‘Um … you’re wet.’ I was painfully aware of how stupid I sounded, but what could I do? It’s not like there was a manual on what to say when you’re accidentally stranded with your intern. Your infuriatingly attractive,soakedintern.
‘Yeah, you were hogging all the shade downstairs.’ Neil shook his hair out, sending a few droplets straight onto my face.What was this, a men’s perfume commercial?
I cleared my throat and looked away. ‘What do we do now?’
‘You hungry?’ he asked as he flapped his t-shirt, airing it out. I exhaled, relieved I no longer had to worry about staring at the outline of his pecs.
I nodded. ‘Shall we raid the pantry?’
He grinned, almost boyishly, like I’d just proposed we do something naughty. It made my cheeks heat up.
Ten minutes later, the wet-socks smell in the pantry had been replaced by the comforting aroma of noodles and masala. I stood by the stove, stirring the half-cooked Maggi with a plastic fork. The rain hadn’t let up. If anything, it had gotten worse, rattling the windows with sharp, angry bursts.
‘Can you add some ketchup to it?’ Neil asked from behind me.
‘What? Ew, no,’ I said, personally offended at the request. ‘I’d rather season it with my own blood.’
His loud laugh filled the tiny room. ‘Holy hell, that’s terrifying.’
I shrugged, unfazed. ‘I’ve heard of many criminal ways people like their Maggi. Adding ketchupwhileit’s cooking tops the list. Hands down.’
He held up his hands. ‘Fine, fine. I didn’t know I was dealing with the Maggi police.’
‘You should be grateful,’ I said, stirring the noodles. ‘Not everyone is lucky enough to score a Michelin-star meal in the middle of an apocalypse.’
He hummed thoughtfully. ‘What if the world really was ending tonight … what would you spend your last few hours doing?’
‘Certainly wouldn’t be here with you,’ I said over my shoulder.
I could almost hear him rolling his eyes at me. ‘That’s not up to us, is it? What would you do if you couldn’t leave?’
I mulled it over as I poured the soupy noodles into two plastic bowls. ‘I’d call my family, I guess. Let mom and dad rehashmemories from my childhood.’ I wiped a noodle splatter off the counter, smiling into the distance. ‘What about y—’
I turned around with the bowls in my hands … and promptly forgot how to speak.
Because Neil was standing by the water dispenser, very much shirtless, casually wringing out his soaked t-shirt like he was in a men’s locker room, not our very tiny, very co-ed office pantry. My eyes followed a faint water droplet as it slid down his collar bone, gliding over the firm muscles of his chest and taut abs before disappearing beneath the waistband of his jeans.
I stood frozen to the ground as he reached into his bag and pulled out a dry-fit gym tee. If he noticed how blatantly I was staring at him, he didn’t comment.Snap out of it,I gave myself a mental kick.It’s just a body. A male body. You’ve seen those before.Sure I had. Just … not one that looked likethat.
It took a monumental amount of effort to keep my eyes on the floor as I approached one of the benches. When he joined me, he was no longer shirtless. A small, treacherous part of me was disappointed.What has gotten into you, Kavya?
I busied myself with blowing on the noodles, pretending the steam fogging my face was the reason for the way my cheeks were heating up.Say something, anything.‘So, would you call your parents too?’
‘Mmm, wouldn’t be my first pick. My dad and I are not on the best terms and mom … well, let’s just say she’d probably be too busy with her friends to take my call.’
Something about the way he said it, so matter-of-fact, without any pain or emotion, made me want to reach out and touch his arm. ‘I see. Who’d you call, then?’ I asked instead.
He hummed, twisting his fork through the noodles. ‘My oldest friend, I suppose. Haven’t spoken to her in a bit.’
‘How come?’
‘We … fell out.’
I hesitated for a second, then blurted out, ‘Is this “friend”a Lakmé model, by any chance?’
He looked up sharply and, for a split second, I thought I’d crossed a line. Then that lazy grin returned. ‘So you’ve been stalking me, huh.’
‘Technically, my flatmate did all the stalking. I was just presented with the evidence.’
