They walked towards the house, both trying their best to be oblivious to the fact that they were walking beside one another. The atmosphere was dense, with a thousand unanswered questions. Both not knowing what would be the next word that came out of their mouth. Without knowing what to say or do, they reached the door and without a word and rang the doorbell. Avik dai opened the door and was surprised to see them there completely drenched in water. He invited them inside and quickly offered them some tea. Lalita closed her eyes and let herself feel the warm sensation of the tea flowing through her esophagus to her chilled stomach. Weird how the smallest thing that one ignores in life can feel like heaven at times. She opened her eyes and caught Adarsh looking at her mesmerized. This time they did not look away. It was as if their eyes were into a conversation and refused to look the other way and disrupt what was going on. Avik dai entered the room and broke their silent interaction. "You people are crazy," Avik dai looked at Adarsh with disapproval in his eyes. "Didn?t you have enough brains to think that you might catch a cold or worse pneumonia? Look at Lalita, she is shivering. If you could not think about yourself, you should have thought about her!" Adarsh looked at Lalita with guilt. How could he really have been so ignorant? How could he have risked anything happening to her? She seemed so fragile that it seemed like a soft breeze could harm her. The soft smooth skin that would make a baby envious and her fragile built that made her seem like she was made of china. But most of all, the eyes that made him want to wrap her in his arm and protect her from the whole world. He did not want anyone coming near her or laying a finger on her. Adarsh snapped out of his thoughts, what had he been thinking?! The intensity of his feelings shocked him. He had always tried to ignore the fact that he was falling for his bhauju. He had always ignored the lump on his throat when he saw her. He had also ignored the way her eyes danced mischievously and the way her body swayed in rhythm with every move she made. He had tried to ignore it all and when the truth finally surfaced he was hit by the intensity. "Avik dai I am alright." Lalita said quickly, lest Adarsh be blamed for making her feel unwell. "Lalita, you don't look alright to me. Here, take some towels and dry yourself. You can use the bathroom in the second floor. There might be some clothes that Pallavi left behind that may fit you. Take a warm shower or else you will really catch a cold." Avik dai had a much lighter tone while talking to her. She obediently walked to the bathroom and locked the door. She surveyed herself in the mirror. Hmm? not too bad! She was amazed that her make-up had survived the tons of water blazing to her face. Oh well it had to come off now. She took some lotion and wiped out her make-up and peeled off the slimy and sticky clothes off. The warm water felt so good against her cold body. After taking a warm shower, she looked through the closet for some clothes. Though Pallavi was not exactly her size, but she was atleast fashionable! She slipped Pallavi?s trousers and sweat shirt and went to the living room where Adarsh was sitting. He looked like he had just walked out of the shower, his hair tumbled and sexy. Lalita held her breath and went sit in the couch beside his. "Can I say something?" His voice sounded a bit different than it originally did. "Sure? go ahead" "I have done a lot of thinking? and I don?t know if I am doing the right thing or not, but I don?t think I can keep quiet anymore. I don?t know if you have felt it or not, but I feel it every time I look at you?.." "Where is Avik dai?" Lalita was confused. "He went to the lawyer? you know about Pallavi bhauju.." "So, when are we leaving?" "As soon as the rain stops. I don't want you to get sick." "Can't we go to some other place? Somewhere we can talk out what you want to say?" Adarsh looked at her for a long time. He did not know if it was a good idea. He didn't know if anything was good anymore. He had never expected to feel this way about her, but he did. And if she reciprocated her feelings, why act like nothing was wrong? He thought about Hari and his not-so-secret personal life. Lalita did not deserve that. Why was it always that a man was free to do anything while the woman had to stay in limits of the wedlock? Why did he even care what was going on between them? Well the only way to find out was to talk it over. "Okay, lets go."