Hated- Really?

Part 17:- Caring- Really?

Love is caring even when you are angry :)

"Aww.. So sweet!" came a cheery voice which fueled Shanaya with anger. Natasha. She came forward and asked Shanaya if she liked it.

"It was good." She gave her short response.

"I loved it too. Mike showed me the places here." She said cheerfully and then whispered to her, "I hope you don't mind me spending some time with him."

Shanaya looked at her wide eyed and then shook her head realizing that it was her own mistake to expect something from her and made a mental note of it. She had understood it by now that Natasha could not be trusted with anything.

"Great! Let's go and have something."

They all ordered for themselves and looked for sitting arrangements. Only two- seaters and a couple of four seaters were available. Not willing to be alone with Rudra, she went for a four seater so that rest can be occupied by others. To her dismay, most of them had taken the place and Natasha too was going for a two- seater winking at her mouthing "I want to be alone with Mike."

She sighed in resignation when Rudra joined her.

"May I sit here?"

She just nodded silently.

"How are you doing?"

"Good, thanks. How about you?"

"Awesome at the moment."

After silence of a few minutes, Rudra started again:

"Do you usually eat slowly or is it because you are with me?"

Shanaya raised an eyebrow in confusion. And waited for him to explain.

"Usually girls eat slowly, in a perfect way when they are trying to impress the guys."

"This is my habit. And I don't need to impress someone or anyone. But it surely gives an idea about how many girls you have had the opportunity to get impressed with."

"Jealous?"

"What?? Why would I be jealous? I am just stating what I understood."

"It did not look like that though." And he watched her face in amusement. Before she could come back with any other comment, he continued:

"It's not that you should experience things personally. There are lots of people who willingly share their experiences. And I have lots of people around me for that."

"Oh!"

Somehow, today, Rudra was not being the jerk he used to be. He had not even smirked so far. And Shanaya was getting comfortable with him in a weird way. May be the care he showed without saying a word was something that changed her feeling towards him. May be she had judged him for wrong reasons.

"As I have told you earlier, I have never been in contact with girls till high school. Whatever I have learned is from here, by seeing the friends I have. Please don't mind if I say something that should not be said to a girl. Or I would be happier if you point it out directly."

Shanaya was taken aback by what he had said. She recalled that she had similar kind of discussion about Rudra with Natasha other day. She had a feeling that Natasha had passed the information to Mike and then he had discussed it with Rudra. She was feeling embarrassed but could not bring herself to accept it in front of him.

"It's okay." Was all she could say. She realized that she actually was eating at a snail's pace since Rudra's food was almost over and so was the case with most of them. And her plate was still half filled with the food.

"You can take your time to finish it." Rudra said as if reading her mind.

"...Or leave it if you can't" he added further.

"I... don't think I will be able to eat all of it." She admitted embarrassingly and smiled sheepishly.

"Then leave it. It was heavy anyway. I would have shared if I was not full myself." And he smiled at her. A genuine smile.

It had to be some exceptional day or something special since he had not made any weird comments today like he had been doing right from starting. And it had been so long in his company and he was behaving... like a sweet and genuine guy? Instead he was just taking care of her, smiling at her. Shanaya was confused at his behavior today.

Almost everyone had left with their respective partners and enjoying the Sun. Shanaya too left once she was done. By the time she washed her hands, Rudra offered her drinking water which she accepted, bewildered at his behavior.

"Which ice cream would you like?"

"What??"

"You would love to have ice cream, won't you?"

"Yes..." Had he become a mind reader today? Wondered Shanaya.

"You would get only cones here, no other varieties. Which flavor would you like?"

"Chocolate?"

"Okay. You be with them, I will be back." He said amusingly seeing her reactions.

She nodded, unable to utter any word.

What had happened to Rudra? Why was he being so nice to her? Was not he the one who wanted her to leave the college at the first place? Was he not the one showing his utter dislike towards her? Is he sick or by any chance did he forget who she was? Or is this his some trick to get to her? She needed to be careful and keep her guards up. She had already given too much of expressions and if she was not wrong, he was enjoying her discomfort. That's it!! That is what he was doing!! He was enjoying seeing her so confused and tongue tied.

Argghh!!! That guy was confusing her!!! It was better when he commented but now when he showered her with his care, it was difficult to handle.

_________________________________________________________________

Hi All,

How are you doing? I hope you all are enjoying the story. I would love to hear what you think about the characters and which one is your favorite one.

Do you think that Rudra really is doing the things genuinely or is it a payback time when he knows what Shanaya thinks of him.

Thank you for reading, voting and commenting. Keep rocking.