Shakhi TS Heart Me, Foe

Part II | A |

As decided both Shaurya and Anokhi stayed decent with each other for two weeks surprising everyone before they went in front of the HOD and expressed their wish to be part of Pegasus.

For ELA head, if one year an aided professor gets leadership then next year it would be sf, that's their tradition and those who get to be ELA head gets to be the head of Pegasus as well.

Their HOD Prof. Joel from Self Finance was the head of ELA that year meaning he's responsible for whole of Pegasus. He's a wise man and with a look, he can say that Shaurya and Anokhi are trying their best to give each other their peace of mind and if given a chance would eat each other's head. He wanted them to get along and so, he didn't just allow them to take part in preparations but gave them half of his responsibilities baffling them.

"I'm entrusting you with important duties. Prove to me that I have made the right choice by trusting you two" Pro. Joel advised and the baffled duo left giving a nod.

Entire English department was shocked when they saw the tom and jerry duo walking side by side. Anokhi was saying something seriously and Shaurya leaned down to her height and nodded along as they walked making the students' shipper hearts go awe.

"Hum toh yeh dhono ko shipping kar rahe the par yeh dhono toh submarine mode pe maze kar rahe hain" The students hooted.

When the circular announcing Prof. Joel's decision came, to say the staffs were surprised would be an understatement. They weren't surprised that HOD gave such huge responsibilities to beginnings because they were alumni's and students are the major driving force for Pegasus. They were surprised to see Shaurya and Anokhi being cordial to each other. She gave him a smile when he agreed to something he said and everyone gasped in shock.

"Mujhe pinch karo na Kanchan" Yash whispered to Kanchan who chucked softly before pinching him.

"Aah! Dardh ho raha hai! Iss ka matlab jo mein dekh raha hoon, voh sach hai!!" Yash said dramatically making everyone save for Shaurya and Anokhi to laugh while they rolled their eyes at Yash.

Shaurya and Anokhi still had their disagreements. They still had their fights but they kept it among themselves. Pegasus is an emotion for all department people and they wanted to give their best in the preparations. They even had to work overtime to get everything done.

One evening, around 7:30 pm, Shaurya and Anokhi worked at staff room getting the list for volunteers and committee sorted while everyone else left. Anokhi was worn out and Shaurya noticed that.

"Anokhi, let's take a break. Hum continuously list check kar rahe hein. You must be tired"

"Nahi, Shaurya. Hum ek sitting mein complete karthe hein. Warna late ho jayega" Anokhi said rubbing her tired eyes.

"Tujhe nahi mujhe break chahiyeh. Isliyeh tu chahe ya na chahe, ab toh hum break le rahe hain"

Shaurya stood up and walked out of staff room while Anokhi rolled her eyes at him before closing the list file and leaned against her chair. She closed her eyes as a tired groan left her lips.

Anokhi jerked when she left something hot against her arm and opened her eyes to look at Shaurya standing beside her with a grin. She glared at him.

"Kya kar rahe ho?!" Anokhi grumbled.

"Mein toh aap ko coffee dene aaya tha, madam. Lijiyeh" Shaurya said biting back his smile.

Shaurya extended coffee to Anokhi who took a brief moment to look at him before she sighed and took the paper cup from him. He bit back his smile and walked over to his seat that's opposite to her.

"Aur professor madam, classes sab kaise chal raha hai? Students' sab toh aap ki taarif kar rahe the" Shaurya initiated the conversation as he sipped on his coffee.

"Classes sab toh accha chal raha hai. Kyun, students sirf tum he praise kar sakthe kya?" Anokhi said in a sarcastic tone as she raised a single brow and sipped on her coffee.

"Mein toh sirf pucha tha ki kaise ja raha tha yaar! Mein aur kuch nahi puchingi. Aese ghuro math aur apni coffee piyo"

Shaurya pouted that didn't miss Anokhi's eyes, a smile almost forming on her lips but she composed herself quickly.

Anokhi's mobile rang grabbing both their attention. Her ringtone was F.R.I.E.N.D.S theme music that caught Shaurya's attention. It was a call from her mother. She quickly spoke to her mother informing that she would be late and hanged up.

"Yaarrr, tum he FRIENDS hai kya?" Shaurya asked, his lips curled into a half smile.

"Pasandh? That's my go to show! I love FRIENDS!" Anokhi answered enthusiastically.

"You know what?" Shaurya said as he opened his back pack and took a notebook out, "yeh dekh, I have a FRIENDS customized diary!"

"Woah!" Anokhi said appreciating the FRIENDS journal in Shaurya's hand, "So, you do like FRIENDS"

"I love FRIENDS!" Shaurya mirrored Anokhi's words and on seeing her eyeing at the FRIENDS diary, he forwarded it to her, "Here, dekho"

Anokhi got the diary from Shaurya with fascination. She saw each page with excitement. She read aloud dialogues written on each page and Shaurya chipped in quoting the next line.

If Shaurya and Anokhi look back at their life, this has to be the first time they are being cordial, free and invested in each other's conversation save for the time they discuss work or literature stuff.

"Sorry to ask, FRIENDS and friendship ke baare mein ithna deeply bath kar rahi ho par I heard that you had issues with your UG friends. I heard they spoke behind your back and that you had lot of issues with them" Shaurya said and added quickly, "Sorry if its offending"

"Nothing to get offended here, it's okay. Friendships are rarely stable in my life. I don't easily get attached but when I do, I put my whole heart into that bond. Back at UG, they didn't respect my feelings, my friendship. They just wanted to take advantage of me. I didn't like that. So, there'll always be clash with my friends' gang. I value friendship but I never had much of good friends in life. May be that's why I love FRIENDS more. I have made them my friends, someone whom I can turn for comfort, someone who would be there for me but won't judge and someone who can always make me laugh"

A pregnant silence filled the room. Shaurya was still processing Anokhi's words while she was startled to realize that she spoke her heart to Shaurya. His frantic eyes fell on her Iron Man watch while her eyes fell on his Iron man's EDITH coolers making them both look up at each other.

"Tu bhi Marvel fan hai yaar?" They both asked at the same time pointing at watch and coolers respectively.

"Yes!!" They said in unison as they grinned at each other.

"I'm a huge Marvel fan!" Anokhi said.

"Mein bhi! From comics to movies and series, I have watched it all" Shaurya grinned as he put on his EDITH coolers, "How do I look?"

"Tu Iron man ka mazak math banao yaar!"

Shaurya pouted and Anokhi laughed. They both engaged into talking about Marvel movie and future movie discussion forgetting about their work. By the time they realized it was already nine.

"Wanda would have killed Thanos if it didn't rain fire (Avengers End Game)" Anokhi said.

"Agreed. Scarlet Witch is the most powerful one in my eyes. Yes, we have captain marvel but for me my Wanda darling takes the first spot. Strongest avenger!" Shaurya grinned.

"Your darling? Arrgh!" Anokhi chuckled, "Yaar, jo bhi ho, Iron man is my all-time favourite"

"Mera bhi"

"Harrey, tum dhono ab tak kaam kar rahe ho? Ab toh 9 baje hai, ghar jaane ka iradha hai ki nahi?" Maakan, department in-charger said.

"Maakan bhaiya, hum toh bas nikal ne hi wale hai" Anokhi said and Maakan nodded and walked out.

"Yaarrr hum ne kaam katham hi nahi ki!" Shaurya exclaimed.

"Yeh sab na tere waje se hai! Tujhe series ke baare mein koun bath kar ne ko kaha!"

"Mein? I just got to know that we have so much in common!" Shaurya shot back.

"Arrgh! Accha, at least kal hum kaam ko complete karna hoga. Ab hum he nikal na chahiyeh, I'm getting late" Anokhi said as she started packing her stuffs.

Shaurya did the same too. He quickly packed his stuffs and stood up to go out but went near Anokhi.

"Mein toh tujhe yaaarr bol raha tha aur tu mujhe yaarrr toh...yeh yaarrr pyaarr mein badhal ne ka chances hai"

Shaurya chucked when Anokhi smacked his arms.

"Mazak kar raha tha!" Shaurya laughed and added, "Mein chal tha hoon yaar"

"Tu!!" Anokhi threw the paper weight at Shaurya who shrieked and run out of the staff room.

Anokhi's face softens once Shaurya is out of her sight. She heaved a sigh and thought about what happened that evening, an unknown smile crept on her lips before she mumbled, "Besharam"

And when Anokhi walked out of the department, she saw Shaurya sitting on his bike and scrolling on his mobile. A smile crept on her lips when she realized why he stayed back. She got on her scooty and as she started her vehicle, she saw Shaurya placing his mobile in his pocket before he started his bike. With a smile, she drove away. 

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Thank you for reading,

Nan ~