The next day when Neil arrived at the dining table, Avni had already laid the breakfast. He served some food on his plate, turned on the projector and walked towards the sofa to sit and spy on the couple's conversation. Both Avni and Neil had not uttered a single word to each other after last evening's encounter. They were trying their best to avoid their eyes from meeting each other's. Their eye-locks usually were a recipe for disaster – it had the capacity to make them give up on their sanity. 'You will not look at her. Even if there is an absolute need and you have to look at her, you will not look at her for more than 5 seconds' Neil instructed his brain stringently.
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"Sweetheart. I have just received an invitation from my office for a masquerade party. It has been sponsored by the CEO of the company and he wants to personally meet and interact with all the employees under one roof. It will be held on the Friday evening of next week at the Marina Bay Lounge. That is one classy venue. Also, you will get an opportunity to meet up with all my other colleagues too.", said Vidyut smiling as he took a bite of his toast. "A masquerade party? Wow! That sounds like so much fun! But Vidyut, you do remember what happened the last time we attended the party hosted by your colleagues. I am still quite embarrassed to face them. I hope nothing untowardly happens this time.", said Juhi, her face switching from being elated to disappointment in a fraction of seconds. "Don't worry darling. My colleagues are not the judgmental type and they are a bunch of wonderful people. They know me well and we maintain a certain mutual respect between us. All will be well. You just focus on getting ready to attend this party.", said Vidyut hugging her, stroking her back comfortingly.
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"We are going to this masquerade party" said Neil all of a sudden almost startling Avni, his eyes still being transfixed on the projector. "What are you saying? How can we possibly go there? They will identify us. We will get caught Neil." Said Avni confused, panicking at his idea. "Dear Miss Cleopatra. Do you ever plan to use your brain at some point of time at-least? Oh wait, I almost forgot! Brain cells don't actually reside in that tiny pretty head of yours.", said Neil mocking her. "Neil, can you stop being sarcastic for once and tell me what's going in that devious mind of yours? By the way, do I need to keep reminding you of how all your 'so called plans' flop all the time? You do remember what happened the last time, don't you? If I don't have brains, then I must say, yours have rusted with a lot of dust settled on them.", she bit back at him. "Well luck is on our side this time. You see that it's a masquerade party. We have to wear a mask and be present at the venue. We shall keep our masks on most of the time that we are there. In case, we ever happen to encounter a situation that demands us to remove our masks, we can always excuse ourselves to the nearest restroom or somehow make up some excuse to get out of there. Do not worry. I shall train you well before we go to that party!" he said flashing a sly grin across his face. "And how exactly do you plan to get us inside the party venue? It requires an invite Einstein, unless you think of yourself as some big shot celebrity to whom they would give a free pass!" she retorted sarcastically. "I shall take care of that. Wait and watch my magic! There is no need for you to tax your non-existent brains.", he replied taunting her. "Whatever!" she exclaimed, rolling her eyes. "Oh, and by the way my rebellious queen, are you even aware of the basics of ballroom dancing?" he questioned her. Avni had never danced in her life. She was never so much into arts. The only thing that she had possibly tried was music, and that too was only because she could impress Vidyut who had been an ardent music lover. "I...I..know other forms of dancing, but I have not really come across ballroom dancing.", she stuttered as she lied to him. Her ego was too big to tell him that she had never danced in her life. She didn't want to reveal the truth, not in front of him at-least. It would result in an unending taunt session. "Oh well. I didn't really expect you to know it either!" he scoffed. "What do you mean? How could you.." she began to yell at him, while he cut her off midway. "Shhhh.. Starting today, every evening for one hour, I shall be teaching you ballroom dancing, until you pick it up. I don't want us to make a fool of ourselves in the party in case we need to dance.", he stated and walked out from there. Avni gulped as she realized she had never danced before. She feared if she would even be able to move, forget dancing, and was now starting to get nervous thinking that her lie would by caught by Neil. On the other hand, Neil had a completely different set of thoughts bothering him. 'Ballroom dancing is a close form of dancing. It demands proximity to your dance partner. Dear God, please grant me with all the self-control and resistance that is present in the world, to not end up doing anything silly for like the nth time!' he muttered to himself looking up at the skies.
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As he walked towards Alexa Corp, Neil was racking his brains hard to figure out some way to at-least get hold of one invite. He walked over to the receptionist's desk and asked, "I would like to schedule an appointment with Mr. Vidyut. Could you please guide me to his secretary's cabin so that I can meet up with her to setup the meeting?", pretending as though he absolutely had no clue as to where her cabin was, though he very damn well was aware where she sat exactly. "She is seated over there. Just walk down this aisle and you will find her cabin to the right.", said the receptionist pointing the finger in the opposite direction. He thanked her, flashing one of his coquettish smiles and walked towards the secretary's cabin. He entered her cabin excusing himself, seated himself and spoke up. "Hello Ms. Shanaya. I am here to schedule a meeting with your boss Mr. Vidyut. My name is Ne..Ne..Neerav. I am one of the senior managers at SamsonCorp and needed to discuss about a business proposal with him.", he lied conveniently. "Sure Mr. Neerav. Welcome to Alexa Corp. Let me look up his calendar and schedule an appointment for you. I can block the time at the moment, but without an official confirmation from his end, I cannot confirm the time. I could have called him, but right now he is in the middle of a very important meeting with some investors, which may go on for hours together and I do not wish to keep you waiting.", she replied politely, unaware of his true intentions. "Well that definitely works for me.", replied Neil and added, "Is he available on the Friday evening of next week?". She inspected her calendar and replied, "I'm sorry. That time has already been blocked for an event. Mr. Vidyut will not be available then." "Is the event going to take very long? I can meet him after that the event too. Right now, that is the earliest time that would work for me. Could you please check and tell me where the event is scheduled to be held and what the timings would be?" he said, trying desperately to push his agenda. She pulled out an invite from inside her desk and after quickly skimming through it, she replied "The event will be held at the Marina Bay Lounge and as far as this invite goes, it tells me that the part may go on up to 10PM Mr. Neerav." He was carefully observing the envelope and the invite and made perfectly sure that this was the invite he needed to get hold of. He saw the secretary place the invite back into her drawer.
He handed over a visiting card to her which had his profile printed on it, more so like his fake information. "Okay I guess I will have to wait then. Please send me an email regarding the confirmed appointment date to this email id. Also, could you hand me your contact card just in case I need to check anything with you?" he asked flashing his charming smile. She smiled back in response and replied, "Certainly Sir" and handed her card to him. As he was walking down the stairs of the building, all that he could think was 'How can I get a hold of that damn invite?'. As he waked down further, he happened to notice a DHL courier office and immediately a devious idea made its way into his mind. He rushed back upstairs to find a payphone just outside Vidyut's office. He dialed Shanaya's number and she picked up instantly. "Hello. Am I speaking to Ms. Shanaya?" he asked in a gruff voice, when she responded. "Yes. May I know who I am talking to please?" she inquired in a courteous tone. "Madam. I have an important parcel for you, which requires your signature. Could you please come down to the DHL office in the opposite building within five minutes, and pick it up as soon as possible? It has been marked as Urgent, so I'd recommend you come down immediately and pick it up.", lied Neil, disguising his voice in a scruffy tone using his hanky. The girl was wondering who could have possibly sent a parcel to the courier office when most of the parcels get delivered straight to the office, but she decided to go and take a look immediately just in case. Anyhow the DHL office was hardly 2 floors beneath her, and her boss was in an important meeting right now. There was no way he would call her with any work now. She made up her mind to go saying, "Okay. I shall be there right away!" and hung up. She picked up her bag and cellphone and darted out of her cabin in a hurry. The minute she left, Neil walked around casually and entered her cabin stealthily. Being in a hurry to go and pick up the parcel, she had forgotten to lock her cabin. "Oh Shanaya. How predictable!" smirked Neil. He slowly pulled out her drawer in an attempt to not make much noise and grabbed the invite. He felt it to try and gauge its thickness and understand what kind of paper it was made from. He opened the invite and carefully captured clear images from his cellphone, of both the invite and the envelope. He then slipped back the invite inside the envelope, sealed it as it was before, placed it in the drawer and slipped out of her cabin. As he walked down the corridor of the building, he had a victorious grin plastered on his face. Meanwhile the secretary on reaching the DHL office, realized that there was no parcel for her. After going through all the parcels that had recently arrived, the guy at the desk replied apologetically, "We are extremely sorry Madam. There is currently no parcel in the inventory by the name Shanaya. However, there is one addressed to a Shahana. I guess the person who called you messed up with the name." "Oh alright. False alarm. I guess it was a mistake!" she thought to herself. But how did the person get her number if it was the wrong name, she pondered. She suddenly realized that she had left her cabin open, plus her boss would be out of the meeting anytime soon. So, without contemplating much about it, she hurried back to her cabin.
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It was quarter past two when Neil reached the 'Excel Designs' graphics store. As soon as he entered, the lady at the desk asked him, "Hello Sir. How may I help you today?" with a courteous smile. He smiled slightly and said, "I have a few images on my phone. I would like to know if you could convert it into an actual invite, exactly the way it has been depicted in these images." "Certainly Sir. We design all types of invites here. Could you send the images to me over phone or via email? The store email id is: 'wedesign@exceldesigns.com' and the contact number is '1790765523'. They are up on the board behind you in case you need to refer them.", she replied politely. "That sounds great!" he beamed happily. "What size would you like these invites to be? Also, how many invites do you need Sir?" she asked. He saw an empty envelope lying on the table. He picked it up saying, "As long as the invite fits in this envelope, that's good enough for me. I would require 2 invites. Wait...actually make that 4.", just in case of an emergency I need a backup, he thought to himself. "Sure Sir. I shall have them ready by Monday morning" replied the lady and prepared a receipt for him. He paid the advance amount. "You can pay the full amount when you pick up these on Monday. Thank You Sir." she said smiling. "Thank You. I shall be here on Monday.", he replied. As he walked out of the store, he made his way towards a restaurant to grab some food quickly. As he munched on his food, he smirked to himself thinking, 'My darling Juhi. We are going to be meeting very soon. Watch out for me Vidyut. Your happy times are soon going to be history!'
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It was almost evening by the time Neil returned home after wrapping up his work. He saw Avni glued to her phone, looking intently into her phone screen. She had been going through some ballroom dance videos to understand what it is and become more familiar. She didn't want to make an absolute fool of herself, not in front of Neil at-least – her ego definitely couldn't afford that. Her cheeks had turned a deep red and her mouth was agape on realizing the amount of proximity that the dance demanded. How could she possibly dance with him like that? The handsome cheeky devil would be home any minute. Thinking about the repercussions of this close dance, gave her goosebumps all over. She obviously couldn't trust herself around him. "I am not going to look at him. I am going to try and avoid his gaze as much as I can" she repeated to herself. "Come on Avni, you can do this! It's just a dance" she tried convincing herself, but she was still unsure if she was fully convinced and wondered if she could actually execute it in his vicinity. She was lost in thought. It was only when she heard his voice all of a sudden, that she snapped out of her thoughts. "What are you watching so intently?" he asked, unzipping his jacket and tossing it on the chair beside him, walking closer to where she was seated. "N..n..nothing. It doesn't concern you!" she replied stuttering. "Its practice time.. We need to have you all geared up for the D-day, so as to ensure we don't end up making a fool of ourselves at the party!" he said smirking at her. Neil plugged his cellphone to the charger and opened an app to play the music. Instantly some soft romantic music was audible from the speaker. Her heart started to beat fast now and her legs were slightly wobbly. He walked closer to her and stretched out his hand towards her. She slowly placed her hand inside his. On coming in contact with his hands, her hand went numb as she was nervous. He held her hand and softly pulled her towards him. '5 second rule..DO NOT look at her for more than 5 seconds.' his mind instructed him repetitively. 'Do not look at him. Listen to his instructions, but DO NOT make eye-contact with him.', she constantly reminded herself. As she stood opposite him, he said, "Since you are already aware of what ballroom dancing is, I must remind you that it would require me to...", while his right hand encircled her, gradually rested on her waist. She was dressed in a long baby pink skirt with a black crop top, which covered her waist slightly. She was anticipating his move as she was well aware what to expect having already watched those videos. As soon as he rested his hand on her waist, she drew in a sharp breath, muttering a "Hmmm" in response, as if approving his hold. She nervously raised her hand slowly and placed it his shoulder, still trying very hard to not look directly at him, but focusing her gaze sideways. He gently clasped her other hand and slowly their fingers interlaced with each other's. Their hands were intertwined and he slowly began swaying her to the music. "Avni, follow my lead. Take two steps forward with me and then two steps backward" he said softly. "Hmmm" she responded, looking everywhere else but him, and began swaying to the music. 'Thank God she's not looking into my eyes. It's very easy to get lost in her.' he thought to himself. As they took two steps forward, Avni in her desperate attempts to avoid his gaze ended up stomping on his feet and he yelped in pain. "Ouchhh...!! what are you doing?", he shouted at her massaging his foot slightly. "I am taking two steps forward, just as you instructed" she replied in a low voice. "You crazy woman! If you don't follow my lead and keep day-dreaming looking at some random direction, you'll end up ensuring I have a fracture. Please pay heed to my lead" he yelled at her. She pouted with a sad expression writ on her face, seeing his anger and muttered "Errmm I'm sorry Neil. I'm very new to this". Seeing her cute sad puppy dog pout, his insides melted - how his hands urged him to stroke her soft cheeks and comfort her. He fought back his urge and said "OK fine. Just follow my lead." She garnered all the courage and looked into his eyes. That dangerously-handsome face had the ability to make her forget everything, but she had to do it. When their eyes locked, Neil's five second rule was long forgotten. Those large almond-shaped innocent eyes spoke volumes to him which churned his insides. Her gaze was powerful enough to make him forget his surroundings and kill his last ounce of sanity. They swayed forward and backward to the music their eyes not leaving each other even for a second. As she continued to follow his lead, he suddenly swung her around and pulled her closer rapidly. As she hadn't been anticipating his sudden move, she turned swiftly, lost her balance and landed on his chest. Her face banged lightly against his chest. The minute her face came in contact with his chest, his body became stiff. The top two buttons of his shirt were already split open. Her warm breath on his chest made him close his eyes instantaneously as he continued to breathe deeply. His grip on her waist tightened as did hers on his shoulder. The proximity got both their hearts racing quickly- but neither was ready to leave the other. Their bodies were plastered to each other-It was as though they were clinging onto each other for their life. Their tiny intimate moment of passion was broken suddenly by a loud ring of their doorbell. Avni opened her eyes slowly, realizing the position she was in, immediately straightened up herself and pulled away from him. She hurried away from him and walked to open the door. It was the landlady Mrs. Chopra. "My husband and I will be away for a few days on vacation. We just wanted to inform you that we won't be available over the next few days, and just in case any emergency arises, you should be prepared for it." she said. Avni smiled and replied "Don't you worry Mrs. Chopra. I am prepared for everything" wondering how anything could possibly go wrong with him being around her. Or maybe everything could go wrong - her mind muddled in confusion and her cheeks turned a deep red. Seeing her face suddenly change color, Mrs. Chopra asked with a concerned tone, "Are you alright Avni? I hope you are feeling better now. You look a bit flustered". "N...n..nothing of the sort Mrs. Chopra. I am a..a..absolutely finee.", replied Avni stuttering. Even a fleeting thought about him rendered her nervous and made her a blushing mess - living with this man was becoming increasingly difficult for her and she had no clue why. Mrs. Chopra smiled and said "Take care my dear" and walked away after Avni said, "Thank You. I hope you have a lovely time with your husband.". She walked slowly towards her room and saw Neil removing his phone from the charger. "I heard whatever she had to say. I think we have had enough practice for today. I am tired and would like to relax for a bit. Let's continue tomorrow." he said without meeting her eyes and started walking away. She too didn't dare to look up at his face and just muttered an "Okay" as he walked away. Both had no clue why maintaining their composure around each other was becoming a Herculean task as time passed.
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Update after a long time😄. Hope you enjoy it my dear readers😃. Did you miss me?😉 Thoughts about the story?🤔 Do let me know.🤗