Lights, Camera, Drama!

FIVE: Let the guard down

Akshara

We reach the basement of the building but to my surprise, Abhimanyu doesn't get inside the car. Instead, he opens the dickey and pulls out a bag from it.

I walk a little closer to him, wondering what he's up to when he suddenly turns around with a hoodie in his hand.

"This..." I begin to speak up but he turns around again to fetch another bag and hands it to me.

"You'll have to wear this hoodie, otherwise the media would start running after us" he says as he shakes his head.

As I continue to look at him with surprise, he quickly wears the hoodie and then rakes his fingers through his hair.

"Is that uncomfortable for you? We can-"

"No, it's totally okay" I answer and then wear the hoodie.

"The size is a little..." he says as he looks at his hoodie which reaches my mid-thigh "but looks cute" he says with a boyish grin.

I would've gone crazy internally because he just called me cute but I'm too busy being crazy because his hoodie totally smells like him and his cologne has created this intoxicating aura around me that I just can't get over.

"Let's go" he says but then instead of getting in the car, he moves to the back exit of the basement.

I hear the honking of a horn and quickly follow after him.

There, I find Abhimanyu, talking to a guy who hands him over a key.

"Akshara, Manav will take the car. Let's go now" he gets on to the bike parked just next to him and it's then that I realise that we're actually going for a drive on the highway and that too, on a bike!

"I- uh- I don't-"

His expressions immediately change "Oh Shit, I'm so sorry, I should've asked you beforehand whether you're comfortable on a bike or not. I mean I-"

I smirk as I see him fumbling "I meant, I don't prefer sitting behind someone on a bike, I like to take the lead and drive it on my own"

His expression again changes as he processes my words "You... you like to ride bikes?"

I nod excitedly "I haven't done that in more than a year now... but yes, I love to ride bikes, I did that...in my hometown"

"Well then, how about I drive on our way to the destination and you can drive on our way back?" he says, winking, and God, am I in trouble!

I try to keep my expressions normal as I take the helmet he's holding out for me. I climb up behind him, and I have to hold his shoulder for support. While one part of my brain tells me to maintain distance, I realise I'd be stupid to do that since a few days from now, we'll be shooting scenes in a bedroom setup for all I know!

"Hold tight" he whispers and I reply with a "m-hm"

He starts at a low speed but soon we're traveling at a decent speed, the wind blowing through my hair reminding me of the bitter sweet memories that I had left far behind.

"Speedbreaker alert" he says but before I can react, we cross the bumpy speedbreaker, and I'm forced to jump forward, my nails digging into his shoulders for support.

"Sorry" we both say together awkwardly.

The rest of the ride is pretty silent but there's a certain comfort in it that you'd not normally expect between two people who've just met each other.

As the bike slows down, I notice we've reached a small tea stall by the road. There are other dhabas a little further from that, but Abhimanyu stops the bike and asks me to get down.