Ananya's POV :

"What? A whole meal?" I croaked.

We were now standing in the competition area. Tables with burners and various food items were placed on either side of us.

Roma had just told us that we had to prepare a wholesome lunch menu choosing dishes only from Tamil Nadu cuisine.

I desperately tried to recall what I had eaten at the weddings I had attended. I didn't even know what dishes existed in a typical Tamil meal. All I could remember from those marriage ceremonies was the payasam.

"Okay folks, listen up!" Roma called out as we stood in a line infront of her. "Go with your partner and find yourself a table. Each table will have the ingredients and materials you require. Choose your table carefully because each table has different ingredients. If you intend to make coconut rice don't choose a table that doesn't have coconuts. Remember you only have exactly two hours to prepare a delicious meal!"

Before I could think of anything, Kishan grabbed my hand and ran forward.

I was so taken aback by his sudden gesture that I was totally blank for a second. Come on! I had done nothing more than a handshake with the guy and that too was on the first day of the competition. How was I supposed to not be shocked?

"Kishan wait, what are you doing?" I asked.

"Looking for a table. Isn't that what we should be doing?", he asked and then he looked at me and saw the surprise on my face and then he looked down at our hands. He finally seemed to realise what he'd done.

"Oops sorry", he said letting my hand go.

I was too embarrassed to say "It's okay". Instead I just mumbled an incoherent reply.

But Kishan didn't seem to kind. "Okay. Any ideas? I had tomato rice in mind".

"We'll go with that then. There's tomatoes there", I said gesturing to a table on the right and we hurried up to it.

But almost instantly Arjun came out of nowhere and collided with me, "Ananya. Come on, you know I love tomatoes! Choose another table!"

"Sorry bud. We came here first", said Kishan politely.

"Yeah get out" I said taking the opportunity to score over my brother.

Arjun scowled at me before joining Dulquer to find another table. I just hoped Dulquer was a good cook. Otherwise their team would be disqualified for certain. But I couldn't be worrying about that at that moment. I turned to Kishan nervously.

"Do you know what dishes we're supposed to make?" I asked and regretted it immediately. What a stupid question to ask!

"Let's see", said Kishan rubbing his chin, (he looked so good when he did that - God! What is wrong with me. I can't turn into one of those girls in One Direction fanfictions) "We need one variety of rice - that's tomato. And then we need a stewed vegetable, a boiled vegetable, a pickle and.."

"Payasam?"

"No need for dessert", he said decidedly "We won't have time An".

"Uhh..okay", I said, simultaneously trying to register that he had rejected my only suggestion but had called me 'An' while doing so.

We started.

The beginning was quite good. Kishan seemed no professional but he, at least knew what to do.

In comparison to him, I was totally useless. After I wasted five minutes by sauting chopped vegetables with ginger garlic paste on the stove, without lighting it, Kishan politely requested me to stay away from the burner and stick to cutting the vegetables and handing over things to him.

Fortunately for us dried rice was already given to us and we just had to cook it. But there were other things that we struggled with. We didn't know exactly how much water to add and our rice ended up a bit sticky. We didn't know either, how much of how many spices too add and messed up with the bay leaves, cinnamons and cardamoms.

In the middle of all this I got a splinter stuck in my hand. I seemed to do everything at the wrong time. Even, getting hurt.

"It's not coming out", I cried trying to pull out the stubborn splinter, "Ouch! It's hurting!"

"Oh my God! Ananya are you dying? Sorry I haven't prepared a eulogy for you yet!" Arjun commented from the next table "So forgive me. I won't be saying anything at your funeral".

I wanted to pick up one of the remaining tomatoes and chuck it at his stupid face.

Kishan looked at me anxiously, "Give me your hand. Let me see", he said.

"The splinter is stuck in there. It won't come out", I said frantically as I saw my hand beginning to redden. I tried to pull it out with my other hand again, in vain.

"I think it has to be sucked out. Let me see..", he said grabbing my hand.

"What?", I asked and the realised what he was about to do "Wait, no..".

Before I could complete, his lips were on my hand, sucking out the splinter.

Jesus! In my shock, I had converted from Hinduism to Christianity. I was totally numb. Nobody else seemed to have noticed anything.

"There, that's it", he said finally detaching his mouth from my hand, holding out the splinter between two of his fingers. He chucked it away and let go of my arm.

I thought I was going to faint.

"Come on, we still have work left to do", he urged without ado.

"Okay", I said hurrying back to the burner and lighted it as Kishan placed a nonstick pan on it and added the chopped ladies fingers. I looked at the place on my hand where the splinter had been. I felt a burning sensation. And not because of the splinter. And then I realized I hadn't even said thanks to Kishan. Maybe I should just do it now? Better late than never right?

I opened my mouth to thank him but before I could say a word he said "Pass the oil Ananya".

Okay. My thanks giving could wait.

Kishan was pretty good at the whole thing. He was no expert but we had managed to make decent and eatable tomato rice, ladies finger stew, raw banana fry and green chilli pickle.

After submitting our entrees, we walked back into the hotel. Our results would be announced after lunch.

"That was fun", said Kishan.

"Yeah", I grinned "But wish I was better at cooking".

"You weren't bad", Kishan said and smiled at me. Whenever he smiled his dimples further accentuated.

"Come on. I know nothing. We would've been disqualified if you weren't good at cooking."

"But we aren't", he shrugged, "Want to sit with me for lunch?" he asked

"Sure", I said a little too quickly "I mean, okay", I added breathlessly.

"Won't your brother be lonely?" he asked with a smirk.

"Him? Not at all. He has his girlfriend to give him company", I said, "Nobody feels lonely when they have a girlfriend".

"Can't relate", Kishan shrugged again. So he was single.

I'd thought so.

As we entered the hotel building, there was a lot of hubbub the ground floor hall.

"Some round of the Miss Tamil Nadu pageant is going on", said Dulquer coming up to us. He was already feasting on a choco vanilla sundae.

We got excited immediately and bobbed around hoping to spot some famous face but there was none to be seen.

Disappointed, we made our way to the restaurant.

"Don't worry", Dulquer said as he saw us both walk away "I heard Kajal Agarwal is coming for the crowning. Maybe we'll be able to see her".

"I'm sure he's fibbing", I mumbled irritably to Kishan as we kept walking towards the restaurant.

"Let's see", Kishan said "I don't care about any movie star. For now, my only concern is my hungry stomach. I hope they don't have tomato rice for lunch", he grinned at me.

I couldn't help it. I grinned back.

A/N : Hey babes! ❤️ Hope you liked this chapter. Please do leave your votes and comments.

See you in the next update! Much love ❤️❤️