Ring Ring.

Ring Ring.

With an exasperated sigh, Neil stopped typing, his eyes narrowed as he watched the phone shake. Slowly, he lifted it to his ear "Avni, this phone is for you to tell me there is someone to see me, so this is the last time I'm going to ask you" because he'd already repeated it ten times, "Is there anyone there to see me?"

"Well, no, but" she beckoned at him through the clear panels separating their offices, "Your files are done".

"And you had to call me to tell me that? You're a few feet away, you could just walk!"

"Yeah, about that, seems like a waste of energy, can't you come and get them?" she offered him a sweet smile, lashes fluttering as she did.

"Do I look like a slave to you?"

"Oh, I'm not falling for that, I see you're trying to make me slip up and get fired, well, sorry to burst your bubble, but it's not happy-" her jaw dropped when the call cut, How rudeee" she huffed.

"Damn it" Neil barged through the door. "Give me the damn files!"

"Say please" she instructed, foot-tapping as she waited patiently.

"You don't boss me around, I'm the boss here and therefore I do the bossing" he paused, brows knitting together, "Around?"

"Confused yourself there, didn't ya?" Avni held out the paperwork. "I have never seen so many spelling errors in my life, for a while, I thought I was going crazy".

"Going? Sure you're not already there?"

Scowling, she continued: "I think all your staff need lessons on their grammar, I mean" she flicked through one of the files, "Who spells merger m, e, r, j, e, r? Stupid" she shook her head in disdain.

Through gritted teeth he growled: "That was the file I wrote" he clenched his fist over the papers so they crumpled, imagining it was her teeny tiny pea-sized brain.

Her mouth made a perfect O shape as she looked anywhere but at him, it was just like her to say a stupid thing or do a stupid thing, even if she didn't mean to.

Looking down at the mahogany brown desk to control his temper, he noted the similarity between that and the colour of her eyes. For as crazy as she was, she was just as beautiful, though he imagined not many people were allowed to notice that with her mouth running a mile a minute and insulting past and future generations to come.

"Honestly, I am as surprised as you are that those words just came out of my mouth, it's best you learn now that I am not Snapchat, what I mean by that is, I have no filter, the only way we'll work is if you accept that, in turn, I will try" she did bunny ears with her fingers, "Try to accept your horrid yellow" she choked as if about to vomit, "Shoes".

He hated how she acted like the words pained her to say. "Oh for goodness sake" he slipped his shoes off and slammed them onto the desk, "Better?"

She sniffed "Uh, a bit cheesy, don't you think?"

His voice cracked "Yet still better than your breath!" he tugged at his hair, how he hadn't had a brain aneurysm yet was beyond him. "I can't cope, you're too much, it's all too much" Burying his face in his hands, he used all his inner strength not to cry.

"Ooh, another menty b? You really are reaching new lows, how low can ya go? Can you go down low? All the way to the floor?" She sang happily, "Gotta love the limbo" Avni continued to shake her shoulders to the rhythm.

"You are singing THE CHA CHA SLIDE" he thumped his hands on the desk making his shoes jump.

"Alrightttt" she held her hands up, "Sorry, gosh, somebody got out the wrong side of the bed this morning".

Neil pinched the brim of his nose "You know what, just go, just go home, I'll see you at eight-thirty am tomorrow" he began to walk away when her shrill voice stopped him.

"Actually, that's not going to work".

"Why not? Got a doctor's appointment or something? Because I require a doctor's note for evidence".

"No, that's just far too early, so I'll be in at ten".

He'd given up, it was clear crazy lift lady was the boss now and he no longer had the strength to fight her on it anymore. "Alright, whatever, see you then" he scurried toward the door.

"One last thing, the Kapoor industrials are ripping you off, that was clear from the sales, according to their latest newsletter, they gain about fifteen per cent more than other companies every month, you give them ten per cent of all earnings, they benefit from this more than you do" Avni stated proudly, let's just say she was a genius and leave it at that.

"I'm impressed" Neil looked at the files in his hands, "No one else picked that up, I guess you have an eye for these things, I'm willing to forget your previous blunders today if you continue to work as well as you did with this".

Once again, the way her eyes lightened to a caramel colour as she smiled made his insides churn. "Thank you, you won't regret it, Khanna, oh and don't forget your shoes" she called out.

He waved her away "Keep them, Cinderella is always in need of spares" he winked, then returned to his desk, adamant on finding a bigger project to take on that would distract him from the loneliness that occasionally crept in.

+ + +

Aman was hidden and ready, war paint made with ketchup lined his cheeks and the newest water gun warmed his hands, when the enemy arrived he would take the fatal shot. The sound of keys in the door made him edit his position, and then he was on his feet and pulling the trigger.

Avni screamed, falling forward in a fit of giggles "Amannnn" She grabbed her gun and aimed it his way, chasing him around the dining table, edging from right to left before catapulting herself forward and knocking him onto the sofa. "Say you surrender" She held the gun to his head.

"Never, I will not let my country down" he vowed, afterall, he was nothing if not loyal to his cause.

Anjali came out of nowhere armed with two cups of water that she drenched them in "I winnnn".

The siblings looked at each other with an unspoken understanding, nodded and aimed their weapons, took their shots and watched as their friend of many years drowned in water.

"Okay, okay" she held her hands up, dropping to her knees, "I surrender" Warm tears escaped down her cheeks with her melodic laughter.

"You know the deal, Anjali" Avni smirked, "Dinner is on you".