Chapter 3|Romance On The Go
The next morning she woke up with a pleasant mood, the weather was calm and cool, there was a slight breeze but it was nice.
Excited she got dressed and left to go to the caf as per the routine, the same caf at which she would never look the same way. For once she was glad no one was home, the pile of questions or some reminder of another stupid party wouldn't be able to ruin her perfect mood today.
Groaning inwardly she quietly sat in the backseat of the car, she couldn't complain now, it wasn't like the man in white uniform was overjoyed with his job, she couldn't add to his miseries by her ranting.
Shrugging away her mental conversation with self on daily issues she smiled thinking of the stranger, who had changed the meaning of the word altogether.
Weren't strangers who randomly hit a conversation supposed to be creepy and all?
She wondered.
She reached the caf and without ordering she continued to walk towards her table, looking around, searching for him.
Not finding him anywhere she sat quietly and began to sketch. She sketched for hours and kept checking time every now and then.
Two hours passed by.
Three hours.
Four hours.
She closed her sketchbook and threw it in her bag.
Four hours and twenty minutes.
She took a sip of her second cup of black sugarless coffee and moved her head as she closed her eyes in exasperation.
Four hours and forty minutes.
The waiter watched as his posture played again from yesterday. Except this time it was a different kind of shock. Then it him and he smiled mischievously.
"Kuch kuch hota hai, tum nahi samjhogi" he spoke to himself in an attempt to mimic the actor and left to prepare a cup of coffee for himself.
"bade log, bade log" he placed the cloth on his shoulder and boiled the water.
She got up and lazily putting her purse strap on her shoulder she turned around to leave, as she reached the door, her eyes met the same stranger-correction her newfound betrayer of a friend.
"Hi"
"Bye"
she said, moving through the narrow space between his shoulder and the frame of the door.
Before she took her next step he held her wrist. Their backs facing each other, as she wore an expression of anger and he was just smiling.
Why was she angry? It wasn't like he had told her he would come here or made any other commitments. But she had seen him whenever she came there, so it was natural to get mad.
He pulled her inside as he turned around. She tired to wipe that expression off of her face.
She moved the irritating strand of her hair away from her face as nervousness took over her.
He kept looking at her, waiting for her to explain, smiling.
"Sajnaaa kya yeh mera pehle pehla pyar hai"
The waiter sang as he mixed sugar in his coffee, looking at them from the corner of his eye.
"When someone says hi you reply back with a hi, you know out of courtesy" he spoke as she continued to look here and there, feeling guilty and stupid for getting mad when she wasn't supposed to.
"sorry..umm..actually I came here a few hours back so I was going to go home…and.."
she spilled, as she realized what she had just said, too late to take it back.
"and you probably expected me to see here and you didn't"
He completed her sentence, biting his lower lip, surprising himself for being too friendly with someone.
"Emm..no…its not like that"
She tried to save herself.
"Acha? Then why do you seem like you are lying?"
He asked as he folded his arms against his body, confidence dripping from his aura.
Gosh..why did he have to act so dominating even when it didn't seem like he was trying.
She wondered.
"Okay okay… I did expect to see you here since I see you here whenever I come but you weren't here…big deal"
She tried to sound calm and collected, acting like she hadn't wasted four hours and forty minutes waiting for him.
"Yah no big deal, just a wait of a few hours that's all" he smiled.
Her eyes popped out.
How did he know?
"How did you?.. I mean no, I wasn't waiting for you"
"It clearly says on your face that you were waiting"
He narrowed his eyes as he tried to prove himself right.
"Its ok you don't have to be ashamed, it is a common thing for people to wait for Arnav Singh Raizada"
He said slightly raising his head and narrowing his steely eyes again.
"I wasn't-"
"Im sorry"
"But-"
"ill make up for it"
"Arna-"
"Lets go"
He grabbed her hand and took her towards his car.
Before sitting in his car she called her driver and told her she would return home by herself. After a lot of pestering he gave in petrified at the reaction that her parents would give at leaving their only daughter all alone to get robbed in the city.
She took a sigh of relief and sat in his car.
"Where are you taking me now?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.
"You'll see"
He said looking straight at the road smiling.
Without saying a word she rolled her eyes and looked outside the window.
"By the way you look nice today"
"I know"
She continued to look outside.
"Beautiful dress"
He said genuinely complimenting her dress which contained hues of greens and blues in abstract flowers.
"Its old"
She said blankly.
"I like your hair down"
He said in an attempt to pump her mood. He liked the fact she was waiting for him, and that she wouldn't admit it, even better.
"Didn't have time to style it"
"Your eyes are gorgeous"
He placed the last card.
She immediately turned around and looked at him.
"Thank you"
She smiled.
Mission Accomplished.
___________________
They passed by the train station when suddenly she held his wrist.
"Stop"
He looked at her confused.
"Lets take the train?" she asked hopefully.
She had never traveled in public transport since she was born in a filthy rich family.
They didn't even know what kinds of public transportation existed, let alone travel in one.
He immediately agreed and parking his car in the parking lot nearby he took her inside the station.
The two went and sat in a random train not knowing where it went.
At first Khushi was a little hesitant, but Arnav had convinced her that if she wanted adventure this was the best way, after he had promised her he wad take her home safely.
All the seats inside the train were occupied and they stood holding the bars between the seats for support.
As the crowd increased there was lesser space for people to stand. Arnav and Khushi were standing too close now.
She felt butterflies in her stomach out of nervousness and anxiety at her new experiences while Arnav's mind thought of things he hadn't imagined.
As the train moved the passengers moved too, at one of the turns Khushi almost fell on Arnav, her hair attracted to his blazer and her scent intoxicating his senses.
"Sorry" she whispered after she almost fell on him.
"Its ok" he smiled as he touched her shoulder.
Traveling in the train was so much better than in that stupid car. That was nothing compared to this. She couldn't believe her parents kept her away from all this her entire life. If it wasn't for Arnav she would have missed it.
"Thank you"
She whispered.
"For?"
"For bringing me here?"
"Bringing you here? You brought me here" he said acting as if he was forced to come.
"shut up" she said as she playfully hit him on the arm.
"By the way where were you planning to take me in the first place?"
She asked curiously.
"Nowhere specific, just to take you out so you out so you could breathe"
Wow.
She couldn't believe how considerate and understanding this man was.
She moved closer to him and looked at him in the eyes.
He looked back, smiling lightly.
She wrapped fingers around his, the ones that were holding the bar.
"You are a wonderful friend"
"I know"
Both smiled.
The day had passed, after talking for hours the two felt they had known each other from ever.
Ishaani
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