Kiara's words had left Neil in a thoughtful state. Though he still didn't quite get what this look was she kept talking about ,or what exactly to look for in that 'look' , but he knew that she had always searched for that in his eyes . But why would she say that he looked at Avni that way?? She must have misinterpreted his concern for her. The 'look' must have been a figment of her imagination. Shaking his head to shake off these straying thoughts ,he focussed his mind on the more pressing matter at hand ; Avni herself.

  Walking back into her room he saw Avni holding her fingers over her temple and grimace over her face .

" What's wrong ?? I mean besides the head injury and the leg one ??" he asked as he tried to decipher the drug names on the prescription.

" Umm " she opened her eyes ,looked at him before closing them again. " It hurts !!"

" Which one ?? The cut or the sprain ?" he finally looked up.

" My whole body kind of hurts ,but it's my head that wins over the rest of them . "

" Must be the cut and the stitches. I'm going to run down to the nearby pharmacy and see if they have any of these medicines available. Till then you make the calls ."

" Ow ! What calls ??" the constant throbbing from her stitches made it difficult for her to think rationally.

" Don't you have to inform anyone about this ? I think this counts as a major 'time to make a phone call ' accident. " Her straight face clearly stated she was in no mood for solving riddles . " I think you should start by calling your office ,informing them and asking for a leave " he instructed.

" And what should I tell them ? "

" That you fell and injured yourself .What else is there to say ?" He had presumed that she was atleast clear about the fall and injury part , but her silly questions made him reconsider a visit to the hospital.

"What if they don't believe me?"

" Oh ! Thank God it's not dementia !"  Avni's unyielding  expressions at his relief confirmed of her being the same Avni he always knew. ''I'm sure they will understand . Just call. If they don't then let me talk to them."

" Okay "

" Ok then I'm heading out. By the time you are done with the phone call ,I'll be right back ." He smiled reassuringly at her before making a sprint for the pharmacy.

Shattering all her apprehensions , the staff of Fallen Leaf were very cooperative and considerate. After hearing about her unfortunate accident , Anna granted her a week's leave even though she had requested for less.

   Neil wasn't back like he had promised by the end of her phone call. While she waited for him to return with a cure for her constantly throbbing head ,she realised she needed a change of clothes too. Her nightwear was clearly soaked in water and tinged with blood. Waiting for Neil to get some dry clothes didn't seem like a very good idea to her. As if it wasn't enough that he had to carry her out in those clothes that he would have to find her dry ones too .

  Slow and steady was the way to go. She slowly moved the sprained ankle inch by inch ,to minimize the pain the movement caused.She had almost reached the end of the bed ,when she heard him.

" What ??!!! What do you need ?" He hurried to her side with the bag of medicines in his hands.

" Nothing that I need your help with. I can do it myself ."

" Ofcourse !! Go ahead and break the other leg too. !!"

" It's a sprain and besides I can do my own work. " She made her trademark grumpy face.

" Stop being a child. Tell me what do you need ." He placed the medicines on her nightstand and stared at her for answers.

" I need dry clothes from my cupboard " she said meekly.

" I can do that"  saying that he went straight to the cupboard without waiting for her to say it.

" Nooooo. No you can't .You can't do that ."

" Oh I see . You don't want me to go searching around your wardrobe." He leaned against the blue cushioned cupboard ,with his hand crossed against his chest ,eyes scrutinizing her unreadable expressions.

" Ok fine. I'm not ..... I'm not comfortable with you tearing through my personal belongings !" she looked straight at the door , avoiding any eye contact with him.

'' Stop being such a prude !!!" he snapped at her.

" Hawww !!! I'm not ..... I'm not... that " she snapped right back.

" Then let me get you what you need."

" Fine. Wait..... I think I need to take a quick shower first " she said putting a finger on her lower lips thoughtfully.

Neil rolled his eyes at her unreasonable demands.
"I think you had had enough water for the day."

"But.."

"No buts. You are not going to walk in there in this condition ,without some adult supervision. I don't think you would like me to be that adult." An impish smile marked his face seeing her slump face and open mouth.

"No thank you. Atleast get me some dry clothes. I'm soaking wet " she complained.

" Sure " he complied to her , having stopped her from entering the washroom with a dizzy head.
"So this cupboard ?? Which shelf ? "
He started ransacking through the shelves stumbling into things that didn't exactly fit the requisition.

"No no. Not there. Not that shelf.You know what....Let it be.I'll get it."

"No freaking way. Just sit there. Dare you move."  His eyes were dead serious with his index finger pointed at her commandingly.

Avni immediately pulled back her left leg that had made its way out of the bed impulsively.

"I picked you up from bathroom floor, drenched in water ,with your .....your not so white t-shirt."
Avni consciously pulled up her sheets which had slipped away from her in all the commotion.For some reason she couldn't shake off the image of Neil carrying her out in that state.

"So stop overreacting. Let me help."
After searching for a while he finally took out a pair he had seen her wear before .

"Will this do ?"

"Ofcourse jeans would be perfect considering my swollen foot." Though his sporadic naiveness made her smile , there was no way she was letting it out on her face.

"Oh.Sorry. My mistake.''
He then rummaged through the hanging clothes , rejecting a whole lot as uncomfortable as Avni horridly watched her wardrobe being torn apart.Finally after a thorough search he settled on a sky blue dress .

"How about this ?"

'' That will do. Hand it over and leave the room" she said in a commanding tone.

"I'll be just outside in case you need anything." He walked out  closing the door behind him.

Neil came back minutes later with a breakfast tray in his hands . Avni who had changed into dry set of clothes by then ,uttered a weak 'come in' as soon as he knocked.

" What's all this ? You didn't need to do that. "

" It's nothing. I just ''fixed'' us some breakfast. I don't know about you but I was invited for breakfast.'' He placed the breakfast tray on the centre of the bed and dragged the chair from the nearby table for himself.

"Eat up. You need to eat before you take your medications."

As Avni fussed over the glass of milk served along with toasts to her , Neil quietly drank his coffee ,screening through his phone which was by then buzzing with unread messages and unattended calls.

" I think you should go. You have already wasted plenty of office hours on me ."It didn't take much for her to guess that the phone was buzzing from office headlines.  "I'll call Meera ,you need not worry " she added.

He checked his watch once ,then looked up " Meera ?? Okay call her then.....infront of me ."

Left with no other choice she dialled up her friend's number. Luckily for her Meera was quick to answer but unluckily she was at work already . She insisted Avni to tell what the problem was ,but not wanting to bother another person Avni concealed the severity of the incident.

"Yeah yeah.You finish your work and come , we will talk ." After assuring her friend that it wasn't an emergency ,she hung up.

" Let me guess ....she is at work ,isn't she ?" He knew the answer even before she made the call.

" Yeah.Its not a problem .I'll be fine on my own."

" Fine on ur own ? Yeah right. I'm not going anywhere till she comes back. Let me just make a few calls but before that ..." He took out the medicines from the paper bag and handed her over the prescribed medicines along with a glass of water.

Avni watched quietly as Neil discussed things over the phone with his team and then his secretary.

" Postpone all my meetings to next week. Anything that can't be postponed will be managed by the team and I'll communicate from here. Call me if anything spirals out of control." He discussed a few other things before hanging up the phone.

" Why are you cancelling important work for me?"

" Cause you are important ." He saw her amazed expressions and added in a 'too' " ....too. Besides I trust my team.I handpicked them.They know their job ."

"Oh !" Now that her head didn't feel as dizzy as before , her idle brain started playing " Do you think Aarav personally selected me for the job ?? Because he knew me ?" .

" Oh there we go again.Aarav !!!" he muttered under his breath.

" What ?"

" What ? Nothing. I don't think he did. He looked too surprised to see you ." As much as he disliked talking about him, he needed to allay Avni's doubts about her capabilities.

" If you say so. I don't like being favoured."

" You are not being favoured.Trust me ." In that moment he admired her a little more than he already did. The drive to succeed on her own terms that's probably the only similarity between the  two opposites ,that's them.

" Don't you have to inform your mother ??about the accident ?" He saw this fit to divert her attention off the topic and more importantly off Aarav.

" Huh ?!!" She had completely forgotten about Neela all this while. Neela was still out of town  owing to some business. She was surely going to freak out hearing about all this and not to mention the scoldings that were surely going to pour in .

" Your mother ??!! I think you should inform. " He could see the fearless tigress cower on hearing her own mother's name..... that fascinated him ! " Go on. Should I ??" his snickering won him an angry stare.

" No thanks. I'm calling her.......and stop smiling.I know you are enjoying this."

Fingers trembling she dialled her mother's number ,praying  her to be in the midst of a meeting ,where she couldn't lose her calm.

Her prayers remained unanswered as she caught Neela  on lunch break. As expected Neela first freaked out , then cried some and then finally reprimanded her only daughter.

" Maa I'm fine. Stop scolding me ,I already have a headache" she knew it was more than enough to switch her mother from angry to caring mode.

" Oh sorry bacha. Why do you do this Avni ? Why do you like giving your Maa mini attacks all the time ?? You don't worry, i'll cancel everything right away and will be with you by tomorrow....no today itself."
And her trick got her more than she had bargained for.

" Maa calm down. Take a deep breath . It's just a sprain and a tiny cut ." She moderated her condition in words ,so that her mother wouldn't drop everything she has worked hard for in the middle and run to her right away.
" I'm okay.....and besides Neil is here ....too. He is taking care of me ..."

" Neil ?? You mean your landlord ? What is he doing there ?" .
Avni's plan to calm her mother down had worked , but not quite the way she expected .

" Hmm.....yeah.....Neil is ...is a friend .He was the one I was talking to ...on the phone....when I slipped. So..."

" Oh ! Why were you talking to him this early in the morning ?? Discussing how to pay rent.....cash or check ?" Neela couldn't suppress her laugh which ringed in her face and her daughter's ear.

" Very funny. No. I ...I was....I was inviting him for breakfast to discuss something."

" You .....invited him .....for breakfast ??" Neela laughed out loud at the thought of her daughter inviting people for breakfast ." You don't know how to make breakfast Avni ,or do you ?" .
Neela's continued laughter made Avni repent being honest. " He must be special ."

" Maa would you stop that !" she hushed her mother . " He is right here " she whispered.

" Oh is he ?? I would like to talk to him then."

" Absolutely not."She was scared her mother would ask him embarrassing questions as well .

" Give him the phone or I'm taking the next flight to you " Neela threatened.

" Fine . You are so stubborn Maa!"

" You get that from me bacha !"

Avni reluctantly called Neil over and handed him the phone. After staring at her astonishingly for a moment ,he breathed a hello over the speaker.

"Hi. I'm Avni's mother....Neela. Can you tell me how she really is . I know she is lying to me cause she doesn't want me to worry . But no work can be more important than her to me. So can I trust you to tell me the truth ??? " Neela urged him to lay the details of Avni's injuries on her.

" Ofcourse Ma'am " he glanced at Avni who was signalling him not to give in to her mother's persuasion.

'' Aunty . Don't call me Ma'am.....it's too formal. "

" Okay '' he smiled.
He went on to give her some details while assuring her that there was no need for an emergency landing. " She is still talking like a crazy person.......so that's a good sign. The hit on her head hasn't knocked out her stubbornness ,so we still have our .....I mean you still have your 'I can do everything by myself daughter....'' he stopped expecting an awkward silence or curious question.

'' She is your friend too....so 'our' is  perfectly fine." Her daughter may not have told her everything she wanted to know about the landlord , but she could sense this friendship was not just for namesake. The breakfast invitation , his being there for her and the tease....in the way he spoke about her spoke volumes about him being more than just an acquaintance.

" Umm...and she can still kick me out of a room......so the sprain isn't stopping her from anything. Don't worry she will be fine ."

" Thank you Neil. Now I know she is in good hands. Though promise me that you will keep me posted about her health."

"I will. "

" Thanks. One free advice for you.......next time she invites you for breakfast or dinner or any such thing.......make sure you have some food delivered. Avni cannot cook.....like at all. " Neela laughed and so did Neil.

" I'll keep that in my mind next time" he smiled.

'' and then she is so fussy about food.''

" You should have seen her face when she saw the glass of milk. "

" Oh no ....you didn't ." She  laughed as she narrated to him Avni's dislike for milk.

The Avni discussion went on for a few more minutes. Seeing her lunch break getting over ,Neela asked him to put Avni back on the phone .

Neil turned to find Avni fast asleep in the exact same position he had left her ; arched up ,her head resting against the headboard with a stack of pillows supporting her back.

" She is sleeping. Must be the sedatives."

" Oh. Don't wake her up. I'll call again in the evening. I don't think I need to say this.....but take care of her ."

" I will. "

  He slowly walked backed into her room making sure he didn't make the slightest noise. Supporting her head by the palm of his left hand ,he carefully manouvered the extra cushions away . Then he cautiously moved her head down ,one hand holding her head and the other resting on her back.

It was when he tried removing his  hands , that the sudden awareness of their proximity gripped him. Frozen he stood , admiring the sleeping beauty before him. She looked so flawlessly flawed , that his eyes forgot to blink and his heartbeats forgot their rhythm for a second there. He pulled away slowly making sure she didn't wake her up.

As he closed the bedroom doors behind him , Avni lazily lifted her heavy eyelids.  She wasn't aware at what point exactly she woke up and decided to keep her eyes shut but her racing heartbeats was something she surely was aware of.

     The action of the drugs soon overpowered her heartbeats and sent her back the palace of dreams .

By the time the sedatives wore off , Neil was nowhere in sight. Meera answered back as she called for Neil.

                      *************

A/N :
Hii guys
So how was it ?
Do let me know with your comments and votes.Eagerly waiting.

Thank you for the comments and votes on last chapter.