Not You

Chapter 3

Blink.

She peered blearily at the alarm clock next to her head. She had a bedside table. Rather a sofa side table. But it was never used for the alarm clock. That had to be right next to her ear or else she would never wake up in time.

It was blaring "6 AM" in sharp, red letters. She closed her eyes for a minute and then eased herself into a sitting position, curling further into the blanket, lost in thought about breakfast.

"You know...you look like Cousin Itt from the Addams family."

She sharply looked up and pushed away the hair from her face. Mads' annoying older brother seemed to have made himself rather comfortable on the single couch next to her sofa/bed. Legs swung over the handles of the couch, he was holding onto a bowl and was munching on something.

She bellowed, "Madhura!"

He chuckled at her irritation and said, "She went for a shower. No need to bring the house down."

She narrowed her eyes at his sarcasm and asked, "What are you doing here? This is my room."

He looked around the room and said, "It's the hall. Where am I supposed to go? Besides, this room has the TV."

She pursed her lips and questioned, "Brilliant. Would you like to sit on my bed instead and make yourself more comfortable to watch the morning news?"

He swung his legs off the sofa and walked over to her. Before she could say anything, he sat down easily opposite her and said, "Don't mind if I do."

She shook her head and slid off the bed. She marched up to the bathroom and rapped her knuckles on the door to say, "Madhura! Would you please get out fast? I have an early day at work today."

From the other side of the door, Mads yelled back, "You got back late last night! It's 6 am. How can you already be late for work?"

Aditi grumbled and said, "Because there is work to do. Now hurry up."

She walked back to her sofa and saw Aditya relaxing and flicking channels on the TV. She peered into the bowl in his hand and made a face. He looked up at her at the exact same second and asked, "And what are you so thrilled about?"

"What on earth are you eating?"

He looked down at the bowl innocently and looked back at her. She almost let out a smile at the surprisingly normal gesture. Almost. But not quite.

"Oats."

She made another face and looked away. He smirked and asked, "What does Princess Ninja Turtle eat?"

She picked up her blanket and began to fold it. She tucked the fold under her chin and replied, "Not oats."

Before he could come with a fancy retort, Mads walked out of her room and said, "Adi, I need a favour from you today."

They both looked at her questioningly. Mads groaned and said, "Ugh...we need to come up with a system."

Aditya quickly said, "I'm clearly Adi as I came before this person here."

Aditi scowled at him and said, "This person came to this house before you. So this person will be Adi."

Mads interrupted, "Shush! What is wrong with you two? You barely know each other and you're already at each other's throats. Anyway, Aditi! I meant you."

Aditi wiggled her eyebrows triumphantly at him and said, "Ha! Yes Mads. What can I do for you?"

"Can you drop my brother off at the station before yours? He's not familiar with the local network."

Aditi widened her eyes. Aditya guffawed from the couch and Mads hit him on the shoulder to shut him up.

An hour with this guy? She'd spent thirty minutes with him and he was already getting on her nerves. She tried to make up an excuse, "Oh...uh I need to get to work in an hour. Won't that be too early for...whatever he needs to do?"

Placing a hand on his chest in a mocking gesture, he said, "Ah your concern for my schedule is touching. I shall manage perfectly well if you help me with the commute."

She looked down at him and asked drily, "Would you be able to handle the pleasure of my company?"

He got up and leaned closer to her, peering into her eyes. With a half-smile, he answered, "On the contrary, I look forward to it."

Author's Note: Hi guys! I'm sorry for updating this chapter so late! Certain things have been happening so I've been kinda busy. We're back on schedule now. I've totally been missing these two so I had to come back. :) Hope you guys enjoyed the first to chapters. Here's Chapter 3. Lemme know what you think about it, yeah? Many thanks! – S.