No Strings Attached

three

"oh yeah. you'll get over it in a few weeks time. it was hard for me too." she offered.

liar.

she didn't really feel homesick when she'd moved out. it was quite the opposite actually. she was sick of her town, and it was like she was looking for a chance to move out and catch her breath.

but of course she was gonna agree with him! they needed to hit it off, right?

he smiled, "hopefully. right now i'm distracting myself with work."

isha passed them their tequila shots then, but she was still talking to the bartender. ananya guessed that she was giving them enough space. plus, the bartender was kinda cute and it wasn't really busy at the bar as most of the party-goers were still on the dance floor.

good going, isha. it was like taking down two cans with one stone.

"oh, work—what do you do?" she asked. 

"i'm a freelance artist." he answered, and his face had lit up a little more when he talked about something that he was passionate about.

called it. she was almost sure that he'd have something to do with art. 

"freelance?" she repeated, "that's awesome, dhruv!" she said.

she didn't know if it was the alcohol getting into her head, but she thought dhruv actually might've blushed when she said that.

definitely the drinks, right?

"thanks." he smiled, "you might be the first one to say that to me, you know?"

of course. telling your desi parents or relatives that you work as a 'freelance artist' was basically like asking them to look down on you.

"don't let them get you down." she smiled.

dhruv shook his head, laughing, "never."

ananya noticed how he didn't really touch his glass of tequila at all. and it seemed like dhruv caught on with what she was thinking, because he drank from his glass purposefully then.

"and what do you do?" he asked her, setting the glass down.

"oh, just the plain old 'working in an advertising agency'." she answered, making finger quotes for that.

did she like her job? kinda. did she like her boss and the crappy errand running part? absolutely not.

"sounds fun." he laughed.

"was that sarcasm?" ananya raised a brow, a smile playing on her lips.

"no, actually. i think it'd be kinda fun." dhruv shook his head.

he might be the only guy ever who thought that working a job was 'fun'—and that was probably because he was a freaking freelancer! he was his own boss, and he could literally say 'fuck work ethics and timings'.

"could be sometimes. depends on the campaign that you're working on." she answered.

dhruv finished his shot in one stretch, and kept his glass down on the counter.

ugh, work talk. she swore it's the most boring conversation ever. usually, she never hit it off with work, because that got you nowhere.

this was going nowhere. she was sure that they'd probably end the night with a 'it was nice meeting you'.

"it's what—" he began to say something, but ananya brushed her knees against his under the counter.

the usage 'liquid courage' was real as fuck, because she wouldn't be this straightforward with him if she was sober.

she could've sworn that dhruv went red all over.

"you were saying something?" ananya raised a brow, like she hadn't just initiated anything between them.

dhruv took a moment to recover. he shook his head with a smile, "nothing. cheers." he said, asking the bartender for a refill.

and under the table, he brushed his knee subtly against hers too.

💋💄

ananya had no idea how she'd gotten here, but she definitely blamed the drinks.

it took a lot of flirting and accidental brushes. and the eye-contact between them was more intense than the leads of a 90's bollywood movie. then came the dirty talking, and dhruv was exceptionally good at it. who knew, right?

and now she was here, with her back was pressed against the door. his arms were on her waist and the back zipper of her dress was half undone.

his kisses were sloppy, and she could feel his tongue brushing against the roof of her mouth.

this was gonna be a good night.

dhruv broke their kiss first, both of them breathless, "key—" he said, fumbling in his pockets.

ananya slumped against the door, waiting for him to find it. and she thought he looked even more cuter drunk.

she was so fucking drunk right now than she didn't even remember if she'd told isha before leaving the club with dhruv for his apartment.

"got it." dhruv's voice lacked it's earlier clarity, and he fumbled with the key for a moment before opening the door.

ananya stepped inside first, followed by dhruv, who switched on the lights when he entered.

ananya blinked rapidly a few times, trying to get her eyes to adjust to the bright lights.

"sorry." dhruv flinched, switching off those lights and went with the dim one at the far corner of the room.

that's better.

ananya began taking off her heels because these were killing her. she hopped on one foot as she took one off, and tossed it somewhere in the room. she did the same with the other.

dhruv dropped his keys on the jar he kept next to the door.

kudos to him for remembering that! because ananya had to look for her keys all around her apartment in the morning after a night out.

she wrapped an arm around his neck, pulling him closer.

"are you all big talk or would you do something?" ananya raised a brow,

dhruv's hands were back on her waist, "on it." he laughed, slightly breathless.

god, he was still blushing!

he pulled her to the couch with him, and she straddled his waist.

hopefully, they'll have a good time.

a/n: hello there 🤡