Interlude

Chapter 23

Aniya Grewal had made herself very comfortable next to Dev. They were sitting on one of the far tables and her hand was gently stroking his left bicep. She had leaned in and was talking in low whispers, forcing Dev to get closer just so he could hear her properly. She smiled every once in a while, randomly, without cause.

"You seem oddly happy today." Dev asked, looking curiously at his old friend.

Aniya giggled dramatically, causing Dev to raise an eyebrow. Then she leaned in further and propped her chin on his shoulder in a manner that she'd never done before.

"I had a very interesting conversation with Roman just minutes ago." she whispered, then winked.

For a good long minute, Dev looked dumbfounded. Then his eyes grew wide as the implication registered in his mind. One hand slapped his forehead, then trailed along the side of his face, as if the movement would wipe away his quickly rising anger.

"For the love of God," he seethed, "I'm going to kill that..."

"Relax." Aniya chirped, tightening her hold on his bicep, practically snuggling. "Just play along."

"Play...pla..." His disbelief and rage left him grappling for words. He took a breath then bore his eyes into hers. Ironically, that solidified their intimate stance.

"What exactly did Roman tell you?" he snapped.

"Unfortunately, not as much as I would like to know." She admitted, gently caressing his bicep.

"Stop that!"

"What?" she asked with mock innocence, then renewed her movements more dramatically, "Oh, you mean, this."

Dev glared.

"Roman told me he was doing an experiment. All I had to do was go up and," Twisting her head, she rested her chin on his shoulder to smile coyly at him. "snuggle for a few minutes."

Dev remained motionless, stunned at the ridiculousness of the situation. "And you agreed to this because?"

"To make my afternoon more entertaining." Her head fell on his shoulder. "Besides, I'm curious to know more about this experiment."

Beneath the refuge of his sunglasses, he stole a glance at his Rose. She was trying and failing quite miserably, to ignore him. Every time her eyes shot to the corner, the anxiety on her face deepened.

"I'm going to tell Jack about this." Dev grumbled

Aniya didn't reply right away. For a moment, Dev thought she'd actually fallen asleep.

"Oh he knows." Aniya said, lazily. "Your shoulder is actually quite comfortable."

"More comfortable than your boyfriend's shoulder?"

"Ha... you wish."

"Where is Jack, anyway?"

She lifted her head and scoured the area, one hand shielding her eyes from the bright sunlight.

"He said he was going to take pictures." she whispered. "I can't see him though."

"Pictures!" Dev's sense of composure was slipping further away by the minute.

"Of course. If the experiment is successful, then this story is going to be passed on to our kids. I need solid proof. Ten years from now, imagine my Instagram post - Throwback to the Hastings experiment." She looked smug with her own delusions leaving Dev in a stunned silence. Then to his horror, she bent lower to kiss his cheek. It was a small, quick kiss, but enough to mortify him.