Intimate Encounters | ✓

four

"Are you serious? How have you never had the classic Kayani Bakery Shrewsbury biscuits?"

Amol shrugged, "Not a big fan of biscuits. I love their mawa cake though."

Ananya just stared at Amol in disbelief, for a while, shaking her head and coming to a decision, "You have to try the Shrewsbury biscuits. Let's go." She instinctively pulled on his wrist, not letting go of it until they were in the line at the counter. "What if I don't like them?" Amol whispered from behind her, his voice tickling the hair that had come loose near her ears. Did he really have to whisper? She felt a shiver go through her.

"What am I there for? I love them so don't worry about that. But you have to at least give them a fair chance." Ananya turned around to give him a playfully stern look. Amol raised his eyebrows and grinned, "Okay."

Walking in the Camp area with Christmas decor everywhere, munching on Shrewsbury biscuits, and talking all at the same time had never been this fun for Ananya. They walked around for quite a while and then decided that it was time to head out from there. Ananya's phone pinged with a notification from the Airbnb app. She did feel a sense of relief but her gaze darted sideways to Amol who was currently busy getting his Activa out of a parking space.

"Uh, I did find a place on Airbnb. But..."

Amol looked up from the Activa, "Oh okay. Where is it? Do you want me to drop you there directly? Oh, we also have to get your bag from that locker---"

"It won't be available until tomorrow noon. I mean, the guests had booked it longer but apparently they're checking out earlier and it won't be free until tomorrow noon." Ananya just rattled off Airbnb's notification.

Amol raised his eyebrow at her while he temporarily took a seat on the Activa, pulling his lower lip with his teeth absentmindedly.

Ananya took a deep breath, "Does the offer still stand?"

Amol nodded, "You can just crash at my place tonight. Sorry, it won't be as comfortable as your Airbnb." He grinned.

She was still hesitant to take him up on his offer, "You're sure, right? I really don't want to impose."

"Stop thinking it over so much, Ananya. Come on, let's get your bag from that locker."

The second time in a day when she waited for him to open his door's lock, she didn't really know what to expect. She decided that she would make dinner since he'd already made lunch for them. As soon as she entered, he motioned towards her shoes, "Oh, bring them inside."

"Oh and Amol?" "Hmm?" He turned around from where he was opening the living room window, and she took that as her cue to continue, "I'll make dinner, whatever we decide on. You made lunch for us so it's only fair."

Amol's eyes shone at her playfully, as he brushed past her into the bathroom, "What do you want to eat?"

She shrugged off her tote onto the coffee table, keeping her travel bag beside the sofa and settled down comfortably on the sofa. "I don't know. But pasta? White pasta? Maybe? What do you want to eat?"

She didn't get a response for a few minutes, and then she saw Amol entering the living room in a worn t-shirt and sweatpants. "Okay, pasta sounds good. I haven't had pasta in a while. I'll get the ingredients out."

She headed towards the bathroom to freshen up. After a few minutes, she entered the kitchen to find Amol already setting up the utensil on the stove. "Hey, I'm making pasta. Scoot."

He looked over at her, his eyes running over what she was wearing. She hadn't changed her travel clothes. "Are you going to wear that to bed?"

"No. I'll change before sleeping." She nudged him by her hip, taking the ladle from him. Amol just shook his head and rested his back against the granite kitchen counter as he watched her make pasta. She glanced at him every now and then and he just gave a weak smile every time, not bothering to hide that he'd been staring.