"Ahaan! Sar phat raha hai mera!" Shehnaaz groaned, waking up with a headache.

"Mai toh bol raha tha pani pi ke so, lekin tujhe toh.." Sidharth's words trailed off dramatically, squeezing half a lemon into a glass of water for her.

She sat there on a kitchen stool and rested her head against the kitchen island, "De, chup karke!" she chided, extending her hand for the glass. Tired of the lectures that began early in the morning.

"Ache se baat kar, samjhi na." he retorted.

"Samjhi na!" she mimicked him, sipping the lukewarm detox. A little later after freshening up, she was preparing breakfast and lunch to pack.

"Aloo paranthe khayega?" she asked, wanting to thank him, for guiding her to bed last night and for the remedy he prepared for her today. It felt good having someone by her side like that, privileged infact.

"Aaj maine workout bhi nahi kiya, heavy ho jayega yaar.." he replied, walking into the kitchen freshly showered and almost ready to leave for the office and so was she.

"Ek din heavy khane se kya hoga?'' She pulled out a hot sizzling paratha on a plate from the frying pan and applied a tablespoon of scooped amul butter on it.

"Butter nahi!" he shrieked, but it was too late now.

"Oho! Toh pehle bolna tha na! Vaise butter ke sath bhi acha lagta hai, dekh kaise turant pighal jayegi butter abhi.." she showed him the plate.

His mouth watered at the site of the melting butter and he knew if he tried it, he wouldn't just try one. "De!" he gave up, taking the plate from her hands and took a seat next to her.

"Parathe ke sath kuch khayega?" she asked.

"Hmmmm! No no! This is enough and tasty! Amazing ha!" he appreciated.

"Thank you!" she giggled, he looked so cute while eating, speaking with his mouthful.

"Tu kyu nahi kha rahi?" he asked her.

"Bana ke khaungi, jhute muh nahi banate." she replied, working on the paratha she was rolling.

"Kisne bola? Banane ke baad khayegi, mere liye bhi bana rahi hai phir late ho jayega office ke liye." he stated.

"Le, aa kar!" he said and she turned back to find him offering a bite from his plate.

Though she had her own set of customs to not eat while cooking, she just couldn't deny him. Happily taking the bite from him, she ate along with him till and prepared her tiffin. For a moment, she just wanted to grab him and smack a kiss on his cheek and tell him that he is such a sweetheart but she couldn't.

Letting out her heart again felt like a risky task, even though she wanted to love him but she couldn't. She knew that the unknown force called Love, hadn't manifested itself yet. And falling for those momentary gushes seemed scary, what if they led him on to something she didn't wish for. Hurting Sidharth was the last thing she'd ever do, she promised herself before welcoming herself to her daily routine in the office.

In the projector room, they were taking a look at the Roses and Garden hotel's structure on the screen and planning to prepare a catalog for their client to choose from.

"Remember that the design of the hotel would represent the audience that they'd like to attract, communicate their brand promise and highlight all of the amenities that they have to offer." Vardhan said, instructing them beforehand and with that his team got into their assignment.

They listed out some industry-leading examples from properties around the world, as well as frequently asked features in the interior design as a
whole.

"Theme search karte karte toh adha internet hi nikal liya humne!" Ananya exaggerated.

"Once we jot down the points, convenient ho jayega." Sidharth said. He was going to lead them in this megaproject.

"Any thoughts for the rooms?" he asked looking across at the faces.

"Ha!" Shehnaaz raised her hand. "More than anything, hotel rooms should provide comfort, toh mai soch rahi thi ke no matter how luxurious, technology friendly and weird-themed the room is, coziness is a major factor to consider. So how about we add wood additions, inspired decorating items, apart from the basic bed, side table and curtains?" she suggested.

"Sounds great!" Ananya replied.

"Yeah but what if the room gets over-decorated?" Harsh interjected.

"Nahi hoga, ye dekh." Shehnaaz replied, turning her laptop screen to them and showing some ratings and reviews of HRACC.

"Kyuki jo log hotel me aate hai, what they see affects their perception of the place and they create genuine experience. From small sculptures and photography to large-scale installations, sab zaruri hai." she explained.

"Yeah! Not just attractive, we need to make it user-oriented and upscale at the same time. Luxurious in all aspects." Sidharth said.

Keeping in mind as they decided everything from their theme and overall aesthetic to colors, furnishings, artwork, fixtures and more.

They took a break during lunch and decided to continue later. Shehnaaz was talking to Ananya and leaving for the washroom when they heard some of their colleagues talking behind the closed door of the discussion room.

"What do you think is going on between Shukla & Shehnaaz? He favors her alot." Ashi asked Joy.

"It's pretty obvious after last night, isn't it? Club me kya dance kar rahe the dono!" Joy chuckled.

"Couldn't agree more! Show chal raha tha! Aaj kal sath me aate jate dekha hai maine dono ko." Ashi said.

"How dare you two? Tumlog hote kon ho mere aur Shukla ke bare me baat karne vale?!" Shehnaaz barged in, like an officer on a raid.

"Uh-we, umm, we weren't talking about you Shehnaaz!" Ashi lied immediately.

"Sab suna humne!" Ananya retorted. When Ashi replied with excuses, Joy silently left, leaving Shehnaaz upset with the fact that she was being a topic to gossip about.

"Ashi, mind your own fucking business!" she snapped at her for one last time before vanishing into the cafeteria.

"Sheh, ignore them yaar." Ananya was trying to calm down her friend.

"Why!? To let them talk and laugh about me? Sidharth favor karta hai mujhe? We're not sneaking around in the office Ananya! After what I've been through, mujhe ye sunne ko milta hai apne bare me!" she retorted, blinking her eyes continuously to hold back those angry tears.

"Suna ke aayi na tu Ashi ko? Shant hoja na ab, please. Pani pi!" Ananya passed her a glass of water but Shehnaaz needed some space, so she stayed back in the washroom for a while before joining people in the discussion room.

As gloomy as she looked, Sidharth could guess that she had something going inside her head apart from work. Once done with the meeting, she texted him that she had a session with Yasmin.

"Oyi, mai drop kar deta hu na!" he insisted, walking up to her cubicle.

"Tu kaise aayega? Aaj session 6.30 pe hai, jaldi nikal rahi hu tabhi." she replied.

"Thik hai, text karna." he said, before watching her leave.

"Hi Shehnaaz, kaisi ho?" Yasmin greeted her.

"I'm, I don't know, I was really good in the morning! Sham hote hi mood kharab ho gaya." she scoffed.

"Kya hua?" began the therapist.

Shehnaaz revealed to her how amazing she had been feeling lately after talking to Sidharth, how they were taking it slow, how she was trying to let him inside her heart and then how bad she felt bad after people started judging their equation.

"Yasmin, mai batau, hum sirf do colleagues nahi hai. Hum itne time se sath- I mean ek space share kar rahe hai, roommates hai toh jante hai ke ek dusre ki life me kya chal raha hai. Aise hi close aaye hai aur jis phase pe aaj hum hai, cheezein na uske liye asaan hai, na mere liye. Log bina soche samjhe kaise kuch bhi bol dete hai kisi ke bare me?" she questioned.

"Ye 'log' jinke bare me tum baat kar rahi ho, how much do they matter to you?" Yasmin asked.

"They don't!" she curtly answered.

"Then, how does it matter what they say?" Yasmin said.

"How does it not?! I mean, how dare they! Hote kon hai meri life pe comment karne vale! They don't even know what and how much I've been through but have the audacity to just laugh?" Shehnaaz let out her anger, breathing heavily.

"I think, they dare to when you let them. Tum yadi unhe kuch na samjho, toh unki baaton se kuch farak nahi padega! There are various kinds of people, the more people, the more mouths. Because they haven't seen what you've been through, I'm sure they won't even know how strong and capable you are. It wouldn't hurt then." Yasmin explained.

Shehnaaz took a minute to think about it and nodded. "I get it, it's just that I didn't like the way they addressed me and him. After Amrinder, I'm seeing things so differently, I'm kind of being precautionary with Sidharth." she replied.

"Precautionary, kyu?" Yasmin asked.

"Amrinder has caused a lot of damage, not that Sidharth uske jaisa hai. Bas mera mann shant nahi rehta." she said. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Permanent Roommates
Chapter 35

Love.. As small and simple the word sounds.. The harder it is to accomplish and the more complicated to get into..

As smoothly it goes for Sidharth.. The tough it is for Shehnaaz.. Especially after knowing that they're being a part of someone's gossip.. His name in those stupid talks got her mad at people!

What do you think is going to happen next?