Chapter 8: Chapter-7
Flashback: Two weeks ago.
That afternoon, Navya came home from college around three o'clock. The driver drove the car into the yard. There was a black SUV parked in front of the house too. Navya frowned. "Who's visiting today?" Navya thought in her mind after looking at the SUV.
Navya stepped into the house. Her steps suddenly stopped, when she saw a man sitting on a chair in the living room.
"Hello, Navya" The man's deep voice greeted her with a charming smile.
The man was tall, well-built, clean olive skin. He is about 28 years old. He wore a blue-gold long-sleeved batik shirt and black trousers, looks very dashing and matches his athletic body. His thick black hair was combed neatly, his eyebrows were also thick black. Two dimples graced his smiling oval face. His figure somehow reminded Navya of her dad, both were dashing and handsome.
Navya opened her mouth, but hesitated to say anything. She was still trying to make sure her vision.
The man laughed amused at Navya's reaction, showing a row of neat white teeth. "Have you forgotten about me?" The man asked Navya while laughing continuously.
"Ummm... Mohit sir?" Navya half shouted. "Really are you Mohit sir?" Navya repeated, hastily sitting next to the man. Her eyes continued to look at the man to be sure if he is Mohit or not.
The man laughed again. His laughter was crisp. "You're all grown up, aren't you. I can't believe it's been six years." The man said in his deep voice.
Navya's eyes went wide, barely believing her eyes. "Oh my God...! Really Mohit sir!" she screamed, then hastily covered her mouth with her hands. They laughed together at Navya's reaction.
Miss Padma emerged from the living room door, carrying a tray containing a glass of warm tea and a plate of steamed sponge cake.
"Oh.... Navya has came home. Great!Come on, Mr. Mohit, have a drink," Miss Padma said while serving treats on the table.
"Thank you, Miss Padma" Mohit said while pointing at Navya. "Navya almost doesn't remember me anymore Miss Padma. She was confused when she saw me." Mohit said to Miss Padma.
Miss Padma smiled at Navya. "Yeah, it's natural, she haven't seen you for a long time Mr. Mohit. When I used to live here, she was still in junior high school. Uh..., now she just came here for studying Masters in Delhi." Miss Padma said to Mohit.
Navya chuckled in response to Mohit's words. "After all, I haven't seen you in a long time, a lot has changed." Navya explained to Mohit.
Mohit smiled looking at her. "What has changed?" He asked Navya.
Navya just smirked at his question, she didn't answered him. She did not expect to meet again with the man in front of him, Mohit Chouhan.
Mohit's father, Sanjay Chouhan, was Navya's grandpa's best friend. That friendship passed down to their children. Her father is also friendly with Mohit, although Mohit is much younger than her dad, their age difference is almost fifteen years. That's because Mohit's dad did get married after a bit of age.
Not only friends, her dad even helped pay for Mohit's education until college. Mohit was indeed very talented in academics, but unfortunately his dad cannot afford the college fees. Because of that, her dad was sincerely willing to help Mohit's family. Mohit always said that he was indebted to her dad.
In the past, when Navya lived in Delhi for more than three years, her dad asked Mohit for help to give Navya a course. Every time she comes home from school, she was taught privately by Mohit. Mohit was indeed a genius. Navya always felt that she could enter the acceleration class thanks to Mohit's services and cold hands.
"How is your course going?" asked Mohit, after Miss Padma went back into the kitchen, leaving them alone.
"It's going smoothly" Navya replied to him.
"Are you comfortable here?" Mohit asked her.
"Yes, this house feels like my home. Delhi is like my hometown." Navya replied politely to him.
"Really?" Mohit said and looked at Navya's face with inquiring eyes.
For some reason, Navya suddenly became nervous looking at Mohit's eyes. His eyes were soft, but seemed to hold a lot of meaning.
"Really sir" Navya said and looked away, picking the steamed cake on the plate. "Please, sir. Don't be shy, you know," she joked and gave him the cake.
Mohit chuckled. "It's good if you are comfortable. I'm here because your dad asked me to. Mr. Malhotra is worried about you." Mohit's face suddenly turned serious. "Your dad said you rarely reply to chats or calls. It's always your dad who calls first. Then you also often come home late--" Mohit enquired about her.
"Ah, not really" Navya interrupted immediately. "I don't come home late often at night." She replied quickly.
"Miss Padma and the driver said, you often go out with friends. You come back after nine o'clock at night," Mohit said to her.
"Oh god..... it's only past nine o'clock" Navya protested with a high pitched voice. "I'm not a kid anymore. Dad is too much!" Navya said angrily.
Mohit still kept looking at Navya. "Navya, your dad is just worried, because you've never been like this before. When you were in Bangalore, you lived in a hostel with a crowd. You're used to being disciplined. If you're here, no one is watching you, but that doesn't mean you can go easy on yourself. " Mohit's voice was soft but firm.
Navya threw her back on the chair in annoyance. Her face was sullen. It turns out that Miss Padma and her driver reported her activities to her dad, but she couldn't blame them. They are used to being obedient to her dad. After all, he is their boss.
"Then, there is a Australian guy who often comes here. Are you dating that guy?" Mohit continued to enquire her.
Navya gasped at Mohit's question. "Ugh... what the heck is dad? Everything is taken care of! Can't I be friends with anyone?" Navya's voice grew louder in protest.
"Your dad just wants to make sure that you are friends with good people," Mohit still said calmly to Navya.
Mohit's eyes seemed to hint at something. Navya was suspicious, maybe her dad also told about Ronit to Mohit. "Ufff....., Dad is really too much! Because of my troubles with Ronit and the accident, dad is even more protective now!" Navya said to herself.
"So, what are you doing here, Mohit sir ? Do you want to watch over me, then?" Navya said in a curt tone. Her heart was still very angry.
Mohit looked at Navya gently. Navya felt the man's eyes look like they were probing her face.
"I'm here to be your friend, to take care of you, Navya. If there is anything you need, you can tell me," Mohit said seriously.
Flashback: Five days ago.
This Friday, Navya's class schedule is only until eleven o'clock in the afternoon, then followed by a seminar on Cell and Molecular Biology. Participating in the seminar is actually not required for Biology Masters students. But today, for some reason Sonia was very excited so Navya attended the seminar for Sonia.
"Come on, Navya! Let's get a seat in the front," Sonia urged infront of Navya while pulling her hand.
They walked into the wide hall of the Biology Faculty, where the seminar was being held. Then they sat in the second row from the front.
"Sonia, it seems you are really enthusiastic about attending the seminar," Navya said, looking at Sonia in surprise.
So far, Sonia has never been serious about studying. Navya knew that Sonia continued her master's degree only because her parents forced her. Sonia is the daughter of a rich person and has been pampered since childhood. That's why she doesn't feel responsible for her own education.
"Ah.... you're really not slang, huh. That's why you often listen to information, please!" Sonia even lectured Navya back instead of her question.
"What information?" Navya asked confusingly.
"Today the speaker is a young lecturer from the Faculty of Pharmacy. The person is really handsome...! Smart, authoritative, still single again! Oh, just really perfect!" Sonia praised the lecturer to Navya.
Navya was even more confused by Sonia's words. "Uh.... do you really want to date a lecturer? Aren't you dating Rahul?" Navya questioned her.
"Oh my gosh, Navya! If I'm already in a relationship, can I really not glance at other guys? After all, there's a guy as handsome as this, that you can't pass up, you know! My brain is already messed up because I've been in college. again," Sonia babbled incessantly, until Navya got dizzy to hear it.
Finally Navya was silent, looking at the podium. An lady announced that the seminar was about to start.
Navya saw that the majority of the halls were filled with young girls, it seems mostly undergraduate students. The women who participated in the seminar were also scrambling to fill the seats in the front. Strange, usually Navya rarely sees a seminar whose front row seats are filled up first.
The moderator of the seminar sat on the chair provided on the podium, while reading the Curriculum from the lecturer who was the speaker of today's seminar. As soon as the CV started showing on the presentation screen, Navya was shocked to death.
"Mr. Pharmacist Mohit Chouhan, Master of Science, PhD. He currently serves as a lecturer at the Faculty of Pharmacy, as well as the Head of the Department of Molecular Biology at the Faculty. He obtained his PhD from a university in London."
While the CV was read, the figure of the lecturer walked up to the podium, immediately greeted with a standing ovation from the seminar participants.
Mohit smiled widely, then sat beside the moderator, looking around the room. For a moment Navya felt like hiding behind a chair, so that Mohit would not see her.
"Since when did Mohit sir become a lecturer at the university where I studies? Still fortunately we are not in the same faculty!" Navya thought in her mind and breathe a sigh of relief.
Navya realized that there was a lot she didn't know about Mohit. When she first met Mohit, she was still in elementary school. Even until she went to junior high school, she never knew much about Mohit. Her dad himself rarely talked about Mohit. She only knew that Mohit was his father's close friend, as well as her private tutor.
"So handsome...," Sonia whispered. Her eyes sparkled looking ahead, admiring the lecturer who was presenting the theory. "His body is stocky, tall, manly.... Ouch, it looks like it's really nice to lean on that broad chest! His face is already handsome, his smile is sweet, his brain is smart again!" Sonia continued to praise about Mohit's personality.
Navya tried to ignore Sonia's chatter. She could not focus on listening to the seminar material, because frankly she was afraid of being seen by Mohit.
Navya remembered, yesterday she just got angry in front of Mohit, because she was upset with her dad. And now, she just found out that Mohit is a lecturer and that too in her University. "Duh, it's such a shame to remember that incident!" Navya said to herself.
Finally, the two hour seminar came to an end. Lots of seminar participant girl
flocked to the front, scrambling to take pictures with Mohit, including Sonia. The girls were so excited, as if they had just met a famous movie star or actor. The group photo session alone took almost an hour.
Navya just sat glued to the chair, not coming forward. She observed, Mohit did look very charming with a smile that continued to expand. After Sonia finished taking pictures, Navya hastily pulled her friend's hand out of the hall.
"What the hurry, Navya? Where are you going?" asked Sonia in a surprised tone.
"Let's go home! The seminar is over," Navya said impatiently.
"I still want to go out with Rahul. You go first, but tomorrow is Saturday, you have to come to my birthday party, okay! Just ask Suraj to pick you up, okay?" Sonia said to Navya.
Navya was stunned. "Will dad forbid me to my friend's birthday party too? But... isn't this actually a good opportunity?" Navya thought a crazy plan in her devil mind. The more her dad forbids her, the more Navya wants to show him, that she is not a child anymore. She didn't want to be controlled and watched, she was twenty two now.
"Okay, tomorrow Suraj and I will come to your birthday party." Navya said to Sonia and left for home.
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