Hello My Dear Readers😀
So I was in two minds the last time to update, but it seems that quite a few people are still looking forward to the story. So I do not want to disappoint them and have decided to continue writing😃 But due to my health, I may not be able to give very quick updates(though I shall try my best). Thank You to everyone who responded☺️ Also Thank You everyone for the kind 'Get Well Soon' wishes😘❤️ I am feeling much better now. Hope you enjoy this update😃
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The next two days passed without much being exchanged between Avni and Neil. Both were extremely hurt by whatever had transpired between them earlier that week. They spoke to each other only when it was absolutely necessary. The day of the masquerade party was fast approaching. Neil was planning intently in order to make sure everything would go smooth. He wanted Vidyut and Juhi to part ways as early as he could get them to, and move out of the house soon. His mind wasn't clear on his intentions to move out soon - whether it was because he wanted to be reunited with Juhi or whether he was trying to run away from Avni. Avni's mind was going through a similar set of conflicted emotions. As they sat to eat their breakfast, they watched the couple across them on the screen. "I am so excited for the party Vidyut" chirped Juhi in excitement as she hugged him tightly. "Same here darling. By the way, do you have a dress for the party?" asked Vidyut hugging her back. "No. Not yet! I think we ought to go shopping some time next week before the party.", suggested Juhi. "Ok darling. I shall take out a day in the next week to take you shopping my princess.", he said pecking her on the cheek. Neil and Avni were annoyed seeing the scene in front of their eyes. They however dared not to look at each other. They weren't sure what the actual reason behind their insecurity was - Were they really jealous of the couple's proximity or was it because of the ongoing unresolved tension between the two of them. Both were fighting a hard battle of ego not to make the first move to discuss anything. After experiencing a few conflicting emotions, Neil walked out of the house.
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It was time to execute the second part of his game plan. He stepped into a garments store. "I need to buy a burkha for my girlfriend. Could you please help me out with it?" he asked the female assistant at the shop. The lady beamed wide on seeing his handsome face and said, "Sure Sir. Why not? Of course, I can help you. Please be seated while I get some samples for you to choose.", she said as she signaled to a helper to get a chair for him. As he sat waiting for the store representative, the internal conflict brewing in his mind refused to leave him. "I think I should talk to Avni. Wait no! I shouldn't. She clearly marked the boundary for me. I'm just another random person in her life. But then, I also need to take her to this party. How can I not talk to her? Uffff why is this so complicated?" he muttered to himself, as he rested his face in between his palms. 'Here you go Sir. There are different sizes available. You can choose from these. If you need more designs in a higher range, I can get those for you too.", she said displaying the different pieces of burkhas. He selected a medium sized black piece, paid the shopkeeper and walked out of the store. He then picked up a few female-scented perfumes on the way from another store and then walked back homeward.
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Meanwhile Avni was fighting her inner turmoil. 'I have to talk to Neil. But it's really so hard to talk to him. I feel I'm getting attracted to him like a magnet and that's not what I am here for. He made it very clear to me the other day that he wants to be independent. He is here only for Juhi. He obviously has no feelings for me. But I also have to go to the party with him. Gosh! How did this become so complicated?' she contemplated turning sad. She walked over to his side of the cupboard. It was high time she did something about Juhi. She began to ransack Neil's half to see if she could find anything, while suddenly she caught hold of a book. It seemed like it was a diary. It was secured by a tiny lock on the side which she could easily open with a flick. 'Maybe he forgot to lock it. It is so wrong to read other's diary Avni. Just put it away! But what if it has some information, that I need around Juhi? I'm sorry Neil for reading your diary.', she thought as she fought with her conscience. She was excited at the prospect of maybe finding something about Juhi in the diary. As she sat down to read the contents of the diary, she realized how deeply Neil adored Juhi. His words made her uneasy and it almost was like her heart burnt in jealousy. She was beginning to get irritated as she read along more anecdotes of his precious moments spent with Juhi. She got to know about a side of Neil that she hadn't witnessed at all in all these days of living with him. He was an ardent lover - but all of that love was for Juhi. She shut the book in annoyance and muttered angrily, "Hmmphh..He is so sweet with her, but he is so harsh with me! All that he can think of is arguing, fighting and hurting me. Arrgggg..he is so annoying!" She wasn't sure whether she was bothered because of his attitude towards her or because of the immense love he had for Juhi. She rapidly skimmed through the pages to see if she could find any hints about Juhi's address, but luck wasn't in her favor. She tossed the book back to its original place and lay down on her bed, unable to flush out the oozing jealousy and disappointment from her mind. In no time, she drifted away to sleep.
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When he returned home, he found the house rather silent. The kitchen would usually be bustling with her zealous self at this time. Not seeing her around, he was slightly alarmed and walked to her room to make sure she was alright. When he stepped into her room, the beautiful visual in front of him, left him stunned. She was dressed in a creamy white half-sari and a red off-shoulder blouse. Her hairs were let loose and her eyes were shut as if she was in a deep slumber. A tiny smile adorned her pretty face. His eyes couldn't help but traverse down towards her creamy bare waist which now lay exposed to him. The angelic beauty coupled with the exposed skin of that perfect figure, tormented his insides. It was as though her entire sleeping form was teasing him and challenging him. He was terribly fighting the urge to not look towards her, but he failed miserably. Almost immediately he looked away and smacked himself for shamelessly ogling at her while she was asleep, but he just couldn't avert his gaze from her sleeping form. Like a spring that recoils back, his head turned back automatically, his eyes still not peeling away from her waist. He finally gave into his desires and slowly walked closer to her. As if he were in a trance, he slowly bent towards her, his left hand softly caressing her forehead, while his right hand still struggling hard not to grab her waist. 'What is wrong with you? How can you even touch her without her consent? You have absolutely no right Neil.' his conscience kicked some sense into him. He was about to get up and move away, when he saw her slightly shift. She gradually opened her eyes only to see his face inches away from her, leaning towards her. Completely misunderstanding his position and unable to comprehend what he was up to, Avni gave out a loud scream. Hearing her loud yell, he immediately snapped out of his reverie, and the hand which was earlier advancing towards her waist, now landed on her mouth, stifling her screams. As he was leaning towards her, he lost his balance and landed on her. While one hand went right across her mouth, the other grabbed her waist tightly for support. Feeling his sudden weight on her, and his hand caressing her waist, she let out a low moan, which he failed to hear. He continued to gag her mouth with his hand, while she mumbled under his hand vigorously, trying to get rid of his hold. "Shut up!" he hissed back at her. "Just shut up for a minute and please stop yelling.", he whispered to her softly. She stopped struggling and held her breath, while he slowly withdrew his hand from her mouth loosening the grip. She finally let out that breath that she had been struggling to take all this while as his hand slowly slipped off her mouth. Their bodies were plastered, and his face was dangerously close to hers. Their eyes did not leave each other. His warm hand still lay on her waist. His other hand held her forehead lovingly, and he looked deeply into those innocent almond shaped eyes. He caressed her face slowly, causing her eyes to close in response. Involuntarily, he lost himself in her, looking at her intently, as though memorizing each contour of her face. In the next instant, the whistle of the cooker in the kitchen buzzed loudly, breaking their tiny moment of passion. Now jolted back to reality, Neil straightened himself up. He bent towards her ears, and whispered in a gentle, apologetic yet husky tone, "I'm sorry Avni!", and instantly walked away from her room. Listening to his apology she opened her eyes slowly anticipating to meet his, but she didn't see him near her. She sat up straight on the bed, only to see him leaving her room. As he left, she rested her head against the bed, shut her eyes tight and replayed the sequence of events that had chanced between them in the last few minutes. Her heart was beating so fast and she couldn't brush away his face from her thoughts. Meanwhile Neil stood in the terrace, trying to reiterate the sequence of events in his mind - clearly it was becoming increasingly difficult for him to not loose himself in her presence. She was indeed bewitching. What was she doing to him? As he closed his eyes, her innocent, beautiful eyes flashed in front of him pacing up his heartbeats.
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He walked out of the house at around 4:45 PM wearing the burka that he had purchased earlier. He had managed to walk out of the house, without Avni noticing him in that disguise. He patiently waited behind a tree for Vidyut to arrive. As soon as Vidyut got out of his car, Neil walked up to him. "Sir please can you have a look at these perfumes? It's a new cologne brand for men and it's guaranteed to give good results Sir. Please have a look." he said, faking a girl's accent with his heavy voice. Vidyut politely declined saying "Thank you Madam. But not now. I am not interested. Please go ahead and find someone else who may be interested". "Please Sir. I come from a poor family and make my living by selling these perfumes. Kindly have a look." said Neil forcibly thrusting a bunch of perfumes in Vidyut's hand. He took out one of them and sprayed it all over his shirt and neck. Vidyut started squirming around when he felt the perfumes being sprayed. "Madam please. I said I am not interested", yelled back Vidyut in annoyance. "Sir please try this. And this..." said Neil spraying various brands of women's perfumes all over Vidyut's shirt. "Please stop!" yelled Vidyut and walked away towards his house. Neil smirked and got back into the house. He slipped out of the burka and retired to the living room and switched on the projector. Avni who was watching him all this while, knew again that he was up to no good. "So what if game plan #1 wasn't successful? This one certainly will be!" said Neil smirking. Avni sipped on her cup of coffee and sat beside him on the sofa. "What did you do now Neil?" she questioned him intently. "Wait and watch my dear. And if possible, learn." he said flashing his devilish grin. She rolled her eyes in response and continued to look at the screen. Vidyut entered the house and hugged Juhi tight. Juhi hugged him back tightly in response and pecked him on the cheek. Avni and Neil both shifted a bit uncomfortably, on seeing the couple so close. However, it was not long before her face changed color as she caught the scent of the perfume. She instantly reeled back and asked Vidyut, "So who hugged you before I did?" making a sarcastic face. "Sweetheart. what are you saying?" said Vidyut unable to comprehend why she was asking that question. "Your shirt smells of ladies perfume. Is there something you have to tell me Vidyut?" she said in a stern tone. "Juhi...baby. You are getting it all wrong. There was this girl selling perfumes outside the house. I told her that I wasn't interested in purchasing them but before I could have my say, she sprayed it all over my shirt" said Vidyut innocently. Juhi however found it hard to believe him. "Nowadays you are conveniently making up stories Vidyut. First the monkey story and now this perfume girl. Are you playing me for a fool?" she yelled back at Vidyut angrily. Vidyut lost his temper and yelled back, "You are free to think whatever you want to. I'm done justifying my actions to you. You absolutely don't seem to have any trust in me." Saying so, he walked into the room and shut the door behind him harshly leaving Juhi in tears.
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Avni was shell-shocked. "Oh my God! You actually did it. For once they had a proper fight!" said Avni in an excited tone. "Please don't ever underestimate me Ms. Cleopatra. I am capable of ANYTHING!" he bit back at her. "Neil. I think it's high time we forget our ego clashes and work as a team. We are now very close to gaining what we desired. Let's just brush out whatever has happened in the past few days and be friends again." Said Avni and furthered her hand for a shake. He took her hands in a firm handshake and said, "I'm in for that". Both of them exchanged smiles. They reluctantly let go off each other's hands. As Avni walked away Neil called out to her saying "Avni..." "Yes Neil" she replied turning back. "By the way, just wanted to remind you that you still are a pathetic ballroom dancer. So, can we get back to practice soon? We hardly have a week's time left and I don't want a bruised foot at the party" he said raising his eyebrows. "Fine. whatever!!" she said rolling her eyes and walked away. Though this was the win that both Avni and Neil had been waiting for, something deep within stirred them as if to give a message saying that something was amiss.
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