Author's POV

Neil had been waiting for half an hour for Avni at her favorite ice cream parlor. Growing increasingly irritated, he called her and learned about the traffic issues.

"Avni must be struggling in that traffic... from tomorrow, I'll pick her up and drop her off. Yeah, this is perfect!" he thought.

"Hey Neil, when did you switch from business to being a driver? And you didn't even tell me, your best friend!" Neil's self-talk was interrupted by the cheerful and mischievous Ali, also known as Chamko.

After ending Neil's call, Avni dialed Ali to share her first day at work.

"Ali, why are you here?!" Neil's bubble of imagination about spending alone time with Avni was burst by Ali.

"Oh hello, Neil, she's my friend, or rather my best friend, before she was yours," Ali exclaimed, making Neil pull a boring face.

"Are you done? Do you have anything else to say? I had such a good plan!" Neil pouted, resting his face on his palm and elbow on the table.

Ali started laughing, agitating Neil even more.

"Hey Ali, why are you laughing?" Neil asked, glaring fiercely.

"Your plan involves just staring at her!" Ali struggled to speak through his laughter.

Confused, Neil asked, "What are you talking about? I don't understand!"

Ali, now sober, composed himself. "You talk about your plan like you're going on a date with her, but the reality is she just blabbers, and you stare at her!" Ali cracked up again.

"What's going on? Tell me too! Chamko, why are you laughing?" Avni arrived and sat in front of Neil and Ali. Placing her handbag on the table, she mimicked Neil's earlier posture, pouting cutely and resting her face on her palm and elbow. She wobbled her eyebrows twice at Ali and Neil.

This made Ali laugh even harder, while Neil glared at him more fiercely.

Avni gave them confused looks, her gaze shifting between Ali, who was struggling to stop laughing and clutching his stomach, and Neil, who was smiling nervously at her.

"Chamko!" Avni urged Ali to stop. After a few minutes, Ali composed himself, and they looked at the menu.

They ordered two Belgian chocolate ice creams and a cocoa creamsicle float for Avni and Ali, and a butter pecan chocolate ice cream and boozy blueberry float for Neil.

After ordering, Avni asked Ali again, and he replied with suppressed laughter, "Neil has started working as a driver... ummm... mmm..." Ali couldn't continue as Neil clasped his mouth with his palm.

Neil turned to Avni, who had wide eyes. "What?!" was all she could say, followed by "But why?"

She looked at Ali, struggling to remove Neil's hand from his mouth. Soon, she heard, "Ouch!"

"Ali, why did you bite Neil?!" Avni immediately took Neil's hand in hers and started blowing on it, making Neil stare at her in a daze.

"Aaaah..." Neil pretended to be hurt to gain more attention.

"Is it hurting a lot?" Avni asked with a worried face, to which Neil instantly nodded.

Avni got up from her seat, confusing both boys, and returned with a bowl of ice cubes from the counter.

"Neil, show me your hand," he obliged without hesitation.

"Owww," Neil whined a second later, "What happened, Neil?" This time, the question came from Ali, the sole reason for Neil's whine. Lifting his left foot from its previous place, Neil hid it under the table, avoiding any further hits from Ali's foot.

Neil glared at Ali for his actions. "Neil, who smiles like a madman at a card?" Ali whispered to Neil with a smile.

"Avni, give it to me, I'll do it. Your ice cream will melt," Ali instantly got a glare from Neil.

"Kabab mein haddi," Neil muttered venomously.

Avni busied herself with the ice cream while Neil and Ali did the same, exchanging eye talks every minute—a glare from Neil and a chuckle from Ali.

"Guys, my day was amazing! You know what? I made so many friends. They're very cute—Kavya, Sneha, and Pooja. They helped me a lot in settling in with my work. Also, there was no workload on me..." She continued, and Neil and Ali, like good obedient students, concentrated on her talk.

Neil was having his blueberry float but choked on it when Avni mentioned a boy. Ali patted his back tenderly, which calmed him.

"Are you okay, Neil?" Avni asked with concern, but Neil ignored it and asked, "Who is this Daniel?"

"Oh well, I think he is the MD of the company... I don't know much." Neil sighed in relief but instantly took a sharp breath upon hearing Avni's next sentence.

"He is very sweet and cute!" Avni said, awing at the memory of Daniel.

Ali suppressed his laughter, seeing Neil's red face.

"Now I will definitely go to drop and pick up Avni," Neil decided, "I need to see who this Daniel is."

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Hello guys, I am back! I hope you all didn't forget me. Yeah, I know I mentioned this before, but still...

I have also posted "Refreshing Memories" of tales of AvNeil and Adiza. It's the second part of two shorts. Kuch Pal Toh Theher Jaao Na. Do check it out.

And back to this story... I am warning everyone... Jealousy ahead. Do take care.

Hope you all like today's chapter as well.

Shower your love on this greedy writer... hehehe. Yup, I am greedy for your support and love.

Bubyee, take care lovelies... love you all