5/12/2020, At Shiva's Office, Chennai.

Aparna's P. O. V:

I tried to cover up my surprise with a fake laugh and sat back on my chair. My laptop still had some charge and It could run for an hour.

Shiva rolled his chair and sat near me. He called a mechanic to come check on the generator. He was becoming restless as the time was running.

Hari and Shwetha came back around 11 in the night. Karthik came after them and brought in a temporary light.My laptop lost its battery and I had to stop working.

" Noooo!!! " I shouted as my laptop gave me a final good bye and went to sleep.

" Awesome " Shiva said sarcastically as I closed my laptop.

" Guys, don't get stressed. I have called the electric board, we will get the power soon. Calm down! " Karthik said patting Shiva.

I took out my phone and started editing the schedule.

" When should we submit the files? " Hari asked.

" Afternoon of 9th , we have three and half days" I said.

" Can we play something? " Karthik asked.

" Play? " I asked confused.

" My head is feeling like a pressure cooker and you want to play? " Shiva asked biting his teeth.

" It would help you cool off. " Shwetha said.

" Okay, anyway we can do nothing else now. " I said scratching my head.

" Let's play truth or dare! " Karthik announced standing up.

We sat on the floor in a circle and a plastic bottle was placed at the center. Karthik downloaded an app to give out dare. Hari was playing songs in his phone.

I sat in between Shwetha and Karthik, Hari sat beside Shwetha. And Shiva was sitting opposite to me.

Under the dull light, I still saw Shiva's eyes shining with the same happiness that he had in the evening.

" Let's start! " Karthik said and rotated the bottle with his hands.

The cap stood facing Shwetha.

All of us cheered as Karthik picked out the dare.

" Promote the person who gave you the question for three minutes straight. Wow, come on, do a marketing for me! " Karthik said to Shwetha.

She breathed out relieved.

" This person with a really nice name should be in every friends gang. If you have him with you, you can be sure that he will do anything for you. Even jumping into girls hostel if needed. Also, he is single and has a shop on his name. You won't get a boy like this again, this is your only chance! " Shwetha said.

Hari was laughing with Shiva, while Karthik looked at Shwetha smiling.

" I am going to put that up in my tinder profile! " Karthik said.

" That was good! " I said.

" But was boring! " Shiva said and got a beating from Karthik.

The bottle was rotated again and it landed in front of Hari.

" Propose to the person sitting on your right side! " Karthik said rolling with laughter.

Shiva was sitting at the right side of Hari.

" You are making it up, aren't you? " Hari asked in disbelief to Karthik. Karthik showed his phone and pointed at him to do it.

Shwetha was giggling at my side.

Hari went on his knees and turned to Shiva. Shiva was trying to imitate Shwetha.

" Are you a google search engine, because you have everything I have been searching for. Will you help me find meaning in my left over days on this planet? " Hari asked Shiva.

" That was a pickup line! You call this a proposal? " Shiva said laughing.

" He is tasteless! " Shwetha said.

Hari sat back on his place and rotated the bottle. This time the cap stopped facing me.

Karthik immediately picked up the phone and showed me the dare.

" Answer truth to the question asked by me! " Karthik said excited.

" Fine, I am thankful it was just this and not any dare. " I said.

" Are you asking the question? " Shiva asked nervously to Karthik.

" Yes, and let me think " Karthik said biting his nails. After few minutes, with a devilish smile, Karthik turned to me.

" When are we going on our first date? " Karthik asked me.

I choked on hearing his question and Shiva fake coughed. I took a sip of water from my water bottle and looked at all the shocked faces around me.

" What kind of truth is this? " Shiva asked punching Karthik.

" Being positive is a good thing. Come on Aparna, say the answer! " Karthik said to me.

I gulped hard and instantly looked at Shiva, who was also looking at me nervously.

" Well, after we don't have any pending projects in the office! " I said.

Shiva visibly relaxed and was biting back his smile.

" That's not going to happen anytime soon. " Hari said laughing.

" Exactly! " I murmured.

" You are cunning! " Karthik said to me and rotated the bottle.

This time, it was Shiva's turn.

" I am not doing it! " Shiva said and got up.

Karthik caught him and dragged him to sit. Hari caught Shiva from other side and restrained him.

" If you get up now, you will have penalty! " Shwetha said.

Karthik checked the screen and a random dare appeared.

" Dance to a romantic song with the person opposite to you " Hari said and laughed looking at me.

I looked at the screen with huge eyes and shook my head in disbelief.

" No, no, no, I will do anything else! " Shiva said trying hard to break out of Hari's hold.

Karthik looked at me and I shook my head.

" Okay, one last time, let's change the dare! " Karthik agreed and refreshed the phone screen.

I instantly regretted the dare as I saw it on the phone. I held my head low with my hand and shook my head.

" I didn't do anything! I don't know why this came! " Karthik said raising his hands.

" What is the dare? " Shwetha asked confused.

" To kiss the person sitting opposite" Hari said slowly.

" Dance is better! " Shiva said.

" You got dare but why am I facing it? " I said to him.

" Just do it guys! " Karthik said.

Shiva stood up nervously and held out his hand. I caught his hand and stood up. Everyone looked at us curiously as the song started playing.

Suddenly something crept into his mind and Shiva pulled me closer with his hand at my back.

I stepped closer and held his hand. He slowly placed my other hand over his shoulder and fake coughed.

After few seconds of awkward steps, we were somewhat in rhythm. Shiva was having a mischievous grin on his face. He tried to twirl me a bit and I stepped on his foot accidentally.

He lost balance and his leg got hit in the nearby chair. Before I could grip the nearby table, I fell back on floor and pulled Shiva along with me.

We both landed on the floor with a heavy thud. My back got hit and Shiva's heavy body was above me, his face few inches from mine. His eyes reflected the shock in mine.Shiva placed both his hands besides my head and held up his torso.

" Are you okay? " Shiva asked and I wasn't able to take my eyes off him. I was staring at him confused.

" I was waiting for some accident to happen. Whenever you both do something, it is always a chaos! " Hari said as he helped Shiva get up.

I sat up and dusted off my jacket. Shwetha helped me to get up.

Karthik and Hari were still laughing.

" I think this is the end of the game! " I said and stood up.

" That was fun though! " Karthik said.

" Fun! my ass! " I said and walked out to the restroom. I help my phone in hand and walked out.

It was still raining with thunders here and there.

I dusted off the dirt over my hair and washed my face. I walked out of the restroom and saw someone standing near the dining table in dim light.

I flashed my torch light forward and the person turned to me suddenly.

I screamed a little and was relieved on seeing Shiva's face.

" You scared me! " I said and placed my phone over the table.

" Really? " He asked amused.

" What were you doing in dark? " I asked and took a step closer to him.

" Wanted to clear off something " He said and tilted his head with a devilish grin.

" Clear what? " I asked more confused.

" The dare " He said sharply.

Before I could respond, his strong hands pinned me to the wall and his lips attacked mine.

I didn't even have the time to realize what was happening.

One of his hands held my face and his other hand was pulling me closer.My hands trailed on their own over his wide shoulder.

His lips slowly moved down towards my neck and his hands effortlessly took out my jacket. We both were sweating and out of breath, but not planning to stop. His hands were running over my bare shoulders and to my back. He lightly tugged at my blouse but decided to let it be.

The rain in the background and the thunder, everything was on mute. His face was dimly lit with the light from my torch. It was a curse again, I thought to myself.

Shiva broke off the kiss for a moment and waited to look at my reaction. His eyes were scanning my face for fear or shock. With my shaky hands, I pulled him closer and kissed him again.

I didn't know if that was our second or third kiss, but all I knew at that moment was that, I could die, because of him. Even an inch of distance between us, could kill me. Maybe that was because of his kiss, or maybe that's how every kiss should be.