What a Girl Wants

Even though she had rushed through the whole thing, Chanderi was late. She reached Wood Green by 6.40 PM. The sun had set and she could only hope no mosquitoes would buzz around their heads and suck them dry.

She found Chiranjeev at the entrance, sitting on the low wall outside the garden. He was looking at his phone and he looked unreal in the dim, golden street light. He hadn’t changed the least bit but she felt her heart skip several beats when he raised his head, saw her and broke into a smile.

Pihu had told her, many times, how one smile from Prachal could knock her socks off. At the time, she had thought her friend had been exaggerating, being in love as she was. She finally understood what Pihu had been talking about. It was true what they said, every love song started to make sense when you fell in love.

Was she in love? She didn’t know. She knew she did not want to let this go, or go on any other ill-conceived dates with “honourable young gentlemen” as her father was wont to refer to them. She shuddered at the thought.

Chiranjeev walked up to her but unlike before, he did not envelope her in a hug. So, he was feeling shy too. That made things easier.

She said, “Sorry I’m late.”

He looked away, feeling ridiculously awkward. He was used to feeling speechless and breathless every time he saw her. It was maddening how today had left him feeling like he was seeing her for the first time.

“I don’t mind waiting for you.”

She danced on the balls of her feet. “Are you going to hug me?”

Chiranjeev startled, then lunged to hug her which meant he knocked into her and they fell away from each other. He was rubbing his sternum where her forehead had knocked him and she was rubbing her nose, probably for the same reason.

“Sorry, I’m sorry. This is weird. I don’t know why it’s weird.”

She said, “Want to try again? I’ll give you a warning this time.” She raised her arms wide and walked slowly towards him.

He laughed and let her hug him. It felt nice. Even if it was strange to have arms around his arms rather than around his neck.

“Are you smelling me,” she asked after they had settled into a more comfortable hug.

He laughed but did not let go. “Yes,” he said without sounding self-conscious. But then he put his foot in the mouth. “It tells me where you have been all day. Oh god that sounds creepy. I…”

Chanderi let go and looked at him, head cocked to one side. “Where have I been today?”

He knew it was a challenge from the way her eyebrow was raised. He bit his lip. He was an idiot. He should learn to keep his thoughts inside sometimes. He huffed out, looked here, there, everywhere before looking at his shoes. “You have been home. Seeing clients most likely.”

Her other eyebrow joined the first. “That’s…correct.”

He shrugged. He took her hand in his and said, “So, we’re dating. You wanted to meet. Here we are.”

“Will you look at me please?”

He raised his eyes, then his face. He was feeling uncharacteristically bashful and that could be because he was finally getting what he had wanted and he didn’t know what to do with his good fortune.

“Are you sure?”

“What do you mean am I sure?”

“You’re not mad at me?”

He took both her hands in his and squeezed. “I’m not mad. I am happy. I would love to date you and basically continue doing what we have been doing. Maybe I can join my parents sometimes for brunch when they come to meet yours? I’m open to suggestions.”

Chanderi shook her head. The Bajajs and the Chudasmas friendship was the most peculiar phenomenon of this whole affair. They were still going strong, meeting every other Sunday for brunch and they were even planning a joint vacation for Christmas in Europe. Even though her mother hated the cold, she was ready to go because she knew she’d have Mrs. Bajaj to complain with.

“Are you sure?”

Her grin was wide and happy, not minding the question in the least. “I want it. For real. I have…” she wanted to say so many things but just said, “I want to take you on a date. A real date which we will label as a date. So, Chiranjeev, will you go on a date with me?”

His grin was enough of an answer.

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Chapter 23 of 26 of the ongoing series Chanderi. You can read all posts here. Written as part of #BlogchatterA2Z.