Love, How does it feel?

• 10

Shruti

"May I come in, Sir." I inquired, politely.

"Yes" I heard a reply as I strolled inside the Students union room to see Sidharth Sir, Kunal Sir and Kavya ma'am having bread pakoda together.

"Oh, Shruti!" Kunal Sir exclaimed as he walked to me, still chewing.

"How are you?" He inquired.

"Awesome, Sir." I smiled a little as he showed me a thumbs up.

"Great to feel that energy, girl." He exclaimed as I laughed. By this time, Sidharth Sir had completed his food and came to us, wiping his washed hands in a cloth.

"Are you feeling good now?" He asked me and I gave him a big smile.

"Yes, Sir. And, thank you so much for saving my life." I expressed my gratitude as I opened my bag to retrieve something, I brought for him.

"This is a small gift from my father for saving my life that day." I forwarded him a box as he shook his head, denying.

"Please, Sir. I insist." I pleaded again, gently.

"Everyone here is my responsibility. So, even if it would've been anyone instead of you, it would've been duty to save them. I'm sorry, Shruti. I can't take it." He said, calmly as he turned to Kunal Sir.

I walked a little closer to him, picked his hand through three of his fingers and kept the small gift box on his palm, leaving him flabbergasted.

"You can even throw it away." I whispered as I stepped a little away.

Quite immediately, Kunal Sir picked up the gift box and turned it to me, "He doesn't want it. So, I am keeping it."

I stole a glance from Sidharth Sir, who looked unbothered. Hence, I just forced a smile at Kunal Sir, who walked out of the room with my gift box.

It felt bad. But, I shrugged it off.

"Sir, could you at least brief me about the research progress in my absence, please?" I tried again as he nodded, gesturing me to follow him.

It's been thirty minutes, he has been explaining to me about all the research conducted and their observations.

"We found this Ts21 strain most active under high gravity and high temperature. Kinda perfect for extra-terrestrial regions." He elaborated, calling me to observe it through the lens of the microscope.

"It doesn't have a slimy layer, does it?" I murmured as he leaned closer to me to see again, while, my breath hitched at his proximity.

"No" he affirmed.

"Huh?" I croaked out, stunned. As I looked at his serious visage and rapt eyes, looking through the lens

"What if we artificially create a slimy layer around it?" I suggested, gaining my senses as he seemed thoughtful.

"Let's try. Start with the procedure then, I will test it." He instructed draping his lab coat and rubber gloves, while, I treated the bacteria with polysaccharides and algin to induce a slime layer after isolating them.

He straightened his face shield as he took the sample specimen and let it sit in the lab created high temperature and pressure zone, with or without extreme gravity.

"Wow!" He exclaimed as we saw through the visuals in the screen on our left that gives grotesque yet gigantic pictures of the bacteria, kept inside.

"You added algin?" He asked me as I nodded.

"The algin added slime layer has caused a viscoelastic ooze slime, that has increased its tendency to replicate and commute up to 2000 times in high gravity and up to 100 times in the least gravity zone." He stated, looking at the replicating figures and graphics. But, all I could observe was his hot breath gingerly heating my bare neck as he stood behind me. Too close.