8
Shivangi took a sip of the water as she nodded her head formally pretending to be interested in the conversation. He was sharing an anecdote about his singing teacher when he was a young boy. Normally, Sivaangi wouldn't mind laughing at such silliness least to empathize with the person narrating, but today her mind was occupied elsewhere.
It was her decision to meet Vikram. No once coerced her. Shivangi also had her own reasons behind it.
However, now, sitting in front of him for early evening coffee she has been staring at the chocolate chips layered on the cookies more than the man in front of her.
Technically, he had the kind of looks that Shivangi would call her 'type'. He was tall, probably over six feet. Neatly trimmed beard hid his jaws, but his smile was still radiant. He wore frameless specks that added pointed to his looks. He wore black dress pants and striped brown trousers. And, has been a chivalrous man since they met trying his best to make Shivangi comfortable and engaged.
In spite of all this, she wasn't herself.
"Pada pada nu pesuveenga. TV la paathu iruken. Ippo ivlo silent ah irukeenga?" Vikram asked
(You seemed very chatty on screen. Now you are very quiet)
"Camera munnadi pesaradhu easy."
(It is easy to talk in front of camera)
"Konjam nervous ah iruka?" he asked. She didn't reply, but only smiled uncommitted sipping water. "Enakum dan. Idhu naan first time ipdi kalyana mindset ooda oru ponna paakaradhu."
(Are you nervous? I am. This is my first time meeting a suitor.)
And that is where Shivangi zoned out again. Was she actually looking forward to any kind of Vikram? Not even in million years.
She was not yet ready for marriage yet. Her only motive to agree to meet Vikram today was to know that if she can ever be open to the idea of looking any man other than him with prospect of future in mind. And so far, the experiment is proving to be absolute failure.
It has been five years and Shivangi has been only obsessed with her music. It was also deliberate decision of hers to stay away from men. It is not because she didn't trust the species, but because the whole pursuing felt extremely unyielding. Music gave her all that she needed.
Suddenly, with people around her wanting her to settle down citing that she is now of age and with old flames sparking again in her heart for certain someone. Shivangi wanted to know for herself that if she is capable of feeling hope in love once again.
Was it only him who can make her heart do the jumps even after all these years or Shivangi can see ray of light with any man who is not him.
It was more of experiment to analyze self and she not so apologetically decided to use Vikram as bait.
The first thing Shivangi noticed when Vikram greeted her with a smile was that he wouldn't smile at her that way. His smile will reach his eyes in an instant and there will be a mix of mischief in it. In spite of the thick beard, she could see the dimple.
Almost after every time after their photo got clicked, she would point out to him that they twin with dimples and he will only shake his head and smile wider displaying those dimples. At that naive age, she was convinced that it was some divine intervention that marked them as special people.
When Vikram began speaking, Shivangi realized that he was not meeting her eyes and even when he does he was incapable of holding her gaze for long.
