Uncle Karmjeet always ensured that his house was well protected from the brutality of the weather, so he was clearly unhappy when he came home one evening to find his niece and children huddled in blankets close to the fireplace, which had lighted up the entire parlour in a bright glow.

"Aida, what happened?", he asked, after taking in the situation. "Why are you all huddled up?"

"Welcome, uncle," she answered feebly, her teeth almost chattering. "I think there's something wrong with the heater. It just won't work."

"But what about the lights?"

"They don't work too."

"That's bad. Just hold on. I'll make sure to get this fixed immediately."

Uncle Karmjeet hurriedly walked toward the kitchen and Aida could hear his loud voice on the phone clearly talking to an electrician. She was so cold that the thought of an electrician coming soon made her feel a little warm at heart. She began a countdown as her uncle told her after the call that the electrician, Arjun would arrive in a few minutes.

Twenty minutes later, there was a light knock on the door and everyone expected it to be the electrician. Uncle Karmjeet rushed to the door and ushered him in. Aida straightened up and was very glad to see him, but when she caught sight of his face, her feelings took a sharp turn for the opposite. She could hardly believe her eyes. The electrician, Arjun, was actually the same guy that bumped into her some days ago! He saw her too and was mildly surprised, but finally settled for a smile and a respectful bow. Aida had been looking for a good enough reason to be angry since she could do with some heat from such anger, but she was just too weak to get sufficiently angry at the weather. Arjun's presence was a perfect reason and she seized the opportunity with all her heart. His charming smile and polite courtesy made her anger increase ten-fold. She glared at him with all the venom she could summon into her eyes, but he seemed not to have noticed or was deliberately avoiding it, because with another smile at her, he followed her uncle as he led him to where he would fix the electrical problems.

Aida could hear them talking and to her surprise, few minutes later, the lights suddenly came on. The children quickly threw off their blankets and started jumping and thrashing about, playing pillow fights and shrieking at the top of their voices while Aida switched on the heater. As she tried to place order among the children, Arjun and Karmjeet came out into the sitting room. Arjun bowed to Aida and the kids and they thanked him loudly, each trying to outdo the other in intensity, but Aida simply ignored him and turned her back to him. He stepped out of the house amidst goodbyes from everyone except Aida, but before walking away, he flashed her another one of his charming smiles which made her glare back at him angrily. As soon as she saw his back, she marched to the door and shut it with a loud bang. Uncle Karmjeet who had been watching all along seemed to notice the friction between them.

“What's going on with you and Arjun?”, he asked casually.

"Oh uncle," she sighed. "Don't mind him. He's just a clumsy and careless person, that's all. He almost knocked me down one day."

"Oh sorry dear, but he apologized, did he not?"

"Well, he did... but he ought not to have bumped into me in the first place."

To her, it wasn't just an accident. She viewed it as a clear proof of his carelessness and stupidity. Her uncle simply laughed it off and set it down as undecided romantic feelings, but she hurried away to the kitchen to hide her annoyance. The idea of she and Arjun becoming romantically involved sounded so disgusting to her that she couldn't even bear to think of it.

CHAPTER THREE

Sitting quietly and alone with her thick coat tightly wrapped around her, Aida was trying in vain to fend off the cold as best she could. She never expected the weather to change so quickly, so she never bothered to bring along her gloves and boots, but now she was seriously regretting it. She decided to sit in a quiet corner and think up an idea on how to get home as soon as possible, but she found that the longer she sat, the more tired she got and the more she felt the effect of the cold. Being naturally shy and ashamed to speak her Indian-inflected English, she couldn't bring herself to ask for help, but suddenly, she noticed someone taking a seat beside her. Looking at the intruder, she found that it was her uncle's electrician, Arjun. She sharply turned her head away and managed a short hiss. By now, her teeth were beginning to chatter, the cold becoming more unbearable by the minute. To make matters worse, she could feel Arjun staring at her and sporting that smile of his that she hated so much mainly because it disarmed her.

"Hello Aida," he called softly in his oh-so-sweet voice that reminded her of the flow of soft springs.

She remained mute and stock-still, but that didn't deter him. With his smile still fixed on his face, he shifted closer to her.

"I'm sorry for disturbing you, but I couldn't help but notice that you're alone and cold and it seems you need help getting home. I have my car here, please let me give you a lift home."

Aida knew she had to accept his offer or she would freeze to death in no time, but her pride needed to be appeased. She glared at him as he offered her his hand with that disarming smile on his face. When she was quite satisfied with her performance, she slowly pulled herself up without his assistance and stonily refused to allow him hold her. In fact, she didn't move an inch until he went ahead of her to lead her to the car. He quickly opened the passenger door and stepped aside as she settled herself into the front passenger seat.

After making sure she was settled and comfortable, he got in, started the car and turned on the heater. As he pulled out into the street, Arjun decided to turn up some romantic Indian music. Driving and humming to the song, he was clearly enjoying himself and the welcoming combination of heat and music seemed to be thawing off the physical and attitudinal cold on Aida too. She was already nodding and whispering to the beat. Arjun looked at her and smiled. She quickly looked away and kept utterly quiet for most of the journey.