The week passes by in a daze. Her days are occupied with the same ole stuff; her colleauges trying to get her down, unwanted attention from her neighbours, random guys from office asking her for a date but not the one person she wants to hear it from, and she fears that she has shooed him away a little too much and he is going to give up on her and soon she is hyperventilating. She calms herself down by acknowledging the fact that even if he did ask her, she wouldn't have agreed to go out with him. She does not want to drag him in her shithole of life. That's not where he belongs.
And soon it's saturday and she is glad she doesn't have to face the outside world for the next forty-eight hours. That is when her cell decides to buzz pulling her out of her train of thoughts. She knows who it is even before looking at the screen. She digs her cell from below the cusions where she is lounging, watching random tv. She has been ignoring it since morning and just decides to answer it and get done with it for once. "Hello" she snaps into the phone, pulling out a face of pure disgust.
She cannot believe she has agreed to it even when she hops out of the shower. Sanya has been on her back all week to go out with her for dinner on saturday, and she has been turning her down all week. But the girl's tenacity knows no bounds and she cannot believe she is talked into this. She doesn't do dates or girl's day outs or quiet suppers with her loved ones. Not that she has always been like this. She has left it all behind herself and going back there is not a good idea, she knows it. But she figured this is the only way she can get Sanya off her back. She almost cried her eyes out on her call early saying how difficult it is for a girl like her to adjust in a new city, trust new people. But she knows it's all a drama set to get her to go out with her because that girl clearly has no problem making friends out of strangers. She was like this once upon a time, but she has left that part behind and moved ahead.
She chooses a fitted pair of black jeans, a beige semi-formal top that has a strap around the high neck-line and fastens it at the nape of her neck. Applying some mascara to accentuate her thick, long lashes and a rust red lipstick, she piles her hair up in a bun. She collects her purse, the apartment keys and shrugs on a black jacket and slips in her beige strappy heels. And out she is.
She is still cursing her luck when her cab stops at the decided location.
China Bistro is a high profile restaurant in the heart of the city. She gets warm smiles by the staff at the reception; the humming music, dim lights, the stench of jasmine tea and and the plush furniture, all so comfortable and pleasant make her realize she is going to have to spend a fair amount of her salary tonight for a date that she was practically dragged into and she doesn't even like Chinese food. She should have settled on some terms before agreeing. Terms that clearly stated that the one asking out pays the bill as showing gratitude for the invitee. She turns on her heels when she hears that luscious voice calling out her name from a booth on the far left. And her world stops abruptly after a hundred spins in her head. Sitting opposite from Sanya is a man. It is not just some man. It is the man she has dreamed about on more than one occassion in the last couple months. She can say it's him even when he is facing away from her, his back towards her. Those broad shoulders, lean frame, forearms resting on the table, talking with animated gestures of his hands. Those hands. "Come on Jess . Unforntunately your prince charming is not here to scoop you up your feet so you'll have to make it yourself" that's when she is jerked out of her reverie, feeling embarrassed for having been ogling the back of a man for a full five minutes or ten or twenty. It's hard to say now that she is so distracted. No. Not distracted. Angry. She should be angry at Sanya for having invited someone else when she was practically moaning sad cries of loneliness and begging her to give her company for a meal. Outrageous. She wants to pour down the soup bowl from the adjacent booth on Sanya's head. She fixes her with a deadly glare. While Sanya just smiles at her pleasantly amd hums softly when she sees the way Akash's head sweeps behind in a quick motion at the mention of her name and a stupid grin spreads across his face.
