32) This isn't nuclear physics

Kiara's POV

"Did you know Sid and Anushka kissed!?" I barged in Arjun's office with a huge grin stuck on my face.

Ritu had opened the door when I came back from college, a queer smile on her face as I enquired about whereabouts of Arjun. When she informed me that he was in his study, I skipped away happily, excited to tell him the latest news, not missing the amusement painted over Ritu's smirking face.

Why was she so happy?

Did Arjun increase her paycheck?

The way I opened the door with a bang accompanied with the inhuman squeals that erupted from my mouth and the huge, creepy smile I wore, even a dead man would rise from his grave and run for his life. Whereas my dear, sweet husband, the apple of my eye, didn't even bat an eyelash at me and carried on with his work like nothing happened. Times like these made me wonder if he was actually human.

"And what am I supposed to do with this information?" Even a 2-hour lecture from my boring-as-hell Chemistry professor wouldn't make me as bored as he sounded right now.

"Arjun!" I complained with a pleading expression, stressing the 'n' in his name.

Raising his head from the file lying in front of him, he cocked his head. "What?"

"Show a little excitement." Bouncing on my heels to contain my glee, I waved my hands around. "Your friend," I pointed at him and then at me as I further said, "my friend." I rotated my hands in circular motion with an eager expression.

He sat still as if someone had paused him, not an ounce of his expression faltering, his scrutinizing gaze on me. His face reflected the same excitement as mine when I had to solve a math test.

I hate Math.

I grumbled as I dropped myself in one of the chairs in front of his desk. "You're no fun."

"I'm not a teenage girl to get excited over such things."

"Hey! I'm not a teenager." My face turned into a scowl.

"You act like one though."

Sticking out my tongue at him when he wasn't looking, I glanced around, my fingers drumming on the table, my cheek resting on my palm.

"So... how was work today?" I asked casually, trying to start a conversation and his eyes snapped to me in surprise as the question left my lips. I could tell he wasn't expecting that.

"It was... good." He spoke slowly, the idea of me asking about his day not settling with him.

"Didn't kill anyone?" I grinned as he rolled his eyes at me.

"No."

"Fired anyone?"

"No."

"Tortured anyone?"

He looked up from his papers. "What do you think of me?"

"Nothing." Giggling, I leaned back as he gave me a slight weird look and went back to his work.

A few seconds later, he glanced up, his brows knitting together and his face clouding with hesitation. Clearing his throat subtly, he twirled the pen between his fingers as he asked me. "How was your day?"

My face split in a cheeky smile as I placed my hands on the desk, palms flat against the wood. "You're asking me?"

He arched an eyebrow and his gaze scanned the room as he clasped his hands together, his voice filled with dry humour. "I don't see anyone around except you. So, unless my laptop has come to life and started talking, yes, I was asking you."

Rolling my eyes playfully at him, I let myself crack a grin at his discomfort. I could see how uncomfortable he was, asking the simplest of questions. I was so tempted to pull his cheeks at how awkward and adorable he looked.

Me using Arjun and adorable in one sentence. Who would've thought?

Before I could reply, he continued. "Well, you said about giving this a chance." Gesturing between us, he shrugged lightly. "I guess I'm willing to try."

My heart swelled in my chest and I couldn't help the genuine smile that took over my lips, my amused expression turning into a soft one.

"Today was boring." I answered honestly with a small smile. "Nothing exciting happened."

Then, I leaned forward, whispering as if I was about to tell him where the hidden treasure was. "Except from you know what between you know who."

"Yeah." He dragged out the word, nodding slowly, his forehead creased. "Of course."

Shaking his head, he focused back on his file while I placed my cheek on my palm and took my time ogling at him.

You mean undressing him with your eyes?

Okay, shut up.

"If you're so fond of staring at me," Arjun started, startling me so much that my right elbow slipped from the table and I immediately straightened in my seat. "Click a picture, get it framed and hang it over your bed. Then you can ogle at it all the time you want."

I tensed in my seat, folding my hands in lap. "I wasn't looking at you." Raising my chin in air, I tried to sound confident but my voice cracked as I neared the end of the sentence, a habit of mine whenever I tried to lie and failed miserably.

"Right." He drawled, not looking up at me but even that couldn't hide that damn smirk on his face.

Ugh! Why is this so hot?

Wait, no! What was I thinking?

His smirk was annoying, not hot - I reminded myself. It frustrated me to no end. That smirk did weird things to me, things that made me want to...

Kiss the hell out of him.

What the hell! Where did that thought come from?

Change the topic! Change the topic before you pounce on him!

"How is your project coming along?" With the most casual tone I could muster, I asked Arjun non-chalantly as if I hadn't been thinking of doing unspeakable things with him. His eyes were on me as his face held a weird look, his eyes narrowing at me in suspicion.

Oh no. Can he hear my thoughts?

There was a knock on the door, saving me from embarrassment and I sighed in relief, turning to look at Ritu standing at the threshold.

"I made dinner. I will be leaving now." She said and Arjun nodded at her, her eyes glittering with something as she gazed at us and a knowing smile on her lips as she left.

Okay, she was starting to creep me out.

"I think something is wrong with her." I was still staring at the door.

"Why would you say that?"

I faced Arjun. "Did you look at the way she was looking at us? She's giving me those sly looks ever since I got home. Like she knows something I don't."

"Even I noticed her acting strange today."

"What is she trying to do?"

Arjun was about to reply but was cut-off by a loud shout coming from the hallway. "Trying to play cupid between you two!"

*

"No." I yelled out, my trembling fingers enclosing around Arjun's wrist.

He stopped in his tracks.

"Do you have any other option?" He asked although he already knew the answer.

I gave him a hesitant shake of my head and he stepped forward, his fingers flexing around the handle of the sharp knife.

This was too much.

"Have you done this before?" I gulped, my eyes taking in the scene in front of me.

"No." Arjun exhaled heavily, rolling his tensed shoulders.

"Is this going to work?" My voice was scratchy due to the dry, parching feeling in my throat.

"I don't know."

Arjun raised the knife high in air and I covered my eyes, holding my breath and peeking through the slight gap between my fingers. And as he brought the knife down, I shut my eyes tightly, my heart pounding loudly in my ears. The sound of slicing rung in the silent house and my eyes peeked open one by one, falling on the cucumber that was now cut open in half.

My eyes shifted to Arjun who looked like he was asked to have a duel with a lion. "Do you even know how to dice vegetables?"

"What do you think I'm doing?" He snapped.

If it wasn't clear to you by now, let me tell you we weren't murdering anyone. Nor were we doing anything illegal like organ trafficking.

We were trying to cook.

At 2 AM in the night.

Why?

Because we were hungry.

Simple logic, guys.

That's the conversation we had 15 minutes ago-

"I'm hungry!" I whined, sprawled over the couch in Arjun's study like a wasted person, the stack of my textbooks lying on the coffee table in front of the couch.

After dinner, I had gone back to my room to complete an assignment that was due tomorrow, which I had magically forgotten about. I was trying to pull an all-nighter and I had no doubt I'd be resembling a tortured zombie tomorrow morning.

Since I was bored sitting alone and thought Arjun might need some company (such an angel I am), I marched into Arjun's study with a huge pile of books in my hands, the weight of them slowly burying me in the ground. If I had stood still at one place for a long time with those books still in my hands, I would've crashed down to the lower floor.

Arjun hadn't questioned me when I entered his study office looking like a wild cat who got in a fight with a dog, my hair sticking out in different places, two pens holding my messy bun, one balanced between the side of my head and ear.

"You've already mentioned that. Quite a few times." Arjun's eyes were glued to the laptop, his fingers effortlessly skimming over the keyboard.

"Then do something about it! Don't tell me that you're not even a little bit hungry?"

"Check in the kitchen." Arjun's voice was distracted. "You might find something."

"I did. 3 times. There's nothing there. And I don't want to eat fruits or salad." I clucked my tongue disapprovingly. Neither could I eat chocolate at this time, a sugar high Kia in the middle of night is not a good option.

Arjun sighed, his face twisting in annoyance, either due to his work or because of me. I could bet it was the latter. "Fine, I'll order something."

I sat up. "It's 1:45 in the night."

"So? There's a restaurant half an hour away from our place. It opens 24/7."

"No! Think about the poor soul who'll have to deliver the food to us at this time. And I can't wait another hour for food." I dropped back on the couch with an animal groan that sounded more like an elephant calling for his children.

"Well, what do you suggest then, princess?" Arjun leaned back, sporting a sarcastic smile, his posture relaxed.

An idea struck me and I sprung up again. "I know what to do."

"What?"

"We are not going to order anything." My lips spread in a slow smile.

"Stop smiling like that. You look like a criminal high on cocaine."

Ignoring his comparison of me and a homeless drug addict, I announced cheerfully, my hands clasping together. "We are going to cook!"

The stare he sent my way sent chills down my spine. Not the good ones, the bad ones- the ones that could freeze you to death.

I needed his help; I couldn't cook alone. I couldn't cook to save my life, to be honest. If you gave a person some poison and food cooked by me, there is a 90% chance that he would die due to the food first.

And that's how we ended up in the kitchen, me in a pink apron with a floral pattern and him in a navy blue one with white polka dots on it. It was my idea. I had initially planned on giving him the pink one, I even had my mobile camera ready. But Mr. Grumpy pants over here gave me a glare that could even freeze hot lava and snatched the other apron, wearing it over his head and adding to my amusement.

He wasn't going to wear the apron in the first place. Only when I pointed out how accident prone I was, did he agree muttering something along the lines of 'how the hell did I get stuck here'.

All that was left was a long, white chef hat on his head and he would be one of those male model chefs on food channels who make morning snacks all the while smiling like they won a lottery.

The real snack is beneath all those clothes. Yum, yum.

Also, my conscience couldn't help but pointing out every now and then how sexy Arjun looked. Those arm muscles bulging when he would open a top shelf, the tick in his jaw when he would concentrate on something or the way he would ruffle his hair, giving them a messy just-out-of-bed look.

And damn his side profile!

I agree he looked really hot but it would be extremely helpful if my conscience stopped drooling over him like an infant.

"I can cut the vegetables if you want." I offered. It came as a surprise to me that Arjun didn't even argue and agreed so easily for making snacks with me, a little reluctantly though. I did receive a bone-chilling glare from him but I was immune to it by now.

He was really trying.

Or he was really hungry.

"No." He said immediately, moving the knife out of my reach as if I would actually try to snatch it from him. "I gave you the knife for 2 minutes and you already have 3 cuts on your hand."

Ah, well that.

My face turned sheepish as I glanced down at my hands. To be fair, I was trying one of the action moves I had seen in a movie at which I failed terribly, which was pretty obvious by the way.

I couldn't even boil water without burning myself in the process.

It's a special talent of mine.

"Look at the size of the knife." My eyes widened comically as I protested half-heartedly. The knife seemed more suited for threatening someone rather than using in the kitchen. "And it's sharp."

He gave me his famous, blank stare. "Knives are supposed to be sharp."

Opening my mouth, I closed it again when I couldn't put forward any argument, my lips forming a pout.

"Forget it. You," He pointed the knife at me, "concentrate on making noodles while I cut the vegetables."

I wanted to cook some pasta but then I realized the chances of us surviving this without burning half the building down were same as me going on a trek in 4-inch-high heels and not breaking my neck. Probably in minus. So, we settled on making sandwiches and noodles. A weird combo, but easy to make and edible with minimal use of stove.

"Fine. Where are they?" I questioned.

He gestured towards the cupboard while his concentrated, glaring eyes were too busy trying to scare off the cucumber so that it would cut itself into pieces.

Taking out the noodle packet, I walked back to him, searching for a pan. "Do you have an insurance of your house?" Taking a pan from a shelf, I turned to him. His shoulders tensed as he stilled in his place and craned his neck to me.

"Why?"

"What if we blow it up?" I glanced at him with a straight face.

He blinked twice, his eyes narrowing as his tongue darted out to wet his lips. "How about we focus on cooking so that we don't blow up my house?"

I shrugged in response, filling the pan with water.

"And here I thought you were the typical billionaire." I muttered, sighing and ripping the noodle packet open.

"And what exactly is a typical billionaire?" He faced me and placed a hand on the counter, leaning against it as his other hand was propped on his waist. I couldn't take him seriously when he was wearing this apron. It made him look all soft and cuddly.

A giant cuddly, angry polar bear.

This is what happens when you're sleep deprived.

Folding arms over my chest, I turned to him. "A typical billionaire knows his way around the kitchen, that's the rule. In fact, billionaires are extremely good cooks."

"And where is this rule written?"

"In the books that I read."

He mimicked my stance, the veins in his arms bulging. "The same books that have mafia and guns?"

"Yes." I replied as my eyes narrowed, unsure of where he was going with it.

"You might need to look into your reading preferences once again."

I gasped. "Excuse me! My reading choices are very good, okay?"

"Mm-hmm." He went back to his task while I kept glaring daggers at him.

I really wish I hadn't promised to not fight with him.

I would have kept glaring until he froze from my stare but my stomach grumbled lightly, capturing my attention to the existential crisis.

Throwing icicles at him through eyes could wait. More important task at hand.

Switching on the stove, I put the pan filled with water on it and waited as it boiled. I was going to pour the noodles in the boiling water next when Arjun's chest pressed against my back and I almost planted my face in the pan. I held the counter tightly as his face came near my ear, my breath faltering.

What got into him all of a sudden?

"I... wh-wha..." Words stumbled out of me and before I could stutter more, Arjun stepped back.

What just happened?

I looked to my left only to find him already staring at my slightly mortified face, a dish towel in his hands.

"What?" He asked, wiping his hands.

Oh. He was only taking the towel that was kept on my other side.

My shoulders slumped and I squeaked in a high-pitched voice, turning away and trying to cool down my heated cheeks. "Nothing."

My heart had a mini-marathon over this.

I could feel his eyes on me but I busied myself, not daring to look back at him. After that, we both worked quietly, a strange serenity surrounding us.

For the first time in my life, I realized that silence wasn't that bad.

"I'm done with the sandwiches." Arjun announced as I picked two forks.

"Great. You take this." I handed him the bowl of noodles, hot steam emerging from it. "I'll bring the sandwiches."

He walked out and I quickly took out a ketchup bottle, making smiley faces at the sandwiches, giggling to myself.

When I was done, I placed the sandwiches on plates and hurried to the dining room.

"And here's your reward for helping me." I said in a sing-song tone, placing the smiley sandwiches in front of Arjun.

I bit my lower lip, trying my best to subdue the laugh that was about to escape.

He rolled his eyes at me and poured himself a glass of water.

Well, that was it? No more reaction? Damn! Now I needed new plans to annoy him.

Seating myself on Arjun's right, who was sitting at the head of the table, I dug into the noodles.

"Blue is my favourite colour." I said, chewing very unladylike.

Arjun froze mid-bite, his black orbs snapping to me with the speed of light. He looked at me like I had gone completely nuts. "Good for you?" He said after some time and then resumed eating.

I face palmed. "I said that so as to start a conversation with you. Honestly, you know nothing about communication."

What did I get in response?

Silence.

"So, your favourite colour?" I probed further.

"Black."

So lucky to have such an interactive husband.

"Why am I not surprised?" I snorted.

While we ate, I chattered like a bird while Arjun would occasionally utter a word or two. Making Arjun talk was like searching for water in desert.

After eating, I finally completed my assignment at around 4 in the morning and after doing a little victory dance, I dropped on my bed like a corpse.

Only God knows how I managed to wake up just on time next morning. I was late, again, and Arjun offered me a ride. Again.

My dark circles were so prominent that it looked like my eyes had shrunk in my skull.

Even at college, it was pure hell as my friends kept insinuating things, very, very dirty things when I explained to them I hadn't slept well last night. Their suggestive glances and smirking faces followed me everywhere I went and I was actually considering my options of locking myself in a spare classroom till college was over.

This continued for a couple more days. I would stay up late with Arjun when he worked on the project while I did my assignments, study or simply annoy him a bit.

Time passed by quickly and it was already Friday, the day of Arjun's meeting.

I was roaming around the kitchen in morning, looking for something to eat.

"Where's Ritu?" A harsh, taut voice spoke from behind and I nearly jumped in fright. Spinning around with a hand resting on my heart, I steadied myself as my eyes landed on my lovely husband looking as angry as ever.

What a beautiful start of the day!

"She won't be coming today. Her son is sick." I informed him, taking out an orange juice carton.

"Damn it!" He growled lowly, struggling with his tie.

"Is everything alright?" I asked hesitantly as the vein in his forehead became prominent by each passing second. Not bothering with a reply, Arjun furiously worked on his tie.

Five more seconds like this and he would claw out his own neck.

"No." He said after some time, exhaling a heavy breath.

Wow. What a descriptive answer.

"You don't know how to knot a tie?" My brows furrowed together.

"I know how to make a tie." He snapped, rubbing his temple. "I'm just on a little edge today and can't seem to do it right."

"You mean you're nervous?" My lips tilted upwards.

"No! I'm not nervous. I told you I am on edge today." I think it was really cute how he was denying that he wasn't anxious for today's meeting.

I leaned against the kitchen counter. "Why don't you wear a bow tie instead?"

His face became void of emotions, his blank eyes fixed at me. "I'm a CEO of a company, not a waiter at a hotel."

I pouted at him.

"I'll just take it off, then." Muttering grumpily, Arjun pulled off his tie, tossing it on the armrest of the couch.

"No, wait." I spoke hurriedly, my eyes taking in his appearance. He was sporting a navy-blue suit with a crisp, white shirt beneath. "Tie gives a character to a person, a more formal look." I added, my face pulled in a frown as I rubbed my chin in thought. "You should wear it."

"I'm not saying that you don't look good without it because you do. You look good in everything actually." I rushed to explain myself, blubbering extreme gibberish. "Honestly, you can put on a potato sack and you will still look ready to walk on a ramp. An-"

My voice died in my throat as my eyes met his. A lopsided smirk hung on his lips, dimples popping out and arms crossed over his chest as his amused eyes watched me rambling.

Biting my inner cheek, I avoided his eyes as my face heated up. "I was just saying that you should wear a tie. And I'm going to shut up now."

Pursing his lips together, he nodded as he tried not to smile at my flustered state and picked the tie from the couch.

"Can I try?" I pointed towards the tie in his hand.

He peered at me, a skeptical look in his eyes but shrugged anyways, handing me the tie and dropping his hands to his sides. I stepped closer to him, my thumb brushing on the fabric.

"Wait." I frowned.

"What?"

"This colour looks very dull and it doesn't match with your suit." I ran my tongue along the inside of my cheek. "We need another tie."

Arjun was silent for some time. But then, he spoke up. "Follow me."

I did as he said and we reached his room. He opened the door, walking inside and I stopped dead in my tracks.

Oh. My. God.

His room was huge! And by huge, I meant large-enough-to-have-a-small-race-tournament huge! The king-sized bed was in the middle, the bedpost against the wall. Two walls of the room were just tall French windows, ceiling to floor. While the whole penthouse had a cozy, wooden cabin theme, Arjun's bedroom was decorated with shades of grey and black.

My jaw dropped on the floor. Forcing my mouth shut, I pinched myself to make sure it was real.

"How come you get this room?" My shrill voice was an octave higher as I blinked, completely frozen in my place.

"Because this is my house?"

"Point taken." I swallowed.

He strolled towards what I assumed to be his walk-in-closet with me on his tail, my wide eyes taking in the room like I just entered Narnia.

I would sell my first-born to Satan to have this room.

His walk-in closet was nearly twice the size of my bedroom back home. One whole wall was covered with mirror while the other three contained his wardrobe. Walking to the far corner of the room, he pulled open a drawer and stepped aside when I followed him. "Choose a tie."

"Me?" I pointed at myself, my eyebrows touching the skyline.

"Yes, you." With a resignating sigh, he motioned me to come closer.

Taking a tiny step forward, I scanned the drawer that had almost 50 ties, a giddy feeling in my tummy and my eyes fell on a deep maroon one.

Taking it out, I stepped towards Arjun as he bent forward and I looped the material around his neck. "You know how to make a tie, right?"

"My dad taught me when I was around 10 years old." I answered him. "Let's hope I still remember that."

My brows pulled together as I concentrated on the work, folding and looping around.

If I had paid this much attention to studies, I would have been a rocket scientist by now.

Making a tie is quite easy. But not if you have a certain devil looming over you, pestering you and asking ridiculous questions like-

"What's taking you so long?"

"This isn't nuclear physics."

"Why are your hands shaking?"

Committing a murder is also easy.

At one point, I wanted nothing more than to wrap the material around his neck and choke him but then I controlled myself, inhaling sharply.

Progress!

"Oh my god, Arjun." I nearly screeched when he didn't stop and kept pointing out that even a snail would be faster than me. "Since when did you start asking so many questions?"

"I swear to God that if you don't stop talking right now, I'll staple your damn mouth!" I half-yelled at him and he fell silent, his mouth shut and eyes slightly wide, taken aback by my threat.

I made Arjun Singhania speechless.

Might add it in the list of my achievements.

5 minutes and complete silence later, we both faced the wall mirror, gazing at the masterpiece that I made.

"Uhh..." I trailed off, my lips pulling in a helpless grimace. It didn't look bad but it didn't look that good either.

"I think this will have to do." Arjun adjusted his collar, smoothening a hand over the tie.

"Really? If it doesn't look okay, you can always take it off." I said. This meeting was very important and he couldn't go there looking untidy.

"No, it's fine. Thank you."

"Look at you. Learning to say 'thank you' to people." I cupped my cheeks, sighing. "From shouting at people to thanking them, you've come a long away." I wiped my fake tears dramatically, sniffing emotionally for a better effect.

"You're the only one whom I said those words to." He adjusted his cuffs. "Everyone else still gets yelled on."

I placed a hand over my heart. "Aww, don't I feel special?"

His face came closer to mine as he whispered. "You should." Something about the way he said that, made my heart skip a beat.

I shook my head. Focus. You have more important work to do.

"Okay, now listen." His brows pulled together as I took a deep breath, my hands on his shoulders.

Time for a motivational speech.

"You are Arjun Singhania." I started.

He raised his brows, his face still neutral as he interrupted me. "I am... aware of that."

"Shh. Let me complete." I took another deep breath. "You are the Arjun Singhania. You can do anything. I know you have worked very hard for this project. And I also know this that the meeting is going to be a huge success."

I patted his chest encouragingly, an intense far-away look on my face. "Make me proud."

I glanced back at Arjun, his uninterested eyes staring back at me blankly. "Done?"

"Yes," I chirped. "you may go now."

"Was this a pep talk?" He asked as we exited his room.

"Yup."

"It was horrible." His voice was light and carefree, a teasing tone to it. "You need to work on your pep-talks."

"Oh, come on." I bumped his shoulder. "It was good, admit it."

"I would rather swallow 100 lemons." Checking his phone, he kept it in his pocket and collected his car keys.

"Fine, I'll keep them ready when you come back home." I called out when he almost reached the main door.

"And Arjun?"

Stopping in his tracks, he turned around and I gave him my largest, most genuine smile. "All the best. Have a good day."

An almost invisible smile graced his lips and he nodded at me. "Try not to burn down the house while I'm away."

A soft laugh bubbled out of my chest as his lips twitched in his stupid infamous smirk, the smirk that I was growing accustomed to, the smirk I was slowly but surely taking a liking to.

A/N- Who do you guys imagine Sid and Anushka as?