It was relatively silent at the breakfast table the next day. It was slowly becoming increasingly hard for the both of them to face each other, especially after what had transpired between them the previous night. They were struggling hard to ensure their eyes don't meet. As usual, they sat spying on the couple opposite them, via their wall screen. Just then, Avni received a call from Sunehri and she walked out from there to the balcony to receive it. "Hello Avni. How are you doing? Seems like the handsome hunk in your house has managed to grab all your attention. You hardly remember I exist, don't you?" said Sunehri teasingly. "Hiiiee Su. I am doing fine. And I hope you are too, my dear friend. I am extremely sorry Su. I just got busy with so much happening, that it completely slipped my mind. And the h..hunk..Well, he is there.." she said smiling with a hint of blush, lowering her volume when the conversation came to him. "Is he troubling you too much? Just tell me Avvu. I shall come straight to your house right away and take care of him." she said in a threatening tone. "No...NO..Su. He is taking very good care of me. In fact, he is a real gentleman. And I respect him a lot" said Avni smiling. "Ahaan..Just a few days ago you had called him arrogant and an irritating idiot. Avni is it possible that maybe you aren't a lot, but a little in love with the man?" asked Sunehri surprised at Avni praising the guy. "Su will you stop it now? Nothing of the sort. Stop teasing me!" complained Avni feigning denial. While she continued conversing with Sunehri, Neil was intently listening to the conversation between Vidyut and Juhi. "There's a new secretary at the office. I have hired her recently to help me manage my schedule and meetings." stated Vidyut. Almost instantly, Juhi's face changed color. Neil could notice that there was a slight insecurity brimming from Juhi's facial expressions. To him it seemed like she probably was not entirely thrilled with the idea of a female employee being around Vidyut all the time. "Why do these secretaries always have to be girls? By the way is she hot?" asked Juhi in an annoyed tone. "Hot? No...She is super-hot!" replied Vidyut to tease her. In return he received an angry glare from her. "Super-hot my foot!" she said rolling her eyes. "Hahahaha. My dearest darling jealous wife. You mean the world to me and no one can take your place. In my eyes, it's only you who will always remain as the most beautiful and the hottest woman I have ever known. I love you way too much." said Vidyut hugging her tightly, as he gently pecked her forehead. "I love you too" she replied blushing hugging him back. 'Mr. Vidyut. Juhi unknowingly made it easy for me to plan my first move against you. Now just wait and watch how your secretary will dance to my tunes.', thought Neil to himself smirking. He decided to follow Vidyut up to his office to find about his secretary. On the other hand, Avni who had wrapped up her conversation with Sunehri walked in. When she entered inside, she couldn't spot Neil. 'Maybe he left on some work. Good riddance!' she thought to herself.

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Vidyut drove towards Alexa Corp completely oblivious of the fact that Neil was tailgating him. Neil entered the lobby of the industrial complex. He could spot Vidyut entering the office. However, there was no way for him to get inside as he wasn't exactly an employee working there. He decided to stay back and have a closer look on Vidyut. Eventually he would have to come out at some point of time along with his secretary. And that was just the opportunity he needed. He had to somehow make sure he got a glimpse of his secretary so that he could carry out his next plan of action. Neil sat there patiently waiting for the duo to turn up. It was almost lunch time, when he suddenly observed that the main door opening. He immediately hid behind a pillar and watched Vidyut walk out. Walking behind him, was a young girl who seemed to be in her early twenties. They sat in the lobby, and he continued to give her some instructions. Neil was struggling hard to eavesdrop on their conversation in order to find out if she was indeed his secretary. Though it mostly likely seemed like she was the one, but he had to be sure. Vidyut wound up the conversation with the young girl and headed out, while she turned and retraced her steps back towards the office. Neil knew that this was his best chance. He followed her and stopped by the receptionist's desk at the entrance. He saw the girl walk towards her cabin. "Hi. I wanted to meet Mr. Vidyut regarding a project proposal. Could you please point me to his secretary, so that I can schedule an appointment with her to meet with him?" inquired Neil to the lady at the reception. She pointed towards the young girl's cabin and said, "The cabin that you can see straight up ahead onto your right is where Mr. Vidyut's secretary sits. Her name is Shanaya. You can check with her." Neil smiled being content that he got the confirmation that he was looking for. Indeed, she was the one. He muttered a thanks to the receptionist. Now that his work was done, he rushed out of the office hurriedly as he didn't want to risk getting spotted by Vidyut accidentally.

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Meanwhile, Avni who was at home, was contemplating about her next move. She was already aware of the conversation between the couple, and knew exactly what she needed to work on so as to create a rift between them. She had to somehow dig up the information pertaining to Juhi's parents. She decided to rummage through Neil's luggage in an attempt to find any clues. She felt guilty for a bit, that she was digging through a stranger's bag but she had no other alternative. She was desperate for some information. To her dismay, she could hardly find anything that would be of use to her. She continued to ransack his backpack continuously to see if she could find anything, but it seemed like Neil had left no signs/hints about Juhi's family or her whereabouts back home. Disappointed that her search had yielded no results, she seated herself on the couch thinking deeply as to how she could get any details about Juhi's family. Would Neil help her? Was he approachable? She wondered if she could confront him directly about the matter. At the same time, she just couldn't stop recollecting the previous night's encounter between them. It was so difficult to face him after that. She had a lot of questions, but no answers! She finally made up her mind to confront him once he was home. However, as a last resort, she decided to search thoroughly through his section of the cupboard. She couldn't find much. Suddenly, her eyes fell on a lime-green suit which was neatly wrapped and placed in a transparent bag. She pulled the bag out in curiosity, and zipped it open to have a look at the dress. Just beside it lay a small velvet box. She opened it to find a set of accessories to perfectly match with the dress. It was a beautiful lime-green lehenga with some beautiful intricate design on it. Her face lit up in a smile on seeing the dress. A small desire to wear it arose in her. 'This dress is so pretty. I just can't resist not trying it on. Anyhow Neil is not here right now. I shall wear it and slip it back inside before he gets back home. He will never get to know.' she thought to herself, and wore the dress. It fit her perfectly, as though it was tailormade for her, accentuating her curves at all the right places. She spotted a small velvet box beside the dress. On picking it up, she found a pair of earrings and bangles that matched the dress. She wore the earring. "Not bad Mr. Neil. Your taste in clothes is classy.", she said looking at herself in the mirror as she twirled around. As she was busy admiring the dress, suddenly she heard a roar of thunder. It immediately struck her that her clothes were on the terrace and she had to get them inside before they got wet. She rushed towards the terrace to grab her clothes. When she reached there, her eyes fell on Vidyut, who was now steeping out of his car and entering his house. She stood transfixed at that spot, as a wave of nostalgia hit her. She stood recollecting some of her precious memories spent with Vidyut and forgot all about the rain wetting her clothes.

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Neil reached home almost around the same time. On seeing the skies turning grey, and hearing the roar of thunder, he ran straight up the terrace to fetch his clothes. As soon as he reached on top, his gaze fell on Avni who was wearing the lime-green lehenga. He was mesmerized by her ethereal beauty. She looked simple yet so elegant and beautiful. As he continued to look at her intently, his mind went reeling back to thoughts of Juhi. He had purchased this lehenga just a few days prior to the wedding. He wanted to give it to her on their special night together. 'She would look like a divine goddess', he had fantasized every single day since he had brought the dress. His mind was preoccupied with Juhi's thoughts, but he slowly started advancing towards Avni assuming her to be Juhi. Her back was facing him, while she was lost in her own daydream. He softly hugged her from behind, gently clasping his hands in hers. In response, she held onto his hands tight, misconstruing it to be Vidyut, as she was lost in Vidyut's thoughts. Neil rested his chin on her shoulder, as his light stubble gently pricked her soft delicate skin. She gasped softly, goosebumps erupting on her skin, as she could feel his hot breath on her neck. Within no time, tiny droplets of water made its way downwards wetting the two of them. As the intensity of the drops became faster, the couple got lost in each other. Their fingers were interlaced intimately and softly nudged each other's at regular intervals. His lips grazed her neck, making her to softly close her eyes, exploring every inch of it. She let out a low moan every time his lips touched a sensitive spot on her neck. Her breathing was slowly turning erratic as she found it difficult to bear his sweet torture. A load bolt of thunder caused her to turn immediately and engulf him in a tight embrace. Their bodies were plastered intimately. Her left hand held his back firmly while her right hand groped his hair passionately. His hands clung to her waist in a tight grip, while he continued to nuzzle her neck with his nose deeper into her neck, planting soft kisses endlessly all the way. His firm grip on her waist, coupled with the cold droplets of the rain and his warm kisses were driving her senses crazier by the minute, as she held on to him tighter if that was possible. She let out a low moan as she whispered "Vidyut" into his ears. Almost at the same time, Neil too grazed his lips over her ear as he huskily whispered, "Juhi". Another clap of thunder struck, as they instantly became aware of each other's familiar voice. A sudden realization dawned up on them, as they broke from the trance. They immediately pulled away from each other from the earlier compromising position they had been in. Their eyes met each other's only to find a horrified and shocked look, as they became aware of what had transpired between them in the last few minutes. Avni who was now breathing heavily, turned around swiftly, briskly walked away from him, running down the stairs hurriedly until she reached her room, while Neil stood there, ruffling his hands through his hair, unable to understand how he had lost control. 'What the hell did I just do? What is wrong with me? I was so zoned out that I misconstrued Avni for Juhi. I just hope she does not misunderstand me. I need to apologize to her.' He mentally scoffed. Avni on the other hand, was now lying on the bed, her head resting on her hand. She could hear her heartbeats – it was thumping rapidly. She rolled over and buried her face in the pillow. 'Something is definitely wrong with me. Have I lost it? How could I be so absent-minded that I let a stranger touch and feel me? God knows what he must be thinking about me now. I need to talk to him and apologize.', she thought to herself as she buried her face into her palms.

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Neil walked back down to reach the house. He was debating if he should approach her now. Finally, he gave in and approached her room, to find her door open. She was lying down on her bed with her face buried inside her pillow. Her dress was wet, clinging onto her curves, alluring him. He pushed aside those thoughts and decided to speak up. "Hey Avni. I am really sorry. I did not know how I...I mean when I..I just don't know how it happened. I did not mean to touch.." he said walking closer to her. His hand moved forward in an attempt to touch her shoulder, but he withdrew it back unable to gather the courage. He slowly turned to walk back to the living room. On hearing his voice, she slowly lifted her head from the pillow and turned around, only to see his retreating figure. "I am sorry Neil. I had absolute no right and business to put on this dress – it probably belonged to someone you consider special. Also, I didn't realize it was you up on the terrace. I was probably in a daze.", she spoke hesitantly, as she struggled to not meet his eyes. For a few seconds, an awkward silence prevailed between the duo. To escape from that uncomfortable situation, he resorted to yelling. "Hello Miss Avni. I had kept this dress in the cupboard along with my stuff. How did you find it? Have you been snooping around on my stuff? You are evading my personal space.", he said advancing closer to her. Avni realized that she was trapped by his words now. She had to figure a way out. She possibly couldn't tell him that she was ransacking his stuff to dig information about Juhi. She didn't know how he would react. "No way. Are you out of your mind? I was running out of space to keep a few of my items, so I was just looking to see if there's some extra space in yours. Since we are flat-mates, I figured that wouldn't be such a big issue with you.", she said fumbling. "Fine. Whatever! I need that dress back." said an annoyed Neil and marched away from there immediately, realizing that the longer he stood there facing her, the longer he had to see her wet figure, which was tormenting his insides. "Oh Hello, Mr. Neil. Don't you worry. I shall return it back to you as it was in its original condition.", she yelled behind him. 

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Hello everybody 😊 back with another update. Hope you enjoy it.😘 Do drop in your comments about what you liked or didn't like. Would love to hear some feedback😊