His Favourite Book

Chapter 21 - Night Out

Aashna was shocked to see a full thesis-length PDF that contained all the necessary information about those children, their families, their income, all their properties, the power they hold and even their weak points. Everything was there, compiled in the most organised manner she had ever seen.

"I. Am. Sorry. What?!" She looked at Abhimanyu in disbelief. Her loud voice attracted everyone's attention towards her.

"You want to bring them to the ground, no? This is all we need. I just sent it to you."

"I- Abhimanyu, what- how-" She was short of words.

"Some leftover explanations for the next time. For now... If you don't mind... in return for this... may I..." He cleared his throat. "May I stay here for the night, please? That offer from the morning... like if you all don't mind-"

"Yes, please! We'll have fun." Abeer spoke up.

Abhimanyu gave him a soft smile to thank him, and then again looked at Aashna's still-shocked face. He chuckled to himself after seeing her baffled expression as she was engrossed in her phone, going through the PDF.

Meanwhile, Abeer turned his face a little towards Muskan as they shared an accomplishing smirk. Muskan had already told Abeer about why she wished Abhimanyu would stay there and he had decided to support her. He was initially going to convince Abhimanyu before he would leave. But there he was, asking to stay, willingly.

As Aashna and Abhimanyu joined the games, Abhimanyu's phone kept vibrating with notifications. Drishti kept texting and calling him as he had bunked the dinner. On the other hand, Kartik's hands kept shaking in dying attempts to have short glimpses of his phone. Muskan noticed both of them struggling to keep away from their phones so she again came up with her age-old idea. Confiscate the phones. She asked all of them to keep their phones farther away and then for Kartik, she had special instructions. "You can see your phone only when I give it to you. After every game, I'll let you see your phone for... 2 minutes. Then again another round of a game without it. Alright?"

Kartik agreed to her like an innocent puppy. He was equally desperate to have this near-addiction to the phone go away. It was nice to get some help from a trustworthy person.

After a few games, the lock of the main door clicked. Gauri had returned after her shift in the hospital. She entered and found all of them watching a movie.

Everyone stood up and greeted her.

"What are we doing?" She asked, placing her bag near the sofa.

"Movie. Bulbbul. Come sit," Abeer replied.

"Sure!" She freshened up quickly, drank water and then sat near them. They paused the movie for a while and introduced themselves in short. Girisha was the last one to speak. Before she could, Gauri asked her, "Let me guess. You're a psychology student too?"

Girisha smiled. "No. I've studied business. My family owns some shops so I sometimes take care of them. I have a Book Cafe under my name, though. Abeer's a regular there."

"Ah that one on the corner! That's a beautiful place. I've heard all the good things about it. Great job, girl!" Gauri said. Her praises made Girisha's heart happy. She had always craved validation from responsible, mature adults. She felt like talking to Gauri would satisfy some of those cravings.

Girisha smiled ear-to-ear, happiness dripping from her face. "Thank you!"

She couldn't take her eyes off Gauri when Kartik said, "Abeer, resume the movie!"

"Oh right!"

"I'll go to my room then. Enjoy everyone!" Gauri said and left.

After a while, at around 2.30 am, everyone was found passed out in the living room itself, except Aashna. After some struggles, she managed to get them to sleep properly, in positions that wouldn't hurt by morning. She then covered them with some blankets and sat near the window, admiring the nightscape and enjoying the cool breezes touching her skin. Not long after she had closed her eyes, she felt a tap on her left shoulder.

"Can't sleep?" She turned to see Abeer whispering to her, so as to not wake anyone else up.

"Yeah... I usually don't sleep at this time, so..." She whispered back.

"Come, get up." Abeer offered her his left hand. She hesitantly held it with her right hand and stood up. Abeer made her walk through the others as if they were a maze and took her to the building's terrace.

They were sitting on the floor, under the beach umbrella, his go-to place to sit alone. The panel sections of the umbrella merged their distinct colours with the moonlight that passed through the cloth, reflecting the tints of those colours on both the relaxed faces under them. Aashna had a neon yellowish shade on her face while Abeer had a bluish one. Aashna brought her knees to her chest and hugged her legs while the wind did its job of getting her hair out of her face. The crickets chirped and a few dogs barked at god knew what. It was a peaceful night. A few minutes later, Abeer turned to see Aashna with closed watery eyes and a red nose.

"Is it too cold here?" He asked.

"No. I'm just overwhelmed because of... a lot of things."

"Like?"

"No idea."

"Valid."

"I know. Anyway, Why are we here all of a sudden? I mean I like it here and it's really good but-"

"For me." Abeer interrupted her question. "I came to know that I was the first person you brought to that bookstore. So I thought I would make you the first person to be sitting here with me. Grace yourself, ma'am."

"Uh, that- Okay."

"God, WHAT IS THAT REACTION?!" He whispered a little louder.

"HOW ELSE AM I SUPPOSED TO REACT THEN?"

"Look happy."

"Huh?"

"Wipe those tears off. Smile."

"You're supposed to let someone cry when they're teary-eyed." She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Yeah, but I want to see you smile at this moment." He mumbled.

"What?" Aashna couldn't hear his words.

"Nothing. Don't squint your eyes at me. Am I some mafia villain?"

"Who knows."

"Whaaaaaow."

They went silent for a few seconds, then looked at each other, and laughed at their silly conversation. Aashna decided to make it sillier. "So, what's your 4th favourite flower?" She asked and rested her chin on her arms that were already resting on her folded knees. Abeer turned his whole body to fully face her.

In all seriousness, he answered, "None. I have my top three. Maybe the fourth one is waiting to be discovered? ...there." He pointed towards Aashna's balcony while still looking at her. She glanced there and looked back at him with an expression filled with an obvious question. "I liked the plants and flowers at your place..." He clarified.

"Oh. I see." Aashna nodded. "Those are the ones my mom used to have-" She went on with the flow of the conversation and suddenly stopped when she realised she had done so.

"Hmmm. Save it for next time." Abeer said, sensing her discomfort. "For now it is safe to say that you're a cries-around-nature person." He wanted to change the topic.

"Yeah. Maybe I'm too desperate to have things go my way... and that's not possible when I'm around a lot of people..."

"It was Panchatantra."

"Huh?"

"The book that I was reading that day. The one you are desperate to know about. You want to have things your way. Then have it. Ask for the book anytime and I'll bring it to you." He smiled.

___________________________________________

A/N: More of Aashna-Abeer moments because I like writing them ;)

Do interact if you like this story and see you in the next chapter!