I was going to punch this guy. But before that, I wanted to punch myself. WHY would life do this to me? I had been back for all of 50 hours and life had already found a way to get complicated. WHY?
Although my internal droning kept going, I knew better than to let it show. After a relatively snobbish and surprising correct guess at what I wanted to drink, the minute "Hot Chocolate" rolled off of Dev's mouth, I changed my mind immediately. What was worse, he didn't sound like someone who had just met me!! The way he stated my undoubted beverage of choice, got me startled. Now, I was decided. There was no way I would drink hot chocolate with him today... no matter how much my body craved the sugar.
Wanting to seat myself at a table by the window, before I could get to my chair, I heard a voice that said, "Wait. Allow me." 'DO YOU HAVE TO BE THIS POLITE?' I screamed inside my head while he pulled out my chair and I made myself comfortable. Mumbling a "Thank you" as he took his seat, I was about to go on a rant but I looked around to make sure that we were out of earshot of the counter.
Finally turning to him, I blurted, "You're the guy from the Start-Up Fair." Smiling amusedly at me, he simply stated, "Ah.. I'm glad you don't suffer from short term memory loss. It would have been painful working with you otherwise."
THE NERVE OF THIS MAN!! I wanted to punch his oh-so-handsome face. Wait. Did I just admit that he is handsome? Gooooddd!
Fuming, a storm of words escaped my mouth before I could restrain myself, "Why are you following me? Huh? Do you seriously not have something better to do? I mean.. You don't seem half bad with the clothes you wear – so is all this an inheritance or do you 'actually' do something useful with your time?"
Realizing that I may have crossed a line in my little rant, I could feel myself flush with embarrassment and since my parents didn't raise a loser, I apologized immediately saying, "Look – I'm sorry. That was completely unwarranted for. I am no one to judge you and since I couldn't figure out who you were yesterday, I asked my folks. And when I saw you here today, I was just caught off guard. Like I said, I'm sorry. I didn't mean what I said at the end."
All this time, the person in front of me quietly heard me out. I saw him flinch when I mentioned my family – but he covered it up with a cough. If I hadn't been watching his every move, I was sure that I would have missed it.
Leaning forward in his own seat across from mine, "Ms Bhalla..." he started. "Please – call me Deeksha. Or Dee. That's what everyone does." I interrupted.
"Alright then," he continued with a smile, "Deeksha. I was caught as much by surprise as you were when I saw you here with morning. I know I probably shouldn't have simply left like that yesterday.."
Just then, the boy behind the counter came with our drinks. Both were to go, than have at the restaurant and quite frankly, I was glad for the mobility. He gave us a smile and went back – but before he left, he threw a knowing grin at Dev.
"What was that about?" I asked, and in return, all Dev said was "Nothing you need to worry about." When he didn't say anything else as he sipped his coffee, I felt the need to explain, "Dev..." I began and suddenly, he perked up, as if he had been lost in thought, "See. I know that you and my brother are not on good terms. Hell, talking terms even. Ma also refused to give me the details. All I know is that something happened between the two of you nine years ago. But – I am not my brother and you have done 'me' no wrong", gesturing to myself.
"So, though he might not like that you and I are working on this together, but until proven otherwise, I will give you my trust. This project is an important step for what I want to do with my life and professionally speaking, crucial," I said. Nodding in understanding, I took his silence as an opportunity to continue saying, "I hope we can make the best use of this chance."
"I understand what you are saying, Deeksha," he said gravely, "We will do our best to collaborate. But your brother is right." Confused, I waited for him to continue. "You should stay away from me," he whispered.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
:O What just happened?!?!?!
So originally, I had planned for this to be a smooth, twist-less chapter. But somehow, I couldn't bring myself to not write this when I ACTUALLY got to it. I have Zero Idea where the story is going to go from here. I'm just gonna keep writing and sending the updates as and when I can. Haha!
To be honest, I'm just a reader who gets to read this before I let you read the story - it surprises me as much as anyone else!
I can't wait to figure this out, now. Lol!
Also, also!! The guy up there is Sunil, the barista / coffee artist.
Okie then!
Hasta la vista, baby! ;)