"Keep your nemesis closer to you!"

Nusrat is following the same quote. No further thoughts and nothing else. She loves Nikhil and she wanted no third wheel on the lane. The lane of love which would give her, her love - Nikhil.

"Hi, Ananya," Nusrat greets Ananya just as everyone gets back to their work after introductions, including Nikhil.

Ananya who was just about to walk to her cabin after Ahwanth showed her cabin, had to halt in her track when she heard Nusrat. She turned towards her sighing at the delay she was getting at.

God! Work is her life. And she definitely didn't like someone interrupting her when she was at work time.

"Yeah?" It's her first day and Nusrat is her new colleague, she just can't show her the irritation she felt.

It would be too rude and unprofessional.

If Ananya is anything, she's definitely not unprofessional.

"Would you like a cup of coffee?" Nusrat offers, she wanted to know more about Ananya.

"Don't just keep them close, know them to the deepest!"

The quote had hit her brain and she wanted everything she could do, to do, and if it keeps her Nikhil away from Ananya, she wouldn't prefer backing out from doing it.

"Coffee and now?" Ananya was bewildered if not more.

Well, who drinks coffee when not on break? It's working time and Ananya is never easy with timing.

She's a damn workaholic! Who wouldn't agree? Nusrat is yet to know that.

"Yeah, now! Any problem?" Nusrat rolled her eyes in confusion.

Although Ananya doesn't judge anyone, she can see Nusrat is a bit what? Childish or Fun is it?

These words seemed very unprofessional to Ananya.

People are different.

Ananya is aware of that and she doesn't her to be fun or childish. But there's something called time.

Time is work and work is her life.

And when the supposed time doesn't fall in the break period, it is a waste of time according to her.

"In break time for sure. Not now, I'm sorry," she apologizes to Nusrat and hoped she'd get the point as straight as her words were.

Nusrat smiles awkwardly, "Sure. Why not! All the best."

Ananya nods a bit, smiling a bit for the sake of it.

...

Nikhil was all the while noticing Ananya from their cabin, the glass was transparent, their cabin isn't far from each other and he was just lucky he could admire her from his cabin.

He had to make sure he doesn't get caught by Ananya!

Ashwanth and the rest of them, he could manage with some of his made-up stories. It's Ananya in front of whom, he just couldn't make a story out of his actions.

"Huh! Just try to form a single sentence without fumbling for once." The inner voice is Nikhil taunting him, reminding him of his earlier conversation.

"Well, I at least managed to talk to her! That's a big deal in itself." Nikhil shut his inner voice with a punch in its face.

"Yeah, a big deal indeed! It took you what? Let me guess, a few-" the inner voice in him was brutally cut off by Nikhil.

"Shut up!" Nikhil screams aloud.

Nikhil comes out from the land of Pluto when he heard Nusrat squeal.

"What?" Nikhil asks Nusrat in daze. Nusrat had squealed in something and he just didn't hear it, too busy with his own conversation

"I said, what's wrong? You told me to shut up," she repeats a part of her earlier statement.

Well, just as Ananya walked away to her cabin, she made her way to her cabin only to see her Nikhil lost in thoughts.

"Ananya seems so rude. Isn't she?" she put forward her opinion, she wanted to know how he'd react and anyway, she didn't say anything wrong.

Did she?

Before she could ponder over it, she squealed in fear, for she heard Nikhil shouting a shut up.

What? What did she do? She said the fact.

...and he seems so possessive of her already!

"What's wrong?" Nusrat whispers and Nikhil who wasn't out of his thoughts yet didn't hear her. Hence, when out from the planet of Pluto, a dazed Nikhil knew Nusrat said something and so he had to utter a dazed What whose symphony wasn't different from his face's countenance.

"Oh. Nothing, and that's not for you," he had to clear it out for her. Unaware she was opinionated on Ananya.

Well, he's too lost in his conversation with the inner Nikhil.

Who could blame?

"I was right, then!" Nusrat walks towards her chair opposite Nikhil's. She was just happy he didn't argue for commenting on Ananya.

Good for her!

Nikhil who didn't hear her opinion on Ananya thought it was just her What's wrong he vaguely heard and there's no more to it.

They continued the work their Senior, Dr. Vishwa Vyas has left for them. He's getting advanced knowledge from his senior doctor. He is determined he'd be a Senior Forensic Doctor here someday and all this practical knowledge would help him.

He was soon called by Vishwa to work on their latest case and he leaves for the lab with the reports he was studying earlier, throwing an admiring glance at Ananya.

Ananya is gazing away at her laptop, typing something on it already.

Like her fingers were made for typing and nothing else.

As if her fingers were wheels on the track.

Nikhil sighed, "She'll never change."

...

The whole day went as the evening came. Nusrat didn't get the chance to have a coffee with Ananya and by the end of the day, Nusrat realized one thing.

Ananya is a bloody workaholic!

And as the realization knocked on her brain, she was happy.

Ananya can never give the desired attention to Nikhil, at least in the office.

Peace! That's what Nusrat had been feeling from the moment she realized this.

What about after-office hours?

She can hear a small voice in her head. Yeah, that's the devil's voice, and she kicked it out as she heard another's voice, angel's in the face of the devil — they're never going to meet out, she'll make sure of that — she could smile at the voices.

Huh! She'll never let any untoward happen, at any cost.

Nusrat was determined. Only tomorrow could show her if her determination was indeed a determination.

"Bye, everyone!" she bid bye to everyone. It was the end of the office hours and even though she wanted to spend some time with Nikhil as he was still here, she couldn't as her Mother's phone came and she just couldn't make any more excuses as she wasn't listening to any.

With a sigh, she bid bye to Nikhil, "Bye-Bye, Nikhil. See you tomorrow."

As always her greeting was separate for Nikhil and Nikhil, though noticed, never gave a damn of a bit.

She was still happy, for she noticed Ananya walking out, ending her work for the day already.

....and Nikhil is still on the reports!

"Huh! Am I just lucky?" she walks out smiling at her thoughts.

Maybe!

....

Nikhil has seen Ananya putting an end to her work by the end of the day and he so wanted to bid her bye at least if not more.

He could adjust to that!

But his senior, Dr. Vishwa was sitting on his throat, not literally tho, for the latest reports they've been working on for the current case or a project if one could call. Thus, he wasn't able to even bid a bye to her.

Oh, yeah! Not to forget, he tried.

Only if Ananya wouldn't be as fast as light, again not literally tho, but one just couldn't imagine the speed — only if one could try to define actually — he could have bid her bye.

He took a moment to turn his face away toward Vishwa, and a second later, no shadow of Ananya is visible.

Uh oh! Seems like luck is tired of dancing on his head.

It might have ended up jumping from his head to Nusrat's. Probably!

He sighed and continued working on the reports and half an hour later, he breathed in relief.

Finally!

And thirty more minutes later, he saw himself showering under the shower, in his shower cubicle.

It was a long day!

It took him twenty more minutes to freshen up and walk down for the dinner with his family.

"Good Evening, Mama," his little bundle of happiness helped him in taking away the little tiredness he was left with after a cold shower.

"Good Evening, Sweetheart! What did my Sia do the whole day?" he asked lifting her in his arms and making her sit in his lap.

His brother-in-law is helping his mother and his sister in arranging the dining table while he along with his dad are sitting a little away from the dining area talking about everything and anything they could, nonsense and things that made sense.

"I played with my Doremon!" Sia squealed in her Mama's lap, her eyes twinkling in happiness and joy as she said.

"Wow! My baby is tired of playing with her Doremon now?" he lifted her little palms in his hands and kissed her fingers, one after the other. Just as he saw her browny ones twinkling in joy, he saw her lips pouting just a second later.

He couldn't help but assume his niece is tired of playing with a big Doremon triple her size.

Uh uh! He's in for a great show!

Nitya and her husband chuckle, imagining how would Nikhil react to their daughter's antics.

They did, already, and took a few minutes to come out of it!

"I'm katti with you, Mama," she pouts at him, her little eyes now blazing in the fire. She snatches her little palms away from the pair of lips, which has been busy kissing them.

"Why, Princess?" he narrows his gaze at her, a little shocked why his ladli had distanced her palms away from him.

"The Doremon you bought doesn't give me the...magic gadgets," the pout on her lips was still intact and he can see a thin layer of tears in her eyes.

Aah! However smart she is, a 4-year-old is a 4-year-old and just a kid, and yes, not to forget, his Sia loves Fantasy.

All kids do. Period!

He should have known the question coming his way.

Alas! He is too lost in his own thoughts.

He comes out of the little shock his niece has given him, and smiles at her, quite nervously.

"What should I answer this little brat now?" he mumbles very slowly and since his voice is husky, not even Sia's little ears could catch the phrase.

"You bought me the wrong Doremon, Mama. I'm katti. No batti now," her lips trembled in sadness, and Nikhil's heart couldn't see his ladli vulnerable.

"Nikhil, come on, man. Come up with something," he racks his brain, in his mind, putting a red hat on his beautiful head.

What to say?

What to say?

What to say?

"Think Nikhil, think. Use your so-called smart brain of yours," he scolds his mind, in his mind.

Aah! Otherwise people could think he was Mad!

What was the need of his so-smarty brain if it doesn't come to use when he needed it the most?

Huh! Calculus is easier than this.

God! What should he answer?

"I think that Shopkeeper hasn't given us the right Doremon, Princess. We'll go and bash him tomorrow. Okay?" he comes up with something, he hoped it'd make his niece calm down and not shed those precious pearls.

"Bad Shopkeeper!" Sia pouted more, angry and hurt at the bad shopkeeper.

Poor him!

Nikhil couldn't help but come up with the best way to trap someone else.

He sighed in relaxation.

Only to halt in his tracks.

For he heard his little niece open her mouth again.

Now what?

"But Mama, Ma, and Papa had said that the Doremon is dead, that's why it's not giving me gadgets," she pointed towards her mother and father who has finished setting up the dinner table.

They didn't bother to look at Nikhil and Sia.

Well, what could they do if a little bomb landed on their asking a very ...stupid question?

Stupid but genuine!

"Because the Doremon is dead, sweetie. Look, is it breathing?" Nitya wiped away her little daughter's tears.

"No!" She pouted sadly.

"Exactly. That's why your Doremon is not giving you your magical gadgets, princess," her father wasn't less in siding with his wife.

"So, Mama bought me the wrong Doremon?" her innocent gaze could make their parents nod in agreement. There was no other option.

Successfully trapping the poor lad in a cave!

Poor Nikhil! Nitya couldn't hide her mirth for she know what would her daughter do.

"That means he delivered us a Dead Doremon, right, Mama?" she asked her Mama, battling her eyelashes innocently.

"No, sweetie. It's not dead, it's just the wrong one. Your Ma and Pa, they don't know anything, sweetie. We'll go and buy the right one, tomorrow," he managed to lie conveniently, lifting her in his arms, and walking towards the dining table.

He can almost see his dad, brother-in-law, sister, and mother laughing at him, for the situation he was put in.

How on the earth he would go and buy her a Doremon which would give her gadgets?

Ahh! Tough life. The human body is easier than this.

He hoped for a miracle to happen tomorrow!

And before they could start for dinner, the little devil sitting innocently in her Mama's arms, clapped her hands in glee, smacking his cheeks with a kiss, "No more Katti, Mamu. I'm Batti now."

Howsoever his niece was, her adorable cheeks and sparkling eyes melted his already-melted heart and he couldn't help kissing her adorably cherry cheeks back.

...

Ananya's Mansion,

Ananya's day went very well. She adjusted to the new work environment and loved it already. She liked her colleagues, though, her interaction was less with them, she loved the euphoria she was in, in her new cabin, with her new work laptop, and a few people who made the whole introduction process seem simple and easy.

Her work environment was positive. And she liked it as it is. The first day was a good one.

Yeah, it was a good day indeed.

She hoped the positive euphoria stays the same till the end.

Hope! A word that could either collapse your world or make it more beautiful.

She cooked a simple pasta for herself after freshening up and had her dinner early. Now, sitting on the sofa, with no lights turned on in the room, silence prevailed in the mansion except for the laptop's keys making a sound. Her laptop's screen illuminated the whole room with sparks of white and blue for she's been coding and coding and coding away into loneliness.

She was too engrossed in coding that she didn't notice her phone ringing twice, for it was kept on DND mode. She only came out from the world of Einstein when she heard her phone ring again.

I live inside my own world of make-believe

Kids screaming in their cradles, profanities

I see the world through eyes covered in ink and bleach

Cross out the ones who heard my cries and watched me weep

Oh! That was her alarm ringtone. And in a second she stopped coding.

8:30 PM — it's the time for her walk. And she always set an Alarm for it, every single day. She doesn't miss it any cost.

She sighs closing the laptop, "Get up, Ananya. It's your walk time."

She takes her phone from the side table and stops her still-ringing Alarm. She didn't want to.

Cradles is her favorite! And she can listen to it any time.

Before she could ponder upon the song, she notices two missed calls from an unknown number and frowns at them.

Who could it be?

Nobody knows her Indian personal number except Drashti and her parents.

Nonetheless, she calls them back, and the person on the other side who is eagerly waiting for the call lifts in the first ring itself.

"Hello!" Ananya greets into the phone, walking towards the garden on the left side of her home.

A beautiful waterfall on the left and a lot more plants — shrubs, trees, and creepers, some of which are flowers — greeted her.

"....."

"You?" Ananya frowns in confusion, halting in the middle.

"....."

"What?" she screams in shock and a second later, her hazels blaze in the fire of red and more red.

"....."

What she heard has put her in confusion.

"Mam!" she turns towards the watchman.

"Yeah?" she questions, raising her brows at him.

"A man has come!"

His words made her frown deeper.

She hoped it was not what she thinks it was.

....

Nair's Mansion,

"What's this, sweetie?" Nikhil sighs typically, keeping his hands on his hips.

Sia, with a little bat in her hands, standing on the lawn of their Mansion, pouts at her dearest Mama.

"Sorry, Mama. I didn't think the ball could go this far." she shows her innocent eyes to him and Nikhil could only sigh with his little doll's strongest Batting.

Yeah, after their dinner, they were playing cricket on their lawn sitting before the garden they had in the front. And his little Sia shot a little sixer with her little Bat.

And the result is, that the ball could be outside their Mansion or as always inside the Mansion of their neighbor's Mansion.

"You little devil, who told you to hit that hard? Huh?" Nikhil fakes a glare at her. Fake is the keyword here but the poor little girl doesn't know that or does she know?

"It's not my fault. It's this bat's fault." she points towards her little bat and knowing his niece, he knows she's blaming that little Bat of hers.

"Okay, fine. Come, we'll go and find that ball together." Sia bobs her head releasing the pout of hers and smilingly, walks with her Mama hand in hand, searching for the little stress ball with which they were playing cricket.

To be continued..,

Ladli - adorable

Katti - unfriending someone

Batti - Befriending the same someone

Mama - Sister's elder/younger brother.  

Huh! It can be only me who could think of banging some twists in a romantic tale!

Who do you think the caller was? And the man?

A short one, around 3K, couldn't type more. I'm sick for more than a few weeks now and am feeling better now. 

And also, what do you think, which excuse would suit for Sia to shut her mouth regarding Doremon's gadgets? 

I'm out of ideas right now and could only think of those two reasons. Very bad at such things. If anyone knows any kind of pacifying technique, comment down. 

Regards,

polymath_land

09/11/2022