Seven Days to Woo Randhir Singh Shekhawat

Day Two: Part I

Day Two - Part I

As soon as her eyes opened, she looked at the clock, noticing that it was already 1 in the afternoon.

"Shit!"

She shot up and ran to the bathroom to shower. She wanted to look nice today, but she didn't think she'd have time. Randhir was already probably angry for her being verylate.

Once she showered and wore a decent salwar kameez with matching bangles, her eyes landed on her phone. Picking it up, she checked to see if Randhir had sent her a text, and she wasn't surprised that he hadn't.

She quickly blow-dried her hair, deciding that Randhir didn't need her anyways, so she might as well put some importance and hard work into her seven day challenge. She applied kajal and mascara to her eyes and some clear lipgloss to her lips before grabbing her bag and running towards the mechanical lab.

"Randhir!" she yelled as soon as she entered. "I'm sorry, I didn't hear the alarm!"

He was working on the machine and didn't look up.

"See, this is why I don't ask you to do anything important," he said, his eyes still fixated on the machine. "It's okay, I didn't expect anything from you anyways... it makes me laugh that you proposed an earlier time."

She walked up to a desk and placed her bag on the table, her bangles making a clinking sound. She moved her hair back from the sides and put on a clip, holding it in place.

Randhir looked up, and for a moment she couldn't feel herself breathe. He seemed like he had forgotten that the world existed as well. He looked her up and down, seemingly surprised by what he saw, before walking closer to her and reaching towards her hair. She didn't move back. Instead she closed her eyes as he removed the clip from her hair.

"Much better," he murmured.

He took two steps back and continued to look at her. She fiddled with her fingers, feeling self-conscious. Why did he keep on looking at her like that?

"What's the occasion?" he finally asked.

She looked down, not meeting his eyes, trying to portray herself as someone who Randhir would like.

"It's just that I realized that as a woman I should take more interest in the way I dress," she told him softly - as softly as she could. After all, that was what soft-spoken was right?

She looked up to see Randhir smirking.

"Okay then farzi," he said, "Come and work on the machines with me today."

Her eyes nearly widened. Why did he want her to work on the machines with him? She looked at the machine that was sitting on the table suspiciously... it was not going to explode in her face was it?

"Don't worry farzi," Randhir told her, following her gaze, "There's nothing wrong with them. I'll be back, you finish making the circuit."

She nodded, lowering her gaze again, trying to be as obedient as possible. With that she walked towards the machine and started working, her stomach nearly grumbling from being hungry.

He returned fifteen minutes later. Upon hearing his footsteps enter the room, she wiped her hands which were covered with grease on her dupatta, not realizing that there was a spot on her nose, from when she had touched it earlier.

"Here, eat something," he said, practically shoving a sandwich at her face.

She looked up and lowered her gaze again, surprised that Randhir brought her food. How did he know she was hungry?

"You spent more time than usual this morning getting ready, so I thought you didn't think eating was important. And for your information farzi, I don't want your poor eating habits to affect our project, so eat," he said, holding out the sandwich for her, as if he read her mind. She really wondered how he did that.

She was about to take the sandwich when he pulled it back. Sanyukta suddenly started to feel anger rise up her body again, but she stopped herself from hurling any insults at him this time.

"Your hands are probably dirty from working on these machines, let me feed you," he told her softly.

She was about to protest when she remembered that he didn't like argumentative girls.Couldn't he like girls with at least one trait similar to me, she thought, feeling annoyed that she had to pretend to be someone else to gain his affection.

His free hand grabbed a napkin from the desk and gently brushed it over her nose, wiping off the grease that was on it. This small action made her shiver, longing to feel his skin on hers again. He used his other hand to hold the sandwich in front of her lips. She leaned forward and took a bite. Was it just her imagination, or did this sandwich somehow taste more satisfying?

Randhir held her cheek gently as he continued to feed her. She glanced into his eyes, unable to control himself. She didn't know why she felt like he enjoyed feeding her. Nobody would volunteer like that if they didn't want to - especially not Randhir Singh Shekhawat.

"What's the special occasion?" she asked, unable to stop herself, once she finished the sandwich.

"Meaning?"

"You feeding me... I could have washed my hands MCP - I mean Randhir," she said, correcting herself immediately.

A straightforward, soft-spoken girl would never say MCP. She couldn't make that mistake again. She noticed him look at her suspiciously.

"Let's work on this," he told her. "We don't have a lot of time."

She noticed that he didn't answer her question and couldn't help but wonder why. Perhaps he didn't have an answer.

"Okay, so what should I do?" she asked him. "Circuit's ready."

He seemed to be in deep thought for a moment before he spoke up.

"Do you want to work on the presentation outline?" he asked her. "You could work on cost breakdown."

"Sure."

Then they both got started, working on their respective tasks. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Randhir look at her more than was necessary and she couldn't help but smile smugly. Maybe this was having a positive effect on him and he was liking this change in her.

After a few hours of working, Sanyukta decided to ask Randhir a question that was bothering her. She knew that it shouldn't matter to her what his answer was, but she really wanted to know more about his life.

"Randhir, have you ever had a girlfriend?" she asked him, her eyes fixated on the powerpoint she made, not wanting to look in his eyes.

"Of course I have," he replied.

She felt her heart sink for some reason, and she didn't know why.

"Who?"

"You," he replied, his eyes gauging her face for a reaction.

"What?" she asked, her jaw dropping.

"You don't need to worry," he finished with a smirk.

She felt herself blush when he said that and looked down again. She didn't know whether he was just messing with her or not. If he was, then what was the need to do that? Did he have feelings for her? The thought of him having feelings for her made her heart leap. She smirked. If he did, that was much better. The next six days would be easy.

After another few hours, Sanyukta finished the part of the powerpoint she had been working on.

"Randhir," she called out, "Can you take a look at this?"

He walked over to her and leaned forward from behind her.

"Let's see," he said, his breath tickling her ear, causing her heart to pump at a much faster rate.

Her hands shook slightly as she pressed the play button on the laptop.

"Hmm," he wondered out loud, "It's good, but I think it needs something more unique."

Unique? What did he mean by unique? She thought her powerpoint was perfect.

"There's nothing wrong with it!" she replied, frustrated.

"Sanyukta, you're arguing with me?" he asked her, raising his eyebrows.

Was he smirking? That MCP was good for nothing.

"No," she replied as softly as she could, biting her tongue to refrain from arguing. "I'll change it."

"Come on, let's go eat something first, or the canteen will close again. You don't want a repeat of yesterday night, do you farzi?"

She looked down and nodded, before shoving her laptop in her bag and following him to the canteen. The canteen was nearly empty. There were a few upper year students talking at one of the tables.

They got sandwiches and sat down at a table.

"Hurry up, we have to go to the library after this and pick out some books. We should create a list of good sources and we need to prove that we used different ones."

Sanyukta pursed her lips, trying to force herself to be as nice as possible. It was just for six more days. Then she could drop this act because he would already be madly in love with her by then.

She nodded and smiled sweetly at him.

They quickly finished their sandwiches and hurried towards the library, which was to be closing in a few minutes.

Then suddenly an idea struck her - if she locked them in the library, he would be forced to spend some more time talking to this new, sweet, compliant Sanyukta and he would fall in love with her faster.

"Come here Randhir, I know some good books at the back," she said casually, running towards the back.

He followed her and started to search the bookshelves. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the librarian packing her belongings.

"Sanyukta, there's nothing we need here," he proclaimed, sounding exasperated. "The books we need are at the front. Come on."

"No Randhir!" she said quickly. "I mean... sorry Randhir, but trust me, I saw a book that was perfect for our project here. We just need to find it."

The librarian walked towards the doors and closed it. Once the lights turned off, she knew that her mission had been accomplished.

Randhir's head shot up as soon as darkness engulfed them. "Shit," he said, furrowing his eyebrows. "Now how will we get out?"

He ran towards the door and tried to push it open. He banged on it but there was no answer.

"Why do I always have to get locked in the library with you?" he asked her, sounding annoyed.

"Yes, you would love to be locked with your ex-girlfriend right?" she retorted before she could stop herself.

"Ex-girlfriend?" he asked her, his eyes lighting up. He walked towards her until he was very close to her. "Nah, current girlfriend."

Her eyes widened and her mouth fell open. He had a girlfriend? There was no way he would fall for her now.

"You're with someone?" she whispered, surprised. She didn't know why her heart felt like it had been stabbed with a knife.

"Mhm," he said, moving closer to her. She moved back until she hit a wall.

His hands slid up her arms. The small movement caused her to shiver.

"What - what are you doing Randhir?" she whispered, finding it hard to speak.

"Exactly what it looks like Sanyukta," he said, his fingers tracing her jawline.

Her breathing suddenly got uneven. She looked into his eyes, losing herself in them.

"But you have a girlfriend," she whispered. This was wrong. This was very wrong.

"I'm looking at her," he whispered into her ear.

His lips buried themselves in her hair as he inhaled her scent, her heart was thudding faster than ever, and she could barely register what was happening around her. She wanted him, she knew that, but did he want her too? Was her plan working? Was she that irresistible in this attire?

"I... I didn't agree with that," she finally managed to say.

"You sure farzi?" he whispered into her ear again.

That was it, she couldn't take it any longer. She grabbed his shirt and pushed him back.

"You MCP! Just because I decided to be nice doesn't mean you can say whatever you want about me!"

That was not what she wanted to say. She wanted to kiss him. But she couldn't show that much affection towards him, not when she was planning to make him fall for her. She regretted snapping at him right now, but she had no idea how to do it any other way, she was too comfortable in her own skin.

"I knew it. Sanyukta Agarwal can never behave like the kind of girl Randhir Shekhawat likes," he told her with a smirk.

Why did he always have to infuriate her? That was it. She was done pretending. She charged at him and grabbed his shirt, her signature move, and pushed him back against a table. He fell on top of it. His arms circled her waist, pulling her down over it with him.

"You were being too obvious farzi," he whispered from under her. "You have fallen for me, haven't you?"

She struggled to get off him, but his grip around her waist was too strong.

"Let go of me MCP!" she yelled through gritted teeth.

"Not until you admit your feelings farzi," he told her with a smirk.

"Don't be so self-absorbed! I don't like you! I think you like me, that's why you're saying all this!"

Randhir chuckled, and she didn't know why she found that extremely appealing.

"Why farzi? Do you want to be my girlfriend?" he asked her mischievously.

She tried to push herself off him, but he turned the two of them over, his body pressing against her from over her. She gasped, her eyes widening as he leaned closer to her.

"Don't do this Randhir," she warned.

"Or what farzi?" he whispered, moving his lips close to hers. "Or what?"

"I'll scream!"

"Do it," he dared.

She opened her mouth to scream but no sound escaped. She saw the glint in his eyes.

"So tell me farzi, why did you dress up for me today?"

"I... I didn't do it for you. I felt like it!" she said, struggling against him further.

He grabbed her arms and pinned them to the desk. She wasn't afraid of him. She knew that he was not going to do anything with her that she didn't want to do. In fact, she was worried that he was messing with her mind again.

"Don't lie farzi," he murmured.

She closed her eyes tightly.

"Randhir, I... leave me!"

"I've noticed Sanyukta... I've noticed that you've changed. You were ready to kiss me, to sit on my lap, to touch me inappropriately, to dress up for me, now you want to spend the whole night with me by purposefully locking us in the library? Why Sanyukta?"

Her breath caught in her throat. How did he know that she wanted to purposefully lock them?

"I'm not only rank one in studies Sanyukta," he added on, as if he read her mind one more time. "It's quite obvious, you taking me to the back of the library, when no such book for our project exists there."

She gulped nervously. Shit. She was going to be caught before the seven days were even up.

"You're... you're wrong," she told him nervously.

"I'm not leaving you until you tell me Sanyukta."

He gently slid her up the table so her legs didn't dangle from the edges, and he slid up too, his lips once again, finding themselves close to hers, just an inch away. She gasped, wanting to kiss him, but at the same time fearing what would happen.

She was confused. She didn't know what to say. What she said next was partly against her own wishes, but she said it anyways, deciding that she couldn't tell him about her challenge and he wouldn't leave her until he got an answer he would believe in.

"I like you Randhir," she breathed out, her hands sweating and her heart pounding. "No I... I love you."

Then before she could control herself, she moved her face up and pressed her lips against his, closing the small gap that had previously separated their lips.