"The more you will pull her towards you, the more she will try to run away."
...
I head to the bedroom, carrying coffee for Ayan. He is seated on the bed, legs crossed, with a laptop placed on his lap.
I sit next to him and hand him his cup. "Mary told me to give it to you."
He gives me a sideway glance and mumbles, "Thanks, sunflower."
I poke him and ask, "What are you doing?"
"Just looking through some photos."
"Can I see?"
Nodding his head, he angles the laptop towards me, flicking through photos of him and Sara, his parents, pictures of restaurants, screenshots of some posts from Instagram. He hesitates on a particular photo, of him having his arm across a guy's shoulder. They both are grinning widely at the camera.
I shift closer to him to get a better look. "Who is he? He looks cute."
When he raises an eyebrow, I mumble, "What? He is cute." I fold my arms in my lap and play with my fingers.
He rolls his eyes. "He's Sara's ex-husband. We used to be good friends but haven't talked much since their divorce."
I look at him as my lips make an 'o' and I nod in understanding.
He clicks on the next picture and smiles slightly. The photo is of him, covered completely in birthday cake from head to toe. Besides him is a guy who is licking the frosting off his fingers. Ayan's hair is a bit shorter and his smile is wider. There is a spark in his eyes that exists even now. They both are in their teens as indicated by their school uniforms.
The other guy seems a bit familiar. I squint at the picture, trying to figure it out.
I gasp, "Is that Rudy?"
Ayan grins, "One and only."
"You know each other from school days?"
Ayan nods his head. I question, "What about others?"
He says, "I met Zubair and Cole in college. In our final year, Cole started dating Emily and we all became friends.
"Rudy already knew Sasha and Emily. When I threw a party at my house, we all met and I guess, just started hanging out."
"Oh, that's cool."
I haven't been as lucky in the friend's department. Even if I made friends, the groups were always different so it never really worked out.
He clicks on the next picture. Rudy and Ayan are performing a sit-up while holding their ears with their hands.
I grin broadly. "That's my favourite picture."
He shakes his head. "Rudy stuck a chewing gum to the teacher's chair."
I ask, "Why did you get punished?"
He smiles sheepishly, "We made a pact of always having each other's back no matter what. Doesn't matter whose fault it is, both of us have to take the hit. That pact has bitten me in the arse so many times. Anyway, our mothers were called to the school and they made us do sit-ups and we were grounded for a month." He snickers and shakes his head. "That didn't stop me from sneaking out to meet Manv- m-my friends."
I narrow my eyes. "Meet who?"
He sighs, "Manvi, she was my girlfriend back then."
I grin at him. "Aww, how many girlfriends have you had?"
His eyes widen as he shakes his head in panic. "Nope. We're not having this conversation." He hastily shuts the laptop and keeps it on the desk beside the bed.
I try again, "At least show me some pictures of your ex-girlfriends."
"No," he mutters, taking out blankets from the almirah.
I whine, "Ayan."
"No, sunflower."
"You are extremely cruel, do you know that?" I glare at him.
He smiles proudly. "I know. Let's sleep now. It's late."
I huff and arrange the covers on the bed, tidying them up. Ayan places his pillow and blanket on the other side of the bed.
I furrow my eyebrows. "Why are you putting them on the bed?"
"Because."
I roll my eyes. "That's not an answer."
"I'm going to sleep here, idiot."
"No. You're not," I say and snatch his pillow. He holds the other end of the pillow and tugs on it.
"I didn't do anything to make you angry today. So you can't make me sleep on the floor." He smirks.
Now that I think about it, that's true. He didn't do anything to piss me off today. As much as it hurts to say this, he was, in fact, a gentleman the whole day. He carried my shopping bags, saved me a seat and bought me french fries on his own. Heck, he even punched Rudy when he was waving a fish in front of my face. I ended up puking on his shoes but instead of being scornful, he had taken me to the washroom and rubbed my back comfortingly.
I shudder. That was a horrible experience I never want to relive again.
I shrug and purse my lips. "Cool."
He looks shocked for a second and asks, "Really?"
"Yeah. Why not? But I'll be setting cushions in between. You can't cross that divide."
He opens his mouth only to close it again. "Sure."
I head to the living room to borrow some cushions but the sight makes me falter. Rudy is lying on the sofa, his arms and legs sprawled out. His mouth is wide open and his loud snores fill the room.
What's the point of hoarding an entire room to yourself when you have to fall asleep elsewhere?
I grin evilly at the plan that forms in my head. I tiptoe out of the room into the kitchen and fill myself a glass of chilled water from the refrigerator.
I creep up in front of him and splash cold water on his face.
"Ahhh," he gasps and jolts awake. His shirt is soaked and the ice hit him right in the forehead.
He frowns at me and wipes his face, drenching the sofa in the process.
I sheepishly say, "Seeing you peaceful just didn't sit right with me."
He glares daggers at me and I squirm under his icy gaze.
"I will avenge this great injustice you have committed against me when I was clearly incapable and powerless." He vows and storms out of the room.