The erratic beats of his heart resonated throughout the room. The moment she turned back and found him looking at her like that, she lost her footing. The slow languid smile across his face caused her heart to take a break. Sheepishly she dug her head low at once but then she sensed him take a step forward. She looked up for a quick glance but she had no idea when her glance turned into a gaze. He was intrigued with the way she returned his glance and took a deep dive into hers. Loose strands of hair strewn all across her face did nothing but amplify her attractiveness. He couldn't help himself being mesmerized to an extent that he forgot what speech was.

There was something about the way he looked at her like he wanted to make her his own like she was some long lost prized possession. He wanted to devour on her and his eyes spoke his intentions. She couldn't handle it and stole her eyes which were locked into his. Her own breath had turned torrid and her throat ran dry. She didn't know what sort of energy was pulsating inside her but she knew that it was one hell of a weird kind, awakening her inner desires. She had no idea how long he had been watching her. She had no idea of the thoughts running restlessly inside his head. But she was sure of at least one thing, she had his attention.

"Back to earth, back to earth Akira", she screamed at herself in her thoughts. She cleared her throat and then placed Kate's iPod back on the table. Words were hesitating to emanate from her. Finally, she mustered up some courage by tapping on her sanity and asked,

"Why, When I mean you here?"

She had almost lost her basic ability to speak and was chocking on her own words.

He finally lowered his gaze after hearing her speak. He leaned a bit on the door and said,

"I came for her birthday party, but got a bit late".

He then cleared his throat and asked,

"What are you doing here? And where is Katherine?"

"Oh, actually she went to drop one of the girls who came to this party as her mom was unable to come and pick her up. So she asked me to stay back as she didn't want to leave Kate alone, all by herself", Akira explained.

"I see", Raymond said and glanced at his watch. it was already about 10:10 p.m. Seeing him looking at his watch restlessly Akira said, "She will be back pretty soon. She told me that it will just take a few minutes to drop Regina at her place", Akira said and then silently started to stare at random things in the room trying to avoid his glance.

"You didn't tell me that you were coming here", Raymond asked and Akira could clearly sense that even with his questions he wasn't reprimanding her.

"Actually Kate had invited me yesterday and I thought of telling you in office but then ..."

Akira said and her voice trailed off as her thoughts revolved around the incident which happened in the morning. Her mind was engulfed again with vivid images of him standing so close to her, tending to her wounds and messing with her heartstrings.

"Then?", Raymond questioned back as she had left her sentence midway.

"I mean I would have told you but then David came in and I got busy with some work and then came here. I had no idea that you were coming else".....

She couldn't finish her sentence. She had to shut herself up from blurting her heart out. She was behaving like she was on some love potion.

"Brace, breathe, think", she told herself multiple times.

"Else?", Raymond asked her again. He wasn't able to understand why she was leaving her words midway and dropping him off a cliffhanger.

"Oh, else I would have tagged along with you and I could have saved my money spent on Uber".

Raymond couldn't stop himself from laughing after hearing what she just said. He couldn't believe that all that she could think of was about the Uber Fare. Then he remembered the way she had asked about the chocolates in the flight if they were complementary and a layer of pure satisfaction spread on his face. The satisfaction of unraveling her innocent side, the satisfaction of tapping on to her raw side.

"Why are you laughing?", Akira asked all worried.

"Nothing", said Raymond and retracted his laugh back. He could clearly see that she was a bit annoyed. Her tiny brows were raised upwards and her hands were folded in the front in defense. He sensed her annoyance and decided to change the topic.

"How is your shoulder? You still have pain?", he asked.

"You are trying to escape from my question aren't you? We are not in your office right now. So even though I am an intern, I can still question you right?", asked Akira.

Raymond laughed, even more, hearing her speak this way. Even though she was annoyed and angry, he found her behavior quite amusing, like she was dipped in a syrup of cuteness. No matter what she said, or how annoyed she was, she was becoming more and more appealing for him. She had become a drug that ran through his veins.

"Fine don't tell", Akira said with a slightly annoyed voice and stormed out of the room.

He turned towards her when she was about to cross him and before she could take a step outside Kate's bedroom, she came to a halt.

He had edged his hand forward towards hers. First, she felt his fingertips touch the bare skin of her palm and then slowly they grazed forward and twined themselves with hers. She could feel his warmth radiating from his palm on hers. His hand had comfortably locked onto hers. She turned back in surprise and looked at him.

Her eyes were filled with thousands of unanswered questions.