Will read whole part together to get my complete dose of "RuNak" keeping it on hold...
Waiting for your continuation...
Previously on Mumbai Blues...
Scene: A Crafted Coincidence...
On the other side, Anirudh takes a victory lap around his cabin, his plan having worked like magic. He stops by the window to slightly open one blind and peek at Jhanak. He sees her sitting with her hands on her head, taking deep breaths to calm herself down.
"Tumhe rok to liya kisi tarah se Jhanak, ab tumase maphi mangani hai!", he whispers to himself. He knows today is but just a small victory, keeping Jhanak around won't be easy.
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A good amount of time has passed, so Anirudh feels it's safe to open the blinds of his office cabin, thinking Jhanak might not be glaring at him anymore. But when he looks, Jhanak is missing from her desk.
"Jhanak kahan gayi?" Anirudh whispers to himself, furrowing his brows.
"Jhanak ne kal dinner bhi nahi kiya... mujhe karane mauka bhi nahi diya! Khair, at least aaj maine breakfast to kiya hai, par iss ladki ne pakka kuch nahi khaya hoga!" Anirudh mutters, shaking his head with concern.
He searches his coat pockets and finds two chocolates he always likes to keep with him out of habit for Appu di. Stepping out of his cabin, he discretely places the chocolate on Jhanak's desk and walks away towards the canteen.
Meanwhile, Jhanak returns and notices the chocolate on her desk. She instantly figures out who put it there but, still upset, refuses to accept anything from Anirudh. She rushes to his cabin straightaway and returns the chocolate to his desk.
Anirudh returns from the canteen with a cup of coffee, glancing over Jhanak's desk to see the chocolate. Jhanak, busy with some papers, doesn’t look at him, though she knows he’s watching. Anirudh returns to his cabin, feeling happy that Jhanak has probably eaten the chocolate as it is no longer on her desk. But to his surprise, he finds the chocolate back on his desk.
"Of course..." Anirudh stares at Jhanak through the window, who is also glaring right back at him this time.
The cold war over chocolate has begun.
Anirudh needs to leave for a meeting. He approaches Jhanak's desk and this time places the chocolate in front of her, looking her directly in the eyes so she knows he’s the one giving it to her. Jhanak looks back in shock, glancing around to see if anyone witnessed the exchange. Anirudh leaves for his meeting without a care in the world.
Jhanak, losing her patience, decides to respond properly to this time. She sneaks into his cabin, picks up his nameplate, and smashes the chocolate until it’s a paste. She then smears the chocolate all over Anirudh's nameplate, leaving the wrapper as evidence right next to it.
"Ho gaya..." Jhanak says, dusting off her hands with a smirk.
After a few hours, on the way to his cabin, Anirudh glances over Jhanak's desk to find chocolate missing again. Thinking Jhanak must have returned it to his desk again, he returns to his cabin feeling annoyed and disappointed. To his surprise, instead of the chocolate, he finds only an empty wrapper on his desk. For a second he feels happy thinking Jhanak ate the chocolate. But then a wave of confusion washes over him—why would Jhanak leave the wrapper like this on his desk?
As he approaches his desk, he notices the chocolate stains, and then with a growing sense of dread, sees his nameplate smeared with chocolate.
"Huh..." he exhales in disbelief, looking at the mess with twitching eyes.
Anirudh takes a deep breath, his frustration mounting, and looks over at Jhanak. She glares back at him defiantly, pressing the keys on her keyboard with unnecessary force.
"To aisa hai kya?..." Anirudh mutters declaring war over chocolate.
Determined to confront her, he calls Jhanak's desk from his office phone. She hears her desk phone ringing and, noticing Anirudh is on the phone as well, immediately disconnects the call maintaining steely eye contact with him.
Anirudh biting on his lips, calls again and she disconnects once more with an unbothered indifference, as if to say, "Is that all you got?".
On the third attempt , she places the receiver with deliberate slowness on the side , looking right at him, making it abundantly clear she is not backing down.
Seeing Jhanak's unwavering defiance, Anirudh loses his composure. What began as a battle over chocolate has now escalated into a full-blown clash of egos.
With a determined scowl, he marches towards the door and swings it open with a dramatic flair, "Jhanak Raina! Can I see you in my office?", he barks out in a tone that can't be defied, his voice carrying across the office floor.
Jhanak caught between dismay and duty, clenches her fists and rises from her desk chair reluctantly. She approaches with a defiant look towards Anirudh, who is standing holding the cabin door wide open watching her approach with a smirk of satisfaction. They exchange heated glances, as they cross each other at the door commencing the war silently, "It's on!"
The tension is palpable as Jhanak steps into the cabin, waiting for Anirudh to close the door staring into the space in exasperation. The door closed behind her with a defiant click, acting like a "shankh nad" for them to commence the war!
"Aapaki himmat kaise hui sab ke samane muze iss tarah se bulane ki?" Jhanak blasts at Anirudh
"Iss tarah se matlab? Kyu? Jhanak Raina tumhara hi naam hai na?" Anirudh responds in a sarcastic tone, each word laced with a provocative edge, undeterred by the angry wide eyes staring at him, taking steps closer to Jhanak, "Aur boss hoon tumhara, yad hai na? jab chahe, jaha chahe tumhe bula sakata hoon!"
Jhanak is practically shaking in anger, every cell in her body is screaming at Anirudh. On the other hand, Anirudh is thoroughly savoring these silent shouts, they are as if music to his ears.
"Boss hua to kya? Tameez aapako bhi sikhani padegi?!" Jhanak responds, clenching her teeth, forcing out the most respectful words she can muster given the situation.
"Tameez? Jhanak tumane mera teen bar phone kata hai aur tum tameez ki baat kar rahi ho?", Anirudh taunts, showing her three fingers, provoking her further with his smug tone and body language.
Jhanak clenches her fists, holding herself back from wanting to throw a punch. "Kyuki mujhe pata tha aap kyu phone kar rahe the. Aur mujhe us bare me koi baat nahi karni thi!" she shouts in a low, intense voice.
"Tumhe kaise pata main kis baare me baat karane ke liye phone kar raha tha? Koi magical powers hai tumhare paas?" Anirudh mocks her, leaning against his chocolate-covered desk.
Fuming, Jhanak instinctively throws her hands in the air as if wanting to grab Anirudh by the neck. Anirudh who was calmly leaning against his chocolate tarnished desk, gets alerted for a moment.
She pulls her hands back down taking deep breaths to compose herself, "Aapaki shakal dekh kar andaza aa gaya tha!!" she snaps.
Anirudh, dropping the pretense, jumps straight to the topic, "Maine chocolate di thi usaka ka kya kia?" Anirudh tries to interrogate Jhanak about her act.
Jhanak snaps back with a straight face, "Aap hi khai, bhool gaye?"
"Maine kab khayi!" Anirudh asks clenching his jaw and standing straighter.
"Khayi to hai?" Jhanak points to the chocolate-covered nameplate with an angry, sarcastic look, raising an eyebrow and smirking. "AAP... ki nameplate ne!"
"Jhanak tum..." Anirudh takes a step forward pointing his finger at Jhanak, but looks out the window and composes himself. Putting his hands in his pockets, he continues in a calm, sarcastic tone, "Jhanak wo chocolate Maine tumhe di thi, aur tumane ..."
Jhanak stares him down, her expression unfazed, as if saying, "I know! I still decided to do this!"
"Aur maine use aap ko khiladi ...Sir!" Jhanak cuts him in between and passes a sarcastic smile.
Anirudh takes a step forward to say something else and Jhanak intercepts again, "Lagata hai mera yaha kam khatm ho gaya hai. To main jaoo, Sir?" she asks, but starting to leave without waiting for his response.
"Ek Minute Jhanak!" Anirudh stops her. "Chalo, Sir kehati ho to tumhara boss hoon, itana rishta to manati ho. To aage se mera phone bhi mat cut karana. And yes I do have some work for you."
Anirudh hands over some files to Jhanak related to the dance show, "Ye, dance show ke venue ki details hai. Coordinate with them and schedule a visit for us. Hume jake arrangements check karani hogi!"
Jhanak snatches the files from Anirudh and starts to leave again.
"One more thing", he stops her again. "Abhi tum kya kam kar rahi thi?"
"Nadia ne kuch documents diye the correct karane, bus wohi kar rahi thi" Jhanak responds in a taunting voice.
Jhanak tries to leave again.
"Jhanak..."
Jhanak turns back with an annoyed look.
"khana khya?" Anirudh asks in a caring voice
Jhanak shakes her head to deny it.
"Subha se kuch nahi khaya?" Anirudh asks, feeling concerned
"Canteen se chai pee thi!" Jhanak responds in an irritated voice
"Chai? That's it? Chalo abhi kuch lunch le aate hai!"
Jhanak raises her hand to stop him, "Nahi, usaki koi zaroorat nahi hai. Main khud kar loongi!"
She starts to leave again. Anirudh quickly grabs another chocolate from his coat and calls her once more before she leaves.
"Jhanak..."
"Ab kya hai!" Jhanak shouts back this time.
"At least ye khalo, please!" Anirudh closes on to her with chocolate in his hand. The expression of anger and annoyance subsides for a few moments as they look at each other reminded of old times when Anirudh offered her chocolate just like this few times.
Jhanak glares back at Anirudh and leaves without responding to him.
Anirudh sighs, feeling defeated. As he returns to his desk, he notices a young guy approaching Jhanak's desk from the window. The guy smiles and greets Jhanak and offers her a chocolate the same kind Anirudh had offered Jhanak. Jhanak greets the guy with a warm smile and gets up from her chair to accept the chocolate.
Anirudh glares at the whole scene, his eyes practically shooting laser beams at Jhanak and the man she’s talking and laughing with. His jaw tightens, and his nostrils flare as he clenches his fists.
"Kya?!!... meri chocolate par kya kante lage the?" Anirudh shouts in jealousy, grabbing onto the office blinds and smashing them in the process. A new player has just entered the game.
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To Be Continued...
I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! Let me know as always in the comments what you think!
... I am trying to keep them intact in my brain avoiding al the commotion that is happening right now lol! I like it how you sum it up for me :) I feel like i am understanding what i wrote even better ❤️
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