Prachi gave RK a questioning look.

RK was trusting her to spy on someone?

"There's this person-" He continued. "-I really wanna know something about. I really wanna know where she gets all the audacity and guts from. The insolence. That she shows me every time by defying everything I say."

Yep, that made much more sense.

"I'm not here to defy any of your orders, Sir." Prachi replied as she got the implication of his words. "As it is, I'm not bound to obey them anymore."

"You're not bound to wag your tail behind me anymore too." RK gritted his teeth. As if her presence alone wasn't enough to kill his peace, she dares to reply everytime too.

"Too loyal a breed?" He mocked her.

"Too responsible a human." Prachi retorted immediately. "Not my fault if breeds come to you first. People tend to favour their kinds, anyways."

"Is that, Miss Equal? Is that why you favour still wagging your tail behind me no matter how much I humiliate you? Don't wanna betray your kind, I see."

"Not my concern who you associate 'responsibility' with. I happen to associate it with, I don't know, humans?" Prachi cocked her brow at the last word in mock surprise.

RK let out a fabricated bitter chuckle at that. 

"Human? Responsibility? And you? All combined? So, finally you accept you're no match to RK, Miss So Called Equal." Said he as she continued to look at him with an unaffected gaze. 

"Like I had said, I am not human." He repeated his words from their conversation the previous night. "I am not human, in every sense the word stands for. So, stop trying to indulge with me every second of your irrational existence." 

He took a step closer to her, his drenched face even nearer to her fierce gaze, before her spoke next.

"Stay. Away. From. Me. The sooner you get it through your thick, good-for-nothing head, the better." RK almost hissed with a menacing tone. And with the limited distance they shared, Prachi could almost feel, as well as hear his breaths with each word. 

"And if I don't?" Prachi interrogated, eyes locked with his. "Can the irresponsible, inhuman RK not even tolerate a responsible woman he had hired himself in his own fit of rage to prove some nonexistent superiority?" RK's fists tightened as he heard her words of derision. 

"Do I really need to help you even with tolerating me? Let me tell you, then. We're still equals. Don't worry. I've no more interest in watching your face every minute of my life than you do."

"That's good." RK replied without missing a beat. "That's really good you don't. Good for you. Cuz you certainly won't be able to help yourself  in saving you if you cross my paths."

"Let me help you this time." RK stated after a pause. 

And without another word, he started stepping backwards, eyes still lingering on hers. Moving out of the white, clear umbrella she had been holding over their heads, RK once again stepped out into the rain, and the droplets continued to drench his already wet self once again.

"Leave." 

---

Huh.
Aryan sighed for the fourth time. Yes, he was counting.

Why was he always the one to be caught in traffic jams?  

He checked his watch again. 7:45 am. Then checked his phone lying on the passenger seat next to him. Still nothing from home. RK was late today. More than he ever was. Well, he never was late. But today somehow he had still been sleeping while Aryan was ready to leave for work. And so, he did not disturb him after the hectic schedule the office had had the day before.

He checked the traffic lights for the eighth time in the last ten minutes. And they still looked back at him with a huge, red glow on them. He sighed again.

At least the downpour last night had left a cold, comfortable breeze and a pleasant smell of freshness behind it, unlike the pollution all around that had trapped him the last time he was caught in a similar situation. In any case, being stuck up in a traffic jam in the centre of what seemed like half of the city's vehicles - noisy vehicles - was never fun.

Frowning, he sat behind the steering wheel with his head placed on his fist and his elbow resting on the open window of the car door, when something to his left suddenly caught his attention. 

 He narrowed his eyes to concentrate and have a clear view of the area, when the recognition of the familiar figure dawned on him. 

Seriously?

What was she doing here? Near him, again?

The same woman with thick spectacles he remembered from the interview, and then from the cafe the day before could be seen before him again - without the thick spectacles, again. 

However, this time around, there was no microphone with her. Neither had she tied an apron around her waist. Rather, could be seen walking aimlessly through the limited space between the packed vehicles. With seemingly no particular destination, she walked into the crowded street, going back and forth within the same area, with something in her hand. No, it was not a camera too. 

She was holding...flowers this time. 

Aryan furrowed his brows as he watched her walk around two motorbikes and stop near a car. She then knocked on the glass window and waited with a smile as the glass was rolled down. After which, she said something to the driver, showing him the objects in her hand, before he handed her some money, and she gave him some of her flowers in return.

It then registered in his mind. 

She was selling flowers here? On the street?  Wasn't she a journalist? Or probably 'working' in a cafe yesterday? Or, wait. She was selling flowers on the street where he was stuck in?  Near him, again? Wasn't that too much of a coincidence? 

Was she following him here too? 

The unexpected, loud honking of the car behind him suddenly pulled him out of his little investigation. Aryan sat there, dumbfounded, for a second, before turning to the car behind him. The driver - seemingly an impatient middle-aged man - signalled towards something and urged him to move forward with his hand and an angry look. Aryan followed his instructions to look at the now bright , green light staring at him in his face, a wide blank space ahead of him on the road, and a long line of vehicles behind him.

"Sh*t." He muttered, pressing the accelerator as the car zoomed away instantly. 

---

As soon as he lifted his lids, his eyes got blinded by the bright rays of the sun illuminating the room. Scowling, he closed them again, reflexively bringing his palm over his face to block the golden streaks.

The warmth of the soft cushions around him tried to lure him back to the comfort they provided. And he snuggled more into them, the pacifying feeling of relaxation taking over him all over again.

However, something in his head bothered him and prevented him from falling back into the arms of comfort. Still in a subconscious state, he realised his head felt a bit heavy. As he slipped more into consciousness, he gradually realised his nose and the upper part of his face felt not too well, kind of tightened, or maybe even blocked, he would say. He frowned at the realisation, his lips involuntarily parting a little on their own to let him have a better intake of air. As he did so, his throat suddenly began to feel discomforted.

Irritated by the unusual details disturbing him, RK got up from his bed, trying to clear his throat a couple of times. As he sat up on his bed, he placed at the back of his neck, stretching it sideways. The familiar view of his room came before him. His half opened eyes swept across the large room, before landing on a large object hanging on the wall just before him.

08:55 am.

The clock said.

The moment his mind registered the time, RK's eyes opened completely on their own, staring at the clock with disbelief.

How was he so late?

As he was about to turn to the table beside him to look for his cellphone, something unfamiliar came into his sight.

A glass was held out towards him, right before his face, a lean hand holding it from beside him. Following the trail of the long, brown sleeve of the jacket worn by the person, RK looked up, only to find the one insolent woman he had ever met in his life - Prachi Arora - standing near his bed with the glass of water in her hands, forwarding the same to him with her eyes looking ahead in the most uncaring of ways, never bothering to meet his.

It was only when she felt no movement from the person before him that she turned to look at him with the glass still in her hand. RK stared back at her with what could she point as one of his signature style with looks - anger.

Well, here we go again.

Prachi was almost waiting to hear something rude and loud from him, when instead he chose something else for an action.

RK suddenly threw the covers above him aside, holding Prachi's wrist - the one that held the glass - as he did so, and stepping out of his bed onto the floor concurrently.

As he caught a grasp on her hand tightly, the glass she held beneath her fingers slipped due to the force, and shattered on the ground beneath them. Just at the same time, RK walked towards Prachi, raising her hand that he held into the air, while she walked backwards with the force until her back collided with the wall behind her.

With their eyes locked all the time, RK pinned her wrist to the wall, beside her head, glaring daggers at the woman standing before him and looking at him with the most casual of her expressions.

"How dare you enter my room?!" He interrogated, looking down at her with rage for her eye level was lower than his. She being stuck to the wall, and he almost to her.

Prachi gave an entirely different reaction than he had expected. Not an apology, not fear, not nervousness, heck, not even another insolent reply.

Instead, all she did was scrunch her brows a bit, then looked at him from top to bottom to top. Before uttering in her sweet voice and cold tone the words that blanked his mind for a second.

"You're hot."

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Author's Note -

Okay, I know it's short (maybe), but quicker this time at least! :)

Did I do justice to your excitement about the "spying" part?
I don't think so 🙈
Lol. Sorry!

Ahem, ahem, looks like someone's finding someone #hot ;)

So, onto the regular questions, what was your favourite dialogue from today? ;) 

How is the story going so far? :)

Any suggestions?

Would love to know your thoughts about the same, if you want the chapters quicker!

Not proofread.

Really hope you liked it. Waiting for your feedbacks. Constructive criticism is welcomed as well.

Thank you for reading. Lots of love to all of you :)

-Your Author