Not You

Chapter 21

The house was generally clean. Mads and Aditi liked the house to be in order. Today however, they had gone all out. Rather, Mads had gone all out. The furniture had a gleam-like quality to them. There were fresh flowers in the sole vase they had on the dining table. The table had a pristine white table cloth that only came out for such occasions. Their fridge was magnetless and scrubbed to an inch of its life. The windows were wide open with lovely transparent, red curtains floating prettily with the wind.

Aditi brought Kajal and Vikramaditya inside the house and she had a hard time digesting how Mads had transformed the house. They had had a few house parties before but this was a whole new level altogether. Kajal found her voice before Aditi could and said, "Uh Aditi, your house is beautiful!"

Vikramaditya pointed at the fridge in the dining hall and said, "Your fridge looks as if it's still standing in the showroom...in its packaging."

Aditi and Kajal burst out laughing at that as Madhura rushed out of her room looking even prettier than their house. She gave each one of them a hug and asked, "I hope everything is okay." She looked around the house uncertainly and asked, "What are you all laughing about?"

Aditi shook her head and said, "Nothing. The house looks...fantastic."

Mads smiled with relief and said to Kajal and Vikramaditya, "Can I get you guys anything? I made mojitos!"

Aditi set her bag gingerly next to her now folded sofa bed and walked over to the kitchen. She glanced at the counters that were covered with dishes of varying sizes and shapes. She picked up one of the lids and peaked inside.

Plump, round aloo corn cutlets were staring back at her.

Oh dear...

She took a great, big whiff and sighed dreamily. She then set the lid down and spotted a casserole dish. She reached out and plucked open the top to find golden Puran Polis stacked neatly. She squealed softly and unable to resist, tore a small piece of the sweet on top and closed her eyes as she savoured the morsel.

"Desserts are meant for the end of the meal, Turtle."

She bawked and jumped up in shock. She turned around and spotted Adi leaning against the doorframe, arms folded across his chest, smile playing on his lips as he had caught her red-handed. He was wearing a navy blue t-shirt today with jeans. No black.

She huffed and plucked another piece of her favourite sweet dish and stuffed it in her mouth. She made a playful face and said, "Mmmmmmmm....what are you gonna do about it, stalker boy?"

He rolled his eyes and said, "I went to the bathroom, skittish girl . Coming back to my own kitchen hardly constitutes as stalking."

Aditi scoffed, "Ha! This is my kitchen last time I checked!"

Adi took a step closer to her and asked with his eyebrows raised, "And when was the last time you cooked here?"

Aditi pursed her lips and tried to glare. The effect got ruined as she reached out for another piece of the puran poli. Adi noticed the move and threw his head back and laughed. Watching him laugh made her smile. She took another bite as he said, "You're welcome, by the way."

"For what?"

He pointed at the folded sweet in her hand. She looked down at the piece and back at him, wondering what to say. Then her eyes brightened as she thought of an idea. She quickly wiped her hands on a kitchen towel, crossed over to the other counter and bent down to open a cabinet. She pulled something out right as he asked, "What are you doing?"

She shut the cupboard and got up to say, "I know how to show my appreciation for fine cooking."

He looked at her with a curious light in his eyes as he said, "Now this I've got to see."

With that, she unfolded Mads' "World's Best Chef" apron and closed the distance between them. Before he knew what was happening, she raised her hands and put the strap of the apron over his head and around his neck. He unfolded his arms and for once, had nothing to say. He was looking down at her face which was suddenly close to his.

Aditi thought this was a great idea to begin with. Yet here she was, standing close to Adi as he looked down at her. He seemed to be searching her eyes for some sort of answer. In order to distract herself from that gaze, she looked down at the apron and picked up the waist straps. Then thoughtlessly, she leaned in and shakily tied a knot around his waist. If she didn't know any better, she'd say she was hugging him. Ah who was she kidding? She was hugging him! That's not what she had intended to do. How did she manage to put herself in these situations? And why on earth did her heart have to start thudding in her ears like that every time she was around this guy? He was her best friend's brother! Her flatmate's sibling! He was...Adi...

He slowly put his hands on her arms. She noticed that he wasn't pulling back. She hesitantly pulled back a bit and looked up at him. Before she could say anything, the doorbell rang loudly causing her to hurriedly retract her arms away from him.

She said, "That must be Kunal. I'll just..." With that, she tried to get out of the kitchen. He nodded and stepped away from her.

Mads opened the door and asked politely, "Yes?"

Aditi neared the door and frowned wondering who it could be, if not Kunal. Then she heard a familiar voice say, "Hi! Is Aditi around?"

Mads nodded and said, "Oh you're Aditi's friend. Please come in. I'm Madhura, Aditi's flatmate."

He stepped in and the first thing Aditi noticed were the flowers in his hands. Lilies. She then looked up at his face. 

Chaos began to reign in her head.

He smiled, held out a hand for Madhura to shake and said, "Pleased to meet you, Madhura. I'm Purab. I was actually here to pick up Aditi."

Mads looked at Aditi questioningly. Aditi looked at Purab and she felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. She had completely forgotten.

She took a step forward and said, "Purab! I'm so sorry. I forgot it was Saturday. My roommate is having a dinner party today."

He handed her the flowers and said, "Oh. These are for you by the way." Then he looked at Mads and smiled to say, "Oh you mean the talented chefs are at work today?"

Aditi nodded and looked at Mads guiltily who cut in to say, "Purab, please stay for dinner. I'd really love that."

Purab amiably smiled again to say, "Thank you. I'd love that too." Then he looked at Aditi to say, "Don't worry about the date. Homemade food beats restaurant food any day."

Just then, she heard a voice call out, "Date?"

She closed her eyes and froze. As she opened them, she saw Purab look up and see Adi stand at the entrance of the kitchen. Purab called out in a charming manner, "And you must be the talented brother I've heard about."

Adi blinked and stood still for a moment. He then stuck his hand out for Purab to shake and said, "I'm Madhura's brother, Aditya."

Purab replied pleasantly, "Purab. I'm Aditi's...well date for the evening."

Author'sNote: LOLI know you guys were expecting that! And it has finally happened. :P Okay sofirst things first! Did you guys enjoy the content heavy chapters? I've beenworking on them all week. I hope they turned out at least half way decent.Also, plentiful surprises no? I can't wait to hear your thoughts on all threechapters! Also, looking forward to the next chapter? I know I am. I wanted toput in the 22nd chapter along with these 3 but I don't think I couldhave waited that long. Anyway, gotta go now. Seeya soon! - S