In a couple of days' time, they established a routine for themselves.
Vicky would get up early and make tea for both of them. He usually had his black tea but made some regular tea for Ruhi. Breakfast and lunch were Ruhi's responsibility, dinner was usually their combined effort.
The London office had got in contact with Vicky regarding his job situation.In the e-mail they sent him ,they had acknowledged the current world scenario and promised to get back to him in a couple of weeks' time as to how they would go ahead.Vicky got the feeling that they would want him to continue working in his current position in India.He had to keep his fingers crossed for now and hope for the best.
The only problem was he didn't know what was best for him now.
Vicky was on the balcony with his iPad and tea. The balcony had become one of his favorite spots in the studio where he would sit and enjoy his solitude. The other one being the sofa from where he would watch Ruhi do the daily mundane tasks.
He was going through the e-newspaper. The world news page looked pathetic. Helplessness and despair seemed to be the new normal. The corona virus pandemic had by now started gripping almost every nook and corner of the world with its deadly tentacles. Already countries like Italy and France were reeling under its vicious effect. He shuddered to imagine the condition of India's future.
He didn't want to see any more of this sick news. He didn't want to think too much about it. Hoping to read something less appalling, he swiped the screen to the business page. Not that he expected anything hunky-dory on the business page, at least it would not be frightening.
The stock market had plummeted. It would take a nosedive and hit rock bottom soon, he thought with a miserable certainty. He invested regularly in equity funds for long-term wealth creation and tax benefits. As some gentleman had once said, only three things had permanent dwelling in a man's head.
Tax, Ex and Sex.
He hadn't believed in the saying till now. It was true, he realised.
There was nothing much he could do about his market investments. To the hell with Tax. There were graver things to worry about.
Sex was non-existent for him. Currently.
He walked back into the studio living space as a surge of annoyance crept up. Had he reached a point where he couldn't even read the business page in peace?
It was best not to lose sleep over it.
Easier said than done , because his 'Ex' was right there, cleaning the kitchen counter, her supposedly daily cleaning routine. He wished he could wipe out some of his unspeakable, wicked thoughts about her as effortlessly as she cleaned the dirt off the table.
***
Ruhi was working on a new design for a static ad about the safety norms for the prevention of the spread of the corona virus.Her eyebrows as she made some confident strokes on her iPad with a sleek Apple stylus. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a shirtless Vicky moving about in the room. She got distracted.With a drool-worthy body like his, it was hard not to
For a few seconds,she couldn't take her eyes off him. So much for my concentration ,she thought as she mentally chided herself.
"Why are you loitering about in your boxers?," she asked him feigning annoyance.
"Am I distracting you?" He asked her with a sly grin.
"Poof.Please."
"I took a shower now and washed my clothes."H had been putting off washing his clothes for a couple of days and didn't have a spare T shirt now.
The clothes line was on the terrace and Vicky headed to the door.
"Wait! Put something on before you go onto the terrace." Ruhi shouted. "The lady next door is always on the terrace."
"Atleast I will be making her day interesting," he said without much enthusiasm.
"She is fifty." Ruhi rolled her eyes.
Ruhi dashed to her Ikea wardrobe and pulled something out.
"Here, put this on."She snarled at him as she handed him one of her oversized T shirts.
"You are joking. I can't possibly wear this." He said looking at the baby pink T shirt that said 'Boss Girl'.
"Just wear it when you go to the terrace. I don't want the old lady to churn up some gossip about us."
"You think me wearing your T shirt will save you from gossip.?" Vicky asked her and she nodded.
Ruhi studied his perfect Adonis body in awe and she suddenly felt her feminine hormones soaring. Bad idea. She was not supposed to be doing this .Not that she could help it.
"Better than you going there half-naked,"she said and shrugged her shoulders.
Her predicament was soon solved.
With great difficulty and after a series of grunts , Vicky squeezed himself into the T shirt while Ruhi tried incredibly hard to control the laughter that threatened to break out of her. The T-shirt was oversized for her, but on him it looked like it had been picked from the kids' section.
"You are ripping the seams." She managed to say before collapsing into peals of laughter.
"Thanks to you.R.I.P. T- shirt," He drawled as he looked down at his own body. He soon felt breathless as the ridiculous garment constricted his chest wall. He then pulled out the now irreversibly stretched T shirt and tossed it on Ruhi. Before she could protest, he strode out of the room.
Thankfully, there was nobody on the terrace. He hung his clothes there in peace and was soon lost in thoughts.
Her youthful exuberance was infectious, he mused and a sense of loss tormented him. How was he going to manage without her when he went back to his life? It would be like going through all the pain all over again.
The past few months were not exactly easy for him. He hadn't shared much about his break-up blues to anyone. It was only when Maya, his sister, pestered him for a whole day that he talked to her about it. But he had not been very forthright with her either. He hadn't told her how poorly he had been dealing with his break-up.
But Maya, being the intelligent girl, could easily guess that her brother was neck-deep in love with Ruhi. His eighteen year old sister tried everything under her hat to cheer her brother up. One such sweet attempt was when she dragged her grumpy brother on a Sunday morning to a pet adoption centre and brought home a cat.
Vicky hadn't been too thrilled initially but soon the feline friend got christened 'Shadow' by Vicky himself. Because ,it was always at his heels. He was never a pet person but Shadow changed the game for him. Totally. He had surprised his finicky self and his family when he had let Shadow on his bed.
He missed his family. Hell, he missed his cat too.
He might as well enjoy Ruhi's company while it lasted. She was one stubborn girl and nobody knew her well than Vicky. He would lick his wounds later in peace, he thought.
***
Ruhi had got back to her laptop. But she couldn't get her brain to concentrate on the design because her mind kept performing a decadent action replay of Vicky's drool-worthy, rugged torso.
qaShe had a deadline to keep up, she recalled grimly.
She walked over to the kitchen counter, poured some cold milk from the fridge into a large mug and dropped some not-so healthy- cookies into it. The perfect comfort food.She could now work in peace while she enjoyed it.
Vicky had got back from the terrace.
He came and stood next to the table where she was working.Just then she took a noisy slurp from the mug.When he saw what she was eating, his face contorted in distaste .He picked up the bowl and sniffed it.
"Yikes. What's this? Baby food?" he asked her with disapproval written all over his face.. "Not surprising though."
" Cookies-dunked in- milk and it tastes heavenly. Unfortunately, men like you who believe black tea is the Nectar of mortals, would not appreciate it." She answered flippantly.
"Cookies are refined flour. Bad for your health." He said dryly and went on to talk about some digestive system related refined flour facts.
Ruhi rolled her eyes so much that it was actually painful.
Why was he talking like her mom? Why did he have to talk to her like she was a teenager or even worse, a school kid? She didn't need him to baby-sit her.
He always had been a bit patronizing with her probably because of the six year age gap between them.
He shrugged and smiled at her while lauding his own ability in riling her up. A worked up Ruhi was definitely hot.
"And what's wrong with baby food? What will you do when you have babies of your own?"The words flew out of Ruhi's mouth before she her cerebral cortex could process it.
"I will not be making babies any time soon." He told her blandly and moved away.
"Thanks to you," he added quietly, as an afterthought and hoped she wouldn't hear.
She did. Her face turned scarlet
But she pretended to have not heard it.
She had been the one to bring up that topic. Stupid.Stupid .Stupid.
After that last remark from him, her day was doomed and she knew she wouldn't be able to do anything productive. She had to set some more rules in the house, she decided.So, she opened her digital calligraphy app and started typing.
'My house, My rules'. Scratch that. She didn't want to sound rude.
Deep-down she was actually glad she had his company. It would have been terrible to stay alone. Also he shared the burden of household chores and grocery shopping from the nearby make-shift open market.
'Our house , My rules.'
What was she doing? Instead of graphic designing ,she was actually making a 'What Vicky should not do' list mentally and designing a suitable quote to establish her supremacy at home. Phew.
After about half an hour of tweaking the quote on her app, she took a printout and stuck it to the full sized mirror near the bed. A satisfactory smile played on her lips.
Vicky got up from the sofa ,walked and stood behind her.He towered above her.
"Point noted mam. But you remind me of Dolores Umbridge from Harry potter? Your rules keep piling up." He said.
She went wide –eyed and playfully hit him on his chest. It was rock solid and he didn't budge.
"You compared me to Umbridge? So mean Vicky. Look at the quote, it's ,Our house' and not 'My house'. Pay attention to the details before calling me names. I'm being such a sweet host."
"That you are." He put his arm around her and gave her a gentle squeeze that knocked the breath out of her lungs.
*************************
Hello all !
Hope you are all doing well!
Published another chapter.I had a lot of fun writing this one.
Hope you like it.
How do you find Vicky and Ruhi?
Do comment and drop a like if you like this chapter!
I have come across a useful book for writers and budding writers.Will be sharing the details on my instagram tomorrow.Hope you all find the book useful.
My instagram id : jo_twilightdiaries86