A Modern Marriage|AR|Ch 1 - pg 9| 30/6 - Page 6

It is already Friday night and Riddhima wonders if her first ever dinner date plan is still on or not. Though she is excited for it, she is equally nervous. What if the guy took her to some club or a pub? Her dad has told her that he did his MBA in UK. What if he tries to kiss her after the evening? She has seen and heard many of the first date kisses. She often wondered how it would feel, if there is magic in it at all. Being the geeky nerd and romantic dreamer she is, she has done that and much more in her dreams but never dared to breach the topic in real life. It is not that her parents are super strict. It is just that she has always studied in girls' college, all blame on the roll on counselling in University, and even in that she has been busy preparing for CAT. Her time in IIMA went by in a whirl leaving her lost and lonely. She has made wonderful guy friends but somehow no one ever showed romantic interest in her. They thought she is a bit uptight and reserved. And she didn't understand what was wrong in that. That is how she ended up being single at 25 without any past relationships.

Riddhima sighs. May be an arranged marriage is written in her fate. But then her parents were happily married for over 30 years and somehow still in love.

A loud beep breaks her train of thoughts. Realizing it is her mobile, she looks at it to see a message from unknown number.

Hey Riddhima, Armaan here. Shashank uncle told about the plan tomorrow. We shall meet at 7, OK? 'Armaan

Riddhima narrows her eyes at the message. She reads the message 10 times, just to make sure and then frowns.

"Couldn't he have asked me about the time suitable for me" she mutters, wondering how to reply him.

But before she could type in a message, another message pops up from the same number.

I am sorry, I meant to ask if 7 would be suitable for you. Else you can decide the time. I am free any time. ' Armaan

Her eyes widen at the message and she looks around her wondering if he has heard her mutters. But only her empty flat greets her. Atleast her ego is petted now that he has 'asked' her.

Sure. 7 is perfect. ' Riddhima

Cool. I will pick you up at 7 then.

Before she could think of a reply, another message pops up.

Sorry there. I mean to ask if it is fine if I pick you up.

She prefers driving herself, but texts him back. Sure, no problem

Cool, see you then.

See you.

The moment she puts her phone on the desk, another beep catches her attention, from the same number.

Sorry again, I forgot to ask your address. Can you please text me?

For a second, she wonders if it is safe giving him her address. The next moment, she brushes it away shaking her head at her foolishness and texts him her address.

Thanks, see you.

Before she types in a response another message pops up, yet again.

So sorry again, do you have any preference for food- veg or non-veg?

She gives it a thought and texts him back. Not much, as long as the food is tasty.

Great! See you tomorrow.

She waits a minute to see if another message would pop up. And he doesn't disappoint her.

I swear this is my last message for tonight. Good Night. :)

And involuntarily a beautiful smile makes its presence felt on her lips. She reads the entire conversation again and shakes her head smiling to herself.

Curious, she saves his number and opens whatsapp on her mobile. She finds his photograph as his display picture in the app. She squints her eyes to get a better look and curses the app for keeping the picture size small.

She runs to her bedroom and pulls her laptop out of her office bag. Sitting on the bed, she quickly opens Facebook and types 'Armaan' in the search box. She frowns looking at the thousands of profiles. She clears the box and types in 'Armaan Mallik'. This time the results are limited to hundreds in number. Wondering what to do, she types in 'Armaan Mallik' and limits the search filter to London as location. She smiles triumphantly at the result which returned just one profile. She clicks on his profile and sighs disappointedly when his profile settings are private.

"Atleast, the pictures are public." She consoles herself and goes through the pictures.

Her eyes widen looking at the number of girls appearing in the photographs. Next a couple of them were with his guy friends in a bar, a few in his office and a few with some kids she couldn't identify.

Seems like he is a ladies' guy, she thinks to herself.

A moment later another idea pops in her brain and she quickly opens LinkedIn. Typing in his name and location, she finds his profile and opens it. She finds UN children rescue as one of his projects and smiles. So that's where the kids come into picture. Realizing that he has a commitment towards community, her heart softens up creating a small corner for him.

Yawning, she closes the laptop and crawls under the blanket on the bed.

That night, she sleeps peacefully dreaming about a certain Armaan Mallik, although unintentionally.

---------TBC------