Hues Of Dusk

Chapter 74. Who cares

"Rajeev!"

"Kid!"

"I am back!" I yelled and ran towards him. I jumped in his open arms, and he engulfed me in a tight hug.

"Missed you, kid." He rubbed my back.

"I missed you too." I clutched him like a baby monkey.

"Wow, what an emotional scene. I am in tears," Dhruv mocked as he wiped an invisible tear from his right eye.

Rajeev and I ignored him. "How was your trip?" My adoptive father asked as we sat down on a bench in his gym.

"It was fucking awesome!" I squealed, feeling really good to openly use curse words.

"Looks like someone had too much fun," Dhruv commented as he picked up a dumbbell and showed off his biceps.

"Did Mayank take good care of you?" Rajeev asked.

"Yes, 'Mom' was really great," I replied and started laughing at the embarrassed expression on Rajeev's face.

"I really need to beat some sense into that guy. He doesn't know what he is saying half of the time." He shook his head.

"Must be because of hanging around her," Dhruv said while pointing a finger at me. "She is weird."

What the hell was his problem with me? It hadn't been even a minute since I came and he was already complaining.

"Don't you have any other work to do?" Rajeev scolded him.

Dhruv put the dumbbell he was practicing with back on the shelf and walked towards Rajeev's cabin. I stuck out my tongue at him, and he rolled his eyes at me in annoyance.

"So, tell me what you did," Rajeev said.

I told him everything about the trip and how I got in a fight with Mahek and Farha. He pursed his lips at that, but when I told him about what happened, he let me off the hook. I made sure not to slip out my crush on Priyaank in the process-it would have been disastrous.

Rajeev was smiling from ear to ear when I informed him that Ved helped me to reach the resort when I had missed my bus.

"Looks like you both are getting along." He smiled.

"Maybe..." I averted my eyes and looked at other things.

"'Maybe' also sounds good," he stated. "Is there anything else?"

I tried to remember hard, and suddenly, Karthik's pale blue face flashed in front of my eyes. "Oh, I forgot. Karthik almost died." I widened my eyes as I told Rajeev.

"What? Is he okay now?" he asked in concern.

"Yes, don't worry, he is alive. I saved him from drowning." I grinned.

"I am proud of you." He patted my back loudly and announced in the gym that I saved a life.

Everyone started clapping in appreciation, and I felt embarrassed. Rajeev threw a genuine smile at me, and I thanked the others for complimenting me. Surprisingly, Rajeev didn't ask about how Karthik drowned in the first place; maybe he was already aware about Karthik's situation.

"Hungry?" Rajeev asked.

"Always." I gave him a toothy grin.

"What would you like to eat?" he questioned and took out his phone from his pocket.

He typed on his phone as I listed out all the items I wanted in my stomach, and when I was done, he took out a credit card from his wallet. Soon, after a few seconds of him doing that, Dhruv came out of his cabin and took the card from him.