Seven Days to Woo Randhir Singh Shekhawat

Day Five: Part I

Day Five: Part I

The next morning, she was having breakfast in the canteen with Kaustuki.

"It isn't love," she told her friend adamantly. "Kaustuki it's just infatuation. I can't be in love with the same person I hated with so much passion!"

"Well... how can you be infatuated?" she asked, her eyebrow raised. "Okay Sanyu tell me one thing. Do you care about him?"

"Of course!" Sanyukta replied. "What kind of question is that Kaustuki? I care about all humans!"

Kaustuki shook her head. Sanyukta knew what she was thinking, she thought she was wrong! And Sanyukta didn't even understand why. If she herself said it wasn't love, then who was Kaustuki to think otherwise?

"Do you want to make his pain go away when he's hurt?" Kaustuki asked impatiently.

Sanyukta frowned. Stupid question once again.

"Of course!" she replied.

"Do you want to marry him?" Kaustuki asked.

"Yeah!" she said before she stopped herself. "I mean... maybe..."

"Can you see yourself spending your life with him?"

"Yeah," Sanyukta said, looking down and blushing.

"Then it's love!" Kaustuki nearly yelled.

Sanyukta glared at her.

"No it's not!" she replied stubbornly.

Just then Kaustuki looked up and smiled.

"There you go, your lover is here!" she said quickly, and Sanyukta's head shot up.

She hadn't tried to wear anything to impress him today - she was still in her salwar suits and had her dupatta around her neck to hide her hickey. But Randhir's hickey was visible. She covered her face with her hands and groaned.

"Who do you think gave him that hickey?" she heard one of the girls in the canteen say. "I heard that Alisha from Computer Science liked him... do you think that her and Randhir...?"

Sanyukta stood up immediately, feeling herself get angry. How could they even dare to think that someone else was doing everything she was doing with Randhir. She had to stop their assumptions once and for all. She walked up to Randhir. A look of surprise took over his face as she threw her arms around his neck.

"Good morning Randhir," she said loudly.

Randhir held her against him and she felt him smirk as his lips lightly brushed over her ear.

"You want to make us public Sanyukta?" he whispered.

Turning red, she held him tighter.

"I can't stand them putting another girl's name with yours," she admitted.

"Good morning jaan," he said even more loudly and Sanyukta nearly collapsed in his arms.

He kissed her cheek and then trailed his lips to her ear again.

"That was just for public purposes. Don't expect me to call you that when we're alone," he whispered.

"It doesn't sound right coming from you anyways," she huffed.

Then she pulled away and walked back to Kaustuki as he smirked. Everyone in the cafeteria looked at each other with shock.

"I already knew," she heard Vidhushi telling one girl smugly.

Sitting down, blushing, Kaustuki stared at Sanyukta, her mouth wide open.

"I can't believe you just did that Sanyu!" Kaustuki exclaimed. "You're crazy about him aren't you?"

Sanyukta shook her head and looked down, feeling embarrassed.

"No... I mean yes... but it isn't love!" she replied adamantly.

Kaustuki rolled her eyes.

"Have you told him about the challenge?" Kaustuki inquired.

"No," Sanyukta said, feeling guilty.

"What? Sanyu!" Kaustuki yelled, her eyes widening. "What if he finds out? He will be so mad!"

"Kaustu, I just don't know how to tell him. I'm scared he'll leave me," she told her, tears welling up in her eyes at the thought of Randhir leaving her. "And... I want him to say he loves me by the end of these seven days."

Kaustuki looked at her with disapproval.

"Sanyu, don't you think he has the right to know? Relationships are based on trust, how can you break his trust like that? He will be so hurt when he finds out. And why do you want him to say he loves you when you don't even love him?"

"I can't tell him. I don't have the courage Kaustuki," Sanyukta said, picking up her bag and fleeing from the cafeteria, leaving Kaustuki sitting there all alone.

She wiped the tears that had fallen from her eyes and ran towards the mechanical lab. She breathed a sigh of relief. Nobody was there. She closed the door behind her and sat against the wall before breaking down.

What Kaustuki had said was right. For how much longer could she do this behind Randhir's back? This challenge was stupid. Why did she need seven days to trap him? Sure, she had decided to stay with him even after that, but it wasn't right. Even if he had made sure all of her plans failed and she hadn't done anything, the intention was there. And she felt very guilty.

She brought her knees up to her face and buried her face in them, sobbing. Would he ever forgive her if he found out about the challenge?

Just then the door opened, causing her head to shoot up. She wiped her tears quickly and stood up, watching as Randhir entered the lab. He closed the door behind him and approached her, looking confused.

"You've been crying Farzi?" he asked, holding her face in his hands. "Is it because everyone knows about us now?"

She shook her head and threw her arms around him, pressing her face in his shoulder, holding him as tightly as she could. He hugged her back and stroked her hair with care.

"Randhir, I need to tell you something," she whispered, squeezing her eyes shut.

"First stop crying," he told her.

"Fine, but listen to me, and... listen to the whole thing first," she told him nervously.

She didn't know how she would muster up the courage to tell him all of this but she would have to.

Before she could say anything, the door to the mechanical lab opened. She didn't open her eyes or let go of Randhir. In fact, she held on to him even more tightly, refusing to let him go anywhere.

"It would be nice if you respected other students at this college too," came Parth's voice.

Randhir gently held Sanyukta's shoulders and pulled her off him, but she clutched on to him more tightly.

"Parth if you don't like it, you can leave," Randhir said coldly to him, and held Sanyukta against him again, stroking her hair once more.

She didn't want to ever let go. She was afraid that he would leave her and go, and she didn't know why that thought was so scary.

Parth just dropped his stuff on his work area and began to work.

"Sanyukta," Randhir whispered. "What happened?"

Then she pulled back and looked fearfully into his eyes.

"You won't leave me right Randhir?" she asked him nervously.

He held her shoulders, kissed her forehead and then cupped her cheeks gently.

"Of course not," he replied. "What makes you think that?"

"I... uh... nothing," she said, feeling even more guilty. "Show me what you wanted to show me."

How could she tell him that she wanted to trap him? She would let him down. But right now, she felt as if she was letting herself down.

"Okay," he said, looking at her suspiciously.

He took her hand and lead her to their workstation. He pulled out his laptop and opened the Powerpoint she had made on it.

"Sorry, I changed it up a little bit," he told her.

Her attention shifted to her presentation and her mouth fell open.

"A little bit?" she snapped. "Randhir you changed everything!"

"I wanted to improve our chances," he explained. "Don't worry, all your ideas are still in here. I just added a few things."

She felt her blood boil with anger.

"Ugh you MCP!" she yelled, annoyed. "Don't talk to me. This whole design is different!"

"Come on Farzi," he said, "I told you I'm sorry. It's for FITE."

"You could have kept the layout, couldn't you? It was so pretty!" she groaned. "It was much better than this!"

She stomped her foot and grabbed the collar of his shirt angrily, completely forgetting that Parth was in the room.

"I hate you!" she yelled loudly.

Randhir grabbed her arms and pulled her towards him, turning them around so his back faced Parth, and he couldn't see Sanyukta.

"Sanyukta, that's enough," he hissed angrily. "Stop throwing a tantrum. Act mature."

"Randhir you let all my hard work go down the drain!" she whispered just as angrily.

He pulled her even closer, her lips barely an inch away from his. She felt her heart beating erratically inside her chest. Sanyukta, you're angry at him, she told herself.Focus.

She couldn't focus.

She closed the distance between them and kissed him softly. He held her face in his hands, blocking her from Parth's view. He kissed her back very softly.

"No... I'm mad at you!" she told him, pulling back. "Get away from me!"

"Fine!" he said, getting mad at her again.

He let go of her and she walked to the machine. Taking out her phone, she started to take pictures of it so they could refer to it tonight when they were working on what they would say tomorrow.

Vardhaan sir then entered the room and approached the two.

"Ready?" he asked.

They both nodded simultaneously.

"Good," Vardhaan sir said. "I'll take the machine now. You two meet at FITE's entrance at five minutes to three. Don't be late. A car will come to take you two to the venue."

As soon as he left, Randhir took Sanyukta's hand and dragged her out of the classroom.

"Ouch... what are you doing?" she asked, as he pulled her into an empty classroom.

"What is your problem?" he asked, annoyed as he let go of her hand.

"You are my problem," she replied, and stormed out of the room, fuming in anger.

Who did that MCP think he was? He shouldn't have changed her presentation like that! She stormed all the way to the girl's hostels and started to throw some of her belongings into a small suitcase.

A few hours later, she dragged the suitcase to the main entrance. Randhir was already there with his stuff. He didn't say a word to her - and she ignored him too.

As they loaded their suitcases in the trunk, their hands brushed for a quick moment, but she pulled away and sat inside the car. Randhir joined her in the back as the driver started to drive.

For five hours - the length of the journey, they didn't say a word to each other. In fact, halfway through the journey, she felt her eyes close and she fell asleep.

When the car stopped, she opened her eyes, only to realize that she had been sleeping on Randhir's shoulder. Looking up, she noticed that his eyes were closed too and his head was on top of hers.

She pulled herself off him, causing his head to jerk and his eyes to open.

She opened her door and stepped out quietly. Pulling her stuff out of the trunk, she walked inside the hotel and met Vardhaan sir and Maya ma'am at the lobby. The two LITS boys Dharam and someone who Sanyukta recognized from the earlier competition at FITE, but didn't remember the name of were already there.

Randhir joined her and dropped his stuff next to her. She ignored him. She was going to stay firm in her decision and not talk to him.

"Hello teams. Let's get started. I'm sure you don't want to waste any time. There are five judges," Maya ma'am started, "Tomorrow at 4 PM sharp, each team will present to the judges. You have twenty minutes to convince them that your idea is the best. The winning team wins one million rupees in sponsorship towards their school's team. Who goes first will be determined tomorrow."

"You will meet us in the presentation room on this floor of the hotel. Your room keys are with us. All the best," Vardhaan sir completed.

He handed Randhir and Sanyukta each their keys and then glanced at Maya ma'am.

"Your machines are secure with us. You are not allowed to work on the machine. You may change up your presentation as much as you like," she explained, handing the boys from her team their keys.

Sanyukta looked at her key. She was on the second floor. Room 207. She sneaked a glance at Randhir's key and noticed he was in 209. Great.

She dragged her suitcase to the elevator. The two LITS boys and Randhir followed her too.

Dharam hit the second floor button, leaving Sanyukta shocked. It seemed like all four of them would be on the same floor.

"Nice to meet you again Sanyukta Agarwal," Dharam stated, extending his hand for her to shake.

She was about to raise her hand to shake it when Randhir grabbed her hand and held it possessively. She glared at him and was about to speak when the elevator's doors opened.

She took her suitcase and pulled it out as the rest of them followed suit. She made her way to room 207. Dharam was in room 208, which was right in front of her room, and the other LITS boy was in room 210, in front of Randhir's, beside Dharam's. Her and Randhir were right beside each other.

She opened her room and dragged in her luggage.

"Hey Sanyukta," Dharam called from outside, just before she shut the door.

She poked her head out and raised her eyebrow at him.

"We were thinking of playing a game, want to join us?" he said, indicating to his partner.

She saw Randhir step outside his room and glare at them. Feeling annoyed at Randhir's possessiveness, she nodded.

"Yes, of course, why not?" she said, with a huge smile directed towards Randhir.

"Come in," Dharam said opening his door for her.

The other LITS boy walked in too.

"I would like to play too," Randhir said, and invited himself in the room.

Sanyukta entered after him, feeling a strong sense of relief that she wasn't going to be alone.

Dharam took out four long glasses and opened up his suitcase, removing a bottle of vodka. He poured the vodka in the glasses until they were three quarters full.

Sanyukta gulped, her eyes widening, as Dharam placed her glass in front of hers and Randhir's in front of his.

"Whoever can finish this first wins! Ready, set go!" Dharam stated with a wide smile.

Sanyukta glanced at Randhir, who had already started drinking. She brought her glass to her lips and downed half of the glass before coughing. Randhir finished first. She wasn't going to drink at all, but she felt strangely safe with Randhir beside her. Plus, she couldn't let them lose in front of LiTS. FITE had a reputation to maintain.

"Done," he said, glancing at Sanyukta, telling her to stop with his eyes.

Dharam and the other boy got up and started to look for something.

"Where's the other bottle?" the other boy asked Dharam. "We're having a competition for two glasses!"

"Wait let me help you find it," Dharam said, and got up.

When their backs were turned, Sanyukta poured the rest of her drink into Randhir's glass and looked at him with pleading eyes. He nodded, understanding what she wanted immediately, and downed the half of the glass that she had just poured for him.

"Come on," she whispered, grabbing his hand and pulling him out of the room, fearful that they would be too drunk to recognize anything if they didn't leave now.

Randhir pulled out his room key and took Sanyukta into his room, closing the door behind him. Suddenly, everything started to spin around and Sanyukta felt herself get dizzy.

"I'm not drunk right Randhir?" she mumbled.

"No Sanyuktaa," he replied, slurring a little. "It's okay, I am here for you. Don't leave me... Farzi those boys will do bad things."

"Okayy Emmm Ceee Peee," she slurred.

She then held his hand and he walked in circles until he fell backwards on top of his bed, Sanyukta falling on top of him.