Song of the chapter is
False God by Taylor Swift

-52-
-Zoya Afreen-
-Present-

____________

Duggal Residence
9 December, 2030
5:30 p.m

As I keep my eyes trained at the murder board in his office, Officer Ravi offers me a slice of the mouth watering pepperoni pizza that we had mutually decided to order an hour ago, after an onslaught of arguments about the appetizing quality of pepperoni over barbeque pizza.

And as usual, I had won the argument with pepperoni.

"You've designed this quite aptly, Ravi. I must say." I commented as I glanced at my picture safely pinned up under the victim list. "Although you could've picked a better picture for me."

He chuckled under his breath as he came and stood next to me. "My apologies, miss."

"Apology accepted." I smirked at him. "Next time, I'll provide you with the best one myself."

"The next time?" He laughed. "I'm sorry, how many more times do you want to be on a murder board, Zoya?"

"Well with me, you'll never know." I shrugged, finishing off the crust. "The thing is... I lack patience...to the core. Like, I'm as patient as a potato. So if someone gets on my bad side,... only Allah knows what consequences would await them."

He puckered his lips in understanding.

"So you're saying that you have a potential to kill? Or at best.... harm someone?" He asked next. I glanced at him gingerly.

"Are you interrogating me right now, Officer?" I asked, in a ludicrous seductive tone. "Am I in trouble?"

"No,.... I'm just thinking."

"Thinking what?"

"Whether I should move your picture from the victim list....to the suspect list?" He replied, equalling my tone. A blush crept up my cheeks.

I held my chest and gasped dramatically, feigning accusation. "Are you suspecting that I'm the killer?"

"I wouldn't put it past you." Ravi responded, laughing slightly.

I gasped even harder. "Well, I'll be damned."

As we both fell into laughter, the air around us changed. It was almost as if for that moment, I wasn't Zoya Afreen, and he wasn't a freaking police officer. For a second, we were just two people.... laughing at the absurdity of life in all.

God knew how much I had craved these moments of normalcy.

"But on a serious note, though....your suspicion makes sense." I said, as our laughs died down slowly. "How do you know that I'm not the killer?"

He stared at me for a solid moment, his eyelids not wavering a bit. And then, with the softest tone laced in his voice, he answered,

"Because I am."

As Ravi's startling words hung in the air, the room seemed to transform into an icy abyss, its chilling touch creeping up my spine. Like an unexpected gust of wind extinguishing a flickering candle, the atmosphere turned heavy, suffocating. Time froze, as if suspended in disbelief, leaving me breathless.

And then he laughed and air filled my lungs.

"I'm just kidding, Zoya. Jesus! you should've seen your face."

I gaped at his audacity as my hands rested on my hips. "That's not funny!"

"I know, I know." He chortled softly as his laughter slowly faded. "But let this be lesson for you. Don't trust anyone."

I furrowed my brows as I leaned towards him. "Then how can I trust you when you say you're not the killer?"

"Exactly." He said, leaning towards me. "You're learning fast."

As I stood there, barely a breath's distance away from Ravi, I couldn't help but feel the electricity crackling between us. Our eyes locked in a silent conversation, conveying more than words ever could. The air seemed to thicken with an undeniable tension, as if the world around us had faded into insignificance.

My heart raced in my chest, its rhythmic thumping echoing in my ears, drowning out any other sounds. It was both exhilarating and nerve-wracking to be so close to him.

I could feel the warmth of his breath on my skin, his gaze penetrating my very soul, and I wondered if he could hear the thunderous pounding of my heart.

In that suspended moment, time seemed to stand still, allowing me to appreciate the intricate details of his face—the gentle curve of his lips, the warmth in his eyes, the way his hair fell perfectly into place. It was as if the world had conspired to bring us to this exact spot, where everything else melted away and only the two of us existed.

His eyelids flickered once or twice, bringing us back to reality.

Awkwardly shifting my feet, I watched as he rubbed the crook of his neck, equally embarassed.

"Do you want something to drink?" He proposed immediately. "You know I can make you  co-coffee. I make really good coffee a-actually."

I smiled at his nervousness. "You know what? Coffee sounds great. But...."

"But?"

"But....I'd rather have a beer."

"A beer?" He raised a brow, looking at his watch. "It's 2 in the afternoon."

"Your point?"

"Are you really asking a police officer to engage in day drinking?" He gaped dramatically.

"Well, you're off duty today so technically...."

"An officer is never off duty, madam." He stated, chest inflated.

"Where did you learn that dialogue?" I asked, chuckling. "That's so cliche."

"It was in our motto!" He defended like a kid.

"Holy shit, you guys are dramatic af!" I chuckled even louder.

"Call it what you want to, Ms. Afreen. But I'm not engaging in bad behaviour on your insistence just cause you happen to be hot." He said and stopped in his tracks.

I raised a brow. "You think I'm hot?"

He closed his eyes in embarrassment as a crimson blush spread across his cheeks. "Forget I said that. I haven't had any sleep last night." He said and trailed off into the kitchen.

I giggled at his retreating figure.

"Officer Ravi thinks I'm hot!"

_____________

The grandfather clock in his living room chimed loudly as I handed him the final list of all our possible suspects.

My eyes fell on the photo frame kept on the side mantle. A much younger Ravi stood next to a tall man, who I presumed was his father, wearing a police uniform and a little girl who still stood taller than him.

I picked it up to examine it further.

"Ravi?"

"Hm?" He peeked inside the living room.

"Is this your family?"

"Uh...yeah." He answered, smiling shyly as he came and stood next to me. "That's my dad and next to him, is my sister."

"You have a sister?"

"Uh yeah." He hesitated. "I had one."

"What do you mean?"

"We don't exactly have the most cordial relationship now." He said, looking away. I frowned.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to intrude."

"No, that's okay." He said, taking the photo frame from me and placing it back on the mantle. "Life happens to everyone. Even siblings."

"Can I ask, what happened?" I proved slightly.

"Well, our parents loved us very differently. Especially dad. For him, I was the golden child and she was..."

"Let me guess,...the black sheep of the family?" I asked. He nodded.

"My father always found ways to compare us...regarding every little thing and it used to hurt my sister a lot."

"Understandable."

"Yeah....so after she graduated, she decided to move out of the house and I haven't heard from her since." He completed. "None of us have. My father seems to just ignore the fact that he ever had a daughter."

"That's brutal."

"Well, that's my dad for you." He said, solemnly looking at me. I gave him a tight lipped smile in response.

The next moment I looked up at the clock and found the hour hand pointed steadfastly towards the number 9, while the minute hand, as if possessed by the same urgency as I, strained towards the top of the hour.

Fuck.

"Oh shoot, it's 9pm." I cursed as I stood up. "My friends must be expecting me."

"You're leaving?"

There was hesitation laced in his tone as he spoke those words. I looked at him as I put on my jacket.

"Yeah... I mean..."

"But....we haven't finished figuring out the motives of each of these people." He whined, pointing to the list in his hands.

I smirked. "We have plenty of time to do that later."

"But what if the killer strikes again? Before we can figure things out?"

The urge in his voice, of not wanting this day to end was too adorable for me to handle. I could sense his dubiety but I knew damn well that if I stayed for too long, I'd involve myself in something that I wasn't ready for.

"Then we'll kick his ass." I assured, fixing my hair. "Plus, he's already killed two people this week. I doubt he'll make a return any time soon."

"Still Zoya....we never know with these kind of people."

I smiled and took a step towards him. "Why so whiny all of a sudden, Ravi? Is it really because of the killer?"

His face went through a plethora of emotions before settling into unease.  "I-"

"Or perhaps....you want me to stay with you tonight?"

His irises expanded for a whole second as he paused mid inhale. "Zoya..."

I smiled, moving away. "Relax.... I'm just kidding."

Saying that, I extended my hand over to grab my bag from the couch when his voice echoed from behind.

"Yeah....perhaps.... I do want that."

My heart collapsed as I stood suspended in that moment. A second later, I turned to look at him.

"What?"

"I want you to stay,....Zoya."

His words seemed to have robbed me of my next breath as I felt my heart hammer against my chest.

"Ravi..."

The next second his lips were on mine, our eyes closed. The moment our lips parted, a hunger unleashed itself. He cupped my face as he kissed me.

I was about to say something when he put a finger on his lips and said,

"No words, Afreen."

And the rest was simply history.

___________

my asexual ass has
no business writing soft smut-

anywho, this chapter was kinda cute! despite the age gap, these two finally got it on-

if only it were to last ;)

just kidding

unless-

don't forget to vote, comment and share the book as much as possible!

love,
Bosedisha