Two Souls ✔ [Completed]

Two Souls : Chapter 03

The perfect opportunity to talk to her occurred two days later. Meanwhile he already knew that her name was Riddhima Mehra and that she was a Senior Agent with the Crimes Unit. All his questions had earned him teasing comments by his colleagues and the - hopefully not serious - advice to beware of Riddhima's right hook, but he could live with that. The only concern he had was that, even though Florida was far away, they might have knowledge of what happened to his family. An innocuous chat about jurisdiction in general and in particular with one of his colleagues dispelled his fears, so he was pleasantly surprised that he saw Riddhima Mehra in the CBI parking lot when he left for the day.

She looked less happy when his car stopped next to her and he rolled down the window.

"Do you need help?" He asked, pointing at her obviously non-cooperative car.

Amusement now replaced the annoyance on her face as she gave him a once-over and Vansh became aware what kind of impression his fancy car and tailored suit probably made on her. Quickly he tried to hide his sudden insecurity behind a big grin.

"No offense, but I doubt that you can repair a car." Riddhima announced her verdict.

"I can't, but..." He opened the passenger door of his car. "... I'm a very talented chauffeur."

"Thanks, but that's not necessary. I'll just take the bus."

She already turned her back on him, when a sudden downpour came to his rescue. The five minutes he needed to convince her to get into his car were enough for him to develop a serious crush on her. When she finally surrendered and allowed him to drive her home, she was pretty much drenched. He daydreamed how he'd dry her off with a big, fluffy towel and gently wipe the raindrops from her eyelashes, but then she started complaining about his driving speed and burst his bubble. All of a sudden he started feeling very uneasy in her presence. He clearly wasn't ready for a close encounter with another person; he had been a fool to believe otherwise.

Uncomfortable silence began to spread out between them. Riddhima stared out of the window while Vansh desperately tried to come up with safe conversation topics.

In the end Riddhima was the first to speak.

"So, you are that consultant, huh?"

"You have heard of me?" Vansh asked, not quite able to hide his contentment.

"Last week I overheard Mitchell from Major Thefts complaining about your maturity level."

"The same Mitchell who is still living with his mother and eats only peanut butter and jelly sandwiches she makes for him?" He asked, in the same teasing tone she had used.

The corners of her lips twitched and even though she didn't laugh or say anything, Vansh considered that a victory. In that very moment he stopped falling in love with her and instead began to genuinely like her. Suddenly it was much easier to talk to her. About work. About the town. About anything but his past.

"I'll pick you up at seven tomorrow morning." Vansh announced when they arrived at her apartment.

Of course she told him she'd take the bus. He didn't expect her to make it any easier for him. Of course he in return teased her that she was only scared that people would gossip if they'd arrive at work together. He just discovered that it was fun to rile her up.

In the end he accepted her decision, but that didn't mean he would act accordingly. Half past six the next morning he was waiting at the exact spot he had dropped her off the day before. He had the notion that she might leave home earlier, just in case he'd try to pick her up anyway, and he was indeed right about that.

"I brought donuts." He happily directed at her grumpy face when she noticed him. It turned out that the offering of baked goods was a lot more efficient than any words.