Madness and Magic...❤️

11

As he stepped inside, a faint sense of awkwardness filled the room. She was still sitting on the sofa, unsure of what to say next.

"Why don't you make your way to the guest room,you need rest," he gently suggested, sensing her tensed state. "I'll get you few blankets , and don't worry, you can lock the room from inside,you are absolutely safe here." The realization that they were going to spend the night in this house,alone, felt a bit strange to both of them.

"Chale jaana chaiye tha... she might misunderstand my intentions, desperate na soch rahi ho." He though and meanwhile, she pondered, "May be I shouldn't have stopped him, already hot and pata nahin kya kya bol chuki hoon, aise na lage ke gale pad rahi hoon"

"I need to finish some work,I will go to my room, bhuk lage toh batana" he said.

"Actually... I am feeling better. Can you lend me a pencil, few sheets of paper, and a black gel pen?" she asked as she wanted to finish doing the sketches.

"Why... what do you want to do now?"
he asked casually, strolling into his room.

"I need to make some sketches," she replied as he returned with his laptop bag and placed it on the dining table, situated in one corner of the living room.

"Sketches... what about redoing the cost sheet first?" he asked, making a confused face. She thought about how to convey that his finicky ex had requested the design sketches. Simultaneously, she debated whether to ask him for Sameera's contact details or not.

"Shehnaaz, let's redo the cost sheet... I also have some work, I will start after redoing it," he suggested.

"Nahin woh.. Sketches jaruri hai?" She said.

"Which sketches... do it after redoing the cost sheet," he insisted as he opened his email account to review the submitted cost sheet.

"Here.. let's start... tum baitho aram se," he added, pulling out a chair and brought the coffee table nearer to her.

"Listen Sir... Sameera kutt... I meant sirf Sameera.... Sameera ma'am has asked me to send the sketches of my design by night... the ones she will be wearing in my show," she explained, looking at his face for reactions. Despite dropping his ex's name, his face showed absolutely no reaction.

"Shouldn't we finalize the cost sheet first? Only then will funds be released, and further progress can happen" his face remained stoic.

"She had asked for it to be sent by tonight... the sketchbook is also left at home; creating it from scratch will take time.. I found her little finicky, kahin gussa na ho jaye" she knowingly mentioned about her nature just to check if this time his expression changes. He was well aware of her nature, so he didn't say anything.

"Okay, I have a mechanical pencil, will that do?" he asked, his tone carrying a subtle shift, hinting at the impact of Sameera. He disappeared momentarily and returned with some white paper, a mechanical pencil, and a Montblanc pen with his signature engraved on its lid.

"This is the only black pen I have." he stated.

"Wow... this is sexy. Self-obsessed much, huh? Who gets their name engraved?" she teased, then he remembered that it was a gift from Sameera.

"Well, it was a gift," he replied reluctantly.She took the pen, eyeing the pen with a mischievous grin. "A gift? Must be someone special, lakhon ka pen with name engraved.

"Yeah, someone special." He murmured.

"Now... finish your work... I will be in my room " he had this inner urge to be near her but decided it might be better to give her space, so that she wont feel that someone was hovering over her.