Meera left early in the morning to attend to some emergency at work , but not before helping Avni out with her daily work and fixing her some breakfast.

   With the pain having subsided a bit , Avni managed to walk a few steps at a time. If it wasn't for the fear of the sprain turning into something even more painful and disabling , she would have started walking already. ' Few more days Avni !!  ' she kept reminding herself looking at her injured hurt leg.

" Going somewhere ?"

  She looked up to see Neil standing at the door ,holding on to his laptop ,phone and some other files.

" Just till the couch. I can't just sleep all day !! Come in ."

   He walked in and set his things in an orderly fashion on the study table by the book shelves.

  " Don't you have work to do , besides babysitting me all day ?" . Avni crashed on the couch as soon as she reached there. Looking over the upper edge of the couch she could see Neil arranging his things .This was probably the one day that she needed to stay away from him. She knew her brain was still reeling from the after effects of her mother's words. Words can be so powerful , they tend to bend you in a way you never even thought was possible.

It took a snap of Neil's fingers for Avni to realise she had been looking in his direction mindlessly ,while her mind was wandering off on a tale of its own.

" I'll be working from home today ,so I won't come in your way as much.That should answer your question. Besides I'm the boss and I can take off days whenever I wish . A very not so wise person once told me that a boss can make exceptions sometimes." He smiled mildly as he remembered her argument that day.

" Oh  ! So I am rubbing off on you! Finally !! And I'm a very wise person.....you aren't wise enough to learn from me. "

" Yeah right!! Wise !!" .There was an unmissable smirk on his face. " I can see you are already feeling better . Let me know if you need anything. I'll be at the study table."

" Yes pass me that book and my crepe bandage ." She pointed to the book lying at the small dining table besides the open kitchen.

" Sure. " He walked towards the kitchen, grabbed the things and walked back to her. Before she could snatch the things from his hand he moved his hand up and away.

" What ?? ! ?!!" she looked at him irritated.

" One condition.......Stop moving around the house with your sprained leg , atleast till I'm here " saying so he handed her the book and bandage .

" You plan to carry me around the house in your arms??!! That's your idea ! "

"  I don't mind .....if you don't ."

Avni's mouth opened up a few inches at his response.The awkward feeling she had been trying to avoid since morning ,crept back right in ,as her brain tried to picture the image of him carrying her out of the bathroom after the little  accident.
" You are back to your bossy self !! " she blurted out , in an attempt to cover up her disturbed state of mind.

" Yes ! and you will be back to your crazy jumping self in no time if you just listen. "

" And Maa thinks I have a crush on him ??!! " she muttered under her breath " bossy landlord ."

" Did you say something ?!! " Neil asked seeing her talking to herself.

" Ah....yes superman.....help me with this ." She held out the bandage in her hand .

" What am I supposed to do with that ?" he looked at it confused.

"Duh ! Tie it around my ankle. Meera left in a hurry and I'm not able to do it myself. My leg hurts !"

" Oh !" .He took the bandage from her hand and gave it one long look before doing the same to Avni's ankles lying motionless on the far end of the couch.

" My feet are clean....no chance of contracting my sprain either.....if that's what you are wondering about !"

" Trying to be funny ? Try again !!"

After examining the bandage some more , he bent down and knelt besides her couch . Without any instruction manual to guide him , he decides to go for trial and error method. Not wanting to cause her any discomfort he carefully put one end of the bandage below her ankle and slowly wraps it.

" Are you going to do that the whole day !!'' Avni remarked at his extremely slow paced skills ,in comparison to Meera's quick ones.

" I don't do this for a living you know. It's my first time !! Now keep quiet !" He snapped back .

Without any realisation , Avni smiled at his attempts at wrapping the bandage and she felt her heart mellow down a bit. Mr Perfectionist didn't know which way around was correct way to put the bandage!! She could have just told him both ways were okay , but then it was moments like these that made him less annoying and more adorable. Her mother would have definitely liked him .Well she probably already does ,just by speaking to him , she wondered how.

" Avni !!!" he waved his hands infront of her lost -in -thoughts eyes . " What's up with you today ?" Neil's words rocked Avni back from her moment .

" What ?" was all she could say for her embarrassing staring sessions.

" You are behaving weird today !! You were staring at me !" he explained with a puzzled face.

" I wasn't ! I ...... I.... I was just deep in thoughts.....which by the way had nothing to do with you." She mentally facepalmed at her stupidity.

" You sure its not the drugs ?" he enquired if it was infact a side effect of the medications.

" I don't do drugs !!"

" Very funny !"

" You two are so adorable together.....even when you are fighting !! "

  Both of them turned towards unexpected but familiar voice , equally bewildered .

" Mom !!!" His shocked expressions couldn't dampen Shweta's smile even a bit.

" You didn't lock the door ?" Avni whispered .

"Oh that's what you are worried about ?" He gave her 'you are unbelievable '  stare.

" Disturb toh nai kiya na maine ?" Shweta popped the formal question seeing the two of them still giving each other looks .
( I hope I didn't disturb you )

" No aunty , not at all ." Avni was quick to reply.

" Good . I heard about the accident and I couldn't keep myself from paying a visit. " Without wasting a minute more , Shweta made her way to where Avni was seated. But before she could even enquire about her health , she found herself at the answering end of Neil's question.

" How did you find out ?? I never told you !! "

" Either that or you are progressing towards dementia ,my friend ." Avni whispered in a voice that was audible only to Neil , who was now standing next to her , but not to Shweta who was sitting at the far end of the couch near her feet.

" Did Bebe tell you this ?? How could she when...?" Neil left the sentence hanging in there on purpose.

" When you told her not to " Shweta completed his incomplete answer. Neil immediately drew his eyes away from his mother to avoid her scorn .
" Bebe ne kuch nai kaha mujhse . I overheard you both talking ."
( Bebe didn't tell me anything)

Shweta now turned her attention to Avni now.

" Avni beta ,tum toh mujhe bta sakti thi. Pta nai yahan kaise kya kar rhi ho. Mere saath ghar chalo. Jab tak thik nai ho jaati wahan rehna." Shweta now looked at Avni hoping for a positive response.
( Avni atleast you could have informed me .God knows how you are managing things here. Come with me to our house, stay there till you get better .)

After taking a minute long pause , Avni was forced to speak as noone else did. Both Neil and Shweta kept looking at her for an answer , not the same answer though.
"  Umm.... I am perfectly fine here aunty. Beside I don't want to trouble you ." She was hoping her answer was at the least satisfactory to the two of them.

" Arey koi pareshani ki baat hai hi nai. Tum toh humare Ghar ki hone wali bahu ho. Jitna wo ghar Tillu ka hai, utna hi tera bhi. Waise bhi tum yahan akeli...kaise..."
( There is nothing to be troubled about. You are our future daughter-in-law. That house is equally yours as much as it is our Tillu's. Besides you are alone here...how ..")

" Akeli Kahan.....Neil hai na. Usne  office se chuttii le rakhi hai." She threw out her only defence ,only to see Neil swaying his head disapprovingly . The look on his face made Avni feel like she had missed an important catch in a very crucial match.
( I'm not alone.....Neil is here. He has taken leave from his office .)

" Tillu aur chuttii " Shweta intensified her gaze on her son ,who was now trying to avoid meeting her eyes. Not one to let it go subtly,she crossed her legs into a more comfortable position ,placed her elbows on her knees and chin atop her interlocked fingers and spoke in a more intense voice.
" Since when does Mr Neil Khanna skip his work ?? From never going late to office to not going all together...... improvement Tillu !!" Her brows did a quizzical dance as she looked at her son ,who she knew had no answer .
(Tillu and holidays!!)

  Avni and Neil shared an awkward glance as Avni realised this is what Neil was hinting about, just a little too subtly for her to understand.

" Tiffin mein kya hai ?" She pointed excitedly to the Tiffin Shweta had brought with her , trying her best to get them out of the sticky situation.
( What's in the tiffin box ?)

" I completely forgot about this . I have brought all your favourite dishes  ; aloo kulcha , matar paneer , chicken tikka ; specially prepared by me .Ofcourse the cake is all Bebe. " Shweta answered cheerfully. " I'm sure Tillu can't cook you all these " she added looking at her son ,proving her point that Avni would be better off in her care.

'' Oh wow. Mere toh muh mein paani hi aa gya ."
( My mouth is watering )

" Wait ! First of all how to you even know what her favourite dish is ?? Secondly it's not good for her health ." Neil was the only one who stood astonished.

" We talk..." Avni answered timidly " ....and chat too.... sometimes " she added.

" And Tillu she has injured her leg .She hasn't spiked a fever that I'll get her soup . Waise bhi ghar ke khaane se koi beemar nai hota ."
( Besides nobody falls sick by eating homemade food.)

" But you never bring me my favourite dishes '' he complained.

" Bring you food here ?? And what ? Give you one more reason not to come home. All this pampering is just for my hone wali bahu ."
( future daughter in law)

Neil crossed his arms making a mix of ' whatever I don't care' and ' I don't get my mom ' face ,while Avni grinned like a kid who had been favoured by her best friend's mom over the best friend.

"Well this is new. " Shweta's sudden observations caught both their attention. " Before this whenever I used to refer to Avni as our future daughter-in-law , you both had this kind of scared expressions on your face. You even freaked out on the name of engagement. But something has changed. You both have eased in to this relationship. You are more comfortable . Kya baat hai Tillu ? Are you finally ready to commit ?" Shweta looked at her son with questions in her eyes and mischief in her smile.
( What's the matter Tillu ?)

" You know what Mom . I think I should go to work now. You are here to look after Avni. Maybe I should just go , complete one important meeting." he couldn't have said it any faster than he did . Before his mom could even say another word ,he turned to leave only to feel Avni's hand clutching on to his wrist tightly.

This obviously didn't go unnoticed by Shweta ,who cleared her throat and excused herself to the kitchen to get the plates out and to give them some privacy.

" You can't seriously think of leaving me..... alone... here....with your mom" Avni blurted out as soon as Shweta was in the kitchen.

" Why ? Aren't you besties with my mom now ?? You apparently are tight with my mom over the phone. " He wasn't even trying to blunt his sarcasm anymore.

" Fine .Go. Just don't blame me if by the time you return , we are somehow married or if the date of our marriage is fixed " she stressed on the word 'marriage' as much as she could in her hush hush tone.

" What ??!"

" You know how persuading your mother is and how  I can't say no to her. Don't take chances Mr Khanna. You might end up with me as Mrs Khanna."

" I can't stay. She is trying to bait me. I can't believe I'm saying that about my mom. " he squeezed his eyes shut hearing his own words. " Okay just manage for 2 hours . She will be gone at the end of 2 hours and I'll also be done with my meeting by then."

" How ?? " Avni looked confused and stressed at the same time.

" Just trust me on this ok. "

Avni nodded her head  as Neil slowly removed her hand from his wrist . Taking leave from his mother , he made it out of the door as quickly as he could.

    To Avni these next 2 hours looked like 20 with Shweta poking around her and Neil's relationship like always. But to her surprise Shweta was nothing but a caring mother as soon as her son left. She made sure Avni ate till she was more than full.Her food reminded Avni how much she missed homemade food.Shweta told her how even though Bebe wasn't in favour of her visiting ,she still baked her famous chocolate cake for Avni.

Shweta even made hot water compress for Avni to alleviate her pain .  They talked and laughed and watched TV together until Shweta got a call and had to leave urgently.

Before leaving she made sure Neil was on his way back from office. She hugged Avni once more as she left.

" Neil ko maine phone kar diya hai , wo aata hi hoga. Koi bhi jarurat ho toh bejhijak mujhe phone kar dena .'' She shouted from the door once more before she left.
( I have called Neil and he is on his way back home. If you need anything at all ,call me without any hesitation.)

Minutes after she felt  , Avni heard her closed door click open ,to see Neil back from his office.

" That was fast !" she exclaimed .

" I said two hours , didn't I ?" He smirked as he loosened his tie and threw his office bag on the empty couch.

" But how ??"

" Dad !! I told him he needed to call mom and get her home after 2 hours "he smiled at his own plan.

" and he didn't ask you anything ?? "

" Nope . He knows how mom is. He ....let's say understands her better than anyone else. That's how he also knows mom would rush home if she heard he isn't feeling well. " He sat himself down on the other single seat as he watched Avni's expression transform from surprise to adoration.

" So how was the day ?? Are we engaged yet ?"

Their laughs that followed filled the room with echoes of mirth.

                     *****************

A/N :

Thank you for all the lovely comments and votes on the last chapter. I still haven't answered the comments but I'll do it soon.

Do tell me in comments how this chapter was.

Thank you.