Chapter 26. Baking

🎶 Mere Bina - Refresh Version

Published on 18.07.2022

| AUTHOR'S POV |

Ayansh had never been fond of people, atleast meeting new ones particularly. And why would he be when all they do is make him anxious, put him under pressure to create a good impression, make him struggle to fit in and not stand out like a sore thumb, make him feel conscious so that he doesn't end up embarassing himself and put him into an overthinking mode of what they must be wondering about him. Okay, maybe the fault wasn't of people. Maybe it was him who was to be blamed for taking too much unnecessary pressure and thinking so deep but that was him. Introverted, fidgety, bashful, diffident and awkward.

Yet many times you meet people who change your notion and later, you can't help but be grateful that they exist and decided to be a part of your life. If Ayansh had to make a list of such people in his life then Inaaya inarguably would be at the top. She never made him feel that he had to fit in. It was as if she was the one to fit in his world or maybe when they were together, a new world seemed to come into existence. And if she's the one who has effortlessly fit in his world like a missing piece of a puzzle than she has done it so perfectly that nowadays, as he sits with his thoughts, his thoughts have a way to drift towards her. Intentionally, sneakily, clandestinely. He wonders what it would be like to sit with her when the world sleeps and have a conversation and more than that he dreams what it would be like to share silence with her.

Today is his brother's Rahul's birthday and like the idiot Ayansh has been off late, he asked Inaaya to help him bake a cake. Rahul has a sweet tooth and Ayansh can't think of any materialistic gift that his brother already doesn't possess so he came up with the idea of baking a cake for him, the downside being he doesn't know baking or even cooking. Inaaya decided to miss the second half lectures and sent Ayansh the list of ingredients they needed for the choclate raspberry cake which was apparently Rahul's favourite. Ayansh, with the help of their cook managed to arrange the required items. When Inaaya had asked him why isn't he asking for their cook's help in baking, he simply said he didn't want to burden her with more work.

"You're late." Ayansh remarks as he walked Inaaya inside.

"There was traffic and moreover, I visited Nikita's house before coming." She says removing her sneakers.

"Everything fine?" His forehead creases.

"Her parents are still a little miffed with her since according to them, she hasn't given them "valid" reasons for breaking the alliance," she air quotes and continues, " Nikita hasn't told them the conditions Jay had put forward and frankly I don't blame her because the fact that she doesn't want to marry should be more than enough for them to get convinced not to go forward with it and since, I had been there with Niki when she told her parents that she doesn't want to marry, they think it's my influence." She chuckles.

"Woah," Ayansh breathes out. "I didn't think they would be holding it against her for this long. It's been weeks now."

"Where's the kitchen?"

"Wouldn't you like to sit for a while or something?" He asks courteously.

Inaaya shakes her head in denial.

"Give me your bag and follow me." He forwards his hand.

Inaaya stares at him and when he doesn't move or pull his hand back, she huffs and gives him her bag.

"I told Nikita that I'll talk to them but she told me it's of no use. Today was the perfect opportunity where I could meet her mother and have a chat without her knowing," she smiles sheepishly. "It didn't go that bad surprisingly. I thought she won't even listen to me but she did. And she also expressed her disappointment about Nikita going to Jay's place and lashing out on him for God knows what. I wanted to tell her the reason but then I stopped since I've already crossed the line by going behind Niki's back. Didn't want to do it more."

Ayansh gazes at her with a small smile and she raises her eyebrows at him. He shakes his head in dismissal. "Look, I've already removed all the ingredients that we require." He says triumphantly, moving his eyes around.

Inaaya nods in acknowledgement and after washing her hands, she moves to the oven to set it for preheating. "Take a large bowl, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt." As she turns around, she bumps with a firm body and yelps when her head hits.

Ayansh rubs his chin and his other hand reaches out to hold her arm.

"What the hell Ayansh!" She fumes, rubbing her forehead.

"I was just giving you the apron." He grimaces.

She places a hand on the centre of his chest and pushes him. "Now, give me."

"I'm just too excited to make a cake. I've never tried it before." He says with a silly smile, giving her the apron.

Inaaya playfully rolls her eyes and chuckles.

When Ayansh is done tying his apron, he finds Inaaya still struggling.

"May I help you?"

She turns around. As he starts tying the ends, she gathers her hair and tries to fix them in a bun.

"In- Inaaya," he whines, making her stop, "your hands are coming in my way. Wait a second."

"Oops." She settles on gathering the length of her hair in front on one side.

After Ayansh is done, she turns and proceeds to pull her hair back, run her hands through it and then roll them up. He simply stares at her doing that mundane action. His gaze unwavering as if he's watching a mystery unravel, learning about what they meant when they talked about finding utmost beauty in simplicity. Inaaya raises her gaze and her breath hitches finding his hooded eyes on her.

"Stop staring." She's surprised that her voice didn't break under the intensity of his stare. "It's creepy."

Ayansh blinks out of his daze and darts his eyes away, cursing internally.

"Bowl, flour, cocoa, soda, salt." She reminds him.

"Yeah, yeah." He says nervously turning around and then turning to the other side to look for the mentioned items.

Inaaya's chuckle makes him halt and his shoulders droop in embarrassment. "Take a deep breath." She whispers.

After a moment of calming his nerves, he removes the bowl from the cabinet. "The bowl," he hands it to her, "I'll remove the flour. The rest of the ingredients are already on the table behind."

"Here, flour." He keeps the container in front of Inaaya.

She looks at the container and then back at him. "This is wheat flour." She states, giving him a dumb look.

"Yes, flour. That's what you asked." He says innocently.

She grits her teeth. "I meant all purpose flour. Not this." She pushes the container back in his hand.

"There are different varieties?" He asks, baffled.

"Where did you find this?"

He points at a upper cabinet and she walks to find the container containing the flour they needed. Once she finds it, she puts the required ingredients in the bowl and whisks them.

"Keep it back and bring another bowl." She gestures towards the container.

They were making a mini cake since except Rahul nobody had a sweet tooth and then the family also had a party to attend later at night.

Ayansh keenly watches her as she beats butter, egg, flour mixture, buttermilk, raspberry liqueur, melted chocolate. He helps her by adding the ingredients one by one as she beats them. She even teaches him how to crack an egg and his reaction as if he just witnessed something fascinating makes her titter. After coating the cake pan with the help of cooking spray, they spread the batter and Inaaya puts it inside the oven for the next twenty five minutes where they have to keep checking at regular intervals and rotate the pan.

"What's next?" He rubs his hand enthusiastically.

"We prepare the filling." She smiles and takes the raspberries. "Sugar, salt, lemon juice." She intructs him while putting the saucepan on the stove. Inaaya adds the items in the pan and with the back of the spoon, she starts mashing it.

"You wanna do?" She offers, pushing the spoon in his direction.

Ayansh nods with an excited childlike grin and takes the spoon from her hand. When he applies pressure for the first time, the semi liquid mixture almost splashes on their face. Inaaya is quick to push him as well as herself away.

"Calm down Hulk." She says in terror. "We don't want to get burnt."

"Sorry." He presses his lips.

Inaaya holds his hand and guides him as they smoothen the mixture and bring it to boil. They stir the mixture occassionally and let it thicken for the next few minutes. Ayansh is glad for how she keeps holding his hand everytime they've to stir. She even checked on the cake couple of times. Ayansh switches off the stove and after a few minutes, Inaaya removes the cake pan from the oven and keeps it on the wire rack to cool for the next ten minutes.

They both stand on opposite corners of the kitchen, one leaning against the wall and the other leaning against the counter, waiting impatiently.

"So.... when did you learn baking?" Ayansh asks, starting a conversation before the silence becomes awkward.

Inaaya's face softens. "My aunt; mom's sister, when I stayed with her for a few months. Baking was de-stressing." She says simply. "You don't like sweets?" She changes the conversation.

"Not much." He answers, crossing his arms across his chest. "You do like it a lot I guess," his eyes narrows at her. "More than spicy food?"

She nods and smiles. "My favorite is Indian cuisine and I'm whipped for spicy food but sweets have a special place." She says in awe. "Jalebi, phirni, rasmalai, gulan jamun, gajar ka halwa, barfi, shahi tukda, balushaahi, ladoo, kaju katli, rabdi, khaja- "

"Okay enough." He looks at her in bewilderment and she licks her lips animatedly, making him toss his head behind and laugh silently.

"What's your favourite cuisine by the way?" She sits on the edge of the counter.

"Italian." He says in an accent and she rolls her eyes purposefully before chuckling.

"And what Italian dishes can you cook?"

"Not even one. I only know how to prepare maggie." He admits and she jumps off the counter.

Her mouth opens and closes like a fish. "I should've understood you didn't know cooking at all when you handed me the wheat flour."

She takes the cake pan from the wire rack and runs a sharp knife around the edges before inverting it. She removes the parchment and then let's it rest for the next twenty minutes to cool.

"Hey! It's not a big deal." Ayansh says defensively, standing beside her and resuming their conversation.

"Oh, it very much is a big deal." She stares at him with wide eyes. "Cooking is a survival skill and everyone needs to learn it."

"I'm not going to be Bear Grylls and go on some crazy adventures." He chuckles finding it absurd. "I'll manage just fine."

"Ridiculous." She scoffs. "You should be independent and for that you need to know how to take care of yourself and for that, cooking is very, very important."

"I was in hostel for years— "

"There you had mess." She cuts him off.

"I can order food or eat packaged or frozen food." He shrugs nonchalantly.

"Ameer logo ke chochle. (Tantrums/Attitudes of rich people)." She taunts.

"As if you aren't rich." He reminds her, enjoying the argument more than getting offended.

"I'm rich and very much connected to my roots. And if you don't learn cooking till my next birthday, I'm breaking my friendship," she threatens him and his eyes sparkle with amusement, "and leaving you," she adds, "and never talking to you again," she adds more. "Yes, I'm doing that."

Inaaya turns to go and checks on the mixture when Ayansh's fingers encircle her wrist with no intention of leaving it.

"Remember, I told you that I'm average in everything except studying?" He says in a low, sultry tone, swiftly changing the atmosphere around them. "I forgot to tell you that I was good in sprinting too. So, don't even think of leaving me or running away from me because I'll chase you and eventually catch you too. Your efforts will be nothing but a waste."

A ghost of a smile creeps up her face as her heart takes a leap of delight and quickly settles in a puddle of feels. Forget the raspberry, she's sure her cheeks are no less than the colour of raspberries. She exhales softly and turns her head to find him gazing at her softly and playfully.

"Is that so?" She arches a brow at him.

Ayansh gives a little nod, looking at her solemnly.

"Then I'm counting on it Mr Ayansh Mehra." Her lips curve into a lopsided smile and she stares back at him with challenge and mischief as she uncurls his fingers around her wrist.

They do the rest of the work. Levelling the cake, covering the layers with the filling and then arranging them.

"We need to refrigerate it before frosting." She tells Ayansh.

"We've to wait again?" He groans. "I'm tired and the cake looks oddly tempting."

"Come-on. Just an hour more." She says, trying to lure him. "It will taste delicious."

"Can't- can't we try now?" He says, eyeing the cake, his mouth salivating.

Inaaya gasps. "It's your brother's birthday. It's his cake." She reminds him. "And what would a cake even taste without frosting?"

"I know that." He huffs. "I just meant- what if we try a piece or two? Semicircular cakes are in fashion too." He waggles his eyebrows.

"No." She says but the uncertainty in her tone doesn't go unnoticed by him.

He walks closer to her. "You wanna try too, don't you? Just one piece and then we'll keep it in the fridge. I, anyways, don't like cream." He looks at her pleadingly.

"Ayansh, no." She warns.

"Inaaya, please." He squints his eyes at her and joins his hands with the knife in between.

She scrunches her nose. "Don't make that face."

"I'm not making any face." He gives her the same helpless look and again gestures towards the knife and cake.

"You're doing it again!" She cribs, leaning backwards as he comes even closer. "That puppy face! Stop."

"Just one piece. Please. Semicircle will look really cute. Just— "

"Okay, fine." She screeches, giving up, her back arching.

Ayansh's face instantly breaks into a wide smile and he moves back, giving her space.

"I hate you." She grits, straightening up.

"It's alright. I, first time, baked a cake and I know it's going to be the yummiest cake ever." He mouths in a whisper as he carefully carves out a piece.

"You're a child." She shakes her head at him.

Ayansh picks up the piece and brings it near her mouth and she blinks in surprise. He motions her to open her mouth. She's about to take a bite when he pulls the piece back and she freezes with her mouth hanging open.

Inaaya stares up at him in disbelief. She's about to lash out at him when he surprises her with his question.

"It isn't hot right?" He asks in concern.

Her mind goes blank for a second before she manages to shake her head in denial. Ayansh smiles and pushes the piece forward as she takes a proper bite.

"How's it?" He questions in anticipation and nervousness.

Inaaya focusses on the flavours bursting in her mouth before she replies. "Frosting would've made it better but it's good." She says, amazed.

Ayansh takes a bite right from the spot where Inaaya had taken a bite from. A satisfactory, joyous smile stretches across his face. "Sweet." He chuckles. "Quite delicious." He remarks, impressed. "It's so damn good, Inaaya!" He exclaims and quickly cuts out another piece and hands over to her.

They relish the cake when Ayansh takes out another piece and gobbles it down.

"I'm really horrified by this side of yours." She comments, watching his face which looks as if he's tasting heaven.

"I can't believe I made such a delicious cake in my very first attempt. Me, who can't do anything right?" He giggles pointing at himself.

Inaaya's face morphs into something akin to empathy at his self depreciating comment but it quickly disappears when she finds him cutting out another piece.

"Ayansh, it's already a... ," She stops, seeing he already has another piece in his hand. "semicircle. Less than a semicircle now." She sighs.

"My Mom Dad won't eat cake. I just want my brother to taste it. So, two pieces are fine too. Chill." He says nonchalantly, taking another bite.

"I regret agreeing to make a mini cake. We should've baked a bigger one." She mutters to herself. Her eyes fall on Ayansh enjoying the cake, making her crave for it. After all, she loved sweet more than him. It was a natural reaction. She averts her eyes at the cake, looking at it longingly, thinking about it's taste that blessed her tongue a few minutes ago. Ayansh notices it. Without asking for her permission, in a blink, he cuts the remaining piece into half and Inaaya's hand flows to her mouth.

"Ayansh!" She exclaims in horror.

"We've one piece left. A pastry, I'll tell him." He gives her the piece he had picked.

"This is insane." She gulps but takes the piece from his hand.

When they're done eating, both stare at each other and then look at the lone piece lying on the tray. Nobody utters a word for the next few moments. Ayansh stares at her continuously and she understands what he's intending to ask so she doesn't meet his stare. But finding it too difficult after a point, she gives in.

"You know what, fuck it!" She swings her hand in frustration. "That cake piece is probably feeling awfully alone. Have it."

Ayansh doesn't wait for another word, fearing she might change her decision. He takes a couple of bites and then beckons her to eat. She shakes her head, her resolve weak and hence, when he asks her twice, she eats the rest of the cake.

They both stand side by side, staring at the mess of utensils ahead. Inaaya leans onto him, feeling tired, resting her head on his shoulder involuntarily, licking her fingers clean. His left arm comes around her to rest on her waist loosely as if it's a natural reaction and he lightly presses his head over hers. They'd spent more than an hour to make the cake and now, they've nothing left of it.

"What do we do now?" Inaaya asks, her voice weary.

"So, I don't have anything to gift my own brother on his birthday?" He frowns.

"Should've stick to materialistic things."

"We can't even make another cake now."

Inaaya jolts away from him as an idea strikes her suddenly. "Do we have time? When will your brother come?"

Ayansh checks his watch. "Probably in an hour or two."

"We can try making cupcakes. Clean the bowl, I'll remove the flour." She says with a new found enthusiasm and moves to remove the container from the upper cabinet.

The next incident freezes both of them and the kitchen suddenly has a pin-drop silence which is broken with the clash of the container against the floor. Inaaya's hand stop in mid-air, her gaze fixated on the floor below, her upper body especially head covered in white flour.

"Fuck!" Ayansh curses.

She slowly lifts her gaze to look at Ayansh, shooting daggers at him. "You didn't tighten the lid." Her low, calm tone is a warning of the fury that's going to unfurl and he knows it.

He carefully shakes his head. "You didn't do- do it?" His voice breaks as a chuckle he had been trying to contain escapes past him at her hilarious state and he quickly disguises it as a cough.

"I fucking hate you!" She cries out, shaking her hands, trying to get rid of the flour.

Her struggle and annoyance is enough to make him burst into a full-blown, unrestrained laughter. He grabs his phone and swipes to open the camera. "I need to capture the moment." He says shamelessly.

"Ayansh, no!" She yells, turning around.

"It's a moment worth capturing." He tries to turn her but she covers her face.

"Your face is already covered. What's the use of covering it with your hand?" He teases and laughs at her when she stomps her foot.

"Remember you said it's okay to make a fool of yourself? This would be for keeps." He encourages her, trying to remove her hand as she continues to resist.

After a good amount of scuffle, Inaaya swats her hands away making him grin. "Since you're adamant on taking pictures then let me just give some good poses."

"That's the spirit." He cheers her as he moves back to click.

Inaaya gives a few poses where she pouts or lifts a leg or does a 'v' with her fingers or puts a hand on her hip and in between those poses, she ends up laughing at the idiocy. Ayansh captures it, he captures them all, not wanting to miss any second and moment.

After the photo session, he gives her a cloth to dust off the flour. To their surprise, Rahul comes earlier. Inaaya insists on staying in the kitchen because she can't go outside looking like a clown and Ayansh keeps telling her she can't be covered in flour for a long time. Unfortunately, as they're arguing Rahul comes to the kitchen.

"What the hell is going on?" He asks in a baffled tone, looking at the mess.

"Bhai." Ayansh whispers.

Inaaya stands dumbfoundedly. "Happy Birthday." She forces an awkward smile.

"Who are you?"

The curt tone adds to Inaaya's embarassment.

"Bhai, she's Inaaya." Ayansh comes to her rescue and Rahul's eyes widen in recognition.

"What's going on here?" His voice raises and it makes Ayansh flinch.

"Is my sweetie pie Ayansh here?" A voice comes before a figure enters the kitchen and stops in her tracks, her mouth forming an 'o'.

"Bhai's girlfriend, Sarya." Ayansh mumbles to Inaaya.

"Woah, what's going on here?" She questions, looking amused.

"We thought of baking a cake for Bhai but........ the rest is history." Ayansh ducks his head, his lips twitching.

Rahul snorts. "Should've known earlier that it's not going to work."

The harsh tone makes Ayansh's heart sink to his stomach.

"Rahul," Sarya rebukes him and then, walks towards Ayansh. "The thought counts anyways." She smiles and then her eyes fall on Inaaya who averts her gaze. "Who's she? Your girlfriend?" She says excitedly.

Inaaya chokes on the flour and starts coughing.

"No!" Ayansh denies it strongly, rubbing Inaaya's back as she breathes normally again. "She's a good friend."

Inaaya gives a nod, agreeing to him.

"Oh," there's a tinge of disappointment in her voice. "Anyways, you should go and clean yourself up." She tells Inaaya kindly.

"Yeah. Come with me." Ayansh says immediately, picking up her bag and giving a last smile to Sarya, Inaaya goes with Ayansh.

"I don't have any extra— ," she sneezes, "dress."

Ayansh opes the door of his room and beckons her inside before following. "I'm so sorry." He doesn't even know for what he's apologizing but it seems important to for some reason. "Lemme see if I've something."

Ayansh rummages through his clothes before he takes out a lavender coloured hoodie.

"Here, take this." He stretches out his hand. "The washroom is in that direction and there's a walk-in closet attached." He points out.

Inaaya mouths him a 'thank you' and goes to clean herself up. After around twenty minutes, she comes out, her hair wrapped in a towel and the hoodie hanging on her upper body. She was thankful that her jeans weren't damaged and were wearable.

Ayansh's hazel eyes get stuck on her petite frame being engulfed completely in his hoodie. Favorite hoodie, to be precise. A soft smile frames his face and a sigh leaves him. Something about seeing her in his clothes made a strange sensation course through his veins, making his blood heat up. It felt intimate, the gesture personal. The attraction had been brewing since a long time now, he wanted to be close to her, embrace her, brush away the tendrils of hair disturbing her, be the shoulders she leans onto, be the arms she falls into, quietly stare at her but this? This was different. It was more fervent, something dormant that seems to be awake, something that was so terrifying and beautiful at the same time.

Inaaya giggles, staring at her hands that were invisible due to the long sleeves. "It's a little oversized but quite comfortable. Thanks."

Ayansh silently walks towards her and holds her hand. He folds the sleeves and guides them behind till her wrists.

"I liked it before but nevermind." She smiles cheekily, ignorant of the hurricane swirling within in. She moves away and takes in his room. It was white, completely white. There were numerous paintings hanging around, giving it quiet an artistic vibe. The curtains were beige colour and apart from study table, couch, bean bag, potted plants near windows, wall hangings, fluorescent lights, there was a showcase reserved just for books.

The whole time she's busy admiring every nook and corner of his room and he's engrossed in searching what it is about her that makes his heart beat to a different tune, make him want to know every little detail about her, elicit different reactions from her and now, watching her wearing his hoodie as if it always belonged to her, he couldn't help but want to learn about the contours and textures of her body. And there's this strong desire to protect the smile and innocence she manages to radiates. It's like there was a blink and his emotions completely took a 180 degree turn or maybe he was just too ignorant to take a pause and delve deeper into the simmering feelings.

"You room is soothing. Quite beautiful." She marvels, her eyes straying from one corner to another.

"Too beautiful." His voice comes out as a painstaking whisper and he turns around, bending and resting his palms on his study as ragged breaths leave him. Everything just decided to hit him in this moment and it's like someone just gave him a shake to snap him out of whatever trance he was in.

When did he become so brave to flirt with a woman? Heck, he never even said anything that could be considered remotely close to flirting with his ex-girlfriend. When did he went from avoiding people to wanting to steal moments and time to spend with her? When did he become so smitten and enamored that he couldn't take his eyes off when she had her hair tied up in an unkempt bun? When did he get so bothered by someone's tears? When did someone's smile made his entire fucking day? When did it become so normal to let a girl come into his room and feel anything but normal about it? When did he become so casual about giving his clothes, that too, his favourite hoodie? When did he go for wanting to gain his brother's approval and validation to coming up with some immature idea of baking a cake in his brother's name just to get another excuse to be with her?

"You've so many classics but you don't have Shakespeare." Inaaya asks him in mild surprise.

Ayansh exhales sharply and turns around, trying to appear as calm and collected as possible. "Never been a Shakespeare fan." He shrugs nonchalantly.

Inaaya's eyes squint and she chuckles. "Woah. You just remind me of someone." She smiles fondly.

"Keep the hoodie." The words leave his mouth before he could ponder upon them.

Her eyebrows shoot up. "Why?"

He blinks and swallows inaudibly. "Maybe because it suits you more than me." He says slowly.

"Are you sure?"

He doesn't say but simply nods.

"Well, lavender is my favourite colour and I really like this hoodie. So, I'm going to be really brazen and keep this hoodie. Don't even try to take it back." She warns playfully which makes him chuckle.

"I wouldn't dare." He says sincerely and she lifts her collar smugly before a mellow laugh vibrates through her, filling the room.

Oh, the things he would do just to see her smile and laugh.

***

This chapter literally came out as something that I hadn't thought at all. And I'm not complaining because the last chapter was horrible. I would've deleted it if not for some important parts that I require but this one? It took a different tangent while I was writing but I like it more than what I'd originally thought of penning down. Hope y'all liked it too. Do lemme know your views and sending positive vibes your way :) The next chapter will probably be a continuation.

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