Your Favourite Subject (Favourite #1)

'Brain' Party

please, don't ever become a stranger 

whose laugh I could recognize anywhere 

- New Year's Day

📚

'Fuck you Dr. Thompson...' 

Shai muttered the words under his breath as he adjusted the tiny fondant brain sitting atop a red velvet cupcake. Final touches. Brain-shaped macarons. Cranberry "intracranial hemorrhage" mocktails. White chocolate cake pops splattered with edible red paint. Even the napkins had tiny cartoon neurons printed across them.

This is humiliating to say the least. 

Dr. Shaivin Ramashankar was one of the youngest doctorate awardees in his university's history. His PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience and Neural Anatomy had been published, praised, dissected, cited. He worked at one of the most prestigious research institutes in the country.. Not that he is boastful, it was indeed the truth. He doesn't bring that out unless he is forced into a highly embarrassing or shameful situation, which he is in now. 

However, Shai cannot disagree that it did look fantastic. Organising things was his forte, that's why his lab work was immaculate. Still it must be said, putting a stop in his research till he organises and executes the birthday party for a 14 year old girl is not funny. His best friend joked that it must be  because he is gay but Shai had nearly thrown a shoe at him for that. He made it a point never to let his sexuality bleed into his professional life. In academia, being respected was already hard enough without people reducing him to stereotypes.

Unfortunately for him, his 5'6 skinny twink build with always well-groomed appearance betrays him. One colleague had once drunkenly informed him that he was "too pretty to be in neuroscience." Another time, few colleagues brought out how groomed he is for an Indian, which indubitably hit a nerve. But Shai couldn't disagree. He inherited a set of genes that resulted in an unrealistically fast rate of hair growth everywhere on his body. Unfortunately, it remained as a shadow in his sexual life as well. 

Shai was wearing a casual light blue striped button up shirt with beige comfortable tailored trousers. The birthday girl, who arrived fashionably early, is the daughter of one of the investors of his research center. Government funding for neuroscience research was abysmal. Men like Mr. Vander kept labs alive. Mr. Vander, rented this entire hall space for his little girl. Shai was organising the food section room right now. There was one for activities, one for gifts, one for dance. He was worried initially to the bone when he was tasked with this job by his precious boss, Dr. Thompson. It would be untrue to say that Shai till now has accumulated a certain heap of anger towards that bald guy. 

As a strike of good luck, the birthday girl Emma Vander has a big common ground with Shai -- they both liked brains. With that information, Shai had no trouble planning this party, mainly because he basically repurposed the dream birthday he had jotted down in his diary when he was fifteen. 

Taylor Swift's Opalite played softly through the speakers. Thankfully, Madam Swift is still loved and he has that similarity with the teens too. 

"Mr. Shaivin", Rupert, the Vander family's butler stood behind me. In his late 30s, he was still an attractive man with a full appearance. Tall, broad, annoyingly attractive. Shaivin would have dated him. Nowadays, Shaivin has been thinking about love, relationship, family, and....sex. It's not that he has never dated. There had been one relationship in college. One spectacular emotional catastrophe that had ruined him for years afterward.

Shai had been to dates after his college, during his master's, and PhD, and his current job. But nothing really worked out. He associated his lingering need for company to his terrible job atmosphere but his best friend corrected it might just be his desire to get laid. 

"Yes, Mr. Rupert. Everything is set. Food section's done. Activities are set up. The trampoline's been safety-checked twice"

Rupert laughed politely.

"The performers have arrived as well. They're setting up in the main hall now. I believe the band is called..." 

Before Rupert could finish, a familiar voice echoed through the hall. That voice. Raspy still effortlessly charming. He could never forget it. In fact, he tried miserably so for years. It has been etched into his brain for a long time now. 

"Hello, my cute little butterflies—" 

Every single bone in Shai's body froze. 

No. His heart rate rose. No No. This was not supposed to happen. Not here. Never here. Never anywhere. I cannot see him.  

"—we're VERITAS, and we're so excited to celebrate Emma's birthday tonight." 

Callen. 

 That was Callen's voice. The same one from years ago. Shai had made a point to never see Callen again in his life. Unfortunately, avoiding your ex became significantly harder when he turned into one of the most famous men on the planet. Shai wanted to run away but he cannot. He needs to be here, his career depends on it. His career depended on tonight going perfectly. But his entire mental health requires him to vanish right now for peace and happiness.