x | favour

key:

ishita/ jai

why are you not going for lunch?

no i went

ishita, you're sitting right there at your desk and i can see you

i just have some work to finish. i'll grab an egg roll or something from the place nearby after i'm done

didn't you bring lunch?

do you think i have time to cook in the morning?

you never bring lunch?

i just grab a roll or sandwich. i've made a deal with the uncle running the shop next door. he gives me discounts if i chat with him for some time

that's not healthy at all

who cares?

come in to my room

i have one last thing to finish so kindly save your demands for after, thanks

i have only one pair of hands, if you don't realise

your passive aggressive tone won't work with me

just come in

no

i'm calling you in as a boss. your job is at line

ugh

this is so unfair

asshole

you can't fire for me for this! i want to finish this so it would help you! why won't you let me do it?

i don't care about that. just get the fuck in

easy there, tiger

don't piss me off

too bad i love doing it

ishita

fine!

Ishita walked into the room after a quick knock on the door. She was unhappy and wanted to grumble like a grumpy old man did about the rain because she didn't like it when someone interrupted her when she was in the middle of something. She liked to sit and be done with it in one go and not get her focus distracted while she had it. She was a product of procrastinating all her assignments in school and finishing it in at a stretch, the night before. She couldn't help it.

Jai sat there in his expensive chair, angled to the right side, his back rested against the seat completely and his legs stretched and crossed at the ankles. He was typing something on his phone.

“What?” Ishita asked. Kayal had finally taken her maternity leave and left her on her own with enough training and tips. But that also meant Ishita couldn't get away with mistakes then onwards. It would cost her her job.

“Sorry, what do you want, Sir?” she clarified.

“It's okay. I didn't call you in for work so you can be casual,” he said.

“Oh, thank god. I would have hated you if you had given me more work.  I mean, I hate you now too but I would have hated you more.”

Jai raised his eyebrow in the exact way he did every time he challenged her. It had become so familiar to her that she didn't mind it. In fact, she liked it when he did that. It was like his own crooked way of giving her more space to speak her mind. It was as if he wanted her to talk. Because when she started again, his lips showed a hint of a smile. Microscopic but not to her eye.

No one liked her when she talked. Because she always overdid it. This was new.

“Why did you call me in?”

He pushed a flat rectangle stainless steel box towards her. “Here. Eat.”

“What?”

“It's just wheat paratha and palak paneer. It was last night's dinner but it's still better than your egg roll.”

Ishita blinked at him. She froze. She couldn't think of anything to say and it was a rare occurrence for her. The feeling was strange and uncomfortable and she didn't like it.

“D-don't, um, look down on my egg roll. It's very filling,” she managed, her thumbs fiddling.

“You can't eat the same thing every day. Have something healthy.”

“What about you?”

“I'm not hungry.”

She would have said no but when Jai opened the container, she couldn't bring herself to reject the offer. The egg rolls were fine but she was sick of it. What Jai was offering was so good.

“Did you make it?”

“Yes.”

“Then, I must try it and check if the skill you claim to have is any good. Who knows, you might be a fraud,” she said, air-quoting the last word and grabbing the box.

“Sure, go ahead. Test me,” he said, stretching his arms wide open and gesturing for her to have at it. She hated the slight smirk on his face and the fact that it looked so good on him. She hated the fact that he could pull off a violet shirt. She hated that he was always so composed like he didn't worry about a damn thing in his life.

“You want me to sit here and eat?”

“Why not? We've shared a pizza before here.”

“But no one was in the office except us. Someone could see. This is very unprofessional.”

“No one can see us. Just sit and eat, Ishita. You call me an asshole every chance you get. That's also unprofessional. I don't say anything.”

“Hey, I only call you an asshole in text or when we are private. In front of others, I play the role of a scared and always-in-a-rush assistant perfectly. No one can even tell we know each other,” Ishita said, dragging a chair next to him and sitting there. She tore the paratha and dipped it in the warm green gravy, scooping a piece of paneer by making a spoon out of the bread.

She glanced at Jai who sat across her with a smile on his face. A rare occurrence, even if it was a smug smile.

Suspicious. Everything was suspicious and strange.

Ishita took a bite. First she chewed and then when the perfectly balanced spice and flavour of the gravy hit her tongue, her eyes widened. And the paratha! Oh my god, the paratha. It was so soft and it crumbled instantly. Shocking that it was made out of wheat.

Jai leaned forward with a smug smile. He wasn't even trying to hide it, the asshole. “Now that you know I'm not a fraud, what do you have to say?”

Ishita chewed patiently, tearing out another piece. “Good for you.”

“I'll bring lunch for you everyday. Don't bother chatting up that uncle or whoever he is to get discounts.”

“That's stretching it too far. I don't want to rely on you,” Ishita said, shaking her head.

“I rely on you for everything.”

“You pay me for it.”

“You can pay me for lunch too.”

“Oh my god! How much more money do you want in life? Are you trying to make a business, preying on my hungry, shameless soul?” Ishita gasped.

“Cut the dramatics, Ishita. I'll think of a favour. You can pay me back that way.”

Ishita mouthed You can pay me back that way, mocking him and then going back to her food. “While I appreciate and have deep respect for sex and the need for it in all our lives, I don't do sexual favours. Just letting you know in case that's what you had in mind,” she said, pointing at him with a piece of paneer in her hand before popping it in her mouth.

Jai choked and coughed. Red heat shot up his neck, curling at the nape. He looked at her with bulging eyes as if she was absolutely fucking insane.

Ishita smiled, pleased. “Do you want to share the last paratha?” she asked him, casually.

Jai stood up and walked out of the office without making eye contact.

Ishita burst out laughing.