JEEVAN (Rawte Series- Book 1)

7- Phones & Kheer

Arnika sat on the passenger seat sneaking quick glances of Arjun who was focusing on the road with a hard expression on his face. His face clearly conveyed how mad he was at her but again he always looked mad. The realisation made her look at him for a bit too long.

Arjun- "Kuch zyada hi interesting laga Raha hai mera chehra?"

Arnika jumped at his sudden question. "Huh? Nahi toh..."

Arjun let it go. He knew she was nervous. Suddenly, a thought crossed his mind.

Arjun- "Where is your phone, Arnika?"

Arnika took out her phone from her pocket and showed it to him.

Arjun- "Why was it switched off yesterday?"

Arnika frowned at the question. Wasn't it obvious? 

"Because it was discharged?" she said it like it was the most obvious thing on this planet.

Arjun fisted his hands. If only her phone would have been switched on, those 10 years of his life wouldn't have so easily edged away last day. And the brat was sitting here like being careless enough to charge her phone was the most obvious thing. The sole reason she had a phone was for the sake of contact. It seemed like she was using it for everything but the essential.

Arjun held out his palm without glancing at her. "Your phone."

Arni shrugged and handed it over to him. He slides down the glass and literally THREW it out of the window.

Arni's eyes widened. "What the HELL! Have you lost it? Mera PHONE!"

Arjun hissed- "Lower down your voice, Arnika."

That silenced her but the restlessness in her posture was still evident. She glanced back at the road as if trying to reach out for the phone from her seat.

Arjun- "You clearly don't deserve a phone if you are not responsible enough for its maintenance."

Arnika looked at him angrily. Her face turned red in anger. She looked like she would explode any moment now. But then she burst out in tears. She hit him repeatedly with her fists.

Arjun frowned at her reactions. That was quite unexpected but then maybe he had angered her enough to bring out such a childish reaction from her. He mentally reminded himself that she was actually a child.

Arjun- "I guess you need self defense classes, Arnika. Your punches are no better at 9 than they were at 2."

Arnika got offended at that and gave his arm a particularly hard punch. Arjun hissed slightly and glared at her.

She glared back at him with those tears filled eyes. Arjun looked away at once. He would lie if he says that he wasn't finding this side of hers cute. He found a small smile gracing his lips as he found himself yet again walking down the memory lane.

Flashback

7 years ago

It was a normal Tuesday for the Rawte household except for the fact that both the senior most and junior most Rawtes were particularly grumpy today.

Arjun had been busy with the impending riots in the city outskirts last night and he had to report to the headquarters early that morning. That left him a total of 2 hours of sleep. As a result, he was particularly grumpy this morning.

On the other hand, little Arni had a rough night. She had been teething this week and the pain in her gums had kept her awake an hour past her bedtime and was even mean enough to wake her up early this morning.