“Do you know what today is?” Pallavi asked Adhvik a day later.

“7th February.” Adhvik answered as a matter of fact.

“No, idiot! I mean... what this day meant for?”

“Hmm... Nah, can't think of anything.” He shook his head in a negative. Suddenly he raised his brows as if remembering something. “By the way, did you get the pics from yesterday?”

“Nope. I asked Abhishek. He will share once he's free.”

“Oh, you have his number, huh. Send it to me once you get it. Also....” Adhvik paused, rising up from his chair to head towards the factory side. Before leaving though, he leaned forward to her level, wearing a smug. “Happy rose day.”

He remembered. Pallavi thought and let out a blissful smile, wishing him back. It was the first day- the very beginning of the Valentine's Day week. Of course these seven days meant nothing in totality, but it gave her a chance to flirt more with him. Adhvik was about to add something more when his eyes flicked somewhere else at a distance and his brows furrowed slightly.

“What happened?”

“Nothing. Just concentrate on your work,” Adhvik replied bluntly and left, sneezing. Pallavi followed his line of sight from earlier, particularly at the direction of the 3D department area. Although the guys were doing their work as usual. Strange.

Later on, Adhvik returned and said what he wanted to convey that time. He shook her hand, nodding to himself. “Happy Valentine's Day in advance.”

* * *

In the next few days, the cold caught Adhvik as he sneezed and coughed. But being the workaholic he was, he didn't take a day off. Mid afternoon, he took a break to get some medicine. Upon returning to the office, he flopped down his chair, almost looking drunk and tired.

Pallavi was doing something on her mobile (her work was done for today) when she felt Adhvik wheeling his chair to her side.

“Let's play a staring game.”

“Huh, why?”

“Because I said so. I'm bored.”

Pallavi looked at him and then averted, pulling a strand of her hair. “W- what if I refuse?”

He simply turned away, yawning, “Then I'll find someone else to play with.”

Pallavi held his arm, pouting, “No! I refuse. You'll only play with me.”

Adhvik raised a brow at her in amusement. “Uh- huh, fine.”

Adhvik placed his elbow on her desk and leaned his face against his palm.
Thus, the staring game commenced. Both kept their eye contact with each other though Pallavi was close to losing right off the bat. His stare was too intense to bear. It didn't help with how sexy he seemed as he stared at her seriously with his slightly reddish eyes and tilted head. Her face contorted into a series of expressions that displayed her awkwardness. She covered her mouth, letting out a strained smile.

Strangely, Adhvik didn't falter one bit. He kept looking at her like she was some sort of study subject. Eventually, Pallavi too, dumped her embarrassment away, allowing herself to observe his face. His black eyes, long angular nose, pink pale lips, stubble jawline, and Adam's apple on light chocolate skin. She could also spot some of his moles, one specifically at the side of his nose. It was like watching him for the first time. She wondered what was on his mind right now. His face, despite all the staring was still unreadable.

She couldn't take this after all.

“Oh, you lost, I win.” Adhvik announced, finally breaking eye-contact with her as she blinked.

That's because I deliberately let you win, idiot! A minute later Pallavi prepared herself mentally and asked, “Can we play again? I won't lose this time.”

Adhvik let out a huge yawn and plopped his head to his arms resting on the desk. Seeing him made Pallavi yawn as well. “Nah, some other time. Wake me up when Tiwari comes.”

It irked Pallavi how Adhvik had his way sometimes but refused to offer the same to her when she was in the mood. Though she let him be, since he was suffering from cold.

Two days later, by some unexpected biology, Pallavi started to cough as well. And since this wasn't 2020, it wasn't Covid- 19 either. The sheer amount of work didn't help her situation either as she felt her temperature rise.

“What happened? You okay?” Se- hun, who was lurking around the office noticed Pallavi sneezing with her handkerchief. Wait, he was still here?

“Seems like I caught a cold. I have taken some Ayurvedic medicine though,” Pallavi answered, parting the handkerchief from her reddish nose and blinking her teary eyes.

“Hmm, must be due to the changing seasons. Take care...” Se- hun's eyes directed to Adhvik who was focused on his work. “Give him some medicine, too.”

“Who? Him?” Pallavi pointed out to Adhvik and Se-hun nodded. Adhvik answered he didn't need it since he already took it. Her nose crinkled as she scowled. “Damn sure I caught the cold because of him.”

“Oh... Ahh, I seeee!” Se-hun raised his voice, bemused.

Pallavi's raised an inquisitive brow, quickly picking up on Se-hun's misunderstanding. She let out a nervous laugh. “You know how cold is an air- borne disease and I happen to sit right next to him so I must have gotten it from him in that way haha!”

“Oh,” Se-hun's reply sounded less enthusiastic than before. Was he disappointed? “And not from the kiss?”

Seems like there was someone else in this story who really wanted them to kiss.

Pallavi's eyes went wide with shock while Adhvik rolled his eyes. “Hell no, sir!” She realized she didn't sound that professional but then, he hardly acted like a senior either.

“Kuch bhi bolta hai ye. (He says anything he likes)” Pallavi commented in disbelief though her heart was singing something else entirely. Omg, he ships us!

“Aree ek number ka chutiya hai! Ignore karo usse. (He's one hell of a fucker idiot. Just ignore him.)” Adhvik muttered with gritted teeth, almost startling Pallavi.

* * * *

The train to Valentine's Day was fast approaching while stopping momentarily at the little stations of hug day, teddy day, propose day, etc. Although nothing spectacular was going on between Adhvik and Pallavi, except for sometimes where they would wish each other jokingly.

It was also Se- hun's last day on Mansur. He would leave India day after tomorrow. The 3D department were fond of him enough to tour him around Delhi on his last day. Se- hun even extended the invite to Adhvik, Pallavi and Tulsi but they politely declined. There was no way their parents would allow them, neither they felt like associating with people they barely knew. Pallavi didn't forget to thank him once again though she meant it for her own selfish reasons.

“No problem. I really enjoyed it as well.” Se-hun smiled widely like a Cheshire- cat. His gaze darted across the office, particularly at Adhvik who was working furiously over his PC. They were standing at the corridor at a distance so it wasn't audible to Adhvik on that distance. “Any progress?”

“With him?... Ah, what?!... Well, um, no.” Pallavi's expression changed from shock to embarrassment to that of acceptance. Her shoulders drooped.

A thought crossed her mind right then. Infact, she had been thinking about it for a while, but now that thought had transformed into a decision she was going to partake in. She whispered in Se-hun's ear like an eager child “I'll give chocolates to Adhvik on Valentine's day. Perhaps a small note, too. Will that... suffice?”

Se hun let out a chuckle, “Of course. All the best, young lady. I'll be rooting for you two.”

Se- hun gestured his support with a thumbs up while Pallavi saluted, almost in a solder- like way. She realized that out of all Koreans she met, she interacted with Se-hun the most. Even though he was weird and honest as fuck, she had to admit she'll miss him a little. Thus, she wished him luck.

A little while later.

“Okay, I'm heading off to Xiaomi for the day. You girls complete those tables as I told you. If you face any problems, then I'm just a call away.” Adhvik informed waving his hand enthusiastically. He walked away a few steps but then stopped midway, taking a reverse. He took Pallavi's hand, shaking it. “By the way, happy Valentine's Day.”

Tulsi let out a whistle while Pallavi raised an inquisitive brow, adding. “Just wish me on Valentine's day, idiot!”

“In your dreams, Khurana.” He shot back, still shaking her hand. After a few more seconds of back- and- forth flirting, he left while Pallavi stared at him in awe.

And that was the last time Adhvik Dhawan flirted with Pallavi Khurana.

Just kidding!

“What do you think, Tulsi? Does he like me?”

“A hundred percent yes!” She grinned.

“Excellent! I'll give chocolates to him on Valentine's after all.” When Tulsi agreed, Pallavi asked her. “What about you? Aren't you giving any chocolates to Rohan?”

Tulsi scoffed. “Nah, he doesn't see me that way. It's no use.”

“But he sure talks and teases you a lot. More than any other girl I know. He even comes by our cubical to see how you're doing sometimes.” Pallavi said and while Tulsi agreed that Rohan may hold a certain amount of interest in her, he was still not interested. Nor was he as expressive as Adhvik.

Yet you still go and talk to him everyday. Pallavi thought, feeling bad for her friend. But that's what crushes and love did. It didn't let you give up.

* * *

Pallavi was very much still living in her euphoria from the party last week. From the amount of teasing that went on, it was evident that others were kinda aware about them too. It was scary but she was too happy to care. What she cared about however was what they said about Adhvik liking her. Se-hun even gave her blessings. Not even Adhvik could stop this wave. The cat had to come out of the bag now.

So when Adhvik complained about not seeing a movie in a while, Pallavi boldly asked him out for the same.

“Heh, really? Then perhaps we should watch a movie right now. None of our managers are here. We can steal the gate pass and get out of here.” He wriggled his brows suggestively.

“Suuree, let's do that! I'm getting bored anyway. The gate pass is kept in that drawer, right? Let's—”

“Relax, I was kidding! I'm not going to leave my work midway for that,” Adhvik cut her off wearing a forced smile.

Pallavi pouted, “Then how about after office? We can go to GC mall nearby and watch a movie there...”

Pallavi was about to ramble more when Sai passed by and asked if anyone had the rear cover of A- 3600 model. Both of them answered in a negative after which Sai wandered off to the testing room, continuing his search.

“Just look at him going berserk over a fuckin' rear cover.” Adhvik let out a dry laugh, going by his pet dialogue yet again. “Everyone's going berserk these days. Sai, Tiwari, Hyoung, Tulsi...”

“Yeah, yeah, the whole world is berserk to you,” Pallavi waved a dismissive hand.

“That's why I say not to go berserk over anything.”

“Uh- huh?”

“That's why I say not to go crazy,” Adhvik repeated in a song sang voice like a broken record. Pallavi was about to question his craze with work in return, but stopped when she faced him again. The smile from his face fell. His soft demeanour fell, replaced by a cold one as he repeated. “And that's why I keep telling you, Pallavi—”

He inched closer, his gaze sharp as steel. “Stop going berserk over us. Just stop.”

It was like walking with your feet over the soft grass until it was struck by needle. That's what his words did to Pallavi as she stared at him, completely aghast. It almost sounded like a warning. Warning for what exactly?

“Come back to the ground already,”  Adhvik muttered casually and screeched as he stretched his arms, standing. He left soon after.

Adhvik really did plummet Pallavi to the ground as she was too stunned to shoot back verbally. Just what did he exactly meant by that?

Only for a while though. Later on, when Adhvik behaved in the same friendly manner with Pallavi, she almost forgot about his little warning earlier. Maybe he meant not to get a little over the top.

Maybe.

* * *

The train to Valentine's Day had arrived on it destination at last. It was 14th of February and Pallavi had special plans that day. She tucked in three bars of 'Dairy milk' chocolate she previously purchased in her beige hand bag. One for herself (because why not), one for Tulsi, and last for Adhvik. To avoid making a fool out of herself, she bought for Tulsi and herself, making it look like she was just sharing obligatory chocolates with her closest friends. He wouldn't have a problem with that, would he?

Pallavi let out a nervous sigh.

The past few days had been odd to say the least. Perhaps Pallavi was imagining it. Despite Adhvik behaving normally with her, there seemed to be something missing in their conversations.

He wasn't flirting with her.

Perhaps teasing a bit but not in a flirty way. Either that or Pallavi was looking too much into this. Maybe he would wish her Valentine's Day, just like he claimed a few days back. Maybe everything would turn back to normal.

“Happy Valentine's Day, Tulsi,” Pallavi wished her deliberately in front of Adhvik in the office.

“Happy Valentine's to you, too, Pallu.” Tulsi wished her back, smiling blissfully. Pallavi proceeded on to offer the chocolate she bought for her. Tulsi thanked her.

With that, Pallavi swiveled her chair to Adhvik's side who was working on his computer, pretending not to exist. She placed a hand over her chest that tightened for some reason. No good, she was already feeling anxious. She took a deep breath and thus waited for him to partake in the conversation. When he didn't, she initiated anyway.

“So Adhvik, happy Valentine's Day,” Pallavi expressed, extending her hand, making it sound as casual as possible

A few seconds ticked by. Pallavi retracted her extended hand. A half minute passed which doubled into a minute. The girls exchanged a worried look.

There was no response.

“Oi, Adhvik, she's saying something.”  Tulsi intervened.

Adhvik stopped working, but refused to look at them straight in the eye. “Sorry, but I don't believe in Valentine's Day so I won't be wishing.”

“Huh?!” Pallavi exclaimed incredulously. “But you wished me before.”

“Ah, right, I did that, didn't I?” Adhvik crinkled his nose, as if remembering it. He tched. “That was casual. I was in a good mood then, but I don't feel like wishing today. Besides, it's a stupid day proposed by Westerners. We shouldn't be influenced by them. And isn't it supposed to be the day just for lovers?”

“But friends can wish each other, too. That's why I wished Tulsi as well and not just you.” Pallavi reasoned.

“It's okay if you want to celebrate. Its your choice but I won't. It's useless.”

Pallavi balled her fists in fury. His words were starting to get on her nerves. Not to mention, how betrayed and hurt she felt. Why was he being such a cold- hearted ass today? That too over something so trivial. God did she felt ashamed for looking forward to this event. The chocolates that were still in her bag were a proof of that. She wanted to discard them away. She was that infuriated.

“Fiiine!” Pallavi exasperated, dragged the 'i', as she crossed her arms. “If it takes that much of your energy to spell three fucking words, then I'm also not going to waste my energy talking to you!”

Adhik pinched the bridge of his nose, as if he was stressed out. His fault when he could just make it easier by saying it. Tiwari and his minions returned just in time to dissipate the tensed environment initiated between the trio. Thus, everyone got to work.

“See this... Come on,” Adhvik pleaded, wanting to show something on his computer. Pallavi reluctantly agreed, titling her head and shoulder a bit to his side to glance at his computer screen.

“It's a Black day today. See what tragedy befell those 40 Indian solders in Pulwama who were attacked by terrorists....”

Pallavi was too blinded by her anger to hear the tragic story. Adhvik recited the unfortunate event and ranted on how we shouldn't be influenced by Western culture than we already are, and should incline more towards India. She eventually tuned out of it. Funny, how he never talked about something like this before. She knew he didn't believe in 'Western culture influence.' Then why? Her brows continued to knit together at his sheer persistency.

"I don't fucking care about Martyr day, okay! You just want prove your point of not wishing me." Pallavi snapped in the midst of his ranting.

Adhvik's jaw clenched for a second before he raised a brow at her. “Come on, aren't you overreacting a bit?”

“Aren't you doing the same as well?”

“I have my reasons.”

“Fine then, don't talk to me.”

“Fine, do whatever you like then.” Adhvik shrugged, not caring a bit.

Their Valentine's Day was turning out to be the exact opposite of what Saint Valentine intended. Pallavi stuck to her word like a child who didn't get her favorite toy. She didn't talk to him. He didn't wish her as well.

Lunch passed.

Afternoon passed.

Eventually, it was evening. Pallavi hardly exchanged friendly words with him, except for work. Neither did Adhvik. Her throat clogged up. She was close to tears but she vowed herself not to cry in front of him.

“Pallavi, did you finish the ECN document?” Adhvik asked, giving a toothy smile.

“Yeah.” Pallavi replied. It almost sounded like sarcasm. Her nose crinkled at his enthusiasm. When he talked about something else, she turned her head away, refusing to meet his eye.

Adhvik must have sensed her foul mood as he let out a exasperated sigh. He mumbled something along the lines of 'so stubborn you are' before walking away.

'You're being stubborn, too.' Pallavi thought, wiping off a lone tear that fell before anybody caught her. Indeed she was overreacting, but she couldn't help it. She hated how everything had to go his way like she had no say in it. He couldn't just switch on and off his flirting mode as he pleased. She badly wanted to tell him this.

Still, it was unlike him. He was the kind of guy who would flirt about anything in the sky. The kind who wouldn't hesitate to touch her hand. Then what changed? This thing kind of started after the dinner with Se-hun. Was he getting conscious of people who were taking notice of them? Something was definitely odd.

Pallavi returned home in the same distressed mood from the office. She was barely speaking with anyone. It made her realize that she couldn't go on this way.

Pallavi had to confront him. She switched on her WhatsApp.

'This is so not done, Adhvik.
You can't just flirt with me as
you please and not flirt back
when I'm in the mood to. You
could have wished me &
ended the matter there &
then, but no! Aree aatma nikal
ke bahar nhi aa jaayegi agar
wish kar loge. (It's not like your
soul would be drawn out of your
body if you wished me). You
wished me two days ago too
then what changed today? You
hurt me. My day was ruined
thanks to you.'

Only Pallavi knew how much she dreaded sending a message like this. Like she was almost laying out her feelings in the open. After a few minutes, she sent another, out of spite.

You insult me, Dhawan.
Even now, you're leaving my
messages at seen. Mai toh
chutiya hu na (I'm an illiterate
fucker, right) Why would you
reply to me?

This seemed to have worked as she noticed Adhik typing his reply on WhatsApp. But nothing could prepare for the next message she received, that turned her anger into despair.

This is not about wishing
Valentine's Day or not, Pallavi.
That was just a joke. I'd have
wished you anyway, but then
Tulsi told me something &
I realized that things are getting
way serious so I stopped.

Pallavi couldn't believe what she was reading. Just what did you tell him, Tulsi?

* * * * * *

This is what I meant by rollercoaster, guys. You know how it goes up high and then slides down. So now it's going dowwnnn!

I was honestly planning to post this next week but I just couldn't wait any longer. So on a scale of 1 to 10, how much did you love this chapter (sarcasm)— I mean whatever that happened here that is. Trust me, you're going looove the next chapter even more.  💔💔 You'll be able to see Adhvik's viewpoint a bit.

Tell me honestly— did you partially or completely foresaw something like this? Or not at all.

With that, lOok fORwRrD tO the nExT cHApTer.