Tanvi begins training for the Sunday bout. This in addition to the gruelling training Abhay subjects her to. It's only her and Samrat in the gym late at night, at the end of their shifts. He watches her train. Two hundred pushups again.

She gives up at 190.

"Ugh!" She grunts lying on the mat, breathlessly. "Yeh kya ho gaya hai mujhe? Did I get weak? Was I slacking off?"

"Sometimes our body doesn't cooperate yaar!"

Samrat tells her, continuing his pushups. He's been working out alongside her to keep her company. Working out in a team is easier than solo, no?

Tanvi stares at him in disbelief. The other day too he did 100 extra to compensate for her incompetence. This morning he worked out alongside Abhay. And now... This much stamina? Is Rajiv right in his gender bias? I hate to be the weaker sex! No women aren't weaker sex!

With her thoughts racing, Tanvi gets ready to push herself again but Samrat stops her by grabbing her arm.

"Sam! I will have to do this somehow. Haath chodo!"

"Nahi, Tanz! Do you want to exhaust yourself before the bout? You are already amazing as you are. It's okay 190 pushups bhi thik hi hai!"

"Sam, let me try na!"

With a sigh, Samrat relents, sitting with his knees crossed on the mat. Tanvi collapses after fifty counts. I wanted to do a hundred. Ah, this is embarrassing, she thinks. It's good the officers aren't here, it's me and Sam.

Samrat chuckles loudly, interrupting her thoughts. She glares at him but it doesn't stop him from commenting that she's stuck in the corpse pose!

"Han. It's worse than Shavasan! I can't... move. My limbs are dead. Sam, carry me please... I want to go back to my room and sleep to be alive again!"

Samrat chuckles again. Scooting closer to her he pokes her cheek. "Baith jao! Pehle electrolyte drink piyo. I got them for us. Aur mujhe lagta hai, you need to eat a bit more than what you're eating. Thoda aur protein."

"You think? Sam, you know I already eat too much! Ugh! I can't get up! But seriously tumne 300 kaise kiya?"

"Because I can, silly..."

"Oh, Sam..." Tanvi sighs, holding her forehead. She downs the electrolyte drink Samrat offers but it doesn't make her feel better. "I really can't move. Maybe ek ghante ke baad I can?"

Samrat wordlessly lifts her in his arms. "Apne room mei araam karo, okay? You'll be fine. Itna push kyu kar rahi thi khud ko?"

"Ahhh, Sam! I will walk somehow..." Tanvi's response comes slow, with her brain short circuiting the moment he gathered her into his arms.

"Nope, I will carry you to your apartment."

Samrat carries her to the apartment as he said. All the while recounting the positive sides that are there to her.

"You lack physical strength a bit but the other areas can make up for it. Hai na? Why are you so obsessed with physical strength? Bodybuilder banna hai kya, jhalli? You are already good enough as you are!"

Tanvi looks at Samrat. Her arms are around his neck. His eyes are ahead on the path they are taking. Around them, she finds some of the officers and staff looking at this display they are creating.

Yep, a guy carrying a girl is always a scene of interest. She'd be embarrassed earlier and feel foolish for making that desperate request but now she's too focused on Samrat to feel that. Sam... you do these things for me. You see the positives in me. Why can't you do the same for yourself? she wants to say but instead she focuses on his voice that's determined to boost her morale. His voice lulls her so much she almost dozes off by the time they reach her place.

It must be the exhaustion. She snaps to her senses and thanks him. Witnessing his bright smile awakens her further. It relieves her that he's been smiling like usual, as if that emotional breakdown never happened. It's safe to assume he's okay, right?  For now.

***

"Oh, me and my big mouth! Did I go and invite trouble for myself?"

Moments before the Sunday bout, Samrat hears to Tanvi's low mumur and chuckles lightly. They are inside the gymnasium along with the other friends and officers everybody gearing up for the match.

"Invite trouble? Don't you that everyday?"

Tanvi frowns at Samrat's words. She wants to be mock annoyed but his good mood is contagious. She is delighted again to see him in his usual spirits.

"I mean Tanvi, you get into trouble everyday and you usually are fine. Today won't be any different."

Typical Sam. She should have known he was only cheering on her. Everybody else joins him chanting her name and wishing her good luck. She smiles at them brightly, feeling grateful.

The match begins right at 9 o'clock. Rajiv is aggressive with his movements but she keeps her calm, using her wit along side her fighting skills. She dodges his attacks and lands her blows. Eventually wins the match.

Cheers break out the moment she is declared winner by the referee. Samrat and Farhan hop over the fencing of the fighting ring and rush to her side to offer highfives. Smiling she returns the gesture. As both the guys wrap an arm around her shoulders they face a defeated Rajiv, calling him "loser!"

"Loser! Loser!"

The crowd chants the same word over and over. Rajiv, humilated, smacks his palm over his forehead.

Breathless from laughter, Tanvi faces Samrat and Farhan. "Oh guys, aisa lag raha hai, hum log college mein hai! Today I don't feel like we are officers!"

Samrat and Farhan laugh in response. Together, the three of them call for a total silence from the spectators.

"That's enough guys," Tanvi says once everyone is silent. "Sports mein haar, jeet mamuli hain."

She approaches Rajiv and holds out her hand. "Rajiv meri tumse koi dushmani nahin hai. I just hope iske baad tum ladkiyon ko thodi izzat se treat karo. Main bas yahi chahti hoon."

Rajiv gives a half nod and shakes her hand. His eyes are not hostile anymore nor they are defeated. Lifting his chin, he shows a charming smile to everybody who has gathered to witness his fight with Tanvi. As he walks away wordlessly, Tanvi thinks he might not be an entirely bad guy. Just egoistic maybe.

Shaking of the conflicted feelings in her chest, she thanks her friends - the Hawks who came to cheer on her. Especially Samrat who has supported her so much. He ruffles her hair.

The others pull her into hugs. Their mutual friends - the other officers decide to hold the baseball match in the evening as there is time. Samrat, Tanvi are laughing, enjoying a good game on the field.

After the game ends in a tie, Samrat stares at Tanvi's smiling face, recalling Farhan's words from earlier. These past two days he's been spending so much time around her that he can't help but think this way. The way she stood against Rajiv and even won the bout was charming. That little speech he gave Rajiv... Even the silly way she pushed herself to exhaustion while working out.

Earlier during her match with Rajiv, Farhan discreetly sneaked up from behind him and whispered, Samrat, what if your situation is different? Agar halat different hoti toh.. do you think you could accept Tanvi's feelings? In case she has feelings for you as you assume, I mean...

Agar hamari halat different hoti toh main kya karta? I'm not sure... but I don't want to lose her companionship. She's so amazing. I'm satisfied with having her as a friend. Mujhe aur kuch nahi chahiye. Samrat laughs at this pitiful conclusion he reached and heads to buy sports drinks for the two of them. As he sits with Tanvi on the grass looking at the vast grounds, watching the setting sun, he can't help but think that his bond with Tanvi went back to how it used to be. This means one thing — she doesn't harbour any romantic feelings for him. Cool right

Whatever he was thinking might be the stuff he made up in his head because Raky blurted out the strange stuff. Or was it the fault of the Valentine's season? Whatever, he's not one hundred percent sure. He's also not sure what to think of it; or how he feels.

Tanvi holds her chilled sports drink can towards him. "Cheers, Sam!"

He chuckles, snapping out of his thoughts. Then clinks his can with hers. "Cheers!"

The answer to his questions probably can wait. He only has to enjoy the present moment anyway. It's not every day that he can enjoy like this; his burdens haunt him in every spare moment. But when he's with Tanvi, only when he's with Tanvi, they feel far far away. 

***

TBC
word count: 1510
kudos to me for adding 500 words more in the form of description

Up next: Samrat Tanvi meet their new boss!Abhay's substitute! She's trouble trouble... and then Samrat does something that makes Tanvi confess her feelings to him!
The new aircraft project is not something that can be easily tackled. To balance personal and professional life is not easy either