Blood

Anya gave Chloe an explanation that lasted about five minutes about Shalwar kameez and looked at her expectantly.

" Okay, I get all that but are you supposed to wear it only after a shower?" Chloe questioned intently. This reminded Anya of an old Indian saying, "It was like asking if Ram was Sita's uncle after listening to a whole night of Ramayana," because Ram was actually Sita's husband in the epic, Ramayana.

" No, Chloe. It's not shower, it's Shalwar. S,h,a,l,w,a,r." Anya spelled it out.

" Oh, I get it. It looks great by the way. I really like the embroidered silk cream top, it matches so well with the velvety peacock blue shower. Did I say it right this time?" Chloe furrowed her brows. Anya knew Chloe could never get it right but she nodded anyway.

" So, what's your name? You didn't tell me and I thought you'd tell me eventually but I guess you forgot and that's okay. I,"

"Ann. My name's Ann. It's very nice to meet you Chloe." She said to stop Chloe from ranting.

" Okay, Ann. You're so lucky." Anya looked at her confused. " Because I'm your neighbour! Yay!" Chloe clapped her hands. Anya certainly didn't find that exciting but she smiled to be courteous.

Chloe then took the liberty to introduce Anya to the rest of the co-workers. Most of them chatted with her for a while and some simply nodded in acknowledgement. Anya didn't mind because she felt elated and mostly tired.

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Anya swiped her employer card and entered the office. It had been a week since she joined and she had become used to the routine. She loved her job,her co-workers and the cafeteria food. She learnt from Chloe that they had a board meeting every Friday evening and that their CEO always visited them once in a month. Chloe also told her that his visits were invariably unannounced but this wasn't a problem to Anya since Viola's dad had dinner with them every time he was in town.

Chloe wasn't as weird as Anya had thought, she had been working in the company for the past six months. Sadly, she didn't have any friends but fortunately they were all "friendly" with her as Chloe called it. Apparently, she had been in and out of relationships for a long time that she didn't keep count but this also applied to her style of dressing. Chloe had once seen a chinese movie which she ended up loving so much that she started dressing up like them which was then replaced by some other countries and cultures. She had taken up the geeky style now since "geek was the new sexy" but after looking at Anya, she wanted to adorn the Indian look. Okay, maybe she was a little weird but Anya liked her. She liked how Chloe always treated people equally, how she volunteered for every social campaign, how she made beautiful and delicious cup cakes and above them all, she admired her innocence. Chloe had poured out her entire life history in just a week to Anya which would sound bizarre to some but not to Anya.

She smiled at Chloe as she sat in her cabin who returned her smile with a big grin. Chloe was wearing a purple silk blouse with a white skirt and her straight brunette hair fell loosely on her shoulders. Yes, Chloe's dressing style had changed again but this time it was Anya who had influenced her since Chloe wasn't really a hard person to convince.

It was Friday and Anya dreaded the board meeting in the evening, not because she was new but because she had to see Ronan again. She was lucky enough not to bump into him the entire week. According to Chloe, he never meets his employers but it's always the other way around and Anya was completely okay with it since the idea of meeting him was intimidating. But today she has to sit right in the front row since she's a new staff. Anya thought that Ronan probably had forgotten about her but today he might bombard her with questions, the minute he sets his eyes on her.

After two hours of restlessness, she decided to go down to the cafeteria for a cup of coffee. Chloe had some important work so she couldn't accompany her. Anya took the elevator and pressed the button '13' and waited. The elevator moved down and opened when Anya's phone rang. She looked at the caller id -"unknown number". Confused , she looked at the number and tried to figure out if she was familiar with it while she stepped out of the elevator. She debated whether to answer or not since she was always careful about new numbers as her worst fear was being called by someone from her past. She finally convinced herself to answer when something sharp digged her forehead and her whole body experienced a force that made her lose balance.

She grabbed the wall next to her immediately and steadied herself. She heard a groan and looked up, it was Ronan. Yes, she had accidentally bumped into him while she was concentrating on the phone. He looked at her fiercely which suddenly changed into a frown.

Anya felt something wet on her forehead like a sweat. Her fingers reached for it and became wet. She looked at her fingers and her eyes widened.

" You're bleeding." Ronan said.

"Oh my god.This,this is blood. My blood." Anya snarled.

"I'm afraid, that's correct." He said feeling the surface of his canine teeth with his fingers.

" Is that teeth or fangs?" She growled touching the wounded spot.

" I swear, I'm not a vampire. I just have really sharp teeth." He flashed his canines to her. Anya groaned and walked back towards the elevator.

" Wait, Anya." he grabbed her arm and pulled her so close, she could feel his breath on her face. She could smell the scent of his cologne as their bodies were separated only by an inch,"We'll have to patch that up." He said softly examining the wound. " It's quite deep and the blood's not clotting." Now he looked into her eyes, they were light brown and transparent. She could see her own face in those brown pupils. She studied his face as blood flowed by her eyes. His temple was slightly crinkled forming two distinct lines, his nose was long, his cheekbones were sharp, his lips were fleshy and pink. She wondered if he wore lipstick. She realised that she was just staring at him while he waited for her response. She broke free of his arm and turned back.

She breathed heavily. No, no. It can't be. She shook her head and saw Ronan standing in front of her again.

He looked concerned, "You're still bleeding, Anya. Let's get you to an hospital."

Anya cleared her throat, "I'll take care of it." She didn't wait for his response and ran towards the elevator. She immediately pressed "G" and the door closed with Ronan standing behind it. She took her handkerchief and pressed gently on the surface of the wound while the elevator went down. It pained and she flinched when the elevator stopped and the door opened. Ronan rushed in panting, pressed "G" and the door closed. He bent down with his hands pressed on his knees and panted while Anya watched him with bewilderment.

" Do..you..know how hard...it is..to catch up to the speed of...an elevator?" he muttered in between his breaths.

" What's wrong with you? I told you I'll take care of it!" Anya scowled.

" No, no." He stood up straight. " I'm coming with you. You're bleeding because of me and I need to make sure you're alright." He seemed unusually calm.

" No, you're not. Please dont make things worse. Just leave me alone." Anya pressed harder on the wound and whimpered.

" What? Does it hurt a lot? Don't apply too much pressure on it." He moved closer and she glared at him. He moved back. "I'm coming with you whether you like it or not. I feel bad."

"Well you should have thought that before you fanged me!"

"Well you should have watched your step instead of texting your boyfriend!"

"I wasn't texting my boyfriend and you should have watched your step."

"I was in a hurry, besides it's not my fault that you're short."

Anya groaned when the elevator door opened. She rushed out and walked towards the main door. She couldn't believe that she was arguing with him. She knew Ronan was still running after her when she called, "Taxi!" She got inside and told the driver to go to the nearby hospital when the door opened and Ronan sat next to her.

He was panting, " For God's sake, will you stop running?" He wiped the sweat off his face.

" For God's sake, will you stop following me?" She retorted.

" You do remember that I'm your boss, right?" He smiled.

" Yeah, that's why you're still not bleeding." She glared at him. A million thoughts crossed her mind. She felt pain, annoyance, anger and hungry all of a sudden, sitting next to Ronan just doubled the effect.

" Wow, I like your courage." He grinned showing his sharp canine and Anya groaned. She didn't want to sit next to him, didn't want to talk to him or worse go to an hospital with him. Ronan kept asking her questions like to whom she was texting, why she left her cabin but she kept her mouth shut, her eyes fixed at the window. She didn't look at him for the rest of the ride.

They went inside the hospital together but Anya ignored his presence in her mind. They were in the emergency room when the doctor looked at the wound. She was a stout looking woman with green eyes in her mid-forties.

" How did this happen?" She asked looking at Anya who in turn looked at Ronan. Ronan raised his hands in defence and sighed.

" We bumped into each other." He finally managed to say. The doctor narrowed her eyes at both of them,

"Bumped into each other? This looks like a cut made by a sharp object. It's quite deep, will probably need two stitches." She said cleaning the wound with wet cotton as Anya squirmed.

" Two stitches?" Anya gasped.

" Yes. So what really happened? You should never lie to a doctor. So tell me, did you both do something naughty?" She said while loading the injection with a liquid.

" No!" Anya screamed.

" Maybe." Ronan grinned.

Anya explained what had happened before the doctor jumped into conclusions. " I walked out the elevator looking at my phone and he was in a hurry so we bumped into each other since clearly, both of us weren't looking and me being shorter than him, my forehead hit his teeth and in a matter of seconds, I was bleeding."

"That's what happened." Ronan nodded.

" Well, this is definitely new. I haven't heard a story like this before." The doctor definitely didn't seem convinced.

She stitched the wound and bandaged it carefully. " Be careful next time. And you've to come next week to remove the stitches." She said removing her gloves.

" Okay, Doc!" Ronan smiled. Anya glared at him, visualising daggers and knives.

" You'll have to sign up the form before you leave." She handed him a pad and left. Anya got up and tried to snatch it from him but his fingers moved swiftly across the paper. It was too late.

"I can sue you with physical assault." She sounded more like Emily. Wait, what? She couldn't believe her own mouth.

" Oh no, Ma'am. Please forgive me, please don't put me in jail." Ronan clasped his hands together and faked tears. He then laughed loudly. " Seriously, you really are a crazy woman, do you know that?"

Anya threw a cloth at him and went out the emergency room. He followed her muttering something that she couldn't hear. A woman, probably in her late twenties, dressed in a doctor's coat hugged Ronan suddenly.

" Ronan!" She looked at him in disbelief. " Ronan Hayes! I hope I'm not seeing things." She smiled widely holding both his arms.

" You surely aren't, Laura. It is me." He smiled back warmly.

" How long has it been? Five years?" Laura chuckled.

" Four years and eight months to be exact. Do you work here?" Ronan was accurate with the duration and Anya wondered whether Laura played an important role in his life. She told herself she didn't care but she listened to their conversation blaming her curiosity.

" Yeah. You look the same. Young, hot! I see you've grown a beard. Looks great on you." Laura smiled. Ah, flirt.

" This is Anya." Ronan introduced her to Laura. " She's a." He cleared his throat and looked at Anya.

" I work for him." Anya blurted out. " It's nice to meet you, Laura." Dhe shook Laura's hands.

" Work for him?" Laura seemed confused.

" What she means is, we work together, in the same office." He corrected her. Now Anya looked at him confused. This doesn't seem like the guy, the whole office terrorises about. He was giving up his authority and she beat the urge to ask him, "Who are you and what are you doing in Ronan's body?"

"Oh, what happened to your head?" Laura pointed to the bandage.

" Please, ask him. I'm tired of explaining." Anya exhaled loudly.

Laura looked at Ronan expectantly. " Let's just say we were trying something and it didn't really turn out well." He hung his head low. Laura and Anya both looked at him wide eyed. Anya felt a sudden urge to punch him instead she played along with him. She didn't know what exactly he was talking about and she kept it that way.

" Yes. Poor Ronan couldn't get it right but I tried my best and see where it got me." She put up the most saddest face possible and held Ronan's hand. If he was playing with her feelings then she needed to teach him what it felt like to be played with.

Ronan looked at her surprised. Laura cleared her throat. " I guess, umm..I should get going. It was nice to meet you though." She stammered and walked away. Anya shouted,

" Wait, don't you want to know what happened? How Ronan." Anya was pulled away abruptly.

" What do you think you're doing?" Ronan asked through gritted teeth.

" What am I doing, Ronan?" She asked sweetly, pouting her lips.

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