grungus

Udaybir suddenly stood up and announced that he was going to the bathroom. You told him the directions and he walked out looking flushed.

Your eyes fell on the little totebag he brought with project essentials inside. You thought, this is my chance.

You shot up and grabbed the little baggy full of the things you got for him, and slipped a small Post-It inside that said 'for you ;)’ and a doodled bouquet of 3 little flowers on it. You then slipped the baggie inside the totebag and sat back on the floor like nothing happened.

Udaybir came back and sat right beside you. You noticed how his face was a little wet, and so was the blue dress shirt he sported.

Slowly, the rest of the group started trickling in and you thought about the message you'd have to clean up.

Another 3 hours, movie, two whole 10 inch pizzas and 2 bottles of coke later everyone finally decided that it was time to go. You'd meet the next day at school anyway.

"Your phone, Uday..bir. Sorry." you found yourself forgetting to speak after Uday very often. Wasn't really a great habit for someone who wasn't close enough to him to call him Uday. He smiled at you and grabbed his phone, making his way out the door.

"Good night, guys."

A chorus of 'good night' came from outside your door. You stared at the disappearing frame of Udaybir as he made his way to the lift. He looked back at you and waved and you returned the gesture, leaning your head on your door frame. None of you took your eyes off of each other as the doors of the lift slid closer and closer and finally shut with a ding.

You hoped he would like the things you gave him. The black drawing pad wasn't the cheapest thing.

After about 15 minutes of so, your phone lit up.

Udaybir

Ye sab kya hai?

You suddenly got nervous. He sounded mad. Was he mad? Fuck, maybe this wasn't a good idea. You weren't even that close.

Udaybir

U didn't need to do this

You

im just trying to be good to my friends :) i wouldn't want any of my friends to suffer

Udaybir

This is a lot of stuff

I can't accept this

Total kitna hua?

You

wo mai kyu batau?

Udaybir

Nahi bataogi toh mai khud jaan jaunga

You

bigaadlo jo bigaadna hai ;)

i ate the bill

it's gone

reduced to ashes

Udaybir

Well, nothing a little bathroom trip and tape can't solve

You

EUGGHHH

Udaybir

No seriously. I feel terrible. Tell me the amount, please.

You

ji nahi. aapke liye hai ye sab. i don't want anything in return

Udaybir

I actually cannot believe this

Mujhe hamesha se ye black waali drawing pad chahiye thi par laga tha bura investment hoga

And ye white pen? That too one of best companies?

Im seriously indebted to you

I can finally make those pretty white on black drawings i keep seeing

You really didn't have to do this

You

dont worry about it. I've been seeing how often your notes have pencil spots on them

heard you complain too

Udaybir

i have to be cautious in complaining around you now? 😛

You

u do. i feel guilty in spending money on myself. but when it comes to my friends, I have absolutely no problem spending money.

Udaybir

Kash jaane se pehle ye packet dekh li hoti

I would've given you the biggest hug ever

Thank you so much for the blending stump, the mechanical eraser and the pencils.

Literally everything.

I was already having a great night and seeing this genuinely teared me up

You

aww don't worry about it dude

i love and care for all my friends

    Udaybir

i would've given you the biggest hug ever

that's so sweet 💕 bring it in anytime

Udaybir

I want to do something in return. Please tell me something. Anything.

You

nope. no can do. absolutely do not give me anything.

Udaybir

You sure?

You

a 100%

Udaybir

If you say so...

Good night then

See you tomorrow

You

good night :)

You put your phone down and giggled thinking about the chats, and it pinged again.

Udaybir

Waise if Udaybir is too much of a mouthful for you, you can call me Uday ;)

You

okay uday :)

good night again

Udaybir

Good night

You kept your phone down and squealed, flapping your hands awkwardly and letting out inhumane noises. You changed his contact name to 'Uday:)'

You fell into sort of a routine with him. He would come at eight, leave by 10 or 11. Today wasn't any different. He arrived at his usual 8 sporting a gorgeous white shirt that stretched over his broad shoulders and cream colored dress pants. Who the hell gave him his fashion advice? Had to be woman, right? Come on, he definitely had a girlfriend.

He looked a little nervous today. He kept fidgeting and dropping things constantly and stuttering over and over again. What the hell was going on? You wondered.

"Finally, we're done with the summaries. Ab toh main event baaki hai bas."

"Haan. Lekin woh zyada samay nahi lagna chahiye, I hope. We've already segregated almost all of the information for the main part."

"Borders mai tum kuch sundar sa design bana doge?"

"Bilkul dunga. Since you asked so sweetly." he winked. You giggled and looked away.

"A mandala pattern on a project based a hell lot on history will be good."

"Hmm. Done. You wanna pick out a specific one or do I have a little liberty?"

"Oh, no. You can pick what you want to do. No censorship of art around here."

You watched as he laughed nervously and went back to fidgeting with a pen. The fidgeting wasn't what was weird. What was weirder, is that he was sweating absolute buckets. Was he hot? Well, of course he is. You meant like, was he feeling hot?

"Garmi lag rahi hai kya? AC chala du?" you offered, concerned.

"Nahi, bas..mai chalta hu, der ho rahi hai bohot. Mai bas bathroom se aaya." he stood up.

"Yeah, no problem."

When he came back, he looked a lot calmer. Not too sweaty, not too fidgety. Did he jerk off in the bathroom or something? Can men even jerk off within a minute?

He smiled at you and grabbed his bag. You stood up and followed him to the door.

"Um." he swallowed. "Good night. I'll see you tomorrow." he tried to smile.

"Good night." you nodded as you closed the door behind you. You wondered what the hell was wrong with him and you walked into your room to change your clothes and noticed a little red bag. That wasn't there before?

You approached it as if it could be a bomb. Stealthily. Quietly. You picked up the bag and looked inside.

The bag contained two large bars of kitkat, a small note and....a gorgeous white on black mandela pattern.

You put down the two chocolate bars and the note that said 'for you<3" and pulled out the drawing.

It was a very detailed piece. The half circle on the upper right corner extended onto longer half circles that looked more like petals of daisies. Those were attached to boldened triangles, in which every other one had a small design, with a filled-in line. The same daisy petal like pattern repeated for a bit and then attached to thickened petals that coul easily be mistaken for jewels if looked at from a little far—because of how eye-catching the white looked on the black. In between the petals were intricate dome-like figures. The domes and another designed line of petals were seperated by a thick line of dots.  The petals had hanging pearl like structures attached to their points.

The hanging pearl chains made the entire drawing look like a jhumka. A gorgeous jhumka that had patterns you had never seen before. The kind you'd find maybe in Rajasthan or Punjab—being sold for not more than 60rs. You'd have one look at them from far away and immediately fall in love. Love them for ages coming and maybe pass it down to your daughter like a family heirloom.

It was safe to say that you were mesmerized. You immediately rushed over to your fridge and pinned the masterpiece on with a magnet. You bit your lip and smiled at it, taking out your phone and opening Udaybir's contact.

You

UDAY WHAT TEH HELLC ID FHIS???

Uday

Abc def ghi 💔

You

WHAT THE HELL IS THIS*

Uday

Do you not like it?

You

I love it so much i think I need you to design a kurti for me

Uday

😂😂 anything for you

You sent a picture.

Uday

Woah

Im worthy enough to go on your fridge?

You

i just told you to design kurtis

man what the hell are you doing in finance??

we could be having a fashion designer with the prettiest kurti designs

Uday

Haha nono it's just a hobby

You

waise tumhe mera favorite chocolate kaha se pata chala?

Uday

Secret hai

You

batao na

Uday

Kyu batau?

You

mai warna khud pata karlungi

Uday

"bigaadlo jo bigaadna hai" feel familiar?

You

oh stop

you dare use my own spells against me

Uday

HAHAHAH

Im glad you like the drawing

It was possible only because of you

Without your gifts, you wouldn't have that on your fridge

You

im taking the credit then

how long did this take you?

Uday

   You

im taking all the credit then

For sure. It's only there because of you

Took me about 3 hours

You

dude you shouldn't have

buying that stuff for you wasn't even half the time

Uday

If you even try to get it back I'm going to lure the stray outside your house inside and make it shit on your gorgeous carpet

You

HELLO???? INSANE THING TO SAY????

OH MY GOD YOU VIOLENT LITTLE GUYYYYYYY

Uday

Lol

I'll go sleep now

Good night :)

You

Night :)

You smiled to yourself and turned off your phone, numerous fake scenarios absolutely flooding your mind in one go.

hai