Love, Death and Vodka | A FEATURED STORY

Chapter 45

"Tanvi?"

Tanvi jumped at Abhi's insistent voice. She was completely lost in her own thoughts and hadn't heard Abhi come in. She was sitting in the balcony -it was the same balcony that they had shared their first kiss, which felt like eons ago.

"Yeah Abhi?"

Abhi sat across from her, his tie was undone and he wasn't wearing a coat. His snow white shirt stuck to his body as if it was carved out for him and she noticed the sleeves were folded up to expose his strong forearms.

With unruly hair and tired eyes, he looked utterly beat up from a long day at work. Still, he looked gorgeous in a sultry way and as usual her eyes were drawn to his abs which she could feel from his shirt. He gave her a knowing smile but she immediately withdrew and schooled her features. His eyes grew equally serious with her change in expression.

"How was your work today Tanvi?"

It was sometime since he stopped calling her Tons and it bothered her. However, she had no guts to correct him. She let it pass as many other things. He did not remove his wedding band as promised and that was a small blessing.

"It was as usual, we are nearing our quarterly release deadlines so everything is getting a little frantic. But, nothing to worry. It's the same. Since I got a dedicated laptop after the client insisted, I can work from home as well. But client laptops are a nuisance you know. They expect us to stay around 24X7. They forget we have a life outside our work."

Abhi nodded his head in agreement, "I understand. I get the same complaint from my tech staff as well. But that's part of the job and you know you can always say NO nicely and draw ground rules on how you like to work?"

She scoffed, "Nah it never happens that way to the last leaves of the organization."

Abhi cocked his brow and asked with clueless eyes, "Last leaves of the organization? Who's that?"

"The software engineers of course, or the laborers as you put it in a more crude way. How will you know our problems, you being a c-suite executive huh? Now don't act as if you say 'ok' when your team member says NO nicely. May be the first couple of times, after that you'll easily replace him/her with a new resource who is much more fine with any kind of work you dump on them at any time of the day."

"But if you need to grow then you need to work all the time. Come in early and leave late, that's the unwritten rule."

She stuck out her tongue, Abhi chuckled and shook his head. At times, they joked and shared things like old friends and it was fine. But sometimes, the silences stretched uncomfortably and either one had to exit the place to make it more bearable. He leaned down and kissed the top of her head and she trembled. He did not often do that. He picked up her half drunken coffee, gulped it down and grimaced.

"That's cold."

"I could get you a fresh cup."

"Nah, that's fine."

She saw him grab her untouched cold sandwich and cake and finish it in two bites.

"I guess you are hungry. I'll get you something to eat."

"No I'm good. Just stay. I need to tell you something."

He had her undivided attention but could sense her wariness and internally sighed. He found her separate her time with him with thick barriers. What they shared at night or on some Sunday afternoons had nothing to do with moments like these.

She made love to him without inhibitions and communicated wordlessly to him and his needs. She was a passionate creature by nature and liked to explore it. She was ready any given minute and allowed him to do everything to her. She even allowed him to bind her and take her, trusting completely in his instincts. But outside of it, she controlled her emotions strongly and looked a little aloof. He was utterly frustrated and wanted to shake her into senses. He was tired trying to break her walls.