The Wrong Number

37

"Oh my god, this feels like heaven," Alankrita breathed, shutting her eyes and sinking into the velvety soft seat of the plush massage chair. It buzzed gently, soothing Alankrita's nerves, alleviating the dull ache in the muscles in her back and sending ripples of relaxation through her body. She sighed and stretched, emitting a long yawn. After a lot of debating, they had decided to finish up their project at Ruhan's house.

"Why do we have to go to my house? Can't we finish it in your house? We started it there, right?" Ruhan had asked when she first proposed the idea. Alankrita had put her foot down. "No way. My father's just come back from visiting my brother and he's got the rest of the week off work," she had frowned and said in a serious tone, "I saw how well your meeting with my mother went- let's save meeting my father for later."

He had found the fact that she didn't want him over for an entire week quite problematic, not just because he'd grown used to her hyper-active pets and weird scented candles and Miss Trunchbull tendencies when it came to school work, but because their project was due that upcoming Thursday with the written test on the day after that, and he was beginning to feel a little skittish about it. Thus, he'd allowed her to come to his house, choosing a time when his father was out of the country and his mother was attending some kitty party.

That left the house to himself.Of course he was a little nervous about the fact that he was home alone and having a girl over- what if she thought he had some ulterior motives?

All his nervousness drained away five minutes after Alankrita arrived at his house, and as he gave her a guided tour of every nook and cranny of his house-which she insisted upon calling a 'mansion'- he wondered if she'd come over to help him revise for the test or to see what the house of the music director Bhargav Das looked like.A long half hour later, he decided to show her what he called 'the best part of the house' and led her down the stairs to the basement.

"I think our definitions of 'the best room in the house' are quite different," Alankrita had said when she'd followed him down the stairs into a dark room, "I usually associate basements with cobwebs and mould and creepy possessed dolls." Ruhan had chuckled and said, "Just wait," and flipped the light switch onto reveal a room that looked like it had been pulled right out of an issue of Elle Décor magazine.

Alankrita hummed as she sunk lower into the chair till her chin hit her chest. "Thiiiiis cannnn stooopp waaaarrrrss," she said, her voice shaking with the rhythm of the vibration. When a few minutes passed in silence, she opened one eye to see what Ruhan was doing. She didn't see him and sat up, looking around the basement in search for him. "Ruhan?" she called, and the answer came from the stairs leading to the first floor of the house. "Yeah, yeah, I'm coming."

"Where did you go?"

"I got hungry," he said, his feet thumping down the stairs, "I put some Maggi on the stove." He bounded towards Alankrita, grinning. "We can have some as a reward for finishing early."

Alankrita made a face and said, "It's okay, you can have my share, I don't really like Maggi much."

Ruhan made a noise like a dying whale and threw his head back. "NO, YOU STOP IT," he yelled at the ceiling, making her jump in her seat.He set a hand on his hip and waggled an angry finger in front of her face, saying, "I spent an entire month working my ass off because you told me to. Half my textbook is covered with equations because that is how much effort I've put into this project. Now you are going to eat your bloody two minute noodles without complaining, young lady."

Alankrita stared at him walk to the foot of the stairs, his hand still on his hip, before allowing herself a giggle. He tutted at her and she lost it, laughing so hard she slid off her chair.