She mentally smirked at her plan and forwarded her half eaten parantha while still chewing a bite.

But he surprised her when he took a big bite out of it. She looked at him shocked. He gave her a grin while chewing and raised his eyebrow at her surprised look.

“That-”

She gulped the bite down and said.

“Wo jootha tha mera.”

“So?”

“So! So? So how can you eat it?”

“Umm…muh se.”

He said as if he was genuinely confused as to why she was reacting that way.

“Dheer! Mera jootha kaise khaa skte ho tum?”

She asked and he smiled mischievously.

“Kyu? Kya problem hai? Aur waise bhi kehte hai jootha khaane se pyaar bhadta hai. Shayad tum thoda pyaar se behave kro ab.”

She punched his shoulder and huffed, taking a bite again and he laughed looking at her irritated form.

A few months have passed since their car incident and since then the two argued and bickered over the parking spot almost daily. Pratishtha might even admit that she enjoyed those arguments.

He was fun to talk to and even fun to argue with. Pratishtha might even have a little crush on him but she's never in her wildest dreams going to admit that. Not to him and not to herself.

Monsoon was going to start soon. There were light rains almost daily now. And she needed a new umbrella. Her last one just broke. And they needed two at home also in case her parents needed them when she was at work.

She planned to stop by the nearby market while returning back home to get an umbrella. She was having breakfast with her parents when the doorbell rang.

Pratishtha went to get it while wiping her hands and saw a delivery person outside.

“Yes?”

“Ms. Pratishtha Sharma?”

“That's me.”

“Aapke liye parcel hai mam. Please sign here.”

Pratishtha frowned while signing the paper and took the parcel. She studied the details and still couldn't understand who sent it. There was no sender’s address.

“Kya hai?”

Her father asked and she shrugged.

“Pata nhi. Parcel aaya hai kahi se. Address nhi likha.”

She said and started opening the parcel. Inside was a box almost the size of her forearm. She opened the box and inside was an umbrella.

Pratishtha looked even more confused. There was a note attached on the inside of the box.

She picked it up and read.

For a rainy day

Huh? That was….weird.

She turned to note to see if something else was written.

Hoping this rain helps you find your sunshine.

Wow! That was…she didn't know what was happening.

“Kya hai ye?”

Her mother asked, snatching the note from and reading it aloud.

“Ishi! You've got an admirer!”

Pratishtha rolled her eyes. Why did she have to get a book lover mom.

“Aisa real life mai nhi hota mumma. Stop reading those damn books. You're old now.”

“Who are you calling old, young lady. Aaj bhi tere saath bahar niklun toh log mujhe teri badi behen samjhenge.”

She said flipping her hair and Pratishtha made a face at her father. He shrugged and focused on his breakfast.

“Tsk mumma! Tell me what to do about this!”

She said pointing towards the umbrella.

“Arre what to do kya matlab hai? Tujhe chahiye tha na ek umbrella. Aa gaya. Use kro aur kya?”

“Aur agar bhejna wala aas paas hi hua toh? He would think I'm interested.”

“So you agree it's an admirer.”

Her mother wiggled her eyebrows and Pratishtha dropped her head on the table. Her mother ignored her and picked up the umbrella, opening it up.

She gasped and Pratishtha looked up. It wasn't a normal umbrella. It was a customised one.

At one corner of the umbrella was a beautiful patch of embroidery with flowers and her initials in the middle.

“You really have an admirer Ishi! I hope it's Dheer.”

“Mumma! What the hell! Where did he come from in between?”

Even her father was surprised. He liked the boy. But not more than his princess. Nobody looks at his princess in the wrong way.

“I like him. He's a nice man. Achhe lagoge dono saath mai.”

Her mother said and Pratishtha looked at her incredulously.

“Aapka na dimag kharab ho gaya hai. Papa! Inki books band kro yaar. Mai jaa rhi hu. I'm getting late.”

She said and moved out, taking the umbrella with her. If it was actually Dheer then she wanted to see his reaction and confirm.

Pratishtha hadn't got the chance to see him for the past 5 days since she received the umbrella.

She was returning from work when her phone rang. Since it was already raining lightly and the roads were slippery and risky, she parked to a side and picked up the call.

“Haan mumma.”

“Market se kuch fruits leti aaio. Ghar mai ek bhi fruit nhi hai.”

“Mumma baarish ho rhi hai.”

“Baarish ka mausam hai. 24 ghante baarish ho rhi hai. Tere papa ko fruit khaana hai. Abhi toh halki hai baarish. Le aaio.”

“Tsk! Thik hai.”

She said and drove towards the market closest to her home.

Pratishtha was buying fruits and making the payment when it started to pour heavily. She quickly handed the vendor his money and opened up her umbrella.

She was running towards a shed because her car was out of the market area which was a little distance from the market. She was carefully walking towards the shed when she felt an arm around her waist and flinched hard.

“Oh my God! You idiot! You scared me!”

She yelled and hit his chest making him chuckle. He held her waist again and got under the umbrella.

“What are you doing? Leave me!”

“It's raining and I don't have an umbrella with me. Naya suit hai mai kharab nhi krna chahta. Just drop me till the shed and I'll leave you. Please!”

He said and she nodded, not admitting that she liked the way his hold felt on her waist.

They walked towards the shed and she put the umbrella aside when they were under it. Dheer wiped the water that fell over his coat and ran his fingers through his hair combing down the water.

Pratishtha ignored or atleast tried to ignore the way her body heated up at his gestures. He was so effortlessly attractive and sexy.