Navneet

I woke up with a yawn and stretched my muscles. They felt so stiff from yesterday's workout. I got down from my comfortable bed to do my daily morning push-ups. I could feel the sweat shining on my forehead when I was done. I had a daily routine of doing 100 push-ups, it was a regimen I had followed since I was 20.  I had been pretty lazy before that in my teenage years and the thought of even lifting a finger had made me groan.
It was surprising that I had changed so much. And that too for a girl. Thoughts of her got me momentarily depressed.

This is not the time for sad thoughts, my mind said. Get going!

I ran to the bathroom, brushed my teeth and took a hot shower. After drying myself, I got into my favourite suit. I had an important meeting I had to attend today so I had to be dressed in my best.

Stuffing my wallet into my pocket and grabbing my phone in a hurry, I shouted a " Bye" to my sister, who peeked out of the kitchen.

"No no, no way in hell are you going without breakfast," she said dragging me back inside.

" Di, I am already five minutes late, I have to go!"

" I don't want you fainting there, I know how long those meetings are !"she said dramatically( as if I was going to be standing for that long) as she stuffed a glass of milk in my hand and handed me a breakfast bar. I rolled my eyes at her and gulped it down, while stuffing the bar in my laptop bag's side pocket.

I wasn't fond of tea or coffee. It was one more peculiar thing that made me who I was. People usually called me a baby for still drinking milk at 25, but I was the kind to just shrug my shoulder, ignore their looks, and say something sarcastic to shift the topic.

"Alright Di, Take care of Bruno,"
Just when I said that, a cute brown puppy bounded to me all ready to lick me when Nayo pulled him back.

" Down, Bruno down," and he sat down on his front paws and gave me a sad look.

" Sorry boy, I am in a hurry," I told him as I waved my final goodbye, informed my sister I would be back by 6 and left, the door banging shut behind me.

My sister's scream "Can't you be careful?" was the last thing I heard before I got on my bike and drove away. I had this silly smile on my face the whole way. I got this unique sense of satisfaction when I managed to annoy her. The expression on her face was priceless.

Chuckling quietly, I parked my bike and got into the building, hurrying up the stairs. I believed that I didn't need to unnecessarily use the lift for just going up to the first floor.

I waved to the receptionist and glanced up at the clock.

8:55 am.

Whew. Just in time. I walked past some of the people who had just come in like me and entered the meeting room.

The boss had yet to come. I heaved a sigh of relief and sat down on one of the chairs around the centre table.

I looked down at my phone to see a message from my sister.

" That door is going to come off its hinges one day. Let's see who will be laughing then. "

I chuckled. She was being ridiculous.

Just then, I heard the boss starting to talk and so I shifted my gaze to him, pocketing my cell phone which I had switched to silent mode.

The meeting went well. It was about some site he wanted to buy. We were building developers and there was an upcoming project.

I droned out after some time when he was talking about the rates.

I vaguely felt a vibration in my pocket. Trying not to be too obvious, I took out my phone and glanced at it.

5 missed calls. From Nayoni.

I was a little worried, considering that she usually didn't call me during a meeting. I hope nothing had happened to her.

When they had a tiny tea break, I managed to silently slip out and call her.

" Nayo! What-"
" Come quick, it's Bruno!" She said cutting the call, not even giving me the time to respond or question her further.

I knew when it came to her dog though, that she got hysterical. She was very protective of Bruno and had always been as far as I remembered, since the time I had bought him for her two years back.

I was in a dilemma now. I didn't know if I should leave the meeting half way or go home to my sister. On one hand, if I left, the people in my office would have a bad impression of me, considering I had just joined here a few months back. But if I left my sister when she really needed me, I would definitely not hear the end of it at home.

Making a split second decision and hoping that I wouldn't regret it, I hurriedly rushed out and ran to my bike without telling a soul. I started the vehicle with a roar, and zoomed as fast as I could, reaching home in 10 minutes.

I got down and ran inside, when I saw my sister sitting on the floor, cradling an injured Bruno in her arms. Glass shards were scattered all around her and my first reaction was to ask her to move out of the way. But when I saw her tear stricken face I realized she was out of it.

I gently pried Bruno away from her and asked her what happened.

Her eyes filled up with a fresh round of tears as she told me how it was all her fault.

" I should have kept the vase higher. I really should have. I am so stupid. Of course Bruno could reach it. How could I be so stupid?!" She babbled on as I tried calming her down.

" Shhhhh, shhhhh it's okay calm down, take some rest. The wound doesn't look that deep. I will take him to the vet," I said hugging her.

" Alright," she said sniffling. " I am really sorry I called you like that. I panicked. And I had no one else."

" It's okay, it's okay relax. Give me that smile I love," I told her and she grinned.

It was still a little watery but it would do.

" Don't worry, I will be back before you know it."

_________

"Next."

I jolted from my thoughts when I heard a female voice calling.

I took Bruno in my arms and entered the doctor's cabin. It didn't escape my notice that the vet was young. And beautiful. Her black irises gleamed with a brightness I had never seen before, something that brought me to the assumption that she was in love with this profession, and would put her heart and soul into it. This thought made me trust her and I let her assistant take my dog, seating myself opposite her desk. She glanced at me for a moment and I could see that she was a little flustered before she shifted her gaze to Bruno's leg.

After asking me a few basic questions, she got to work and began stitching up Bruno after cleaning his wound.

The whole time she was working, I ended up staring at her. I wouldn't deny the fact that I was definitely attracted to her. She had this kind of innocence that made me want to know more about her. Her eyebrows were furrowed in concentration as she stitched him up and I suddenly had the urge to know what her expression would be if I kissed her.

I cursed inwardly when I realized which direction my thoughts were going in. I couldn't afford to make the same mistake twice. My mind told me that this wasn't the same girl from my past, but I still wanted to be cautious. I had promised myself that I wouldn't fall so easily for another girl, and I was on the verge of breaking it.

I shifted my gaze to stare at the painting in her room when she came over to give me instructions. I nodded and turned to look at her.

All the thoughts of not staring at her flew out of my brain as our gazes locked.

She averted her eyes and hurriedly began scribbling something on a prescription. I observed the way her fingers moved. I know I was being creepy but I just couldn't help it. It took me a moment to realize that she was desperately trying to hand the note to me.

Berating myself for acting like a lunatic, I hurriedly took it, gave her a slight smile, took Bruno and ran out of there before I could make a bigger fool out of myself.

When I entered home, I had this dreamy smile on my face and my sister picked up on what must have happened even before I opened my mouth.

"That smile is totally for a girl," she said winking. " Want to tell me what happened?"

And I shook my head and said,
" Maybe later, I am tired."

" You promise?" She asked extending her pinky.

I looked at her oddly.
" Are you five?"

" For old times sake?" She asked and I laughed as I linked our pinkys.

" Yes, for sure."

That day I slept with a stupid smile on my face and ended up dreaming about her.

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Okay, so I can honestly not believe that I updated again. But I guess it's just the initial excitement. It isn't edited so don't kill me. But do tell me how it is till now.

Vote and comment.

Adios,
Harshini <3