The Cigarette Smoke
This is for my babygirl @cvclee. She is such a freaking talented editor; her edits on Derek have left me a little dizzy and with a blazing crush on the man, Derek D'Souza. Please check out her edits. I hope I have done him justice. This is the 1st part of a mini-series. This is based on the character of Derek D'Souza, played by Tahir Raj Bhasin, in the movie Chhichhore (2019). Constructive criticism appreciated. This is not beta read, so if you guys find some typos/ errors, please feel free to correct me. Warnings: crush at first sight, fluff, angst, slow burn, Grumpy x sunshine, mutual pining, idiots in love Happy reading....
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PART I
“Aree yaar, is chappal ki to…”, she muttered angrily. This was the first day of her college, her new life away from home, and she was so freaking excited, but the day had started with chaos. First, the kurti she had selected got spoiled with the achar her mother had sent. She was on the verge of tears, but she knew nothing could be done about it. Then she slipped trying to come out of the bathroom, her hair refused to cooperate, and she had to make a weird braid and run for her class since she was now late. Then, just in front of the H4 hostel, she stumbled on a pebble, and her slipper's strap had broken. She was now convinced the day could not be worse.
“Wahh Bhagwanji aur kya hi baki tha. Maine to subha subha apko yaad bhi kiya tha,” she looked up, saying this. The next moment, she felt her world stop. Her eyes stopped at the top floor of the hostel balcony. There was a guy, no, a man, shirtless, a beaded rosary around his neck, leaning against the pillar as he lit a cigarette with a single strike of his hand and took a deep puff. He was so handsome, his hair messy, as if he had just woken up from sleep. He looked like a vision. “Bhagwanji, ye kya dikha diya?”
“Kya hua? Khari kyu hain”, Maya suddenly came behind her.
Her trance broke hearing Maya’s voice, “Aree, who chappal toot gaya yaar mera.”
“Aree ruk mere pas feviquick hain.” Maya searched through her bag and gave her some glue. She took it from Maya’s hand and fixed her chappal, but her eyes were still on the mysterious man. The man suddenly looked at them, and she lowered her eyes.
“Chal, late hojayenge yaar”
“Hain chal”.
This is how she had seen Derek D'Souza for the 1st time. The tall, handsome senior, star athlete, and chain smoker, who stayed in the H4 or losers' hostel. This was all the information she had collected from her sources, staying as discreet as possible, in the last 2 months. It was not enough; no one seemed to know anything about Derek other than his brooding persona. No one knew his likes and dislikes, just that he played sports and had been passionate about the GC.
Every morning, when she went to class, she passed the H4 hostel to catch a glimpse of Derek. He was usually there at his usual spot, smoking a cigarette. She hated smoking in general, the smell gave her a headache, but Derek looked so hot taking a puff, his eyes slowly rolling back and his chest expanding, as the white smoke left his lips. She looked mesmerised, her lips parted, eyes hazy.
“Aj Chemistry ka class hain 1st period mein, kamse kam aj to isko tarna bandh kar”, Maya commented.
“Yaar main kaha taarti hu”
“Hain aur Ani mujhe pasand nahi karta”, Maya retorted. “Pasand hain to bol kyunahi deti.”
“Aree aj tak baat bhi nahi ki isse, jake kya bolu, ‘hello, aap mere senior hain, mujhe apko cigeratte peeta dekhna acha lagta hain.’ Pagal bolega mujhe woh Maya”, she commented, wrapping her arm around Maya's shoulder.
“At least tune admit to kiya who tujhe acha lagta hain”
“Tu bhi karle Ani se admit”, she teased Maya.
“Karlungi, jaa. Tu karegi usse baat”, Maya looked at her with a smirk.
“Phele karle, phir dekhte hain”
The chemistry assignment was making her want to cry. It was making her regret all her decisions, from taking science in 11th to preparing for JEE. “Aree yaar yaha hi to tha, kaha gaya”, she frantically searched for her lab notebook, but it was nowhere to be found. Suddenly, she remembered she had it in her lab class today; she must have left it there. She needed it for the assignment; thus, she had to go to the lab.
It was 9.30, the hostel warden had done a check, and she left her room for the lab. Maya was not in her room; she would have gone to meet Ani, so she went alone. The guard outside the building saw her asked where she was heading.
“Woh notebook Chemistry lab mein choot gaya aur assignment karna hain”
“Achha thik hain jao.”
The corridor was empty. She entered the lab, slightly humming a song to fill the emptiness around her. She moved to the far left corner of the lab, where she was sitting today. Her notebook must be there. She looked at the table, below it, even on the seat and on the next table.
“Ye notebook dhund rahi ho?”, a grave voice came from behind her.
“Ahhh”
The hand came to cover her mouth to prevent her from screaming, “Shhh. Sare guards ko idhar bulana hain kya?” She moved her head in a no. “To chup”
It was him, it was Derek. Her head was screaming at her to do something. His voice was so gruff that it made her a little lightheaded. His palm was still on her lips. She was breathing hard, trying to compose herself. After a few seconds, when he was confident she would not continue shouting, he moved his hand from her mouth.
“Ye tumhara notebook hain”
“Hain, yehi lene ai thi yaha”, she said, trying to sound as normal as possible.
“Handwriting achi hain, neatly done, per yaha pe values mein thore discrepancies hain. Give me a pen.” She moved her hand to the back pocket of her jeans, took out a pencil and handed it to him. “See, yaha pe and here”
“Thanks." She looked around the table where he was sitting to find that he was making a drink in the beakers of the chemistry lab. "Aap yaha kya drink kar rahe hain?”
“Judge kar rahi ho?”, he said, unbothered, sipping on one of the beakers with an orange drink.
“Guard ne dekha to?”
“Guard. Uska baap hu main”, he was clearly amused by her concern about the guard.
“Hain baap se bara bacha”, she muttered.
“Kya?” Derek tilted his head a little towards him, as if to hear her properly.
“Guard bhaiya umar mein apse bare lagte hain to baap se bara bacha nahi ho sakta, technical fault.”
“Kafi funny ho tum," he commented sarcastically. " Woh us ladki ki dost ho na tum, kya name hain? Ani ke sath rehti hain, chote baal wali?”
“Hain Maya ki dost hu main”
“Hain, wahi. Main Derek hu. Senior”
“Pata hain”, she said, with confidence.
“Nazar rakh rahi thi mujhpe”
“Kyu? apme nazar kakhne wali kpi baat hain?”
Derek clearly enjoyed her fiery response; it was not often girls from the college interacted with him with so much confidence. “Wanna have a drink?”
“Nahi. Mera assignment hai”
“Orange soda?”
“Thik hain.”
She took a sip of the soda in the glass beaker. “Ice”
“Hun?”
“Tumhare peeche ice Rakha hain, pass karna”
She took the ice box to him, and he smirked a little.
“Main chalti hu. Thank you, Derek”
She finally came out of the lab, passed through the long corridor and then took a deep breath. Oh my god, oh my god. What in the world was that experience? She just had a full-blown conversation with Derek. The Derek. The same man, her senior, she had a full-blown crush on from the 1st day of her college. She even shared a drink with him. Oh, she needed to shriek; she needed to tell Maya everything.
“Maya. Maya. Maya.” She ran to Maya, who was sitting on the bench in the open area of their hostel.
“Kya hua? Aree rukk”
“Main lab gai thi”
“Abhi? Itni raat ko?”
“Aree sun na. Aur Derek tha waha. We had a conversation. He said mera handwriting sundar hain. AHHHH. Then he gave me orange soda, yaar.” Her excitement could not be contained. She had remained so calm and composed in front of him; all her nerves were coming out now.
“Wow babe. Kya baat hain. Peheli conversation mein hi. Per tu lab gai kyu thi?”
“Aree, who mera notebook waha choot gaya tha na”
“Notebook?” Maya asked, confused. There was no notebook in her hand.
“Aree main phirse notebook wahi chor ai. Shit yaar”
(Part II)
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Tagging my baddies: @lutt-le-gaya @nevereversaygoodbye @hamzakamehroomkurta @sanamkhanani @mainyahaankyunhoon @precioussophia @aoyamaj3711 @angelicyuna @torumii @sarcastic-ravenpuff @cvclee @miraclejin1204 @diyak11 @sunf1over @hereforfanfictionsfr @tobitoooo @cherryyelixir @saniisinsane @mrgrungusthefrog @sinnoire @opheliasreblog @mujhekoimarsbhejdo @goldenharrysworld @gulaabjamun08
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