Shiva knew that Raavi was absolutely useless. This 24 hours deadline wouldn't work on her. She would simply walk upto him and tell him that she loved Dev. So he had to take matters into his own hands, and make her realise that whatever was going on between them was much more real than whatever that was going on between her and Dev. For that, he was going to have to do something big.

Turns out luck was in his favour when Raavi came to Pandya house in the morning. Dhara had called her because she had made Raavi's favourite halwa. Raavi being the bhukkad she is, came running for that. Shiva noticed that Raavi was trying her level best to avoid him. She wouldn't look at him even once. So he decided to invade her personal space. He sat right next to her at the dining table. In fact, he moved his chair closer to her.

Raavi was in a fix. She couldn't just get up now. What would the rest of the family think? Suddenly she felt his feet touching hers. She moved her feet away but Shiva kept caressing her feet with his. Raavi couldn't believe that he was doing this when the entire family was sitting at the dining table. She had trouble keeping a straight face.

Shiva couldn't stop his glee. She was looking absolutely uncomfortable. Time to make her squirm. He moved his feet away and he could see relief on her face. This time he used his hand. Shiva kept his hand on her knee. He lifted her dress two inches above her knee and kept caressing that area with the back of his palm. She was blushing uncontrollably.

"Raavi tu thik hai?" Gaumbi asked.

Raavi's blush deepened. "Haa Gaumbi."

She held his hand before he could move further up and at last looked at him pleadingly. Shiva winked at her and moved his hand away, and chose to concentrate on the food instead.

***

"Shiva! Tu pagal hai? Koi dekh leta toh!!" Raavi suddenly came into the store room.

Shiva smirked. Of course this girl just couldn't live without him. He had moved to the storeroom to work but she just had to follow him here. No matter what she said, she liked him, not Dev! But she was dumb not to realise it. Now that she was here, he wouldn't let her leave till he was satisfied.

"Aage se aisi harkat karne se pehle aas paas dekh leta. Tera pura parivaar baitha tha dining table pe." Raavi said.  

"Toh iska matlab private mein kar sakta hu?" Shiva asked.

Raavi was shocked. He had turned her own words against her. Cursing herself for coming here, she turned back to leave, but Shiva caught her hand and pulled her towards him. He took out the hair tie and threw it onto the floor. He caught a whiff of lavender scent from her hair.

"Shiva mujhe jaane de." Raavi said. "Mujhe 24 ghante nahi chahiye, main tujhe abhi-"

Shiva cut her off by placing a finger on her lips. He had to stop her before she said no. Otherwise he would lose his upper hand. His other hand went to the hem of her dress, and he trailed his fingers up her thigh. Raavi's eyes closed at the sensation. Shiva started kissing her neck and caressing her thigh. Raavi grabbed a fistful of his shirt and gave in to the sensation. His hand on her thigh and his tongue trailing down her neck made her forget all her objections.

"Shiva..." Raavi moaned.

Shiva stopped. "Pehle bol tu meri."

"Shiva main-" Raavi stopped. She moved away from him. "Yeh toh cheating hui. Tujhe pata hai main tujhse attracted hu. Tu aise nahi kar sakta."

Shiva sighed. This Chipkali was making things very difficult for him. He was dreaming about ripping her dress open but here she was, pointing out how he cheated. "Thik hai. Ab touch nahi karunga tujhe. Par raat hone se pehle tu khud mujhe aake haa kahegi."

"Shiva, aise hawa mein mat udd. Main tujhe haa kahungi? Aisa hona impossible hai."

Shiva just smiled and left. He desperately needed a cold shower now. A plan had already begun forming in his mind.