There was a knock on the door. Followed by another and another. The sound reverberated in the four walls of the room, annoying the shit out of the person who was trying to sleep.

When the door knocked off for the fifth time, the person woke up groggily, accompanied by a loud yawn escaping their lips. Lazy footsteps hit the greyish floor until they halted at the exit of the room. The person undid the latches of the brown door to reveal a young man in shorts, with the morning sunlight illuminating behind him. "Morning Adh-"

"Kya be bhosadike, subah subah jaga diya!" Adhvik Dhawan cussed out loud, his eyes and nose crinkling with the excess of light. Soon he turned around, walking away to the kitchen while scratching his butt. He stopped his neighbour who was rambling about something he hardly cared. "Yeah, beg what you came for?"

"Cut me some slack, man. I just came for tea leaves."

Adhvik shook his head in defeat but then took out a can of tea leaves and gave some to his needy neighbour. They had a small talk after which Adhvik ushered him to get out as he had to get ready for the office.

You see, everyone had needs. Now look at his neighbour. Today he needed tea leaves from Adhvik while Adhvik might need something from him tomorrow. Something or the other was exchanged every minute with money being the boss of it. And for money, people needed to educate themselves first. It was safe to say that the world was built on needs.

Naturally, Adhvik had to go to office for monetary gain. To survive. He wasn't passionate about it. It was just what he needed. He went on his usual routine. After a short bath, he detoured to a nearby store in quick strides to buy a milk packet and a cigarette, then poured the milk into a small stainless pot to make tea. The next twenty minutes were spent in preparing his breakfast and lunch.

When he finally settled down to have bread and tea, he made the mistake of swiveling his head across the room. He noticed the dust on the floor, the pile of unwashed clothes and utensils. They were guilt tripping him to clean it up. It was at times like these when he desperately missed having a roommate. It was strenuous to prepare dinner and clean the room from the little energy one was left with after office. Especially if they worked overtime. Roommate- a need he didn't have.

The only two good things about Adhvik's small room was it's cheap rent and location being closer to Mansur. With a bag laid on his back, he walked his way to Mansur. He didn't care that he was going to be ten minutes late. He had to mop the floor of the sorry state of his room.

Adhvik was greeted with atleast ten employees on the way. That's how well he was known around here and he loved it. He had indeed carved a niche for himself. After exchanging pleasantries with Harshit and Rohan, he headed back to his cubicle. There was a time when he felt a tad bit uncomfortable with the idea of sitting between two girls. Not now though. He greeted Tulsi with an obligatory smile before whirling his attention to the healthy, cherry woman on his left.

Nearly every need could be bought off by money, but there existed one need dormant in a man that could only be satisfied with the assistance of another person.

The need of sex.

And right now, Pallavi Khuranna was the walking synonym of it.

Today she was sporting a yellow- orange kurta. Just how many pairs of clothes she had? He saw her wearing something new every month, apart from the ten something pairs of Indian suits she had. Somehow that yellow accentuated her lightish brown skin pretty well. It highlighted her puffy cheeks above her medium sized chapped lips. She didn't wear any makeup except lipstick. That was something she never forgot.

The long kurta reached her ankles, hugging her curves in all the right places. Be her long, thick legs which was apparent from the leggings she wore. Be her chest that slightly bounced as she walked. She looked cute no doubt, but he hated the effect she had on him, propelling him to get a boner.

Damn this woman!

Though it wasn't just her body, Pallavi had a magnetic presence. It was a bit alarming how no man dated her until now. Why didn't guys approach her? She was gorgeous.

A mischievous smile bore on Pallavi's lips which reflected in her big eyes. "Hi..."

Their previous sensuous conversation came into mind. Adhvik's lips curled upwards. "Well, hello there..."

After a small talk, he got straight to business, looking her in the eye. "So what did you want to tell last night? You said yes."

It was as if her whole demeanor changed. She shifted closer with an air of confidence. He had no fucking idea what she was going to say while he waited with a bated breath. And why did she tie her hair into a messy ponytail again? She should have let them down to show off her smooth, delicate curls.

“I might say yes but I have a few conditions...” She paused, averting her eyes as if hesitant to tell. He urged her. “You'll have to watch a movie with me.”

Adhvik arched a brow in surprise. Now that wasn't expected. He recalled when she had asked for the same earlier on. When was it? He didn't recall. But apparently, she was still on about that. Just how badly did she want to go with him? And, “Why me?”

She crossed her arms, her breasts protruding a bit as she did and continued in a whiny tone. “As you know, I never had a boyfriend and I always wanted to go on a movie date with a guy. We are good friends and I feel comfortable with you. Since I'm going to be involved with you, I thought why not? Just one movie day.”

It was almost like she was asking him to be his temporary partner or something. Adhvik thought long and hard about it. Okay, who were we kidding? He only took a few seconds to reply, "Done. Deal. We'll watch a movie."

“You and me?”

“Just you and me.”

“And you won't ditch in the last minute with a lame excuse?”

“No, I won't ditch- wait, where is this coming from?” His brows furrowed questionably.

Pallavi made a 'duh' face as if was blatantly obvious. “Every single time we almost tried to plan.”

“Really, when?” Adhvik really didn't remember though he was mildly surprised that she did.

She rolled her eyes. He was hopeless. Just then, she recalled something as her brow raised. “Oh, and also, no sex. We'll just make out.”

“What?! No!” Adhvik exasperated. “What's the point then? Either go full in or don't.”

“O- okay. How about until I'm ready? I don't think I want to have sex at the first time itself. I- I can't...” Pallavi trailed off, her eyes flickering down.

Her hesitation was palpable with her words that shook. She was afraid. He wanted to assure that he would do nothing that would make her feel so. That he wouldn't force her. “Fine. We won't do it the first time. We'll go according to your flow. If it happens, it happens. If it doesn't, it doesn't.”

“Okay...” Pallavi nodded, pressing her lips inwards. Yup, Adhvik noticed that too, but unfortunately he couldn't notice her mind. God knows what she was thinking. What if she rejected him at the last minute. Girls mind could change any time.

As much dumb as it sounded, Adhvik had little to no idea of her feelings towards him. Perhaps one could say he was uncertain in that regard. Now he did have an inkling of Pallavi's admiration towards him from their flirting days. Tulsi's exaggerated confession before Valentine's only strengthened it. But then, Pallavi refuted all of their claims which also seemed plausible. After all, they were only joking back then. If they had been serious, they would have behaved differently. Poor Pallavi was just caught in the Valentine mess that time. Most likely, Tulsi had manipulated her towards liking him or so. That cunning bitch!

As for the lust, Adhvik was attracted to Pallavi as long as he can remember. Though he couldn't recall any particular incident that started it. Once he just saw her walking the office with her clothes hugging her curves and it made him envision her without it. There were three kinds of girls according to him. Girls, one would keep a safe distance from. Girls, one would only be friends with.

And girls who aroused them.

Many girls joined and left in Mansur. Out of them, there were only two Mansur women that drew Adhvik's attention. The first one was the first girl hired in the Development department- Sakshi. He met her when it had only been five months he joined Mansur. She was neither too thin, nor too fat. A figure to die for, especially her medium sized assets. Unfortunately, she was already committed in a serious relationship which turned into marriage by the following year. Adhvik respected that and never pursued her. What he also respected was how she voluntarily resigned from the company after three months because she couldn't bear with the toxicity of the office. Despite that, they remained good friends and chatted sometimes, thus maintaining a distant relation.

With Pallavi however, things were different.

They just striked the kind of friendship where they could be themselves around each other. It almost compelled Adhvik to reach her but he didn't. You see, there was a difference between 'I wished I fucked her' and 'I'm going to fuck her'. His flirtations, no matter how they looked, weren't intentional. He simply enjoyed interacting with her until he was slapped into reality. Office affairs were a big no- no.

But then things changed with Pallavi's resignation. How, even he couldn't tell. It wasn't like he was sitting there waiting for her to resign so he could jump on her bones. He simply recalled one time post her resignation when he was blatantly staring at her during a group discussion. When she stared at him too, it was a confirmation in itself. He knew he could have her. That he could turn his fantasy into a reality.

Adhvik and Pallavi began to plan the day and time. He suggested Sunday but she denied as she didn't quite know what to tell her parents. Eventually she told him she'll think about it. However when she was about to get up a minute later, he pulled her chair from behind to his side, making her yelp. His voice was a soft, devious whisper against her ears. "Think about it long and hard. Of how good I can make you feel. Again and again... I'll make you keep coming back to me."

A furious tint of blush formed her cheeks as Pallavi craned her head to face Adhvik. He could whiff her shampoo from her slight wet hair. Lord knows how badly he wanted to reach out right now. Trail his lips down her neck and boobs. Did he admit he also loved her reactions? Though she quickly composed herself, shooting him one dirty smile before going away.

Calm down, idiot, your time hasn't come yet.

Sometime later, Hyoung came up to Adhvik with a pendrive. He pointed out that there was a mistake in the submission of pehs of model M- 300. Apparently Pallavi entered the wrong measured weight of side vinyl cover. Hyoung sighed in disbelief. “She did it again. Perhaps we are right firing her.”

Adhvik glared at him like he wanted to plummet his head against the wall. It was things like this that made him loathe Mansur even more. If he had the freedom, he had broken their ribs and feed them off to the rats by now. That's how aggravated people like Hyoung, Tiwari and Sai made him. Just how many employees they would fire until they were satisfied.

“Sir, you go and tell her. I have some work to do.” Adhvik excused himself.

As Hyoung explained Pallavi what was wrong, Adhvik checked out his Gmail. Still no answer from the interview he gave yesterday. Most likely, he was rejected. It was futile.

And then, something happened.

“Wh- why was I fired like this, sir? I want to know. Can it be rebuked?” Pallavi intervened Hyoung when he was almost done correcting the data for pehs. Both Hyoung and Adhvik glanced at Pallavi like she had grown another head. Seemed like someone was keen on not giving up.

“We'll talk about this later. I'll call you.” Hyoung responded with a tone of finality. Pallavi passed a knowing look to Adhvik when Hyoung was gone. Adhvik rolled his eyes.

“Your resignation will not be rebuked regardless of what you tell him. You do know that, right?”

Pallavi exhaled soundly, leaning further to her seat. “Yeah, I know... I just don't want to regret it later on. Atleast I'd be satisfied in knowing I tried.”

“Whatever. Just don't cry on it later on.”

* * *

A day later.

“So what did the mighty Hyoung tell you? Did he tear off the resignation paper and hug you into acceptance.”

Pallavi scoffed before speaking, “He said I'm slow. Can you believe it? He means that I was kicked out 'cause I was fuckin' slow. Screw him. Yes, I'm slow but did I hamper the manufacturing process? It was usually submitted on time."

It was true. Pallavi didn't hamper the manufacturing of the team, although even Adhvik to admit- she was slow in her work. Just not slow enough for her to be fired.

Pallavi summarised her conversation with Hyoung where she detailed him how she had done everything for Jung- ho. How Hyoung himself had permitted her to visit Ian company that day. Hyoung never said anything about that. Just focused on how slow she was. It hit her like hitting a sore part of her skin. When she mentioned how she improved, he excused off by reasoning that it still wasn't enough. In the end, Hyoung said this wasn't upto him as it wasn't even him who fired her. That he had a reputation to keep.

“Motherfucker just wanted to get away with an excuse. Since you had some shortcomings, he just brought you under the bus to save his ass. Sai and Deepak make more mistakes than you and they are still here for more than a year. Partiality wins.” Adhvik watched her forlorn, expecting her to cry any minute now.

“You know what sucks? That I couldn't even complete one year. Had I completed it, I'd have become a full fledged engineer and have gotten better job opportunities than this. Instead, I only managed nine months. Just three months and I would have got it.” She concluded, banging her fist on the desk in anger.

He leaned back into the seat, raising his head to the ceiling. “They did you dirty but this isn't the first time. Tiwari took out all those employees before. Tarun, Manav, Heena, you- all those who were precious to me.”

Unknown to him, Pallavi was caught in the moment, blushing at the word 'precious.' Atleast she was precious to him.

“Only twelve days left now...”

“You are not going to cry, are you?”

“Buhuu huu~” Pallavi twisted her face muscles pretending to sob but then looked at him deadpanned. “No, doofus! I had enough of that. I think I'll only save my tears cry for last day.”

“Will you miss me?” She asked a minute later. Her voice was quiet.

“Of course not! Maybe I'll have to bear with more annoying people after you leave but nope, I won't miss you.” Adhvik answered with a grin while Pallavi crossed her arms, turning away in annoyance. Eventually, his grin subsided as he sighed. “Kidding! I will miss you a bit. I'll miss having you around.”

“Oh...” She faced him, blinking back with emotion. “I will miss you, too.”

* * * *

Needless to say, Adhvik and Pallavi flirting antics changed its course after that proposal. Earlier on, they flirted aimlessly but now it held meaning. It had a motive.

There was an instance when Adhvik complained about his shoulder blades paining, probably from sitting all day long. Without ever asking, Pallavi volunteered to apply pressure on his shoulder with her soft palm. He felt her hand pressing deep onto his skin and bone, bringing temporary relief as he groaned.

"Do you like it?" Pallavi asked, her mischievous smile, holding more meaning than one.

"Very," He answered, his voice deep. He placed his eager fingers between hers, which caused them to regard each other with sensuous eyes. His gaze never faltered as Pallavi continued to press his shoulder. his breath hitched. "O- okay, you can stop now, thank you."

"Why? Is there a problem some-" Her eyes flickered all the way down in an instant until it moved back to his face. "where?"

This bitch! "Well, that problem could only be dealt with later on... I'd be requiring your personal assistance that time."

"Oh, of course. Me, too. I'll be requiring a loott of assistance," She replied as if they were just talking about a college project. They shared a tight lipped smile until they bursted out chuckling.

Now Adhvik didn't like her romantically yet but sometimes in moments like this, he realized how easy it was to get along with her and the good comrade they shared. She would definitely make a good partner.

Another instance was when Adhvik and Pallavi were seated besides each other. Pallavi accidentally dropped her pen near his side. When Adhvik picked the pen for her from one hand, he decided to pick something else with his another hand.

"What, oh?" Pallavi questioned then swallowed as she felt Adhvik fingers tracing her light bare foot, bringing slight tingles to her skin. His fingers reached her clothed legging and trailed it from there. Not a word was spoken as he traced her calf all the way to her ankles. She bit her lip in anticipation when his fingers gently moved past, almost reaching her thigh.

He stopped.

“W- what happened?” Pallavi asked, her voice slightly afloat.

“Eh, I just remembered that today is Shraad you have kept your fast. Perhaps I shouldn't be doing this today.”

“Oh.”

An awkward silence followed. Indeed sometimes things didn't go as smoothly as expected but still they went on.

Amongst the things that were transpiring, something miraculous happened the after a few days.

* * *

Adhvik waited eagerly at the park outside their office. He was pacing back and forth, unable to sit still. When he noticed Pallavi emerging from the view, he blurted out.

"I got the job, Pallavi. I GOT THE FUCKIN' JOB!"

"WHAT?! Oh my God!!" Pallavi's mouth dropped to the lowest degree.

"Here, look at this," Adhvik showed it on his mobile like an excited kid winning a prize. It was a mail informing him that he was selected as a production engineer for Boyd and that he was called out to discuss the salary structure and joining date with the HR department.

Unbelievable- that what Adhvik's feelings summed up to. It was something he had dreamt for years. He recalled the endless interviews he had been to. Times when it didn't live up to his expectations. Was he dreaming? He damn hoped he wasn't. He even got the phone call from the Boyd company asking for his joining date. And how crazy it was that it happened right when Pallavi was leaving? Talk about the mother of coincidence.

"So what next?"

Adhvik held her hand and raised it, startling her away. He was too happy to care about appearances right now. Smirking at her, he replied. "Guess we are leaving this shit together, baby."

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

By shit, he meant company. That should have been the title of the chapter but then the surprise would be gone. Was it a surprise?

Thoughts about this chapter. I hope it explains Adhvik side of things better and what he thinks about Pallavi at this point of time. Should I include more rare chapters in his pov?

So what do you think? Will they finally watch a movie together? Will they do the nasty? We'll see.

Happy Diwali to all those celebrate 🎉🎊 🎁🎇 As a Diwali bonus, I'll be posting two chapters next week. Look forward. 😁😁