Four Years Ago...

She was flipping through the pages of her book, as it was a quiet afternoon in the Pokket Cafe cum bakery. This was the best part of her part-time job here in the cafe. Well, apart from getting to smell the aroma of coffee beans for hours and getting to eat tasty food for her evening snack, of course. The sweet old couple who owned the cafe, Leann and Shaun Clement, were very generous too. She was a hardworking girl, managing her studies and job together, and the Clement couple valued that.

She worked in the cafe after college, which was in the mornings. Afternoons were usually free, hardly anyone showed up, which allowed her to relax for a bit. Read books or complete her assignments, as the evenings were packed all the way till the end of the day.

She was almost about to finish the fifth chapter of her book when the door opened and a guy walked in.

" Hey, cafe girl, two french vanillas for takeaway."

She glanced up from her book only to find a guy in black leather jacket standing in front of her.

" One, It's Purvi. And two, I'm sorry I'm afraid french vanilla is not available at the moment. Maybe you can pick some other coffee?"

The guy glanced at her for a good second before his forehead creased as he pointed at her.

" Tum.."

" Yep, same batch. Third-year BMS, finance." She completed the sentence for him.

" Wannabe topper! Right!" He chuckled.

" Excuse me? Agar tumhe ko kuch order karna ho toh batao, warna.." She replied, curtly.

" Sure, I'll do two cafe lattes then." He said, pulling out his wallet.

" Anything else?" She asked, punching the order into her system.

" No thanks."

" Okay, your bill amount is 180."

He handed her the money before taking a seat on one of the barstools. Purvi walked towards the pantry window.

" Order up, two cafe lattes for takeaway."

Kavin glanced over the book she was reading before Purvi pulled it to herself, giving him a curt look.

" Toh finals ki tayari chal rahi hai." He spoke.

She didn't reply, instead chose to continue with her book, highlighting and making notes.

" Yeh sab karne se kuch nahi hoga, I know tum top karna chahti ho na? You try too hard though." Kavin commented.

" Suno tum-"

" Kavin." He introduced himself with a knowing grin.

" Jo bhi hai, tum apna order lene aaye ho toh chup chap uska wait karo. Main kya kar rahi hu, is none of your business." Purvi told him off.

" Last semester bhi tum third ya fourth aayi thi na? Kya ukhad liya tum ne yeh notes vagera bana ke?" He shrugged.

" Woh kya hai na, tumhare tarah mere papa ka bada business nahi hai. Toh mere paas yahin ek option hai agar mujhe acche grades laane hai toh." Purvi passed on a bit snide remark.

" Aisa tumhe lagta hai. There's always an option, you just have to figure it out."

" Like what?" She asked, ignoring his philosophical statements.

" Main tumhe finals ke question papers dilwa sakta hu."

Purvi's eyes went wide in shock as she stared at him.

" Abb itni overacting karne ki zarurat nahi hai, bas paper hi leak kar raha hu, kisi ka khoon nahi kar raha. Mere connections hai andar, papers ekdam sahi honge. Bolo?" He asked her.

" Lekin yeh galat hai. Aur tum mujhe jaante tak nahi toh phir-"

" Arey yaar agar tumhe yeh sab karna hai toh rehne do. Tum yeh apne notes hi banao aur aate rehna third ya fourth. But I hope you know third-fourth aane se tumhe koyi scholership ya benefits nahi milne wale. Uske liye first hi aana padta hai, aur jo ladki first aati hai woh tumhe kabhi first aane nahi degi."

" Aisa kisne kaha?"

" Apni iss sacchai aur acchai ki strawberry duniya se bahar aaogi tab pata chalega tumhe. College ki authorities se uske family ke acche connections hai, aur woh smart hai. The only way for you to beat her is by scoring more than her in finals."

Purvi stood there in silence without uttering a word, fidgeting with her pen.

" Time hai tumhare paas, soch kar batana. Waise yeh cafe tumhara hai?" He asked, jumping to some whole other topic.

" Nahi. Part-time job karti hu." She answered.

" Aur uss hostel ka kharcha nikal jaata hai yahan ki salary se?"

" Tumhe yeh sab kaise pata? Stalk toh nahi karte?" Purvi raised an eye brow at him.

" You wish." Kavin smiled sarcastically at her.

" Woh toh main poora din ghumta firta hu toh mujhe bohot si cheezein pata hai."

" Accha, itne nikkame ho?" She pressed her lips together to stop the laughter.

" Two cafe lattes, order ready."

That was Purvi's cue, she picked the beverages and walked back to the counter.

" Your order."

" Thanks. Soch kar batana."

Kavin walked out of the cafe as Purvi watched him slide into his car through the glass door. Wow, this guy was really borned with a silver spoon. He passed the coffees to his friend who waited for him in the car.

It dawned upon her later on that she actually had never spoken to this guy before. Like, she knew him ofcourse, as they were in the same batch but they never really interacted. And today this guy just walks in and they have a full-fledged effortless conversation like they've been talking since ages?

Well, that was new.

If it wasn't for an absolutely random conversation Purvi had with Kavin, she would never have even considered his option.

But here she was!

Walking towards the library as her eyes searched for him. She found him sitting in the farthest corner of the library, lost completely in a book. She pulled a chair next to him and sat down, finally grabbing his attention.

" Tum padhte bhi ho yeh mujhe nahi pata tha." She spoke, keeping her bag on the table.

" Kyuki tum mujhe jaanti nahi." He replied, not looking up from his book.

" Right." She didn't know how to initiate a conversation.

" So tum ne soch liya phir?" He asked.

" Haan." She answered.

" And?"

" I'll take your help."

That made him look up from his book and smile knowingly.

" Good call. Teen din mein tumhara kaam ho jayega." He assured her.

" Woh toh theek hai lekin kuch problem-"

" Relax, tumhe koyi problem nahi hoga. I'll make sure of that." He was about to go back to his book.

" Nahi. Main tumhari baat kar rahi thi." She answered, her eyes fixed on him.

A small smile made it's way on his lips as he cleared his throat.

" Don't worry about me, although I like the sound of that."

" Kavin, I'm serious." She glared at him.

" Haan haan. Kaha na maine, don't worry. I know my game." He told her.

A moment passed in silence as Kavin's eyes were fixed on the book. Purvi watched him for a good minute, trying to uncover who he was and how on earth did he manage to draw her towards him.

" Yun mann mein badbadane se tumhe jo kehna hai woh pohoch nahi jayega mujh tak. Toh jo bhi hai bol do, aur mujhe ghoorna bandh karo." Kavin told her as he flipped a page.

" Tum meri help kyu kar rahe ho? Badle mein kya chahiye tumhe?" She asked without beating around the bush.

" Tumhe bhi padhna pasand hai na, if I'm not wrong?" He asked, looking up from his book.

" Haan. Lekin uska issey kya-"

" Kal shaam ko saat baje mere sath hill point pe aaogi?"

" Padhne?" She asked, uncertain.

" Haan, apni koyi bhi ek favourite book le aana. Main bhi le aaunga. Bolo, theek hai?"

" Are you serious? Tumhe bas itna hi chahiye badle mein?"

" Haan, bataya toh abhi." He shrugged.

" Okay. Main French Vanilla aur Sandwiches bhi leke aaungi." Purvi told him as she grabbed her bag.

" Mere liye sirf sandwich."

" Lekin tumhari uss din ki coffee due hai mujh par."

" It's okay, mujhe waise bhi coffee pasand nahi hai." He passed a small grin to her before drowning himself back in the book.

Purvi felt a little tinge of warmth inside of her cheeks as she heard him. So, all this, showing up at the cafe, talking to her, bribing her with the question papers, all of this was to rent some hours from her? That was oddly, sweet?

" Kal shaam saat baje?" She smiled, tucking her bag to her shoulder.

" Kal shaam saat baje." He smiled back.

Purvi gave a single nod before getting up from the chair and walking away. Little did she know, she was going to fall in love with this guy so truly, so madly, that she'd soon write a story of her own, with him right by her side.

.

.

.

A/N: So, here you go. Yes, I'm going to continue and finish this book. To be really honest, I had lost the plot and was very hard to find the inspiration to write this chapter. But so many of you wanted this story to be continued, so I can't just not listen to so many of you. I hope I'll manage to balance this and my job and a whole load of crap that comes with it :p

Will update Do We Even Belong Together soon! The second chapter was updated last Sunday, if you haven't read it yet, please go and have a read.

Also, Guest who asked me if we get any award for this - I wish we did :( But no. There's no such award or recognition you get for what you write here. The Fandom arranges some internal awards once or twice in a year but that's pretty much it. :)

Hope you'll are safe, please take care of yourself and your families!

And It's past 12 midnight, It's Monday tomorrow, so I should really close my laptop and get my ass in bed :) Also I don't know what the hell is going on with the random gaps between the chapter two and four I guess, so weird, need to edit them, for now please ignore :)

Thank you!

- Divyaa2612 :)