Love in micrometer

~ THE FRIEND'S BROTHER~

Priya

I just need to be calm. Calm. Very easy. Urgh, why am I so nervous. He is just my friend's brother. I have to plan this beforehand so that I don't embarrass myself in front of him. Why is this so hard. Why do I always want to be perfect in front of him. Yes, I get it that he is a big shot, doing his PhD, and that he is my biggest inspiration and... Okay, I really need to calm down. I think I might cry.

We were taking turns to explain our content. Priya and Avi have been doing it for an hour. I think I will have to take over. That means that I have to talk in front of him. It's okay, I can do this. We have prepared it well, and I have practiced my lines. I was lost in thoughts when Siddhi nudged me.

"Don't be awkward around Anna, be normal for once. I hate seeing you both act like strangers around me," she said.

"What do you mean by that? I am perfectly normal around him" I argued.

I was explaining the new visitors about our model. I saw Shivamsha walk in. I could feel my blood rush, and I am quite sure that I must have turned pale. He stood in front of me with a small smile. I forgot to open my mouth and start with the formalities.

Noticing that I was flustered, he took the initiative to ask me about our exhibit. I gathered myself together and started.
"Hello, thank you so much for coming. I am Priya, and I will give you a brief description of our model." Good, just a few more lines. "We all are aware that bacterial cells have DNA as their genetic material. We also know that a few cells have an extra chromosome called the plasmids," I continued. I opened my mouth to tell the next sentence, and I was shot with a gun whose bullet pierced me through my head, and I could not think of anything. I went blank. I think I just heard him say, "No I don't know about this."

I was flustered, a PhD student telling me that he is not aware of this, is honestly the greatest joke ever made in the history of great jokes. I was visibly red out of embarrassment; I had nobody around to help. Siddhi had taken a break; Avi is afraid of Shivamsha, and I know he won't speak a word. "Sorry?" I asked, confused.

"No what I mean is, I don't want such complicated explanations", he said.
Well, that is not how you convey that message by saying that you don't know, I scolded in my head.

"Can you tell me what you simply understand about the model you have made, laymen terms."

A new challenge, got it. Is this some kind of revenge that he is trying to fulfill against me, I don't know. A science graduate asking me to explain something in laymen terms is what I have been wanting to do my whole life. Sure, I can do this. Never did I think that my greatest inspiration would turn out to be my greatest nightmare, that too, when I have taken the courage to talk to him after knowing him for two years. Don't show that you are intimidated. You are not. You can not be. Not in front of him.

"Off course," I said.It's timee to take out my weapon. "Sir, I will ask you a few question. Cann you please answer it for me? You need not be worried it is very easy."