Not A Simple Engineer Boy!

Seventy Two: Night and Day (Part 4)

'Is everything fine? Why aren't you texting?'

Krithika messaged Rathna.

It had been five days of complete absence of Rathna from her WhatsApp notifications. Which was very unusual considering his habit of constant harmless flirting and meme sharing. And she somewhat missed that.

Balancing work at night and her day trips to the hospital made it difficult to talk to anyone. After being with Xavier the whole day, she had taken herself to sit in her room and work on the deadlines. They were not allowed to work from home but she had requested her manager. For some fortunate reasons, she had been approved of her request.

Sleeplessness had always made her struggle through anything and for the past four consecutive nights, she had kissed her sleep schedule a big goodbye. Migraine and Vertigo were her new best friend. She missed her sleep and most importantly Xavier's calls and frequent texts, the way his voice soothed her mind. He was like an addictive balm to her chaotic life.

But she understood his situation. He did text her occasionally, which was sufficient for the time being.

Her friends had asked about her absence and she had lied again. It had become a habit to lie, but Rathna hadn't asked about her whereabouts or anything. She could have left at it but he was a good friend, one who became a close friend in a very short time.

And from what she understood about him, he, for sure, was acting weirdly. She needed to find out, after all, she was the Chakudi for him.

But...everything could wait, she had to sleep for a day before she could go to the war to wield her sword.

--

"Rathna?", she knocked on his cabin door, waiting impatiently for a reply.

"Come in."

She entered his cabin and saw him working on some files. There was a bunch of red roses standing proudly in a corner of his desk, which was an uncommon sight. It's not like that he never received compliments but this was his cabin. He preferred his workplace to be clear of any emotional attachment. Just like her, he believed in boundaries.

You have no boundaries, you kissed your boss in his cabin... Oh, wait, you begged for it.

Okay, shut up.

She cleared her throat but he didn't spare a glance at her. This wasn't the Rathna she knew. The Rathna who had become her friend would have at least smiled, if not sung a flirting comment on her high ponytail.

Why is he being rude?

"Do you have anything to talk about, Ms. Krithika?", his voice was cold, eyes still trained on the sheets in his hand.

"Ms. Krithika!?", she screeched, "So, you are going to call me that?"

"Isn't that your name?"

She ground her teeth, "If you are not in the mood to talk or just want to be done with me, at least have some courtesy to say that out loud."

"You don't owe me anything."

"And I thought we were good friends...Wow!"

He looked at her with a seething glare, "Good friends, I see.", he scowled, "Are you a good friend, Ms. Krithika?"

"Don't beat around the bush, why are you acting weird?", she strode towards him.

She had carried his Tupperware to return and placed it on the coffee table next to him. She turned around, "Did I do something to hurt you?", she looked at him with concern, "I don't remember doing anything wrong, is it something to do with that strange note?"

He sat there in absolute silence as she looked at his face to get some clue on why she was being attacked with a bout of rudeness from the charmer Ratna Raj Rathore.

Turning to face her he started, "You call me a friend but hide secrets and spew lies. You could have been honest with me, you could have told me that you are with him and that's why you weren't interested in me.", he glared at her, "Don't look at me like that... It's not like I don't take a no for an answer, I did take your 'no' seriously. But you lied, that was hurtful."

Ok. Shit!

--

A/N

Have you ever experienced this situation when your friend is angry at you and you have no clue about it, until they snap at you?

Well, that friend is me, I do that silent treatment as when I open my mouth, I say out loud- "Arey BC tu ch****a hai!"

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