Harsh And Divine

Chapter 18

"Hello, Vidhushi!" Advith spoke immediately as he answered the call. Initially, as he heard his phone ring, he thought it was a work call. And it was very rare that his PA would call so late. Nonetheless, he looked at the caller-id and double checked if it was really flashing the name 'Vidhushi'. 

"Advith." She answered, lowly.

At exactly that moment, her mother re-entered her room to get the phone charger when she heard her daughter speak the boy's name. She smiled at her daughter knowingly and Vidhushi couldn't turn redder. She was thankful that her mother left before seeing her tomato cheeks.

"I...called you several times to...I am so sorry, Vidhushi. What I did was completely unacceptable. I sincerely apologise." He said. 

"It's okay, Advith. I didn't pick your call because I was...busy." She lied.

 "Don't lie to me. I know you purposely didn't pick my call because you were angry at me." He said.

Vidhushi sighed. How could she explain herself? 

"It's not like that. I was more confused as to what to talk about. I didn't know how to react so...I am sorry I ran away like that. I hope your parents didn't mind." She indirectly apologised.

"No. I told them that you had to leave early." He said, liking the fact that she was not ignorant of his parents.

Vidhushi hummed in response.

"Why didn't you come to the lab in the past three days?" He asked.

"You really want the answer!" She chuckled.

"I wanted to hear it from you." He said as he laid on his bed.

"Okay, then. I couldn't face you." She answered.

"Why were you reluctant to face me when clearly I was the one who committed the mistake?" He asked.

"Because...I don't know. I thought you would come to the lab and then I'd have nowhere to hide." She confessed.

"Well, I know where you live. I could have come to your house too." He said.

"You wouldn't do that. That would be...creepy." She chuckled. 

Before calling him, she had thought that it would be super uncomfortable to talk to him after what happened. But, here, she was talking as if nothing happened and as if they were very good friends. That's how comfortable she felt around him. 

They talked about this and that, mostly teasing each other, and discussing each other's work.

By the time she put back her phone after their conversation was done, she couldn't believe the time. She had talked with him for approximately one hour and she didn't even feel the time passing by. She smiled to herself and switched off the lights and slept. 

But sleep was nowhere to be found.

She replayed their conversation in her mind and wondered if she made a fool of herself in front of him. What if she said something that would be too cheesy or weird. She recalled how he appreciated her work and tried to understand her research topic even when everything flew over his head. 

However, the most important thing was that he tried to understand her...unlike someone who was hell-bent on halting her research work.

Thinking about Kunal, she wondered if he called or texted today. And it amazed her that he didn't bother her today. It was so not like him. He made sure to ping her every day, at least once. But, she didn't pay much attention to it.

She would be the happiest person in the world if Kunal loses interest in her and calls off the wedding himself. That would literally free her from all the worries.