Poles Apart

Chapter Twenty-Nine

 After visiting Thathayya in the hospital, a group of us go to a café around the street for some coffee.

Allow me to describe 'a group'. Karthik Anna, Pranathi Vadina, Pranav Anna, Prithvi, Kaushik Bava, Avni, Arjun, and your dearest, Janaki Arvi Ravichander.

Fucking mini militia. Perks of having a huge family. Even though there was enough space, Pranav Anna was being an asshole and kept bumping his elbow into mine, trying to get me to spill my coffee.

"Fuck off, Pranav," I mutter to him, moving closer to Arjun.

"You just needed a reason to sit closer to Arjun," he teases, causing my face to heat up.

"I don't need a reason to slap your teeth out of your full-of-shit mouth," I mutter in warning to him, trying not to seem too affected.

"Aw, she's blushing!" Pranathi Vadina comments, tugging at my cheeks lightly.

I lower my head, keeping myself focussed on my coffee, causing the table to burst into a round of chuckles.

Picking up my cup of coffee, I push my seat back and stand up, unable to sit and look like a tomato. "I'm going to pay. Does anyone want anything else?"

"Do you have money?" Karthik asks, opening his wallet already.

I put up his card. "I have yours," I reply to him cheekily, causing him to shake his head.

"You do get paid, don't you?" he asks.

I look at him like he has suggested something utmost ridiculous. "I don't like spending it."

"I like spending yours," Avni chimes, holding up a card from my wallet that I stupidly left on the table.

I laugh at her. "Who's going to tell you the pin?"

"Tap," she says, referring to the tap and pay mechanism of the card.

I pick up my purse from the table, before telling her, "That's not my card. It's your Peddananna's." [Peddananna (Telugu): Dad's elder brother. Avni's Peddananna would be Arvi's dad— Naveen Ravichander.]

I walk off to the counter with my purse and Karthik's card. While I wait for the cashier to draw up our receipt, I look around the somewhat-vintage themed café. The walls are painted in warm shades of yellows and browns, and bushes are surrounding the café, in the outdoor seating part of it.

"You know you don't need a reason to sit closer to me?" I hear Arjun's voice, causing a smile to break out on my face.

Masking the smile, I turn to look at him. "You know I don't want to sit closer to you?"

Arjun chuckles, his eyes glinting with mischief. "I know you want to do other things with me," he says, causing a worker to giggle. "You can tell me all about it later." He winks, causing my breath to hitch. "Not now while we're in public, Arvi. You're growing to be dirtier and dirtier minded with every passing day."

His act causes my jaw to drop open. I am being dirty-minded? Me?

He laughs, tapping my chin. I close my mouth quickly, turning away from him as though I don't know him.

Gosh, this man doesn't have a filter.

I turn to look at him from the corner of my eyes, but he catches me looking at him. His grin widens and he raises his phone. Before I know what he's doing, I hear the sound of an image being captured.

"Hey!" One more click.

"Arjun!" One more.

"Arjun!" I raise my hand to get to his phone that he hovers over my head, tantalisingly.