A gentle warning- This chapter might annoy you a bit. And it's long. Happy reading!

* * * *

The next day came as a slight shocker when Ranjan announced his resignation to the development team. So the rumor about hiring Ankur to replace Ranjan was indeed true. This department sure replaced employees like clothing. Even Ashwini was fired after one month although none of them upright admitted it. Perhaps they resigned on their own. Pallavi asked Adhvik about the truth behind Ranjan's resignation but Adhvik remained mum. Perhaps Pallavi wasn't supposed to know.

Thereafter, their department conducted a small farewell party for Ranjan with samosas and cold drinks. Meanwhile, Ankur did his thing by joining the trio for a conversation. He behaved like that fourth guy, trying to fit the  backseat of a car that was already filled with three people. Moreover Adhvik's sarcastic replies weren't helping. For some reason, Adhvik didn't seem to warm up to him.

* * *

It was a relentless week— the documents, pehs registration, production & assembly of child parts, approval by Xiaomi amongst other minor things that were done in coordination, after which the Xiaomi model of N50 was in production. With the completion of N series of Xiaomi models, Manager Hyoung Lee finally announced what the development department ached to hear for the past five months.

“Let's pack up, everyone. We have a party tonight!” Lee announced and the little crowd broke into loud cheers. Pallavi was amazed at how the mood changed drastically. The celebratory atmosphere could be compared to a huge office project being completed, or a film crew finishing their movie shoot.

Tulsi seemed reluctant at first but Hyoung assured her he will arrange the cab himself to drop the girls home. Meanwhile Pallavi pleaded her Mum to let her be in this dinner party. Mrs Khuranna agreed with a condition that she would return home before than her father. She decided not to tell her husband about it.

Two vehicles were arranged for the ride to Korean Delight— The very same restaurant where the trio went with Se- hun. At 5:30 pm, the employees were instructed to head towards the van. Pallavi began to do the same but stopped when she noticed Adhvik working furiously over the keyboard. Was he kidding?

“You are coming, right?” Pallavi asked, Adhvik, already sounding distressed at the thought of him not going.

“No, your Adhvik sir is not coming.” Someone else replied for him, almost shocking Pallavi as whirled her head to Tiwari. There was no trace of annoyance or jealousy. Was he... teasing her? A furious blush formed her cheeks.

“Actually Adhvik has to finish a small errand. He will join you all later with us.” Said Hyoung as he came into their view. What's with other people answering for Adhvik like he was shared property?

“Exactly as he says. I'll go in their car and join you guys. After all, who can say no to free booze and food.”

Thereafter Pallavi climbed onto the van, sitting alongside Tulsi and Ankur. Her nose flared in disbelief upon seeing Badboy in the front seat. Since he was responsible for N50, an invite was extended to him as well. If only Pallavi rewarded him with chappals instead. Badboy behaved like a typical school teacher who pulled a student's ear, slapped their palms with a scale and even twisted their arms. Except Badboy wasn't a teacher and Adhvik wasn't a student. Her dislike towards that Korean only increased further. Se- hun was a thousand times better. Pallavi told Adhvik to complain about his ill behavior to the HR but Adhvik was somehow chill about it.

Nostalgia hit Pallavi and Tulsi with full force when they reached Korean delight, reminiscing their last time there. Instead of heading underground though, Badboy instructed the employees to head towards the first floor.

The girls were expecting a floor with chairs and tables but instead, they were welcomed by a single room with two long tables supported by twenty chairs. The wallpaper had a wrinkled ochre design supported by neon lights. Moreover the room had a plasma TV to the front.

Seriously, how come Pallavi didn't know of its existence till now?

The employees including the girls settled down. Pallavi sat on the second last seat towards the front, leaving the last seat empty, hoping for Adhvik to sit there. The girls conversed with Ankur in the meanwhile as he boasted about the parties in his college days. Right then, Pallavi mobile pinged with a message from Adhvik.

“Done with my work.
Waiting for Hyoung
while listening to this
bloke's (Sai) nonsense.”

“Look, we are not going
to spend an eternity waiting
for you all. Tell Hyoung to
hurry & bring his ass up here.”

The next couple of minutes were spent in Pallavi and Adhvik chatting amongst each other as both of them waited from their respective sides. In the midst, Tulsi asked who Pallavi was chatting with. Coincidentally, Tulsi was chatting with someone as well. Both of them flashed their mobiles, smiling blissfully like two high school girls. They were chatting with their respective crushes.

The second hand of the clock ticked by. Five minutes, ten minutes, then twenty minutes passed but there was no sign of the remaining team. When Adhvik informed they might not turn up because of Hyoung's urgent meeting, her heart sank. Pallavi informed the unfortunate news to Tulsi and Ankur.

Just when Pallavi started to give up hope, she heard some voices beyond the door. Her eyes widened when Adhvik entered alongwith the rest of the team.

“But I thought— you scoundrel!” Pallavi glared at Adhvik, realizing her folly.

Adhvik's lips curled to a smirk, “It's amazing how you still fall for my lies.”

“Because you lie with such conviction, asshole!” Replied Pallavi, with a hint of malice. Though she soon got over it as she saw Adhvik taking an empty seat besides her. Mission accomplished.

Soon the development team settled down. Hyoung was seated at the furthest corner with Badboy while Sai and Tiwari sat opposite Pallavi, much to her dismay. To make matters worse, someone just kicked her leg under the table. Pallavi whipped her head to her right, aghast.

It was Adhvik freaking Dhawan.

“What?!” Pallavi whisper shouted. Wait, why was she whispering?

“Look at Sai,” Adhvik shot back. Wait, why was he whispering too? “See, how he's pretending to be all sophisticated but you'll see how he shows his true colors once he drinks. We'll also get to see who gets drunk. Ah, this will be fun.”

Right now, Pallavi could see nothing fun in Sai or anyone else. Not with Adhvik's lips whispering close to her ear. Not with his hot breath on her tingling skin. And that wasn't it. She also happened to notice her body sitting in close contact with him. Or was it him? When did this happen? Something was sexually not- so- straight with Adhvik if he was noticing Sai instead of the girl awfully close beside him.

Soon the menus were distributed to the table. Hyoung gave his team the freedom to order anything they wished for. Apparently there were two types of menus— Vegetarian and Non Vegetarian.

Pallavi whined, “I want to have chicken but today is Thursday.”

“Well, if you want to have chicken then you'll have to shift to your left since this section is strictly vegetarian.” Tiwari informed, pointing over the empty seat between Ankur and Tulsi.

“Ah, no, I'm fine here,” Pallavi answered with a strained smile which faltered when she received yet another fine kick on her leg from Adhvik. Her brows furrowed gravely but either he didn't notice or he didn't care.

What. Was. Happening?

Did Pallavi skip a chapter or two? Last time she checked, they were barely holding hands. And now, the whole length of Adhvik's left leg and left arm were in contact with Pallavi's right ones. From his bare skin to the little hairs on his arms— that's how close they were. It tingled her skin, bringing an odd kind of warmth inside her. Something that she didn't have the luxury to feel for the past month. What happened to his ‘I will not flirt from now on’?

But he wasn't flirting. Ugh!

“Think about it. Chicken and fish is a speciality here. You don't want to miss this,” Tiwari reminded again, snapping Pallavi out of her reverie. Okay, the assistant manager was being weird. Why was he indirectly insisting her to change seats next to Ankur instead? Did he notice something?

Pallavi shifted away begrudgingly, bringing much needed distance between her and Adhvik.

“No, sir, I'll eat here only. Moreover today is Thursday. Some other time,” Pallavi gave her verdict. Adhvik kicked her leg two more times.

Admit it, you are enjoying this.

Of course. Pallavi would have changed her seat if she wasn't. With that, she kicked his leg back, earning a surprise gasp from him.

* * *

A few minutes later, a cute Korean female attendant arrived, carrying a tray of four beer bottles and coke, followed by the man who brought the beer glasses and snacks. The boys began to pour the poison into the glasses.

“Here, coke for you girls,” Mister Tiwari said, obviously assuming that they would drink coke as he passed the cold drink bottle to Pallavi and Tulsi. Pallavi suppressed a smile.

“No, sir!” Pallavi downright objected, taking a beer glass instead. Tiwari watched in absolute shock as she grabbed a green looking beer bottle, opened the nearly closed cap and poured the alcohol into the glass.

“Who the hell takes cold- drink?”

The whole department stared in shock,  including Tiwari who remained still as a statue. Oops! Did Pallavi overdid it?

Some men instantly cheered, including Ankur who was genuinely impressed as he clinked glasses with her. Adhvik being Adhvik kicked her leg for like the tenth time, wheezing. He covering his mouth to cover his laughs that escaped. Apparently Tiwari was still staring. “I thi- think you paralyzed him.”

“I guess it was too much to beer, puft—” Pallavi chuckled, pun intended. She so wanted to laugh out loud. She shared a knowing smile with Adhvik and thus clinked glasses with him while kicking his leg as well. It was too late to back out, she was enjoying it now.

“Pallavi, you drink?” Hyoung asked from the furthest corner.

“Hell yeah!”

“Fantastic!” Thus, the boss and the employee clinked glasses with each other before drinking away.

* * *

It was surreal how the scenario changed with the change of environment. Conversation ensued between various groups as they drank. The room was filled with voices and noises of glasses. It came as a shocker when Arjun announced his marriage that would four months from now. On her group though, the scenario was as follows.

“My bet is on Mumbai Indians this year,” Adhvik spoke about IPL cricket semi- final matches going on this year. “They got Rohit Sharma, Hardhik and Polland. They hit the wicket of nearly all players in their last match.”

“But Chennai Super kings got motherfucking Dhoni, Raina and Micheal with the best batting average. They totally wiped off the floor in the last match.” Ankur boasted, gesturing with his hands.

“Kyu, tere baap ka floor hai kya? (Why? Does the floor belong to your father?)” Adhvik spoke with disdain, raising a brow his way.

“Nope, but I'm damn sure your father doesn't own a millimeter of that land either.”

The two of them kept up with the serious tirade before sharing a dry laugh. The tension between them was palpable as the two girls between them shared worried looks.

“What are they doing?” Pallavi whispered to Tulsi then hissed at Adhvik. “Are you looking for a fight?”

“Come on, its the best time to pick up on this brat,” Adhvik answered with gritted teeth while grinning at Ankur.

“It's the testosterone, Pallu. Don't bother these stupid men.” Tulsi shrugged, making Pallavi sigh in defeat.

Meanwhile Hyoung was devising a funny list. Pallavi wasn't paying heed to his part of the conversation until her ears perked with the words ‘Pallavi’ and ‘first’.

“Me and first? What are you talking about, sir?” Pallavi asked Hyoung straight away as her eyes lit up.

“Oh, I'm talking who gets most scolding. Miss Pallavi, you are the first one in the list.” Hyoung laughed off, breaking her expectations with his broken English. Pallavi pouted in return as the department shared a laugh. “Next one is Sai, followed by Tulsi, Hemant and Adhvik.

“Don't fret. It's okay,” Adhvik assured in the most unexpected way by patting her knee. The hell she was okay with a gesture like that. Fuck, even during their flirtatious period, he never touched her knee. Perhaps he was drunk.

It wasn't right, whatever it was. It wasn't right to say they were just friends and then sit in close proximity like that. It wasn't right to whisper in her ear like that and to kick her leg repeatedly.

It wasn't right and yet, Pallavi didn't say a thing. Can you blame her? She had been touched deprived by Adhvik for the past two weeks. Now when he was finally giving some attention in an anticlimactic way, she couldn't say no. She hated how pathetic she was but God knows when this chance will ever come again.

* * *

Eventually dinner was served. More like, a feast with a plethora of vegetarian and non vegetarian dishes. Although Pallavi ate meat sometimes, she didn't see as much meat as today. She certainly recognized a few Korean dishes like the one with chicken soup, fish, and samgyeopsal (pork strips). When the thought arrived of tasting them, her mother's warning voice also came along, warning her of the no- meat Thursday. Damn, she should have just requested Hyoung for a Kimchi instead. Oh, why didn't she remember something like that? It was all Adhvik's fault.

Talking about the man next to her, apparently he wasn't done surprising her yet. At one time, Sai ordered for another wine bottle but only when Tiwari politely insisted him to. Of course Pallavi wasn't paying attention to such a bland detail until Adhvik's hands gripped a little above her knee. I repeat— above her knee. She almost choked on the little sundubu-jjigae (soft tofu stew) she was having. When she glaringly asked him what, he motioned her to look at Sai and Tiwari as if they were going to kiss right there and then.

“Fine, I get it, I get it!” Pallavi replied with exasperation, removing his rough hand that was still warm on her lower thigh. Was he intending to make her come as well? Although she would have felt a lot more if Adhvik was flirting as well. Perhaps with no one around, especially Tiwari who was eyeing them suspiciously.

When Pallavi stole a glance at Adhvik, he was busy teasing Sai, making him recall his past drinking days. Seeing him like that, it was evident she was the last thing on his mind. Imagine, sitting in close proximity with a girl you are supposedly attracted to and feeling almost nothing about it because your mind was heavily distracted by other superficial things. It was incredibly disappointing.

But then Adhvik changed her mind when the Indian cuisine arrived. He didn't hesitate one bit to serve the food on her plate. It was just like last time on Se- hun party. She was shocked at his lack of realization. Didn't he know what an act of kindness did to someone who crushed on them? To be fair, you took back the statement of liking him so he doesn't know, her inner voice shot back.

Fortunately, Adhvik shattered her expectations when tried to serve food on Tulsi's plate as well, though he couldn't quite reach her plate. Guess he simply liked role-playing a waiter.

Time was ticking ahead and so were the messages on Pallavi's phone. Deepali gave a gentle reminder to return home before their father did as Mister Khuranna had no idea about her office party. He had strictly prohibited her to attend after the previous one due to time. Pallavi probably had thirty minutes left. She decided to finish the beer left on the glass along with paneer tikka and head home.

“Here, help yourself,” Ankur appeared out of nowhere, popping up a fresh beer bottle for her.

“Er, thanks, Ankur, but I think I had enough beer for today.”

“Oh, come on, Pallavi, you can do better. These chances don't come by often. Feel free to waste yourself, yeah!” Ankur insisted enthusiastically and poured the golden liquid into her glass anyway. For the second time.

Pallavi groaned in annoyance, pushing the glass away. “I already had one and a half glass of beer. I can't drink any more.”

“But—”

“If she says she can't, she can't. Don't force her.” Adhvik's strict voice cut in,
ensuring momentary silence over them. Pallavi couldn't help but look at him, baffled.

“Oh, don't be a spoilsport, dude. I'm just telling her to loosen up,” Ankur still reasoned, knitting his brows in disbelief.

“And who are you to tell her? It's her choice.” Adhvik pushed the beer filled glass to Ankur's side, adding. “Stop behaving like a kid.”

“Only after you stop behaving like a Grandpa.”

“What did you say?” The two of them
shot daggers at each other.

Oi, oi, what was this? A 90's Bollywood scene. Pallavi was starting to cringe underneath her worries. This was the last thing she wanted out of the already frustrating, lackluster party. Thankfully Tulsi managed to diffuse out the tension by telling the boys to behave themselves while Pallavi kicked Adhvik's leg. Luckily Tiwari was not in the room at the time while others were too preoccupied in their alcoholic world.

* * *

“There's hardly any connection. Shit!” Pallavi cussed, tapping furiously over her phone as the app failed to book the cab. Her WhatsApp was pinging with unread messages of Deepali, telling her sister to hurry. That was the extent of her poor internet connection.

“Driver cancelled from my side, too,” Hyoung informed Pallavi when he tried to book the cab for her.

“No, no, no...” Pallavi repeated frantically, not even trying to hide her panic anymore. She couldn't afford to be scolded by her father over a stupid dinner. When she couldn't think of anything, she stood up abruptly, almost feeling light headed. She shook her head. “It's okay. I'll find an auto myself.”

Mister Hyoung offered a lift in his car to her home if she waited but that's exactly what Pallavi couldn't do. In the end, the manager handed her a hundred rupee note for the convenience, even though she had money. Pallavi was overcome with emotion that she requested a photo with him. She always wanted to take a photo with her Korean boss.

“Konbanwa!” Pallavi thanked him in Korean then bid farewell to everyone. She let out a sigh after exiting the room. That party was a mixbag. She couldn't put a finger on what exactly she felt about it. Her previous party was much better. Thus she headed towards the exit of Korean Delight.

Until a certain fellow decided to catch up, descending the stairs alongside her.

“Aree, what are YOU doing here?” Pallavi asked, alarmed at Adhvik's presence besides her. And why the hell are you walking so close to me? She wanted to yell.

Adhvik panted as if he ran a mile, “To drop you of course. Besides, I didn't feel like attending such a pathetic party anymore.”

At this point, Pallavi wanted to bang her head to a wall... Or bang his head towards it.

Worst part was he probably didn't realize the heat palpating at the closeness between them. They exited the restaurant into the slightly empty, cold street. Adhvik and Pallavi began to search for an autorickshaw but no avail. Plus, there was a lack of internet connection at the worst of times. In the meanwhile, they noticed others leaving the restaurant as well. Tiwari and Sai headed towards the other side of the road to look for an auto as well.

“Did you find a taxi yet?” Tulsi asked, accompanied by Ankur.

“Noo...”

“But looks like they did.”

The others followed Ankur's line of vision to see Sai and Tiwari hopping into an autorickshaw. They dashed off soon after.

“Some worthless piece of shit they are!” Adhvik cussed, his jaw clenching in anger. He raised a hand in air that called for a slap, “Honestly feel like ramming their heads to the ground and break them apart.”

“But why are you angry?” Pallavi asked, unable to comprehend his hate.

“Why am I angry?” Adhvik snapped. “Just look at that twat! All baldie does is judge and insult people, yet helps out no one in need. He saw us! Gosh, there are two girls here and you are freaking drunk! It's nine at night yet he didn't have the fucking decency to offer them the ride!”

“Bro, calm down! We can't change them.”

“Aree hadh hoti hai inn saalo ki!” Adhvik's voice soared, almost scaring Pallavi. She didn't have time to deal with his shit so she stood near the stop, searching for an empty auto to come her way. Meanwhile Ankur accompanied Adhvik, trying to calm him down. They were nearly ready to pounce at each other a few minutes ago.

Nearly ten minutes later.

“Guys! Found an auto at last,” Pallavi announced later, waving her hand at them merrily as if she found gold. Adhvik seemed to have gained composure as he joked about something to Ankur. Right then, Adhvik and Ankur volunteered to drop her home but she denied. She just wanted to get away.

But before that—

“Thanks for your um, support. See you tomorrow.” She extended her hand, hoping Adhvik would take it.

Thankfully Adhvik obliged, his face unreadable as he shook their joined hands. Ah, I missed touching his hand. Pallavi thought, suppressing her smile. Not wanting to look like a weirdo, she took the Chandler route by extending her hands to Tulsi and Ankur as well.

* * *

Luckily, Pallavi was able to reach home on record time. Had she been late by ten minutes, she would have become part of a Indian serial drama. She locked her room to change her clothes when Adhvik called on her phone.

“Yes, I've reached safely. What about you?... Okay... Hahaa, yes I reached before Papa. Yeah, goodnight.” She talked for half a minute before cutting the call.

Thus ended the events of somewhat fun, somewhat weird, unexpected night.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Ahem, overall thoughts about this awkward chapter? How do you think the party was? And what was happening or was it all in Pallavi's head? Lol! Vote and Comment.

Off topic- Did you feel like you don't want to write this or that story sometimes? What do you do?

Anyway, look forward