h u r r i c a n e ( A x N ) ✔

9. Awkward

Neil yawned as he woke up. His conscious self recalled the flashbacks of yesterday and he smiled as he ran his finger over his lips. He looked over to see Avni stirring in her sleep. Her back was no longer turned to him. Neil's fingers itched to tuck behind the strands of hair that were veiling Avni's beautiful face.

Neil walked over to Avni and lowered himself so that his face was on the same level as hers. He cautiously forwarded his hand to unveil her face but at the same moment, a knock was heard. Neil winced. The person who was behind that door better start praying because he was going to lash out at that individual.

Neil strutted over to the door briskly, only to find a shocked DD. Neil was curious to know the cause behind DD's shock, since the latter seemed to have his words stuck in his throat. DD's eyes wandered off to Neil clad in a bathrobe and Avni who was sleeping with the comforter completely covering her. Neil's jeans and shirt were recklessly tossed on a chair. He felt awkwardness growing as well as tried to strangulate his laughter as he saw his boss under such circumstances.

"DD, what's wrong with you?" Neil frustratedly asked, gesturing with his hands. DD bit his tongue, guessing the reason behind his angst. He had previously sensed that there was some secret story going on between Ananya, correction, Avni, as per the latest update on her identity and Neil. 

"I'll see you later sir, you seem to be b..busy.." DD trailed as he quickly strode away from there, and realisation hits Neil. So DD thought that he and Avni...shit! Neil shut the door and shook his head, feeling a grin creeping upon his lips. Now that he thought of it, DD's assumption made sense and he would not mind if that was actually the case. Neil gazed down at the bathrobe on him, it was time to get out of that and dress appropriately. Neil picked up his phone and made a call, his eyes locked on Avni, who was oblivious of that was happening around her.

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Avni fluttered her eyes and used her hands to shield the sun rays streaming in from the glass sliding door. Her eyes shot wide open. What time was it already? She stretched her hand to the bedside table and looked at the time on her phone. She rubbed her eyes as 7.14 flashed on the screen. She was glad she did not oversleep despite the fact she felt so wasted yesterday. Hold on, rewind...yesterday, she shared her first kiss with Neil and she for a second relived the moment. Her smile fell as there were no signs of Neil. In fact, his clothes had also disappeared but his scent: mint, seawater, bergamot... still lingered in the room. 

Growing conscious that time was flying away, Avni tossed the comforter away and hurriedly made her way towards the bathroom. She had some clues about Aman's location and she had to follow them. Avni relaxed as she felt that warm water hitting her skin. She wished that the kiss happened under more favourable circumstances since right now, myriad feelings were muddled up inside of her and she feared that might hamper her mission. As she turned off the tap, Avni heard some footsteps in the room. 

Avni held her breath as she turned the knob of the door and heaved a sigh of relief as she saw Neil, sitting on the couch, his attention invested in his phone. She took in his appearance, he had gotten rid of the bathrobe and was back to his usual clothes. Neil leisurely looked up at her, and lazily smiled, earning him the same reaction from her.

Neil had called up DD and asked him to get him his packed suitcase which he had brought along and tried to knock into DD that nothing that he had thought of had happened. Of course, Neil did not reveal the line that both him and Avni crossed. He had then proceeded to book a room on the same floor as Avni's and decided to render Avni's task easier. With the help of DD, he managed to track Dayawanti Mehta and Aman and obtained their coordinates, which was connected to an application on his phone.

Avni had a pair of jeans and a cold-shoulder blouse on. Neil stood up and attempted to speak. Avni realised that the two of them were in the same situation, they were unaware how to refer to what happened the previous day. Neil rubbed the back of his neck, trying to search for the most suitable words to pronounce but he failed and desperately looked at Avni who mirrored the same expression.

"Neil, after..you know..yesterday.." Avni began in a low voice. Though they had spoken and teased each other yesterday, today was a different matter. Neil nodded," Avni, I..didn't know what possessed me to act such but, can we please put this on hold because I don't want to precipitate a conclusion which would not be correct,". Avni agreed," I know, there has been so much happening at the moment and I fail to comprehend what happened, it's all just so emotionally burdening...".

Avni let out a moan of frustration as she tuned sideways. Neil placed his hand on her shoulder, gently rubbing his thumb over her skin, a sign of reassurance. Avni blinked, and Neil could sense that seemed lost and he knew why. "Avni, I know where Dayawanti and Aman are," Neil uttered, showing her the dots on a map on his phone. Avni beamed and threw herself in his arms, she had no idea how to thank him for making her job a piece of cake. Neil's arms had gotten use to Avni and spontaneously wrapped themselves around her. Neil rested his chin above her head, knowing the dilemma she was going through. 

"Sir, can we go..." exclaimed DD, who dashed in the room, and grew silent as he realised that he became a disturbance again. Avni withdrew herself from Neil and went to grab her bag as Neil gave DD the evil eye.

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