Not A Simple Engineer Boy! | ✓

One: Gravity (Part 1)

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Year: 2023

"Sixty lakhs, that's all?" Xavier raised a questioning brow at Alisha.

Alisha Mukherjee wasn't solely his childhood friend; she also happened to be his first adolescent crush—likely nothing more than a fleeting infatuation. Perhaps, that's just how hormones tend to overreact during adolescence. With time, his emotional bond with her shifted from being chaddi-buddy to experiencing butterflies in his stomach, ultimately maturing into an adult who cherished their friendship above all else.

And he cared for her, like she did.

"Yeah. And I'll repay...as soon as possible," she said waving a flippant hand. Alisha had never borrowed money from anyone. Hell,  she had never sought assistance from anyone, except her closest friends—Xav and Iksha. She had weathered sufficient trauma to deem her staunch independence an indispensable requirement.

"Ali, I'm not operating a charitable organization, after all," he teased her. Scratching her ego had been his cherished pastime since childhood. He possessed enough wealth to fully support her business ventures and beyond. Whether or not she bothered to repay wouldn't concern him much; it was for Alisha's benefit, after all, and he would gladly invest all his resources in her talent. However, relishing the sight of a furious Alisha was one of his life's pleasures.

A seething Bengal Tigress, that's the semblance she portrayed.

"Fuck off!"

Profanities, curses, noises, ah!

He grinned, jesting, "Where would you go without me?" Her response was an unconcerned eye roll, prompting a boisterous laugh from him.

Within the confined space of his cabin, every sound reverberated with amplified clarity, and Alisha couldn't suppress her smile. It had been quite some time since anyone had witnessed him laughing so genuinely. He had seemed to have misplaced all traces of happiness, and in that moment, she felt a sense of delight, knowing that she had played a part in bringing laughter back to his life. Maybe for a minute or few, he had laughed because of her.

Sensing her eyes on him he became quiet.

"You should do this more." She requested.

Signing up a cheque, he glanced at her, "Will try." His voice was colder than ice. That's how cold he had become.

"Iksha called me yesterday," she started, trying to pull out a conversation with him, "She has joined a new hospital as the Cardiothoracic Surgery Resident."

"Well, good for her. She never cared to inform me anyway about her life." He felt uneasy with the sudden diversion in their conversation, it was taking a turn towards being a bit distasteful.

Samiksha Agnihotri Singh—or their Iksha, was his good old friend. Or a best friend? He wasn't sure. She was an intelligent woman, excelling academically since childhood, much like him. However, her marriage to his former brother-in-law had somewhat strained their relationship, particularly after his divorce from Subhadra.

Krishna, his ex-brother-in-law, had a distinctly contrasting personality. He hadn't punched him when Subhadra had divorced him—a much possible act that he had expected, neither did he shoot him with his gun—which Xavier was thankful for.