Early Morning :

The sound of his alarm woke him up at once.Getting out of his bed he went straight to the washroom.15 minutes later he was freshened up and all ready for his jogging session . Putting on his fitbit watch he walked out of his apartment with a sipper in one hand and his phone in the other.As he walked towards the elevator, something caught his attention.The new occupant of his old place had put up a temporary handmade nameplate in front of the door.Different just like her...that's the first thought that crossed his mind.Taking his phone out he sent a quick message to the new arrival in his life.

30 minutes later....

Avni put her phone's alarm on snooze for the 4th time in a row.Through her half shut heavy eyelids she could see a message displayed on her homescreen.Rubbing her eyes with her hands she checked it again to see the name again .' Landlord' it displayed.

Minutes later she found her way to the nearby park with the instructions that was left for her in the message.She scanned the spacious area to spot the person she was looking for.It took her sleepy self a few minutes to find him jogging alone. He stopped at once seeing her waving hand and walked towards her.

Sitting on a nearby bench, she took out her notepad to start jolting down the information he was about to share.

'' Why the notepad?'' he clearly remembered she didn't use one last night.

" I'm too sleepy to be coherent.What if I forget something .''she barely looked up as she talked.She looked so tired and sleepy that he almost felt guilty for having woken her up.

'' Hmm.You can go back to sleep.We can discuss this later in the day '' Even though he knew he would remain busy the whole day, the sleepy headed innocence infront of him didn't let his logical brain do its work.

'' No no.We can't keep postponing it everyday. Anyways I was about to wake up when I saw your message '' She knew it wasn't true, if it wasn't for his message she would have snoozed the alarm a few more times,

'' Okay.So .....what should we discuss?'' he asked.

'' What should I call you? You never told me that.'' Avni asked finally looking up.

'' Whatever you call me now.Simple'' he smiled.

'' Mr Khanna???Won't that sound weird?'' Even though it felt like sarcasm but her face was serious as if she was actually confused.

'' What? Why would you call me that?!!Call me by my name''

'' Yeah.Neil, right? I think I'm still a little sleepy '' She uttered the last few words in such a low voice that it was almost as if she was talking to herself.

'' Did you say something ?"

'' Nope.So what else?'' She looked up to find him throwing water from his sipper over his head which slowly dripped down his face ,making heatwaves radiate all around him. He wasn't looking at her, but she surely was. She found herself unable to avert her eyes from him.

' Look away stupid.You are staring at him.Its so inappropriate!! What is wrong with you.Look away before you end up embarrassing yourself ' Avni's mental talk was hardly of any help.It was as if her eyes were behaving independent of her brain.But thanks to a certain giggling noise that she could finally break away from the trance.

She turned her eyes sideways to find a bunch of girls ;teens or college going at max she presumed , staring away shamelessly at the person standing infront of her .They weren't the only ones.

A few other ladies were doing the same ; albeit more cautiously and consciously.Something gave her the impression it wasn't the first time it was happening.Perhaps Meera was right.Now she carefully and this time willingly placed her eyes on the sight that everyone was enjoying.He was definitely well built ; atleast that's the way it looked from the way his t-shirt wrapped around his body.He was fair and those auburn eyes definitely made an impact.His stubble gave him a rough look which his face lacked otherwise.The writer inside her practically sketched a scene for her own book.Oblivious to all the female attention around him , he patted his face dry with a hankerchief to a few more sighs and smiles.

'' What were you saying? '' he asked unaware of all her mind talks.

'' Me? '' she cleared her voice and her mind before talking again ''Nothing.Lets go inside"

'' Why? Such a nice weather.Let's talk here '' he suggested.

'' People are staring '' she said bluntly.

'' Staring? At us ? '' he seemed genuinely unaware of the situation which Avni found hard to believe.

'' At you. What are you...'' words stopped in her mouth as he walked towards her , extended his hand and to her relief removed a leaf from her hairs.

'' Great!! Now they are staring at me.'' she exclaimed loudly as she saw the dreamy eyes turn into angry or perhaps jealous ones.

'' Pehle toh tum decide karlo ki kisse dekh rahe hain '' he chuckled.
(First you decide who is being stared at )

'' You do it intentionally to draw attention ,don't you? '' she rolled her eyes and then drew his attention to the flock of teenage girls who immediately turned the other way.

'' I do what exactly? '' he asked perplexed .

'' That.You are attracting them by.....by...by....that..'' she tried to explain making some confusing gestures with her hands but unlucky for her fell short of words.

'' What.? '' he was still confused . '' Wait! how do you know they find me attractive? '' Now he looked interested with a smirk on his face.

'' I know....b....because....I....'' she fumbled to find something to say.

'' ....because you find me attractive.Do you? " Now he was grinning with his hands folded infront of his chest ,as he watched the colour on her face first fade and then change to a faint red.

'' Never. I have to go.I'm late.''
Next thing he knew she stood up in an instance and scurried her way back towards the building without hearing him calling her back .

__________________

The black Porsche had just made its way out of its parking place with a swift pace.Before it could speed up ,it came to sudden abrupt stop.A frantic and shocked Neil bolted out of it and ran to check the person to had appeared out of the blue infront of his wheels.

"What the hell!!! Are u crazy Avni? What kind of stunt were you trying to pull off ?? " he shouted at the top of his voice.His heart which was beating fast now had completed stopped for a moment ,a moment ago.

" I was trying to get a lift." She replied calmly, too calm for a person who had just thrown herself infront of a moving vehicle.

"In what world do people ask for lift like that " he asked completely baffled by her calmness.

"That's the way you ask for lift when you reallllllllllyyy need it." she said with a puppy face that intended to ask for a lift from the angry person infront of her.

"That's the way you ask for lift when you want the driver to land up in jail in your hit and run case!!!"

"God!! You would run someone over and leave them there !!Are you a professional lawyer or a professional criminal? " Her attempt at lightening the situation was failing miserably.

" I'm a smart lawyer who prefers staying away from crazy people ,who might eventually be the reason of my going to jail " he turned away and walked towards his car shaking his head at the craziness that just happened.

"God you are so uptight!! " She called back.

" And you are so impossible! " he shouted back.

"See I really need a ride to my workplace ...the fallen leaf publication house." She ran infront of him to stop him from leaving ,just the way she had ran when she had spotted him entering his Porsche.

" I'm not going that way.Why don't you ask your friend for help or call a cab." he suggested.

"Meera already left and cab needs another 45 mins to reach here.Besides I am late because of you. I don't want to be late for work in my first week. Please "

"I'm late for work too.Besides my office is in the opposite direction." he refused already irritated by her stunt minutes ago .

"You are the boss, aren't you?"

"Yes ... that's why I need to be punctual to set an example for my employees." his reply was earnest like a true leader.

"Great .You can do that tomorrow too. Set the example of helping your neighbours today " she smiled happy at her reasoning , patting herself in her mind.

" Argh ! You would rather waste your time arguing with me than call a cab in that time."

"And you would rather waste time arguing with me than give me a lift" she was not in the mood to budge.

" Oh God !how did I land up here with you.??" he finally gave up ,throwing his hands in the air ,along with his anger.

" By choice. " she smiled "Now can we please go.?"

"Get in the car."

The journey to her workplace was quite contradictory to his expectations....quiet.His companion aka his fake girlfriend was unbelievably silent. From the corner of his eyes he finally caught a glance of the thing that had managed to turn miss chatty abnormally quiet.

'' Is it that interesting? '' he enquired. Despite his best efforts to not engage in a verbal battle anytime earlier than in the court today, he couldn't resist the urge to know what was so interesting about the book that kept her occupied.

'' Interesting!? '' he had finally caught her attention. '' That's a word for it.Hmm...but I would rather use the word ' Complicated'.There's a whole lot of things that I don't get and I can't even slow down or else I'll miss my deadline.I don't even know how I'll convince anyone when I'm not convinced myself.''

She said it all in a single breath.Her anxiety and worry were all out there.Getting involved in people's lives and work was something he avoided doing since it was pretty much what he did at his job.But now that he had already poked his nose into her business, he couldn't just go back to minding his own.

'' What book are you talking about ?'' he asked calmly, which was the opposite of what she was at the moment...frantic.

She turned the book to flash the title towards him , slamming her head against the other side of the book in frustration.

'' 'Beyond the mountains!!!' '' excitement screamed through his eyes as though he had solved an unsolved case.

'' You have read this ??'' she stared in disbelief.

'' Yeah.One of the few books I have read.A friend gifted it to me.I can tell you the story in short, if you would like''

'' Is there any story in it ?'' she said sarcastically. '' There are just fights and murders and plotting. Its just going in every direction '' she was obviously annoyed and frustrated with her own impatience.

''Yes there is a story '' he smiled a winning smile.
'' Well if you read carefully and with a little bit of patience, you will find a love story between Alex and Nadia.Between all the chaos and the wars,if pay attention ,they are progressing towards each other.Its very subtle but if you can find that you will get a reason to get through the bloodbaths that lace the storyline''

'' Wow!! '' her eyes had gone wider in disbelief. She blinked once before speaking. '' Didn't expect those words coming out of you.You have given a totally different shade to this story altogether.You of all people!!''

'' What do you mean by that ?'' his car screeched to a stop.

''Later.Thats my office .Thanks for the help'' Not waiting for him to react further, she got out of car and walked speedily towards the publishing house.

_______________

Getting an early day off wasn't exactly what Avni was expecting but truth be told she was in dire need of a break.Between the meetings with Neil and the official meetings ,she had hardly made through the first half of the first book of the series she was assigned to.She had to get a rough sketch of the story and all the characters before she read the latest addition to the series.Preoccupied with her own thoughts and her eyes still stuck on the same page of the book that she had when she left her office ,she didn't see the person standing infront of her door and swiftly stumbled into her.

" Hayo Rabba !! Girl ! Looking there ,walking here !! " Said the lady in yellow salwar suit over emphasising every word in very dramatic fashion.
( Oh my god !!)

" Sorry Aunty ! Maine aapko dekha hi nahin.Are you fine ?" Avni immediately apologised knowing that she was at fault .
( Sorry Aunty! I didn't see you there!)

" It's ok " She dismissed her concern and looked straight ahead to Avni's nameplate on her door.
" You stay here? " she asked with some obvious doubt.

" Yes .I'm the new tenant ." Avni kept it short seeing no reason to engage with a stranger anymore than required.

"Neil Khanna ?? ..."the lady asked still a little confused.

" Oh .He lives right across the corridor.Thats his new apartment. " She happily pointed in the direction of Neil's new place , happy to be of some help .The lady thanked her before walking towards Neil's door.

to be continued.........