Two days later...

Pallavi turned up in a sea green design kurta, salwaar and noticed Adhvik wearing a green T- shirt as well. She expressed enthusiastically. “Hey, look, green, green. Same pinch.”

“Same pinch.” Adhvik extended his hand and she shook it as usual. He continued shaking her hand, smiling ever so innocently. “You just want an excuse to touch my hand.”

“What, no?!” Pallavi exclaimed, withdrawing her hand. “You extended your hand yourself.”

“Because you knew I would, after you say something like that.”

“But that's... I didn't mean...” Pallavi fell short of words as she glared at him, flustered. Finally, she mustered her words, albeit quietly. “You're saying as if I'm the only one initiating everything?”

Adhvik chuckled heartily before stepping closer from behind. “By the way, I like it, too.”

“Like what?”

“Your touch.”

“Me- me, too.”

Suddenly Adhvik bursted out laughing, weirding Pallavi out. She asked what was funny about her answer but the jerk continued with his laughter tirade. Was he high? He wiped his teary eyes as he calmed down and exhaled.

“Isn't it weird how we keep flirting like this for no reason? We are awfully single. We got no one else so we resort to flirt with each other. That too, in our office. Ab aise din aa gaye batao (it has come to these days now).”

Pallavi was stunned into silence.

Finally Adhvik addressed what they were doing for months. Finally he acknowledged the character of their current relationship. The word 'flirt' was out in the open.

It would have been all flowers and rainbows if it weren't for the things Adhvik said afterwards. No reason? No one else? He said as if there was actually no meaning behind his flirtations. That he was just doing it to pass time in this somewhat toxic office. Does that mean it wouldn't have mattered if it was someone else than her? That she was just someone chosen at random. Was she that unimportant to him?

Hell no!

The problem with Pallavi was she never believed in random. There was no such thing as randomness in this world. Every minute thing that took place would result in something else, which always meant something in the grander scheme of things. If she really was someone random to flirt then, why her? There were other girls in the office, too, like Tulsi. Others who looked better figure-wise. Why her, then? Was she more accessible? Easy?

Of course Pallavi knew there was no ulterior motive behind their flirtations. That Adhvik wasn't out to pursue her. She wasn't pursuing him either. But at this point of time, he was on her mind day in, day out. This was about their feelings.  She had a hardcore crush on him. No, he liked him.

Did he not like her?

Her chest tightened. The thought itself pierced her heart. It couldn't be, could it? Not when so much was going on between them. Not when he said so many things, looked her that way. He's got to feel something.

Pallavi wasn't in the mood to converse much with Adhvik afterwards. He ruined it. Moreover, he didn't notice her change in behavior either. She let the work pass her time. Her main motive was to work here after all, not infatuate over someone.

* * *

Ranjan was a one year old clown- sorry, employee of the development department. Sometimes he had the habit of dropping by someone's cubical to start a conversation with them when he wasn't working. This time with Tulsi.

Ranjan conversed with Tulsi— more like attempted to flirt with her but she didn't give into it. Knowing nothing was coming out of it, he turned to Adhvik and Pallavi.
When Pallavi asked him what happened, he voiced out his desire to have a girlfriend or wife. That same old pity talk, she thought, getting bored already.

“Maybe you should try to tease him or something. Comfort his poor, single heart,” Adhvik suggested in a low voice. Pallavi rolled her eyes.

The pointless conversation dragged on with Ranjan complaining about how Tiwari scolded him for his absence even though he took office leave for a genuine reason. Then, at one time, Ranjan asked if Pallavi could atleast call him 'brother' since he didn't have a sister.

“Sure, Ranjan bhai.” Pallavi said cheekily as an act of pity while he thanked her. She rested her elbow against the table and laid her chin against her palm. She threw him a question out of curiosity. “So you don't mind me or any girl calling you 'brother', do you? Because few guys I know will definitely mind.”

At the corner of her eye, Pallavi saw Adhvik passing her a side glance in suspicion. She smiled inwardly.

“No, I don't mind at all. You can call me brother, baby, babu, shona... Anything will do.”

“Okay...” Pallavi replied, feeling a bit creeped out by his admission.

A little while later, Ranjan added, “If you don't mind, can you call me 'babu'? Nobody called me that either.”

“Heh, I personally despise that word. It's cringey.” Just saying that reminded Pallavi of the times when Aradhana used to call Saurabh by babu. Are they saying that a full grown man with hormones and a dick was a child? Creepy. Strangely, she didn't mind the word baby even though it meant the same thing.

“I know it doesn't mean anything. I- it's just for one time's sake. It will make my day.” Ranjan admitted rubbing the back of his head, awkwardly.

Perhaps Pallavi took pity on Ranjan again. Perhaps she thought it wasn't a big deal. It was just a word after all. She'll make someone's day.

“Fine. Ranjan ba—”

Right then, a hand clasped over Pallavi's mouth firmly, prohibiting her from speaking any further. While another hand held hers in place. Her eyes widened at the suddenness of it. Her gaze directed at the owner of these pair of hands— Adhvik Dhawan.

“Mhmm, whmt...?”

Adhvik who had bend down to her level, let out a chuckle. He shook his head over three times as if to say 'No, no, no.' He left his hands over her when she didn't say anything. He stood up, facing a small Ranjan.

“See, Ranjan, the word Babu has multiple meanings. It is added as an honorific towards a man elder than you to show respect. While in Bengali, it means lovely child. Although the meaning you were implying here is clearly that of a lover. One of the cute nicknames used by a lover to their partner.” Adhvik explained the meaning in the most professional way.

“I was just kidding, bro. As I said, it didn't mean anything serious... really.” Ranjan said, raising his arms in surrender.

“Alle mera Babu kya kar raha h? Mere babu ko kuch chahiye kya? Haan babu..." (Aww my babu, what are you doing? Does my babu want anything? Yes, babu). Adhvik enacted in a slightly high pitched voice, imitating a woman. His voice grew back to himself in a serious tone. “It doesn't matter whether it is said by a girl or a woman. It is addressed as a sign of love. Don't think you can get ahead of yourself by saying anything to fool anyone. Is that understood?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Well, good then.” Adhvik concluded with a wide smile.

Scary.

As for Pallavi, she sat flabbergasted as she watched the whole scene from the sidelines. Her hand raised to touch her lips. It was like she could still taste and smell his skin from when he covered her mouth. On the other hand, she couldn't help but think whether it was necessary. Sure, Ranjan's request was odd but it was just a word. It wasn't like he was asking her to hold his hand or something. Was it really necessary to say all that? Ranjan even apologized to her.

“Oh, so if Ranjan would have asked you to say 'I love you', you would have said that, too.”

“Of course I wouldn't, idiot! I just thought it wasn't a big deal.”

Adhvik's brows furrowed as he looked back at Pallavi. Was that disappointment? “For a mature girl, you act quite foolish sometimes.”

That sure stung a little. Maybe he was right. Ranjan was being creepy after all. She did feel relieved for not saying that. But what about Adhvik? Was he jealous or protective?

* * *

Pallavi was in the middle of completing her Pehs work when Tiwari appeared out of the blue, disturbing her at a crucial moment.

“Make three ebills for me. The vendor is Shan Sec.” Tiwari ordered then gave her the specifics of products to make the bill. He further asked with a hint of uncertainty. “Hmm, you know how to draft ebills, right?”

“Of course, sir.” Pallavi answered, not entirely hiding her disbelief this time. She promised herself to get back as soon as she finished this stupid bill. It shouldn't take much time.

“Wait,” Tiwari interrupted when Pallavi was in the middle of drafting the second bill. “The production team is confirming the quality of G18000 (raw material) that is required at the moment. Wait for five minutes, okay?”

“Kay,” Pallavi answered, sighing to herself. This was taking longer than expected. She got back to doing Pehs in the meanwhile.

A minute later.

“So how's your work going these days? I heard you make quite a lot of mistakes.” Tiwari asked, peering over Pallavi's desk with mild curiosity. Pallavi clenched her jaw, suppressing her anger. Clearly, he had nothing else to do. Add to that, no one from her department was in the room. How come she was magically left alone with this baldie? Wasn't this supposed to happen in fiction only?

“That's because not many people know about Pehs.” Pallavi reasoned with a tight lipped smile. Maybe she should rid him off straight away by telling she was busy.

“Hmm, that is indeed true. Even I don't know much about Pehs program.” Tiwari admitted, surprising Pallavi as well. He placed his hands behind his back, retaining his cool posture. “Though I'm sure I would perfect it if I got to learn about it. Not a big deal there.”

“Yes, I'm sure...”

And thus, their awkward back and forth conversation began. Pallavi admitted she was slightly intrigued when Tiwari talked about the ancient days of this Mansur branch (it's just four years ago, idiots). When the office had just started out with a bunch of employees that included him, Hyoung and Adhvik. It was like hearing about a prequel of an ongoing show.

But despite the fun talk, Pallavi couldn't shake off this feeling of uneasiness inside her. It had to do with the fact that nobody was around, although she could see Harshit peeking at her behind the glass door of the testing room. But the main reason was the assistant manager himself. She never trusted Tiwari to have a jolly conversation without some shade. Will he say something? No, he won't! Maybe he wasn't in the mood. But you're alone now. Why will he pass this opportunity?

“Were you listening?” Tiwari asked, breaking off her chain of thoughts.

“Ye- yes, sir. You were talking about how you had to test the covers manually due to lack of testing machines and...” Pallavi continued, repeating his conversation in her own words. Was this a history class or what?

“Then I was promoted to assistant manager one and a half year later. Back then our team was very small with five members,” Tiwari sighed, delving in nostalgia. “The work was under me back then. Everyone would listen to me, including Adhvik.”

There was a pause. Tiwari let out a dry chuckle.

“Though you wouldn't know since you only ever listen to Adhvik sir.”

Her fingers froze at the keyboard.

What the fuck?

“But I listen to all seniors and supervisors...” Pallavi retorted, though her voice was lackluster and weak.

“You do?” Tiwari repeated her words as a question, raising an inquisitive brow.

Pallavi didn't think it was possible before. Clearly the baldie had the upper hand. Was he actually jealous of Adhvik Dhawan?

When Pallavi raised her head at Tiwari, she swore she saw Harshit behind the glass door raising a finger as a sign. Her brows furrowed. Was Harshit trying to say something?

Pallavi turned a deaf ear to Tiwari as he continued on to say some other things. Somewhere he mentioned something along the lines of her only doing what 'Adhvik sir' says but other than that, Adhvik wasn't mentioned again. She simply focused on filling out the quantities of the raw materials that he mentioned in that pointless conversation. Just end this already.

Tulsi was the first to return to the office, making it not so empty again. Pallavi totally gave off a look of 'you're my savior' to Tulsi while she smiled in return.

“Pallavi...!” Pallavi heard an all too familiar voice calling her name, giving her goosebumps. She turned to the direction of the corridor to see Adhvik approaching her in long strides. He panted as if he ran all the way from the factory side to return as quickly as possible.

He did some weird hand and eye twitching movements, as if asking what was up with baldie? Wait, Tiwari? How did Adhvik know he was there? She stole a glance at the testing room door again. No one was there.

Regardless, it's a bit too late now. The drama's already over.

Adhvik got right back to business by asking whether she completed the work she was appointed to. Pallavi knew it was a pretense to get Tiwari off her back. And off Tiwari did, resigning back to his seat. A minute later, he exited the office to get the print out of the E bills she drafted.

“I got a call from Harshit.” Adhvik plopped down his seat with an audible breath. “He said something about you being left alone with baldie lecturing you and I knew I had to come. He told me to hurry before you got reduced to a puddle of tears. I was busy with Hyoung at the time so I sent Tulsi back first."

“Gosh, I'm not a crybaby.” Pallavi pouted before breaking off to a smile. “And Tiwari didn't lecture me but thanks, both of you. I'll thank Harshit, too.”

“So what did Tiwari talk to you about?” Tulsi asked. Both her and Adhvik regarded Pallavi with curiosity.

“About that....” Pallavi let out a sigh. Thereafter she gave them a summary of what happened. As she went through the things Tiwari said to her once more, she thought of ways she could have answered back. Like the way fiesty heroines do when they are treated poorly in fiction. You only ever listen to Adhvik sir.

Toh mai kya achar daal rahi hu abhi? (So am I putting a pickle on it right now?) No that would be extreme.

So who am I listening to right now?  Are you Adhvik?

But I'm under the guidance of Hyoung sir, too. Infact I was doing HIS work before you decided to barge with your ass.

Okay maybe a bit more respectfully but she could have said it. But she didn't because her mind took off weed and slept, leaving her empty thoughts with fear. Every. Single. Time.

She bit her lip, suppressing a cry. More than Tiwari's words, she was frustrated with herself. Frustrated with people looking out for her because she was too timid to do it herself.

“I'm sorry,” Pallavi muttered under her breath although Adhvik heard it.

“Apologize to yourself first,” Adhvik answered, making her turn his way. He continued on, without returning her gaze. “You've been living within the comfort of your home for far too long. Perhaps this office will teach you something...”

Oh, it was definitely teaching her alright. Along with a bunch of other things that made her feel.

As Pallavi pondered over everything later on, she wondered what Adhvik's true feelings were. God, he was more confusing than a trigonometry equation and that's saying something. She was sure about one thing though— He cared. If he didn't, he wouldn't have protected her against Ranjan like that. Neither he would have bothered to ditch his work to come for her. He didn't do that to just anyone. She knew that.

The main question was— was she more than a caring friend.

---------------------------------------------

How was this chapter? Disappointing, unexpected? Share your thoughts.

So the thing is, I've started working on a job as a content writer so I'm going to be busy from now on. Of course I'm not ditching this story at all but... But the updates could be slower. I'm lagging a biiit behind in drafting so there might not be any update next week. (So sorry _/\_ )

But at most times, a chapter will be posted each weekend.

Off topic- When do you write your story chapters if you are working? Or you just write on any free time?