Living In Oblivion

08

Divit rushed out, pulling up his tracks in a hurry. What was that sound? What the hell happened? His nerves tensed up, and his heart beat wildly in his chest as he ran out, accidentally hitting his toenail on the bed.

"Oww... Fuck... Shit!" He jumped up and down, holding his leg and groaning in pain. Nevertheless, he rushed out in a panic, still pressing his injured toe, his mind racing with thoughts.

"What the hell happened?" He yelled as he took in the condition of the kitchen. Tomato stains painted the tiled walls, kitchen counter, and the opposite shelf. Jar blades and unedged steel pieces and remains were scattered on the slab and floor. Avanti stood over the dining table, looking completely horrified.

"Divit Sir! Divit Sir! Divit Sir!" she squealed, jumping on the table, causing some fruits and a fork stand to roll down. "It... It..." She struggled to find words. "Boom! Bam! Bam!" She threw her hands in the air, trying to convey the chaos that had just unfolded.

"What?" Divit asked, trying to control his urge to snap at her, to grab her and forcefully ask her to speak clearly. Taking a deep breath, he calmly asked her, "Avanti, tell me what happened."

She blinked, finally realizing she needed to collect herself. Taking in his question, she slowly got down from the table, her eyes still wide with horror. Glancing at the mess that had just transpired, she mustered the courage to explain.

"I went to check if the grinder was working properly or not. I added a few tomatoes into it since I couldn't test it empty. Then, when I switched on the button... everything blew up, and this happened." She pointed at the chaotic scene.

"How?" Divit asked, the most ridiculous expression planted on his face, his curiosity piqued.

"Um... actually, I... I..." Avanti fumbled, struggling to find the words.

"...actually, you...?" Divit pressed her to continue.

She swallowed and closed her eyes tightly, finally admitting the blunder she had made. "Actually, I left and forgot the small screwdriver inside."

After a few seconds of silence, Avanti finally opened his left eye to find him staring at her blankly.

Divit gulped and blinked his eyes, opening and closing his mouth like a fish, but words refused to come out.

"You did? Did you?" he blinked, seeking confirmation.

"I'm sorry," she apologized softly.

"Clearly," he nodded.

"I should clean this up," she murmured, scratching her nape and looking away, embarrassed by her carelessness.

"Sure," he said, and turned to leave. However, he stopped and turned back to find her already looking at him, her mouth hanging open.

"Are you hurt?" he asked, his face serious.

She shook her head, still unable to believe that he hadn't even offered to help her clean. Yes, she knew it was her mistake, but shouldn't he have asked at least once, out of basic manners? He could have pretended to have some.

"No," she whispered.

"Good," he said and disappeared into his room.

Inside his room, Divit closed the door and let out the heavy breath he had been holding for a long time. Only he knew how he had controlled his temper, resisting the urge to lash out at her. It had been a long time since Divit had felt so angry at someone and something. What was she thinking? Was she planning to blow up his house?

His phone buzzed in his pocket again,

displaying 'Mom' on the screen, but he threw it on the bed, ignoring it. Grabbing a water bottle from last night, which was resting on the side table, he flicked it open and brought it to his lips. Gulping down the water slowly, he tried to calm himself.

What a complete idiot she was. Careless, reckless, stupid... and a girl! First of all, she was another human, an irritating human, staying at his place and trying to blast off his house.

He knew she hadn't done it on purpose, but her reckless behavior still agitated him. He wasn't comfortable sharing his personal space with her, and then she had to go all "Boom! Bam! Bam!" on him. He mimicked her, making a face, and a small smile crept onto his lips.

Biting his lower lip, with a soft smile playing on his lips, he sighed and shook his head. "What an idiot."

When he walked out of his room, he found her cleaning the counter, grumbling to herself.

"Ahem," he coughed to grab her attention.

She looked up at him, distracted, and then waved him off, ignoring him.

"Do you need help cleaning?" he asked, trying again.

She looked up, her eyes glittering with mock happiness as she taunted him. "How thoughtful of you?"

He flinched at her tone, making her realize that she had indeed been rude to him, her boss. One should never be rude to their boss's face, so she repeated again, this time plastering a fake smile on her lips, so wide that it hurt her cheeks. "How thoughtful of you, Divit, sir?"

Divit understood what she was trying to do, and he bit his inner cheeks to stop himself from laughing out loud. He loved the fact that he had the upper hand over her, even though he hadn't wished to have it in the first place. But if it was going to be like this, then why not? What was the harm? And moreover, against her cheeky smarty pants behavior, he needed something in his defense. This could be the perfect weapon to safeguard his sanity.

Biting back his smile, he bent down to pick up the broken steel pieces, collecting them in one place before getting up and dragging the dustbin to the center, throwing them in.

Avanti watched him in silence through the corner of her eyes as he cleaned up the floor. She took back all the curses she had mentally thrown at him. This guy was so weird. When she had expected him to shout at her for the blunder, all he had done was utter two words. And when she had expected him to offer help, he had walked out without giving a flying fuck about basic manners.

They cleaned in silence, and it took a few minutes to remove the tomato stains from the wooden shelves. When they were done, Divit went out of the flat to dispose of the garbage in the common dustbin, and Avanti grinned, examining the clean and sparkling tiles.

When he came back, he found her resting on the sofa, her eyes closed. He sat beside her at an appropriate distance and stretched his arms.

Avanti turned to look at him, sensing his presence. She looked nervous, as if trying to say something.

He raised his eyebrows, gesturing for her to continue.

"I'm so sorry, sir. I should have been more careful," she apologized sincerely.

By her tone, Divit knew she was genuinely sorry. It wasn't like he was angry at her or not talking to her. Moreover, what's done is done. Nothing can change that, so there was no point in dwelling on it and making it an issue. He wasn't that type of person. He lived his life by four words, and he truly believed in them: Hold on and Let go.

He firmly believed in deciding for himself what people, things, and situations he wanted to hold on to and let go. He never believed in clumsily revolving around things, messing up situations, and blaming others. He was straightforward and smoothly avoided drama.

He blinked his eyes at her, assuring her that it's okay.

She grinned widely, making him gulp inaudibly. Now, what was she so happy about? Wasn't she tired just a minute ago? Wasn't she sulking?

Something crossed her mind, and she chirped, "You know, when I think about it now... it was so hilarious." She laughed. "I started it, and there was a sound. Then I bent down, and the lid flew off, hitting my nose. It was almost fun!"

"It was almost fun," Divit gulped down her words with some difficulty. Was she okay in her head, he wondered.

"My bad luck... I missed it, didn't I?" he feigned sadness.

She laughed at that and waved it off.

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A/N - The above 'plot' was inspired by your own very dear author Personal life as I have done this myself..once I was making a banana and honey pack for my hair and I left the spoon in the jar and I started the mixer and well the rest is history. All I can say is my mother went quite wild that day !!