Blood And Blossoms

Chapter XV

08/07/23

Ting tong, she rang the bell of 402. Ayaan opened the door for her. Now he just has to open the door of his heart to let Anaya in.

"I bought a cake for you", Anaya said trying to make a face resembling puppies. The card on that butter pecan cake read 'Sorry.'
"I don't need it. Do you need something else?" Ayaan asked in a tone as cold as snow in Kashmir during December.
"No", Anaya said with a frown on her face and went to her door adjacent to 402 after Ayaan closed the door.

First attempt: FAILED

09/07/23

The 402 bell rung again - ting tong.
"Good morning. Here, this is for you." Anaya said with a bright smile trying to hand the bouquet of flower to Ayaan, but Ayaan's hand didn't move by an inch. He looked irritated. He clearly looked irritated, so she went with this rejection and hyacinth bouquet into her house immediately without uttering a single word.

Second attempt: FAILED

"What should I do to convince him Ishi? He's so adamant." Anaya whined.
"C'mon Ana, you just tried twice, and your interaction wasn't even of two minutes including both the days." Ishika shrugged
"He is not ready to talk to me. What can I do?"
"Okay so try and decorate his office tomorrow and then ask for apology."
"Okay. Ab ye bhi karna padega." (Now I have to do this also).

10/07/23

Ayaan came to pick Anaya up. Though he is upset with her, ignores her and doesn't talk to her, but still he fulfill the responsibility he took. He took Anaya with him everyday to their office. The only difference - he neither said a word nor did he allowed Anaya to say something to him. As soon as Anaya was about to say something he either got a call or the music suddenly became too loud.

"She already left." Ishika informed him.
"What!?"
"She already left for the office."
"Okay" Ayaan sighed.

When Ayaan reached the office, he saw that his cabin was decorated with balloons and a sorry card was kept at his desk. He was surprised looking at all this. As he moved towards the desk, Anaya jumped out from the spot she was hiding. She was holding a small and cute teddy in her hand.

Hope was visible in her almond-hazel brown eyes. She can sense that Ayaan was melting after all her efforts. But this wasn't going to be that easy for the poor girl. The consequences of her hiding the truth almost led her to jail. But little did she knew about the future. She wasn't an astrologer afterall.
"Go to work Ms. Banerjee." Ayaan lowered his eyes, somehow the floor started looking more interesting to him.

Third attempt: FAILED

11/07/23

Ayaan was returning from his jog. He entered the lift while Anaya came running behind him to get inside before the lift goes up. She was carrying coffee packets to start the day.

Okay Anaya, you can give it a last try maybe. You cannot miss this chance, she thought and started singing:
Wo hain zara khafa khafa
To nain yun churaye hai
Ke oo ho...."
(He is so upset with me that he isn't even ready to look at me)

It finally hit the bull's eye. Ayaan melted here like a wax. He cannot stop himself from blushing especially after listening to the rawness of her voice.
He replied, "Meri nazre to aap pe aake ruk gyi hai... ab nain kese churaye? Or hum aapse khafa kese ho sakte hai? Isse asaan to marna hoga."
(My eyes are glued to you, how can I miss the chance of not looking at you? How can I be mad at you? It's easier to die)

Anaya hugged him so tightly that made him out of breath, but he didn't complain, since this was what he was carving for.

The doors of the lift opened and oops-
"Okay guys I see that everything is sorted out between you'll, but you can save this and the further activities for bedroom. Lift seems a bad option." Ishika said while she was trying to control her laughter.
Anaya came out of the lift and Ayaan followed her.
"There are no further activities." Anaya hit her arm lightly while Ayaan's cheeks turned crimson.
"If you say so... well I've to leave I have an important case to study today."
"All the best. Have a great day."

After Ishika left Anaya asked him,
"Dinner at 8 Mr. Obodro?"
"Taking me on a date, Lily?" It felt so good to hear calling him Lily again.
"Whatever thought pleases you..." Anaya said with corner of her mouth twitching up.
"How can I deny you?" Ayaan replied with an innocent smile.

Fourth attempt: SUCCESSFUL

At 7:30 pm:
Ayaan was supposed to pick her up at 7:30 and as always he was so punctual. But Anaya has adopted his habits by now. She wore a black bodycon dress that ran below her knees with a delicate silver pendant of heart shape.

How does she manage to make me stunned everytime. No matter how many times I see her, she always looked so charming, prepossesing, spellbinding and so heavenly Ayaan thought in his mind.

"Atleast close your mouth, you are making it too obvious that you find me good-looking"
Ayaan closed his mouth and blushed. Men in love are so adorable, aren't they? Especially when they blush, when the are shied.
"Let's go, shall we?"
"Sure, just a second." Ayaan closed the gap between the two and she can feel his breath on her shoulders. He took his arms around her head and opened her hair which were tied into a bun and whispered delicately in her ear, "khule hi acche lagte hai." It was Anaya who was blushing now.
"Tring to imitate SRK from K3G?"
"If you agree to be my Kajol, then why not?"

At the dinner table:
The cozy atmosphere and soft music lightened their moods. The calm atmosphere and dim lights was relaxing.

"You were so adamant and rude and difficult to convince." Anaya sighed.
"Though I was 'trying' to be upset with you, you made my heart tingle everyday. Everytime when you came in front of me, ignoring you became as impossible as shaking the Mount Everest with my little finger. I wasn't irritatedwith you, but with myself since I didn'tknew what to do."
Anaya was speechless. She didn't knew how to respond him, so he continued "When you bought butter pecan flavored cake since you knew it was my favourite, when you brought hyacinth bouquet for me since you knew that I know what each flower symbolizes, and hyacinth symbolizes apology, constancy, regret and sincerity and when you brought that cute little teddy, I cannot stop myself from being melted. I feared for a second that I would lose you when you went without me to the office. And I finally gave up when you sang that song, since again, you knew that I love retro songs."
Anaya held Ayaan's hand and gave a small smile.

How minutely they paid attention to each other. In such a small time, they knew each other's likes and dislikes and habits and routine. Loveable.

Hey readers, I hope you liked today's chapter. The great mystery is going to unwind sooner, maybe in the next chapter or after one or two. Stay tuned!