Forget-Me-Not : Bound by Secrets

Chapter Twenty Four

Chapter Twenty Four

Exactly two minutes after she'd plunked her hands down on the kitchen counter, Vidhi heard him come in.

She straightened, put on a mask of indifference and wondered if she would ever have a moment with herself. She'd escaped the hall to escape the drama, but now it was following her inside, too. She sighed.

"Hey," Abhay said, ending up standing right next to her. Not too close, but not far either. As usual, her body reacted in its own, unique way by becoming a little jumpy and sensitive at his presence, her heart beating a little erratically, making her realize that it was going to be of no use. She should stop resisting the effect he had on her-her body obviously knew it. Her mind had better accept it, too. She forced an expression of perfect calm and said, "What are you doing here?"

"Here, as in here at Geet's place, or in the kitchen?" he asked with a little smile on his face.

Her lips pressed into a thin line as she acknowledged his point. She wasn't going to be downright rude like Dia had been, but for some reason, she was still holding a grudge against him. And the reasons for that were fast becoming blurred and unclear. In order to appear calm and indifferent, she decided to do what she'd announced she'd come to do, and went to the fridge to get cold drinks.

Geet's kitchen was medium sized with an L shaped kitchen counter, old but not ancient looking kitchen appliances, smiley magnets stuck to the fridge doors, a vase filled with flowers on the window sill that constantly reminded her of Geet and all her gentleness and her love for flowers. Since it was Geet's kitchen, it was a rule that there was always something sweet in the cabinets or in the fridge, lots of space and a neat, tidy look. It was a place where she was bound to have a little alone time.

Right now, even in this clearly female territory, she was feeling entrapped.

"Both," she said over her shoulder, replying to his question as she did so.

"Well, I'm here because Ananya figured it was only fair if I came along to meet her friends since I took her to my mother's house in Pune. And I'm here, in the kitchen, because I couldn't find you in the hall," his answer was honest and to the point.

She paused without knowing that she paused. "You took Ananya to your mother's house?" she whispered.

She hadn't expected this, not by a long shot.

Not that she wasn't glad.

Or totally confused, and annoyed that her best friend didn't feel like sharing it with her.

Okay, even a little guilty for flipping out on the phone that night, but she'd had good reason.

"Yeah."

"You took her to your mother's house," she repeated, clearly finding it tough to imagine.

"Yes. Although, it's a long story."

One that Ananya hadn't yet shared with her, she remembered. Then she frowned. "Then why are you here?"

Here meaning, the kitchen of course. She thought he got that, because he repeated, "I didn't see you outside."

"I was getting cold drinks," she said firmly.

"Right," the amusement was clear in his voice. Vidhi didn't even know why she behaved like this in front of him, but she felt like she needed to make a point. Like she needed to show him that all his bad boy charm was going to have no effect on her. That unlike other women, she was immune, and also a lot smarter. She had to feel like she had him figured out and herself in control, because guys like Abhay Bakshi never went after girls like her. Never. That was an unwritten yet undeniable rule in her personal handbook. She was not going to shred it to pieces just because her body felt somehow, crazily, attracted to his.