WHEN FATE BRINGS YOU HOME

CHAPTER 9

His smoky brown eyes met mine. I wish I had a wand that would make a hole in the ground so that I can jump into it and disappear forever. His stand on the counter, his back turned to us, with one of his hands gripped on the rim of the shelf that he was emptying, the other hand unloading the books, his neck straining to look back at both of us, or just me, it looks funny as well as a little sexy. Funny in the sense it makes me want to imagine how he'll look while he falls down after trying his best not to. The other that I mentioned focuses on how his muscles moved under his white shirt when he had to put strength in his hands to hold on. Those were some serious eye digging biceps he has got there. Not overly muscled or under. Just perfect. But I don't show any of those emotions on my face. 

"What are you doing here, Shaurya?"

"There were some books I lent Carl, I forgot to take it back after he left."

Carl must be someone who researched here. Most probably he dropped, or it seems so. And how in the world did the professor come in if the keys to the lab were with us? Did he break in? 

This place needs a lot of renovation. Mostly dusting and cleaning. Who leaves an important lab like this to rot? The whole place is all but dust and cobwebs, since it has been left untouched for so long. My hands are itching to go search for a duster or a broom, anything to clean this place. I take a step towards one of the shelves to have a good look of what's inside. Dust springs out from all directions, particles jumping into my nose and eyes, the whole reaction making me sneeze loud and messy. Czes takes a step to me and keeps a hand on my shoulder.

"Are you okay? I didn't know you were allergic." He says checking my face for further histamine responses. "I'm sorry."

"No. I'm not allergic. It's not critical or anything. Just sneezing."

"Are you sure? Your eyes are filled up."

"No. I'm okay. The tears is an aftermath of my sneezing, that's all."

He relaxes a little. I hear a jump on the other side of the room. The professor is now back to Earth, tidying the books in his hands while analyzing our drama. He walks over to the counter where we were standing and keeps the books into a backpack.

"Where are you taking them, Shaurya?"

"My lab."

Their conversation is so boring that I go back to opening the shelf I was curious about. When I try pulling the handle, it does not open. It's locked, of course.

"It's locked." I say still pulling on the handle like it's gonna come off if I try some more.

"The keys are kept above the shelves. Wait, let me take it for you."

"No, I'll do it."

I drag a bar stool and place it in front of my desired shelf. I climb on it, but the shelf is still big enough for me to not see it's top. I lift my hand up and reach for the shelf's top. I can still hear both the professors talking as I run my hand over the brink of the wooden shelf trying my luck to find a key somewhere. While my hand gets stuck with more and more cobwebs, I come across something solid. Oh, it must be the key. I waver my fingers to get hold of it but when I touch it again, the solid thing starts climbing on to my hands. I scream loud and clear to a kilometer's radius. I try jerking off the thing from my hand but end up losing my balance on the bar stool. I slip from the stool without any other options available in front of me, while one of the professors tries to help me from hitting the ground, the other stands there watching us. You know which one is which. The adventurous try of Czes failed in vain as I landed rather rough on the ground, hitting my back.

"Ouch."

"Oh, Tara. Are you okay?"

There was not much pain. The way I fell and landed should look really comic cause I - the one who fell - wanted to laugh as hell. It must look on my face, a giggle emerging from my lips, because Czes starts laughing with me. When he lowered himself to help me stand, a cockroach crawled off from somewhere around me,  making us laugh even harder.