"Dear me! You move around like crazy at midnight, scare people,give bear hugs, cry like a little baby and then demand what's wrong with me? Seriously!" she said tersely.

He cracked up laughing.

"Hey! Are you planning to wake up the entire town?" She added nonchalantly.

"No! I am sorry! Goodnight Bhargu,"he said softly and walked away to the kitchen, leaving her scratching her head.

"Wow! Cool now I have a nickname Bhargu?!" She told herself.

*********

Next day, early in the morning, Prabir was already dressed up in casuals as usual and had so far prepared some tea. He had kneaded the dough and made rotis for packing his father's lunch and Parul's tiffin.

Wearing a red T-shirt and trousers, after taking a shower, Bhargavi walked to the kitchen.

Handing her a cup of tea with a very heart-warming smile, Prabir greeted, " Good morning! Bhargu."She replied in return, " Good morning,"with a grin.

Instructing her to peel and chop some vegetables as she insisted and was hell bent on helping, he sipped in the hot beverage.

While she was chopping some vegetables, her mind drifted to the thoughts of what she could do to start earning some money. She used to take up tuitions in Parili but here in the town she had multiple options to consider.

While making some sandwiches, Prabir saw in alarm that her ring finger was bleeding and she paid no heed to it. He moved quickly towards her and asked annoyed,
"Bhargu ...what are you doing?"

He lifted her finger to his mouth and sucked to stop the bleeding. She screamed, " What the hell are you doing?"

Without replying, he dragged her to the basin, held her hand under running water. Cleaning the cut, he dried her hand with a clean towel, applied some antiseptic and swiftly covered the cut on her finger with a band aid kept on the kitchen shelf.

She tried to rigidly yank her hand away many times, but he held onto it even tighter.

" Stop overreacting, it's a small cut. It's not like I am bleeding to death,"she said frowning.

Looking at her with frosty eyes he softly warned, " Bhargu...don't you dare talk about death or dying,"as his eyes revealed more pain than anger.

On hearing Parul scream from the stairs " Bhaiya, I can't find my tie, please! please see if you can find it," he moved past her. 

She held his wrist from behind, making him halt on his way and murmured, " I am sorry! Prabir."

Pulling up a chair, he made her sit, served her some sandwiches in a plate and said gingerly, " Now have this and don't do anything else till I am back. Okay!"

Mr. Banerjee saw him stride away as he walked in past him, greeting Bhargavi warmly as she responded in return. He enquired, " Where did he go?"

She replied smoothly, " Parul needed some help."

"Ah! That child never grows up," he sighed.

She held him a cup of tea and served him some sandwiches.

Both Prabir and Parul joined them. Having eaten up the sandwiches quickly, Bhargavi rose to serve Parul some sandwiches, while Prabir hurried with chopping vegetables and making curry.

He packed both Parul's and his father's tiffin and lunch simultaneously.

When Parul left early as usual not wanting to miss her school bus, Prabir got some time to stuff himself with some sandwiches after his father left at sharp 8.30.

Prabir started cleaning up the kitchen as Bhargavi went to get dressed for college. She put on an ordinary teal cotton salwar but left her hair open to dry.

Carrying his bag down from upstairs, Prabir got a glimpse of Bhargavi and  beamed," Bhargu ...make a bun at least till we reach college, as I am not going to drive like a granny and people might get scared at your ghastly look once we reach there."

Having reached the college, parking his bike in the parking lot, Prabir said, " Give me your phone."

She snapped," Why will I do that?"

" I'll feed my number, so that once your classes are over you can call me. You don't have extra keys. Do you?" He replied back almost carelessly.

"My classes will be over by 1p.m." she informed.

"So you are not saving my number?" he enquired genuinely.

"No! " she said bluntly.

"Fine! Come to the parking lot, after classes. I'll be waiting here," he mused.

The special kind of hug she had received last night, him calling her with a wonderful nickname of his own and his overly concern for her because of a small cut made her want to maintain some distance from him. She took his kindness to be some sort of creepiness.

*******

Strolling to the parking lot after the classes, Bhargavi was aghast to find a girl having draped one arm over Prabir's shoulder seated on his bike, while he was leaning backwards over the bike beside her.

Merrily talking to almost an entire crowd including both boys and girls, Prabir seemed to have fun. She did not feel like walking close to him and gaining the attention of so many people.

He caught a glimpse of her and stepped in her direction.

"Come I'll introduce you to my friends,"he said excited and dragged her along.

" Guys! Meet Bhargavi. She's doing masters in Journalism and mass communication," he declared and then went on to introduce her to each and every person present.

Though Bhargavi was not happy to be introduced to so many people at the same time, she forced a smile on her face.

After bidding goodbyes to all, they left and as soon as they left the campus, she snapped, " Who was she?"

"Who are you talking about?" he asked curiously.

"That magnificent lady, who was hugging you,"she said sarcastically.

"Ah! Keya , she's my childhood friend.

All people are not like you Bhargu.. some people like to hug others and be hugged in return. Anyways are you feeling jealous?"he added politely.

"No! Not at all! Why would I be jelly?" she protested.

As they reached Prabir's house, he parked his bike and in sometime, they were comfortably perched on the sofa.

Prabir tried to pull her in his arms and she quickly pushed him away saying, " Don't! You smell like that awful lady's perfume."

He threw his head back roaring into laughter. She stared at him stonily and her cute expressions made him laugh even more.

"Stop laughing! You look like a RED TOMATO,"she said sternly.

A/N: Hey! Guys

I hope you really enjoy this chapter.

Please let me know if you liked it or not by commenting.

Thank you all!

Keep reading!!