Mysterious Man

For some reason Mahi could have used in place of Twinkle because of her socially awkward fear-of-people personality, and Twinkle in place of Chinki. However, I thought Twinkle best fitted the character because of her name (which I love btw), the ex-boyfriend drama, farmhouse incident and the entry of the mysterious man. Also, I wanted to Chinki a more spontaneous one. With that said, please enjoy. Step one, first name. She frowned. Even if she put her real name, no one would ever believe her. It had been cute in grade school, embarrassing in middle school, and a nightmare for her in high school. Closing her eyes for a moment, she took a deep breath and thought about the promise that she had made to her friend, Chinki. 'Twinkle.' Location was next, so she quickly typed 'Amritsar, Punjab.' That was easier. Age was, as well, '21.' Occupation was one that she wasn't really sure what to put. 'Professional agoraphobe' seemed like it would attract the wrong type of people, or no one at all. 'IT Support' was clothesbetter answer, and probably more of what the dating site was looking for there. Likes. Seriously? How in the world would anyone ever know what to actually put there? Twinkle sighed again, grabbing another candy corn from the bowl at her side and popping it into her mouth, she mass purchased one of the only sweets she really liked in October to hold her over each year. 'Halloween. The sound of crickets chirping at night. A hot bath. Eating good Chinese food. Puppets.' She was pretty sure if Chinki saw what she had put, the spunky woman would yell at her and take over the setting up of her dating profile, but Mahi just happened to be in the middle of a teleconference and she'd set a timeline for Twinkle to get the account set up. And she only had 20 more minutes. Dislikes. Oh, she would need a lot more characters than allowed to answer that one. 'People who don't like goats. Ryan Gosling. lo fi. Grocery shopping. Cooking fish.' What is your best personality trait? Oh Jesus. 'My expectations are low.' What is your worst personality trait? 'I am Jack's inflamed sense of rejection.' Wait. No, she couldn't put either of those. It made her look desperate and sad. Well, she was kind of desperate and sad. She changed the best trait to 'attentive' and worst trait to 'sarmassophobia.' At least she'd get them to google something. What was she looking for in a date? Twinkle had never been on a real date before, so how in the world did she even know? She hadn't even left her house in the last three months. 'Patience and understanding.' Sure. Where would she go on her ideal date? Seriously? Did they mean seriously or like, if she had access to an airplane and unlimited funds? 'A good place for dinner where the music was soft and the conversation was good.' What do you look for in a date? 'Someone who is nonjudgmental and has possibly laughed at a cat meme on the Internet.' Ok, she had somehow decided to answer all the questions in such a way as to ensure that she never went on a date in her life, but Twinkle was having a hard time with this. Setting up an Internet dating profile would have been easier when she was seventeen, but now, after what she'd been through, it was like going to the dentist for her, something that almost required an Ativan. Clicking the next button, she was glad to see that everything else was a 1-5 scale of likes and stuff, which she went through quickly. Once she was done, she finally hit the submit button and then bit her lip as she went to the 'upload photo' button. Was she really considering putting her actual picture up on the Internet? The thought was stress-provoking and she lingered over the array of photos that she'd taken earlier in the day. All were of her sitting in front of her computer, turning her head one way or the other, her long, thick, wavy blond hair falling around her heart shaped face in her absolutely dorky glasses. Rolling her eyes, she clicked on one, knowing it was not what Chinki would have chosen, but she had only promised to make a profile, she hadn't promised to care about it. The picture she uploaded was of her, but instead of showing her big brown eyes and pale skin and dark brows, she was wearing a a Catwoman mask that covered her head from her scalp line to her lower cheeks and nose. She'd even put on red lipstick in the picture and had puckered just a little bit. Done! Twinkle clicked 'finish' and watched as her profile uploaded. Once it said that her profile would be reviewed and then taken live, Twinkle snapped her laptop closed and got up from her couch. Setting the machine aside, she walked from her living room into her small kitchen and pulled open her fridge. Speaking of grocery shopping, she was going to have to do it again, and soon. There were only condiments and a half stick of butter on the sad looking shelves. Frowning, she closed the door and opened the freezer to find a nearly empty ice cube tray and a partially empty box of frozen waffles. Shutting that door, she went to her cabinets and was equally disappointed by what she was seeing inside. Looking at the time, she knew it was too late to order a grocery delivery, it was evening, the darkness creeping through her windows confirmed that. S**t, she felt a shiver work up and down her arms. She could just order take out. Then she wouldn't have to leave. But Twinkle knew that she needed to just go to the store. She would need food for the morning, as well, she was tired of eating waffles. Grabbing her jacket, she threw it over the black NiN shirt she was wearing with gray yoga pants and slipped into her black moccasins. There was a market a few blocks down from her house that was open late. She'd been there many times and it usually was pretty empty. Unlocking the deadbolt and lower lock on her door, Twinkle opened it wide and looked out into the hallway of her second floor apartment. She could feel the heat in her body as she looked at the threshold. This was ridiculous, she thought to herself, it was ridiculous to not be okay with leaving your own apartment to get food. She reached to the side table and grabbed her purse, looking into it as she forced herself to walk over the line that marked her space versus the more public space of the hallway, and then she pulled her door shut behind her and locked it. Twinkle refused to let her mind get the better of her and she walked down the staircase, stealing herself for the sick feeling that was bound to work up from her gut when she opened the front door of her apartment complex and stepped out onto the front walkway. Twinkle was intelligent enough to know that she had nothing to fear from being outside, she knew her phobia was completely irrational. She hadn't been this way her entire life, she used to love the outdoors, in fact. She had enjoyed going kayaking and swimming with her family, had loved to go snowboarding and hiking. Twinkle couldn't remember ever wanting to stay in a house, no matter where she was living at the time. She had been outdoorsy. It had only been after she'd found herself the subject of the attentions of the slightly older only son of her mother's enemy that she'd started to develop a fear of being around other people, and that fear had festered and grown until she'd been forced to quit her job at a local tech company because she was having a hard time getting into the office to work. Yuvraj Luthra had done this to her, and she knew it wasn't fair to herself to let the man have so much control over her still. It had been five years now. Five years since he had last gotten her almost naked in the farmhouse when he thought everyone else in the house was asleep. Five years since he'd last held her face ever so gently and call her baby. He had loved to tell her how much he was in love with her. When their family had walked in on them that night, it had been humiliating, and then she'd been kicked back into the system while Yuvi got to stay, Yuvi got to age out there. Twinkle had aged out in a group home on the other side of town. She'd never seen him since that night, and she certainly didn't want to, but she knew the fear that they would cross paths was just one of the reasons now that she worked from home and watched a lot of Netflix. She barely had any friends. Chinki was the one she was closest to, and they had only met in person a few times, and mostly at Twinkle's apartment. Chinki was convinced that Twinkle needed to conquer her fears and get out and meet people, hence the stupid profile that she'd just created. It was sprinkling outside, she realized at she looked up at the night sky. There was a full moon, also, which made her slow her steps a little to take it in. It was very beautiful, and she was glad that she'd went outdoors, she couldn't see the moon very well from the windows of her apartment. A few minutes later, she reached the door of the market that she wanted to go to and pulled it open slowly. Stepping inside, she felt a little bit of the tension in her shoulders dissipate and she looked around the interior of the store. There was a young man sweeping the area in front of the cashier desk and a young couple a few rows over near the back looking at something on the shelf. Twinkle turned to her right and made her way to the frozen food section. She opened a door, not caring really what was inside, just needing to feel the cool air for a moment to slow her breathing and calm her body. She closed her eyes and stood there for a little while until she felt herself finally relax enough that she could complete the task that she'd come here to complete. "Excuse me, can I grab something?" A deep, rumbly sounding male voice said and Twinkle jerked back a little and looked up at the large, tall man who had somehow appeared beside her. He was tall, hulkishly so, and his broad shoulders were ridiculously muscled under the blue leather jacket that he was wearing. He had black hair that anpd his jaw was chiseled and very very sexy, with the type of stubble that was probably too stubborn to ever be shaved completely away. His lips were firm and thin, and lifted slightly at the corners in a warm smile. She ignored the smile, and the way he looked handsome in his clothes and stared directly in his eyes. It was as if she was slowly trying to decipher the mystery of his soul.