Denial, Drama And A Destination Wedding

2. MARINE DRIVE

"Are you sure you can drive?" asked Arjun, smirking slightly as they made their way to the parking lot.

"I assure you that you will not die today. Will that do?" replied Meera, in an irritated voice.

She got into the driver seat and started the car. Arjun signaled with his eyes that she had forgotten to put on her seatbelt. Damn, he doesn't miss a thing! Meera quickly clicked the seatbelt on, "I was just going to do that. There was no need to tell me!"

"I don't know what the rules are in your beloved city, but I do know, that universally you are supposed to put on your seatbelt BEFORE you start the car" said Arjun.

"Maybe I'm unique then. You'll get used to it after some time" replied Meera.

"Oh I see. So today is the start of many drives?" he replied teasingly.

"No. This is the first and last time we are doing this!" she said firmly.

"Why? I don't have a lot of people to hang out with in Mumbai, so why don't you get rid of all that infuriation and actually try to talk to me!" he said genuinely.

Meera thought for a moment. Maybe she could try to give him a chance. It was not as if many people were dying to be friends with her! YOLO, she thought.

"Okay. I'll give it my best shot"

"Great. So now that this is settled, why don't we actually go to Marine Drive?"

Meera began the drive and switched on the music player in the car. It was all Coldplay, her favourite band. Soon enough, she began to sing with the music. She loved driving alone and singing loudly. But singing loudly was really not an option today.

"Para- para - paradise, every time she closed her eyes" sang Meera.

"Thanks for the choice of music. I really like Coldplay too" said Arjun.

"We actually found something in common! Who would have thought!" exclaimed Meera.

"You have to put Everglow after this. Its my favorite Coldplay song"

"This is insane. Everglow is my favorite too! You know what, Arjun? It seems that you do have some taste after all" teased Meera.

"You never gave me a chance to show it, honey" he replied.

"Don't 'honey' me. I hate it" she said.

"Well, okay. How about 'sweetie' then?"

"Is it necessary to call me any of that? I do have a name. You could stick to that!" she replied, eyes transfixed on the road.

"Boo. You're no fun" said Arjun, making a dramatic sad face.

"I do know what I'm going to call you though..." Meera said with a mischievous smile.

"What?!" he asked confused.

"DQ. That's short for Drama Queen" she laughed.

"That's super mean. You could at least call me Drama King! There is no need to change my gender"

"Aww. Sorry DQ, but you don't get to decide that!" she laughed.

"Whatever. Are we ever going to reach this place or not?"

"Classic change of topic, DQ. But it's your lucky day because we're almost there"

She parked her car in one of the lanes, opposite Marine Drive. After locking the car, she looked behind and there it was. The sun was almost about to set. Perfect timing, she thought.