A Vegan In The Bed- Part 1 [Aarav]

"They do not have a vegan section?!" Ru asked incredulously.

Aarav let him stand there shell-shocked, and continued to walk down the sushi aisle. Of course, Ru hurried along and joined him in minutes but did not stop his complaining. Aarav was so ticked off by his rants, he wanted to take one of the sushis and shove it in Ru's mouth. But he was ready to bet the guy would talk over the sushi. So, he just let him get this out of his system.

Aarav only had himself to blame for having this chatterbox around him eight hours a day. Long story short, the guy Ru was dating was also his boss. And when Ru set his apartment to smoke, he also said goodbye to his job. Now, the apartments in Mumbai had sky-high rent. Aarav did not know how or when Ru got his number, but the guy included him in a group text to his friend circle asking if they had an opening at their work. Ru was a ticking time bomb, and Aarav prayed for anyone who would find Ru a job at their work. He knew there was an opening for an administrative assistant at his own company, but the last thing he wanted to do was look at that stuck-up vegan's face every single workday. And so he kept quiet.

A week passed, and the friend circle received another text from Ru, more desperate than the last one. Aarav felt a mild twinge of guilt, but then he spent the evening with Maria, the Russian model who was trying to make it in Bollywood, and forgot all about the text until his phone rang late that night. He wished he had recorded Ru on the call. It was a whole another person, entirely broken and sobbing, clueless, not knowing what he would do next. He wept on the phone for an entire hour, and at last, Aarav caved in and told him about the open position. He was still hopeful that his office management would never employ someone as arrogant and oblivious as Ru.

So, imagine his shock when he saw Ru parading into his office in his thigh-high boots, tight leather pants, and an animal print shirt that morning. To make matters worse, they gave Ru a desk right outside his office. Aarav tried to keep his door closed, but the guy knocked on his door every couple of minutes, asking about every little thing. So, he gave up in the end and kept the door open entirely.

Aarav liked to have lunch by himself. It was his alone, quiet time to refocus. But before it was even lunchtime, Ru sashayed into his office like he owned the place and plopped himself on the chair across the desk. Aarav was bent over some floor plans for a new high-rise, and when he heard Ru, he ignored him.

"I am hungry," Ru announced, tiredly, "I did not have breakfast this morning." He smelled of expensive perfume, spicy and sharp.

"The cafeteria is on the third floor," Aarav noted and went back to studying the blue map with white zigzagging lines.

"I don't have my id card yet," Ru said, playing with his gold chain. Aarav sighed.

The two of them headed over to the cafeteria. It was quite a huge cafeteria that covered an entire floor, bigger than most food courts of big city malls. It had different sections too, both western and traditional Indian cuisine.

"They must have a vegan section, right?" Ru asked, a little doubtful as soon as they entered. Aarav did not care to answer. The man would soon find out for himself. Eleven was too early for lunch, so the cafeteria was almost empty save for the cafeteria staff. Aarav got his plate and silvers and walked through the sushi section, Ru nagging behind him.

Aarav made straight for the meatiest and unhealthiest section of the cafeteria, one with all the chicken burgers. He hated unhealthy food, but he hoped Ru wouldn't follow him there. He was wrong.

"They do not have a vegan section here," Ru muttered from behind him, disappointed. His high voice had lost its edge.

Aarav turned to him. "There is a fruit and salad section. You may find something there."

Ru nodded and shambled away.

Ru found him again at the cafeteria table and sat across from him. Aarav glanced at Ru's plate and felt a strange squeeze in his chest. There were a few discolored pieces of apple and sad-looking lettuce. Ru was picking at the apple, clearly having no appetite, all the light on his face gone already.

"Is that enough? I thought you were hungry." Aarav didn't really want to know but asked him out of politeness.

Ru just nodded.

"There is an Italian restaurant across the street. They have vegan options," Aarav let him know just as an FYI.

Ru twisted his mouth and brushed his impeccably styled curly hair. "I am on a budget," was all he said. For the first time since Aarav had known him, the dude was quiet.

Aarav cleared his throat. "Well, since it is your first day, how about I take you out for lunch. You can pay me back later when you get your paycheck."

Ru lifted his face and flashed a bright, honest smile, showing his perfect teeth. Of course, he had perfect teeth.

At the restaurant across the street, Aarav had expected curious, even pointed looks, but not this many. He could only imagine what they must be thinking, a tall, handsome man in a suit with a flashy effeminate guy, all decked up in animal print and strutting around in his boots. But he had little concern for their opinions at this point. All Aarav wanted was to feed this dude and get him out of his face as fast as he could. Ru got the pasta with vegan marinara sauce, and Aarav ordered chicken salad piccata, only to spite Ru.

It took minutes for Ru to go back to his old self, and he launched into a tirade about how animals deserve to be treated equally as humans and how meat-eaters like Aarav will die a slow, painful death. He even described poetically for ten long minutes how the chicken that Aarav was eating was once an innocent little chick running around on someone's farm.

"Do you have a girlfriend?" The question came out of the left field.

Aarav blinked once and then went back to his chicken salad. "I am seeing someone."

"The model? I heard something juicy about her the other day."

Aarav took little notice of the words. "Finish up fast. I have a meeting soon."

Ru seemed a little miffed at the response but kept on eating. Not even two minutes had gone by when he opened his mouth again, "Do you only date girls?" This time he sounded genuinely curious.

Aarav did not even spare him a glance and instead signaled at the server to bring him the check.

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After lunch, Aarav had a long meeting with the rest of his team. When he returned, he found Ru blowing bubble gum and eagerly looking at his computer screen. Strange, Aarav thought, for a guy who never showed interest in anything other than his clothes and his food. He looked over his shoulder, and sure enough, Ru was excitedly looking at men's luxury clothing.

Aarav had not settled in his chair for even five minutes when Ru casually strolled in.

"Do you have water?"

Aarav retrieved two bottles of water from his small office fridge and handed them both to Ru. For the rest of the afternoon, he let Ru stay and watch him work.

"Do you have a car?" Aarav asked nonchalant, as he wrapped up.

He didn't, Ru told him, neither did he have a driver's license. When he was in Delhi, he didn't need one since they had a driver who would drive him around, all day and night, anywhere he needed to go. Spoiled, rich kids, Aarav thought.

"I will drop you off." Aarav stated, and Ru was more than happy to tag along.

And so when instead of dropping him off, Aarav brought Ru to his own apartment, the guy acted confused but followed Aarav, nonetheless.