Heya lovelies! Hope y'all are doing good.

Thank you for the love, votes and comments. Thank you for being sweet and considerate to me.

Enjoy! :)

♡♡

"Man! This is tiring." Neil groaned while stretching his arms and removing his coat and jacket of the business suit.

"Oh really? Then wait till the time you've to stay in the OT for hours, operating on someone without any break to even stand still." Abhimanyu chuckled and shook his head. It was fun to rile his brother up and he knew what always followed.

"No way Bhai! Mujhse nahi hota woh sab and you know that I can not even remember one task of medicine for survival." He said seriously. He clicked his tongue and squinted his eyes in frustration when he looked at his brother's amused eyes.

"This is so unfair. Aap har baar mujhe phaasa lete ho." Whining, Neil went to his bed-side table while Abhimanyu let out a hearty laugh making him chuckle in response, the anger long forgotten. After putting his watch, mobile and other essentials there, he went to pick his clothes from the walk-in closet.

"Waise, how was your day then?" Neil smiled in bliss in response to the question posed.

After reaching home from their respective jobs, the Birla brothers daily freshened up and talked simultaneously before heading for dinner. This had turned their habit since they joined their respective work-places and they were fond of it. A day that went without these question never came in their lives and their care and concern oozed out of these small gestures.

"Bahut acha tha Bhai. That Sinha's project is ours now and it'll be very crucial for us. Hopefully, we can make it work." Neil answered truthfully as he strolled out to the room and sat on his bed, keeping his clothes beside him while his brother was already sitting, all showered and relaxed.

"See, you'll make it through nahi kahunga because I know you don't like that. But there's nothing to worry about when you have Pari. She'll be there by your side. On top of that, you can put your best team at work and I'm sure it will be a success." Abhimanyu patted his brother's shoulder with pride and assurance, a small smile on his lips. Neil only nodded in response, planning to implement the suggestion.

Even if Abhi noticed that, he didn't nudge Neil for now. He knew his brother enough to let him handle things his way and interfere only when it felt and looked necessary. "So, then? What followed?"

Sighing with a smile, Neil continued. "Nothing much, fir thoda idhar-udhar ka kaam kiya and then Pari madam was out to repair my coffee machine and I was forced to go to her ca-" Neil silenced suddenly and Abhimanyu eyed him curiously. Words died in Neil's mouth as he remembered the girl he met today at the café. Reminiscing those incidents, his smile widened and Abhimanyu looked on, amused.

And why wouldn't he be? Neil, no doubt was a very disciplined man with a strict schedule but him being a businessman came with its cons.

Late night office works disturbed his sleep patterns and he turned into a coffee addict, kind of. His coffee had to be exactly the same way for him to stay charged for the day or his mood and efficiency goes downhill making him short-tempered and grumpy.

But him smiling at such a memory was a new thing. Weird.

"Wow! Penny for your thoughts sir?" Abhimanyu interrupted his thoughts and he snapped out of the reverie to find his Bro gazing at him intently and taken aback.

"Sorry Bro, I'm straight. Kya ghoor rahe ho?" Neil faked horror to change the topic because he knew if his brother got to know about that girl and the incident, merciless teasings would be on the way.

"Oye chalak! I get what you're doing but don't worry, I get the fact ki you don't want to share, so it's okay. Go freshen up, tab tak I'll bring dinner from the kitchen, okay?" Abhi feigned understanding, laughing internally as he trusted his twisted tricks to get the wanted answers. Getting up, he approached the door.

One.

Two.

Three.

Just as he was about to twist the knob, he heard. "Umm, Bhai there is something I need to share. Can you please wait for me to come and tell you after I shower?" Abhimanyu bit his lower lip to stop from laughing out loud.

Without turning, he cleared his throat and answered. "Yeah, sure. Why not? You go, I'll bring the dinner." Neil nodded, sighing and went to the washroom.

Moving out of the room to the kitchen downstairs, Abhimanyu shook his head with a smile at the innocence his brother had in his heart.

For the world, Neil Birla is just the rough and tough owner of NeHi Designers whose one glare is enough for employees to cower away but only he knew, what he actually is.

A kid hidden inside that rough exterior, just for protection from the world.

◇◇

"Ab mujhe baksho please! I have many check-ups lined tomorrow and I'm very tired of listening to your conversations." Aarohi groaned, standing up from her seat and examining Nirvaan's nurse chart so that she could talk to the nurse about the requirements for the night.

It was 8.30 p.m. when Akshara dropped by at the hospital to meet Nirvaan and have some relaxing talks after a tiring day at the NGO. Pari too, had later joined them at hospital quite secretly.

Apparently, everyone from the Birla family knew her as Neil's PA.

However, since the time Aarohi had returned from the café, she was behaving..differently. She looked like she was in deep thoughts all the time. She would smile suddenly for no reason, would keep sighing, groaning or lost in her own thoughts.

Answering in mono-syllables, she, time and again, kept zoning out throughout the day. Taking a notice of this sudden change, Nirvaan thought of talking to Aarohi after observing her for the past one hour, while she waited in his room for Pari and Akshara to join them.

"Aaru, by any chance, did something happen at the café?" When Nirvaan asked, Aarohi, who was examining his chart, suddenly stopped, confirming his suspicion.

"Chal bol ab, what happened?" Just when Aarohi was about to dismiss it by shaking her head with a 'no', Nirvaan cut her off, "And yes, don't even think about lying. We know you well and there is nothing that we can't catch from your lies."

With a defeated sigh, Aarohi then narrated the incident at the café when she encountered that man, who was undeniably ruggedly-handsome in his own ways yet looked very rude and grumpy.

When she completed, the trio was gaping at her in bewilderment. She, all the while, glared the white-tiled floor as if it had some intricate patters and designs that had suddenly turned very interesting.

When there was no response from them for quite some time, Aarohi heaitantly looked up to see them frozen at their spot with wide eyes and open mouths.

"Guys, what happened? Why are you looking at me like this? Did-did I do something wrong?" As if snapped out of their stupors at her words, the three squealed like high-school girls, scaring the poor girl and she jerked from her stool, landing on the floor on her butt.

"You met a hot-shot businessman?"

"You really did all that?"

"Tu pagal hai, Aaru?"

Suddenly bombarded by questions, she groaned in irritation making them realize that she had fallen down. Pari and Akshara came up to her and with their help, she stood up. "Thank you ma'am!" with a sarcastic smile, Aarohi spoke and glared at her sister and best-friend.

"Ah, mention not dear." With a pat on her each shoulder, they both answered with annoying smiles while Aarohi rolled her eyes as a smile threatened to grace her lips.

"One minute, why did you call him 'Mr. Grey 2.0'?" Air-quoting his words, Nirvaan raised his brow while Aarohi flared her nose in frustration. "Oh yeah, this did not strike us too." was Pari and Akshara's seconding statement.

"Isn't it obvious? That Mr. Grey 2.0, he was changing his mood so fast. I mean, one moment, he is grumpy, the other one, he is polite. The next moment, he is angry followed by cu-" Aarohi pursed her lips and gulped, realizing what she was about to say.

Meeting the three questioning gazes, she nervously completed, "cra-crazy." One look at their bored facial expressions and she realized that none of them actually believed her. "Okay fine. H-he looked cu-cute." She mumbled the latter sentence, however, they heard and coughed teasingly. "This, this is why I didn't want to tell you. You idiots will start teasing me." She shouted in annoyance.

"So, we are your friends yaa. And sweetheart toh vaise hi teri behen hain. It's our right and vaise bhi, your boring soul would always be closed off only. Toh kamse kam, let us enjoy atleast." When Aarohi simply pinched the bridge of her nose because she had no come-back, Pari flipped her hair in attitude as if proud to have rendered Aarohi speechless.

As time passed by, they decided to have dinner while Aarohi begrudginly joined them, too tired to argue or retaliate because they promised to free her after dinner.

"Okay guys, main aur Akshu abhi jaa rahe hain. Chal Akshu, jaldi uth because I'm really sleepy and agar meri neend disturb hui toh you are well aware that what will follow." Akshara gulped nervously witnessing her sister getting angry.

"This is so not fair, Aaru! We're here and tujhe bhagne ki lagi hai. You can't ditch us like this." Pari dramatically said using her wide and narrowed eyes and her hands, whenever needed.

Shaking her head, Aarohi muttered with a squinted nose under her breath, "Drama Queen!" to which the other two occupants of the room laughed because it was clearly audible and Pari groaned.

"How mean yaa! Here I'm trying to uplift your mood and you're giving me names? Not done Aarohi." Just when Pari was about to leave with the sad face, Aarohi called her and she turned with a bright smile on her face to which Aarohi just gave her a glare with crossed arms while she bit her tongue.

"I don't give you these names for nobody's sake. They hold true and that's what you are, yeah?" Nirvaan and Akshara just nodded, when Aarohi turned to them and asked.

The drama unfolding was too cute to resist.

However the danger was much more.

For it held true that a sleep deprived Aarohi was dangerous to one's peace of mind and you never know when she might blast.

So, to save themselves from her wrath, Nirvaan and Akshara jumped into the conversation rather quickly, "Calm down, Aaru! And Pari, it's really late. They should leave or their family will be ready with their questionnaire, yeah?" Pari nodded, dejected.

"Chal Aaru, let's go. Bye Nirvaan! Take care aur Aaru toh hai hi. So, no worries." Bading final farewell for the night, the two sisters left the couple for the required privacy while they prepared themselves for an inquiry at home.

◇◇

"Woh, the thing is ki I..ugh, why is it so difficult?" Neil whined.

They boys had completed their dinner and when Abhi asked Neil about what he wanted to talk, Neil started getting nervous and kept blabbering.

"Tujhe bolna hai toh bol or I'm off to sleep. I have four important surgeries tomorrow with almost 5 check-ups and I cannot go out there with droopy eyes, so please, jaldi bol." Abhi spoke when he got irritated of Neil's stammers.

"Imetagirltodayatcaféandshewas lookingcutewhenwehadanarguement." Neil spoke in a hurry and Abhi widened his eyes.

"Neil, I know English and Hindi only. Which alien language is this?" Abhimanyu asked between coughs when he choked on air due to unceasing, laughing witnessing his brother, The Neil Birla nervous.

"Bhai!" Shutting his eyes in embarrasment, Neil took a deep breath and narrated the whole incident after Abhimanyu sobered.

"Wa-wow! Thi-this is just fantastic." Neil rolled his eyes with pursed lips seeing his brother trying to control his laugh, with wide eyes once Neil completed.

"Haso, haso." Abhimanyu just burst out as if he was waiting for the permission. The laughter was so contagious that Neil too burst out after few seconds.

"Well, what was that Mr.Grey 2.0, huh?" After a goofy laughter, they both wiped their eye corners to clean the tears that collected there when Abhimanyu suddenly remembered the weird name that the mentioned girl had used.

"Oh yeah! No idea bhai. Infact, I did not even notice it earlier that she did not call me Mr. Birla or something like that. Now, we won't even get to know what this means because we don't know anything about each other." Neil stated with a sad shrug followed by dropped shoulders.

Abhimanyu blinked, amused to see his brother behaving out-of character. It was really new and amusing to see this side of Neil that never really came up after he grew past that one incident.

"Wait! She had told that she works in a hospital." Neil suddenly screeched, getting up excited leading to Abhi jerking out of his thoughts. "Also, usne kaha tha ki her break was about to end in 10 mins back then. Can we somehow-" Neil stopped suddenly, wide-eyed at the conversation he was having. Luckily, his back was to Abhimanyu or there would be a flood of embarrasing questions.

"Wait, wait. What is with this excitement? Do you, probably, like her?" Shutting his eyes tightly at the amused tone, Neil gave a tight-lipped smile to Abhimamyu after turning to face him.

What did I do? Reprimanding himself mentally for going with the flow, Neil answered his brother, awkwardly, after clearing his throat, "No bhai. I-I was just curious, yeah curious. You see, she gave me that weird name. Tab dhyan nahi gaya aur ab jab gaya, I want to know why she called me like that, nothing more."

"Oh, okay. Then how come you found her beautiful? Obviously, you noticed her, no?" Abhimanyu raised his eye-brow as if daring him to deny. Neil nodded hesitantly, while glaring his brother to be so observant and a keen listener, getting a proud smirk in response conveying that it was too late for every complaint now.

"Uh- bhai, I obviously did notice her. Isn't it natural? She was standing in front of me and we were talking, you think I should have looked elsewhere and insulted her?" Neil retorted, looking anywhere but Abhimanyu. He moved towards his bed and readied it to sleep.

Abhimanyu raised his hands in surrender with a sigh, "All right, all right. Par mere bhai, tu maan ya na maan, there is something that is more than curiosity in you for her." Abhimanyu seriously told Neil.

"So, figure it out and let me know. If you need any help, I'm 24/7 available for you, yeah?" Neil just turned his torso to pick up a pillow and threw it at Abhimanyu's smiling face while Abhimanyu shouted in fake-annoyance.

Covering himself with the duvet, Neil smiled as he reminisced the girl's face that just reminded him of one thing.

Danger.

For his sanity and peace.

Because, without his knowledge, she managed to capture his eyes and gain his attention while many more girls with a better outer beauty existed in the world.

Huffing, he just shrugged himself out of the duvet to only conclude that she had to go out of his mind because she was, "cute and dangerous."

♡♡

While Neil has realised that his Ms. Cute has started affecting him, Aarohi is yet to discover her feelings. What are your views?

Let's see what the journey ahead has in hold for them. Also, what do you think about their next meet? How and when will it happen?

Vote. Comment. Share.

Kindly refrain from using words like 'nice', 'amazing' and 'awesome' because they very easily sour my mood and I dislike them. Well, one thing more, do you find the chapters extra long?

Keep smiling, keep reading and stay safe! :)

Love,
~LoveKaur