The love of my life

31. The Date

Daman parked the Mercedes and Ekansh got out. She picked up her wallet as he ran to open the car door for her.

"Well, Thank you." She said as he smiled in response.

They walked in, the guard opened the door and they were led to the elevator and up to the eighth floor of the most luxurious restaurant in the city. They were soon seated at the edge, overlooking the glass window reaching the roof, where the whole city was sprawled infront.

The roses outlined the path that led her and the table had an arrangement of them as well. The cutlery laid out beautifully as she looked up at the man accompanying her.

They had opted out of chinese, as Ekansh wanted something fancy. Daman was still considering if this was a bit too fancy.

He pulled back the chair, letting Daman sit, as he took the chair infront.

A waiter appeared, as Ekansh nodded.
"What's your variety for non-alcoholic wines? Preferably white."

"Sir, would you like sweet or..."

"No not sweet, but not dry, above Chardonnay and below Merlot." He says as the waiter, gives him a few names, and he confidently choses one, as Daman looks at him perplexed.

The waiter leaves, as he looks up at him.

"When did you become a wine connoisseur?" She asks as he shrugs. "And non-alcoholic? You still don't drink?"

"I left at 21, with a promise to someone. So, no I will never drink." He says as she nods.

"21 is the legal drinking age." She states as he nods.

"It was 16 for my family." He says with a smirk.

"You, drank with your family at 16?" She asks as he nods.

There was silence for a minute, which felt awkward.

Silence between them had never been awkward. Comfortable, yes and boring sometimes... Sexually tense, alot...  But never awkward.

"How did you find the house? Or is your go to more modern?" He says trying to reach the topic of discussion.

The topic that had kept him awake, for the past few nights.

But he was a ruler, trained in swordsmanship and diplomacy. He had a way with his words, or atleast he thought.

"Yes, the house... Is it on rent or..."

"It belonged to my great grandparents for when they had business in this city." He states as she nods.

"You are showing off your wealth?" She asks, a bit puzzled as to where this was going. "Ordering expensive wine and cheese, showing off your house?"

"I'm telling you why I took a step back all those years ago... I... Umm... Daman, Have you heard about Bir bahadur Sandhu?" He asks as she nods.

"He was the king, of a large province covering the north part of our state. When he couldn't fight anymore, he surrendered his kingdom to British. Some historical texts call him, brave and the others a coward and trai..." She was saying when she paused. "That house, your great grandparents and... you're a Sandhu too?"

He nods, with a knowing smile. She was smart, and this was the easy part, the hard part was yet to come.

"My family still controls a lot of lands, forts, palaces and properties and with money there is... War." He says looking up at her, treading carefully with his words.

"We live in a democracy. You can't wage war on anything." She says, wondering if he had gone nuts. Was he high? Could he smoke, but wasn't that included in the mysterious promise too?