This is Perfect...

11

Soon, I reached Rajat's apartment. After ringing the bell, I glanced at my watch to see the time. It was 10:30 pm. I let out an exhausted sigh and the door opened silently.

Rajat was looking behind while opening the door, showing his back to me. He then faced me and whispered, "Bruno's sleeping."

I simply nodded my head and walked inside. And indeed, Bruno was sleeping on the couch. I looked at Rajat, who remembered something and then said softly, "He ate his food, he peed and fell asleep. Of course, we played a little and even cuddled a bit. It was fun having him here."

I put a tight smile on my face and looked at Bruno, who was sleeping peacefully. But then, I felt Rajat nudging my shoulder. When I looked at him, he asked gently, "You okay?"

I nodded and then was about to walk towards Bruno, when he grabbed my upper arm and pulled me back. I clicked my tongue in annoyance. But Rajat had a serious look on his face, his eyes scanned my eyes and my face. He finally concluded, "You cried, didn't you?"

I shook my head saying no even though while driving back, I cried a little bit. I just didn't want him to know that I was weak, which I was.

He asked threateningly, "Are you lying? 'Cause its definitely not working right now."

I let out a sigh and admitted, "Yeah! I cried. Now what?"

Saying that made me feel like crying again. And so, I started crying like a little girl, who didn't get her favourite toy from the store. Seeing me like that, Rajat had a look of concern and he pulled me for a gentle hug.

His touch was... Comforting and warm, which was a lot for me. He stroked the back of my head with one hand and rubbed my back with the other hand. My nose landed on his shoulder. But I bent my head a little bit so that I could feel his shoulder.

He mumbled, "What happened out there?"

I told him all the details from the scratch. That didn't make my voice sound less wobbly. I was taking a number of noticeable breaths while talking.

After I finished with the talking, Rajat pulled away from me and grabbed me by my upper arm to his bedroom. That felt creepy at the beginning, but when he closed the door, he justified, "I don't want to disturb Bruno. That's why..."

Then he continued, "Why don't you sit on the bed?"

I dropped myself on his bed. For some reason, I felt empty. And that feeling sucked like hell. Rajat slowly walked towards the bed and sat next to me with a decent amount of distance between us. Thank God!

He asked, "Why are your parents so... So partial?"

I clicked my tongue in exhaustion and replied, "I was never good at academics or sports or extra - curricular activities. I was never even close to getting passing marks. I failed nearly every time. Whereas on the other hand, Nakul would get an 'A' for all subjects. Including sports and extra activities."

Rajat furrowed his eyebrows and asked, "Really? That's it?"

I gave him a death glare, bit his expression of disgust didn't go away. I spat sarcastically, "Welcome to a world where you're not a single child and you're always compared to your sibling. In every fucking way possible!"

Rajat shook his head rapidly and said, "That's not what I meant! I mean, that was the reason why they were partial towards him? That jackass?"

I chuckled lightly at the last statement. I nodded my head and said, "He was even better looking than me. He's tall, handsome and kind of built. And me? I'm just an average looking guy with average height and with everything average. Below average, in fact. And that was the reason I was relentlessly bullied and ragged during school. Mostly by Nakul and his bunch of worshippers."

Rajat let out a sigh of disgust. I turned my head to face him and revealed, "When we had to choose our careers, Nakul chose business. My parents were extremely happy and proud before he even achieved anything. But when I said that I wanted to be a photographer, they tried like a million ways to change my career. So, I started selling my canvas paintings and sketches that I used to do as my hobby, do a few odd jobs here and there, made some money from them and started paying for my own education. And nobody, except for Gauri supported me throughout that phase. She's always been there to motivate me. But still, I do expect support from my family."

Rajat nodded in understanding, which I felt was a little pretentious. But I didn't feel like snapping. He then said, "First of all, you're good looking."

I laughed and said sarcastically, "Yeah! Right! I believe you."

"I'm serious. And what does looks have to do with anything? Your personality matters. I've met Nakul only once, and that too, we didn't talk. And I know that he's an arrogant guy. He thinks he's the alpha or something. But you know what? You're not arrogant. You're so humble and grounded."

I furrowed my eyebrows and asked, "How do you know that I'm humble?"

"You didn't tell me about your collaboration with Darshan Singh." He pointed out.

"But I won't just go around and tell people about my project. Would I?"

"That is called boasting. And your brother boasts a lot. Like a lot!"

I nodded my head. Nakul was like that. I huffed and said, "I don't know. I don't know why I'm crying over this."

"I completely understand. Even I took some time to understand my self - worth. I think I still don't feel so confident about myself."

What did that mean? I looked at him with a quizzical look and asked, "Why are you not confident enough?"

He let out a sigh and just looked at me with a blank expression. But then, he said, "Come on! I need to take you somewhere."

Was that a joke? I asked, "Huh? What?"

"I want to take you to a place."

"Oh please! Don't tell me you have another voucher and you're taking me to a club. I have to work in the afternoon tomorrow."

He chuckled and said, "I'm not taking you to any clubs. Its a place that I want to show you."

That scared me. Did Nakul give Rajat some money to kill me?

No! What was wrong with me? Why was I so childish? I simply asked, "Where?"

"Its 10 minutes from here. You'll come to know that pretty soon."

He got up and stood in front of me with his hands on his hips. He then ordered softly, "Move your lazy arse! Let's go!"

"Are you going like this?" I pointed my finger at him. He was wearing a pair of faded shorts and a sleeveless top. His hair was tied but it looked really messy.

He laughed and said, "I don't care! Let's just go, okay? Come on!"

I got up hesitantly while he opened the bedroom door. Bruno was still sleeping. I wanted to tell him that I loved him so much and I was going to miss him. What if Rajat was really partnered with Nakul?

Shut up, Nikhil!