His Favourite Book

Chapter 10 - Thanking Him

"Wake up!! It is 9 already!" Muskan kept pulling Aashna out of her bed to wake her up.

"It's a Sunday...I slept late..." Aashna forced out words in sleep.

"I'm hungry!"

"Cook for yourself. There's the kitchen-" She lazily pointed out of the room, her raspy voice mumbling the last part, before losing herself in the blanket again.

"I can't!!! Wake up!!"

Aashna looked up to see Muskan's plastered hand. She sat up, rubbing her eyes.

After a nice, filling food session, they left for Girisha's Book Cafe. Muskan wanted to visit it. It was too sunny for them to sit on Aashna's regular seat, so they chose one of the innermost tables. They sat on the one beside Abeer. He was not there so Aashna heaved a sigh of relief. Both of them started studying. After a while, Aashna went into the staff-only area to talk to Khushi and Aditya. She would not be at the cafe often so regular reports and records from them were important. She took her time to get everything checked.

When she returned, she saw Kartik focused on his mobile phone while walking towards Abeer's table. She couldn't even walk more than 5 steps ahead when Abeer popped up from below the table, successfully finding his stylus pen. He looked up to see a wide-eyed Aashna already looking at him. Both of them darted away realising they were looking at each other. Abeer scratched the back of his head and went back to forcing his face into his tablet, to continue his work. Kartik saw Aashna at a distance, looking elsewhere and coughing her way to her seat. "Aashna. Yo!" He shouted as she sat after quickly nodding.

'This is more awkward than I thought it would be.' Both of them thought to themselves.

Muskan noticed Aashna's failed attempts to avoid Abeer and whispered to her, "Why is this suddenly so awkward here?" She then turned to Abeer. "Hi! I'm Muskan. Aashna and Kartik's classmate. You are Abeer, right? Kartik talks a lot about you and your amazing art skills."

Abeer sneaked a quick glance at Aashna and replied to Muskan, "Hello. Yes, I am. Thanks a lot!"

They talked for some time after which Muskan got a call from her professor. Hanging up the call, as if all the excitement had evaporated from her body. Badly compressing her anger, she looked at Kartik. "Kartik. Where. Is. My. Practicals. File?" She said in a pitch 8 octaves lower than her normal voice.

"I- submitted it. Why...?" Kartik had to stutter. He was always around the most dynamic of people somehow.

"STOP LYING?!"

"I'M NOTTT!!" I took mine and Aashna's file with yours to submit..." He paused. "Or maybe... not? I had 2 files with me that day... whose- what?" He realised he hadn't submitted Muskan's file, so started pretending to think innocently.

"Yeah. It's still in your bag. And ma'am is out there GRADING ALL OUR FILES!" She knew he was pretending, obviously.

Kartik was about to fake cry. "Man, I can't take care of everyone's submissions, please. I am dragging you all to the classes for the whole of next semester." He got up to her seat and pulled her. "Get up now let's go submit it hehehe" He smiled ear to ear in an attempt to melt her anger away.

Muskan and Aashna usually remained busy with their internships. So Kartik used to submit their assignments, whenever possible. This time wasn't a big deal as they still had enough time to get the file to their professor. Both of them went out to finally submit Muskan's file. Abeer became a little stiff seeing them argue. Aashna noticed him and whispered, "Don't worry. That's how close friends normally talk."

Hearing her voice, Abeer looked up at her and nodded. He went back to sketching on his tab, when Aashna cleared her throat, "I- Umm... Thank you for last night... you know... for- everything."

"Oh. No that's- I'm glad everything turned out just fine. I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable with that sudden contact..."

Aashna tried to not smile. "That's fine."

"Great." And he again started moving his stylus, avoiding any more eye contact. Aashna recalled him talking about some art competition. She guessed he was working for the same, and decided not to disturb him anymore.

They were proceeding more into the afternoon, and the people kept walking in and out of the cafe, ringing the bell on its door frequently. She noticed Abeer struggling to concentrate with all the noise. After thinking for some time, she messaged Girisha, [I want to ask something].

- X - X - X - X - X -

She again went into the staff-only area to talk to Khushi and Aditya. "We're closing for the rest of the day. You can wrap up."

She had decided to close the Book Cafe for the whole day just so he could work in peace, without anyone bothering him. He had his important papers ruined while saving Kush. He also made time to deal with the bikers. This was the least she could do to thank him sincerely. Girisha knew all her reasons so she agreed to the proposal.

Abeer and Aashna kept working in silence for hours. It was a bright and warm day, with equally cool breezes filling the place. The city sounds from the other side of the wall, and the compensating quiet atmosphere inside provided a snuggly background to work in. Both of them were so engrossed in their respective works, that they even forgot to look up for a while.

In the evening, a loud horn from a truck brought Aashna's attention back to her surroundings. She saw Abeer still working very hard, with some creases on his forehead. She was craving caffeine, too. So she went inside the kitchen, looking for something suitable. She found the record she had checked in the morning, prepared by Khushi. There it was. Abeer's regular drink- Caramel Macchiato. She prepared two of the same and quietly kept one on his desk before getting back to her own. A couple of minutes later when Abeer turned his head up, he found himself sitting in an empty cafe, with his favourite drink in front of him, and Aashna occupied with her work. The drink was warm and delicious. But he felt a void, now that he was not zoned out because of his work. It was surprising for him because he was used to being alone and working by himself all the time.

Ignoring the feeling, he quickly finished his drink, while devouring every drop of the delicacy, and again entered his art world. Aashna glanced at him with a soft, proud smile of him liking the drink. She checked her phone to see Muskan's text, which read, [I'll be home by 7. I'll bring dinner. Take your time at the cafe].

Abeer saw Aashna typing on her phone. After she was done, he tried to have her attention. "Umm... do you know when they will return?"

"I think they'll leave for home directly. Why?"

"Nothing. Just..."

"Missing them?" Aashna tried prompting him to say something more. He pressed his lips and looked away when she continued, "I thought you didn't like socialising?"

It was a time when Abeer felt the need to explain himself clearly. He locked eyes with her. "I'm not socialising here. I feel at home. You make me want to know you, and even your friends better. I want to make more and more memories with you all until I'm no longer in the physical condition to."

___________________________________________

A/N: Look forward to the upcoming chapters and keep engaging!

Extra information about the characters and the story: @thechaiscript. Happy reading <3