Chapter 6
"Follow your heart, but be quiet for a while first. Ask questions then feel the answer. Learn to trust your heart."
Unknown
Daytona Beach
Next evening Gauri checked herself in the mirror for the tenth time. She had changed her mind just as many times since the night before. She couldn’t believe she agreed to go out with him. Why did she paint herself in the corner like that? She glared at Sweta, who was calmly sitting on the bed with her chin in her hand observing Gauri.
Gauri turned towards her friend and put her hands on her hips. “Why did I let you talk me out of calling him and cancelling this date? And why did I just let you talk me into accepting this outfit?”
Sweta had surprised her with the white knee length ruffled skirt and rust orange, cap sleeved, tired top that was just the perfect size for her. It is a perfect first date outfit, but Gauri felt apprehensive about going out with someone like Siddarth. She just knew what kind of looks they are going to get from people around them who will be watching them together
Sweta stood up and went to stand in front of Gauri. "Why are you so anxious about this? Just go and enjoy yourself." Gauri sighed and tried to relax. Sweta was right it's just a date.
At exactly six they heard the knock on the door. Sweta disappeared to the balcony. Gauri took a deep breath to slow her heart rate and opened the door.
Her heart jumped and started beating at a rapid rate. He looked so handsome in black trousers, powdered blue lounge shirt and charcoal grey blazer. His brown eyes flared with unknown emotion and Gauri was lost in them.
Siddarth as usual caught his breath at her simplicity. Whenever he saw her it was her eyes that pulled him to her first. Most people would dismiss her after the first look thinking she was plain, not pretty at all but for him she was very beautiful.
She had soft rounded cheek, pouty lips that begged to be kissed and a slight dent in her chin. Her long hair looked so soft and silky that his hands itched to run through the long, dark, tresses.
For him it wasn't her looks that pulled him to her, from the moment he saw her, his first reaction had been to take her in his arms and protect her from the cruel world.
He didn't know what it was about her that made him feel like that, may be it was the vulnerability that surrounded her like a cloak or her weariness of the people around her.
He didn't know how long they stood at the door lost in each other but he came out of his trance when he heard the door to the next room closing. He smiled, "Hi, you look very nice. Ready to go?"
Gauri opened her mouth to tell him she changed her mind but he spoke first. "Please don't tell me you changed your mind."
Gauri raised an eyebrow to hide her surprise. "You think you know me so well. I was just going to say you also look nice." He smiled but she could tell he didn't believe her. She turned to take her purse and the room key from the table and joined him at the door.
He slowed his pace to match hers as they walked towards the elevators. Once they were in the lobby Gauri felt the stares of his staff as they walked by, she had expected this but it still made her uncomfortable.
She could just imagine their surprise at seeing their handsome boss with someone so ordinary. She breathed a sigh of relief once they were outside but she knew that was just the beginning. She is sure there would be more of those looks once they are in the restaurant.
Her reaction nor did the stares go unnoticed by Siddarth but he did not say anything. He decided to keep quiet for now and let her come to trust him first then she will believe him when he tells her he does not care what people think only thing that matters is how they feel about each other.
Gauri stopped in her tracks when he stopped by the silver luxury SUV. He chuckled at her look. "It is a rental." He opened the door for her then walked around to the driver's side. Gauri waited for him to start the car before saying anything to him.
"Did I say anything about the car? I was just admiring it." She said innocently.
Siddarth glanced at her then pulled out of the parking space. "You didn't have to say anything, your look said it all."
"There you go making assumptions again."
"Is that so? Then tell me exactly what you were thinking." He said with amusement.
"I was thinking, what a nice car this is, it suits you." Gauri groaned inwardly. He is not going to let this pass.
Siddarth wanted to call her on it but let it go for now. "Glad you think so because I own an exact same model and color as this SUV. I flew down here this time but I like to drive to places instead of flying. I try to rent the same type when I can't drive my own."
Gauri turned sideways to look at him. "Do you travel often?"
He looked at her and grinned. "I do, but next six months I will be home more. The construction of our new house is almost finished and mom wants all of us at home to give our inputs into our room decorations"
"You sound very excited about the house.”
He threw a smile her way. "We are all excited, my parents, my uncle, aunt, my cousin and my sister. We finally get to be together again." He turned into a huge shopping center and parked the car.
"This place has the best Indian food here in Daytona Beach." Gauri nodded absently. She was still thinking about his family. She didn't know there were Indian families in America who preferred to live in a joint household.
Siddarth noticed Gauri had gone quiet on him again and wondered about it. He walked around to her side of the car and opened the door for her. Again she looked surprised and smiled at him faintly. He wanted to take her hand in his to feel the softness of her skin but didn't push his luck.
They were seated as soon as they walked in the restaurant. Siddarth was pleased to see they had followed his instructions when he made the reservations. The table was for two only, in a quiet corner, away from larger tables. He seated her then took the seat across from her.
Gauri felt her heart flutter at the intimate setting. Ignoring the fact that their knees were touching under the table, she distracted herself by going back to their earlier conversation. "So your family believes in living together, I have never met anyone who belongs to a joint family."
He leaned forward. "We are an unique bunch. We have been living apart for too long but my mom, my aunt and my dad's sister are very close. When the chance to build the house came up my dad and uncle acted on it quickly to bring the family together again. What about your family?"
Gauri's mind went blank at that. She didn't want to share any details but he deserves an answer. "My dad only has one sister, she is older and married late in life. She is a fashion designer and now lives in India with her husband. I have one older brother, who just got his MBA and still living at home and one younger sister who is training to be a model."
Siddarth could tell she did not want to discuss her family. When she mentioned her aunt and brother she sounded like a loving niece and sister but when she mentioned her younger sister there was wistfulness in her tone. She looked relieved when the waiter came to take their order and he let it go for the moment. He had every intention to find out all he can about her.
Once they placed their order the conversation turned to general subject and Gauri breathed a sigh of relief.
They were silent at times just enjoyed their food, and it was a comfortable silence. Gauri pushed her plate away and looked across the table at Siddarth. She crossed her legs under the table, leaned forward to place her elbow on the table and placed her chin in her hand. "Thank you for the invitation, this was really nice, and you were right, the food is really good here."
He also pushed his plate away and leaned forward. "Glad you enjoyed it, but we are not yet finished." He winked at her and signaled the waiter for the check.
Gauri met his gaze across the table and once again was pulled into the dark depths of his brown eyes. His eyes were telling her so much, nothing was hidden from her, but her mind rejected what she read in those eyes. She looked away before her heart started building sand castles in the air. She would not survive if she were wrong in reading his intentions towards her.
As they drove towards the hotel Siddarth asked Gauri about what her plans were for rest of the week. “So did you and Sweta decide on what you wanted to do for rest of the week?”
Gauri smiled automatically. “We decided to visit Mickey Mouse, it seems Sweta wants to make the trip to Disney World.”
Siddarth smiled at her excitement. “I thought you said she has been there three times.”
Gauri agreed. “Yes she has, she thinks she is fooling me, but she is going because she knows I want to go.” Gauri looked away from him.
He stopped at the red light and studied her averted face. Something was bothering her, but she probably wouldn’t share with him, so he decided to take a different approach. “Have you been friends all your life?”
Gauri turned back to him with a smile. “No we met two and half years ago. First year of college, she and I were to be roommates. She took one look at me and requested to be roomed with someone else. She didn’t like me at all.”
Siddarth was shocked. He couldn’t believe the girl he met last night, who was so protective of Gauri, did not like her at their first meet.
“Then how did you become friends?”
Gauri laughed. “She couldn’t change rooms, so ended up staying with me. It was not pretty at first, but one day we finally understood each other and rest, as they say, is history.”
Siddarth thought for a minute, there was more, but she was again going to hold back, then he remembered what she said. “Wait you said you met two and half years ago, but I thought I heard Sweta say this will be your last semester.”
Gauri squirmed in her seat and twisted her hands. “I started taking college classes in my last year of high school. I finished my general courses in one year, including the summer classes and applied for nursing school and was admitted. So now I will be finished in one semester.”
Siddarth was impressed. “Wow, that is quite an achievement.” He could see she was getting embarrassed. “Where exactly are you from Gauri? You never told me.”
Gauri had hoped he wouldn’t ask her too many questions. “I live in Philadelphia, also attending school there.” She told him reluctantly. They both grew silent after that and Gauri turned back to look out the window. This time the silence was notable in the car. They were both lost in their own thoughts.
Gauri realized they were going past the hotel so turned back to him. “You missed our turn to the hotel.”
He turned his head, taking his eyes off the road, to answer her. “I told you we are not yet finished. I want to show you something.” Gauri tried to relax back in the seat, but was unable to relax completely. She had hoped to end the date right after dinner, but he was not going to accommodate her.
Siddarth pulled up in the parking lot next to the boardwalk and got out of the car to come to her side. She stepped out of the car to see crowd of people on the boardwalk. She could handle this. At least they won’t be alone. He escorted her to the beach.
The air was cool and breezy making her hair fly in her face. She pulled it to one side as they walked along with beach going people. There were so many activities along the walkway. Young teenage boys showing off on their skate boards, elder couples out for evening walks, young mothers pushing their small babies in the strollers and the street vendors selling many different things. Siddarth stopped at one of the flower stalls.
The man at the stall smiled at them. “What can I get you sir?” Siddarth looked at variety of flowers then at Gauri and turned back. “One single deep burgundy rose please.” The man raised an eyebrow, while Gauri looked on shocked at his choice of flower.
She wondered why he asked for that specific color. The man selling the flower grinned at Siddarth and asked, “With thorns or without?” Now Gauri was really confused. Siddarth again turned to her and answered the man. “Definitely without thorns, don’t you think?”
The man behind the counter studied Gauri. “Perfect choice sir.” He handed Siddarth the flower after wrapping it carefully in the clear, plastic cellophane. Siddarth paid for the rose and turned back to Gauri.
They walked further down the boardwalk where the public dwindled to only few people. It was very quiet, they could hear the waves clashing with one another, and in the distant they could see various groups of people sitting around on blankets.
Suddenly Gauri felt a chill go down her arms and she rubbed them to warm them. Siddarth noticed and put his hand on her arm to stop her. He took off his blazer and wrapped it around her shoulders.
Gauri immediately felt warmth engulf her. she smelled his spicy after-shave on the blazer and became even more aware of him. She looked up at him to see him staring at her intently. He held the rose out to her, “For you.” He said huskily.
She took the rose with trembling fingers. “Thank you, how did you know that this is my favorite flower of all flowers?”
He shrugged his shoulders. “I didn’t, I picked it for a different reason, but it is nice to know what your favorite flower is.” He grinned down at her.
Gauri took a deep breath, she had to make him stop before it was too late. She wasn’t too far from believing everything he said to her, and that could end up being disastrous for her. “Siddarth…” She trailed off when he put his hand on her mouth.
He shook his head. “Please don’t spoil the moment.” She turned and took few steps away from him.
He followed her. “Gauri I know you felt something the first moment we saw each other in that lobby. You have been trying to avoid me since then, so I know you feel there is something more between us that should be explored. Why are you denying it?”
“Because this can go nowhere. You and I are world apart. I know you saw the way people looked at us, why are you turning blind eye to those looks? That would be just the beginning, what happens if we continue this so called attraction?”
Siddarth took her arm and made her turn towards him. “I don’t care what people thinks, and you shouldn’t either. You should only care what I think. I don’t know what you see when you look at yourself but all I see is a very intelligent young woman, who is obviously a very caring person from what I observed of her in the past three days. I see a young woman who has the most beautiful eyes that I have ever seen. Every time I look into them I get lost in them, eyes that are full of secrets and sorrows that I want to explore. I want to know the cause of sadness I see in them and take it away from them so all that I would be able to see in them is myself. When I see your face I don’t see the physical beauty, but what is beneath it that outshines every other beauty. When I look at you I see my future.”
Gauri almost believed him then her mother’s words echoed in her ears. “All you have is your brain, so use it, because no good man would want a plain looking girl like you. And let’s say some man choose to marry you, but I wouldn’t expect him to be faithful to you that’s for sure.”
She closed her eyes to hide the pain that was caused by remembering her mother’s constant taunts. She was unable to understand why her mother was so cruel and indifferent to her, and she could not understand her father’s silence.
The only people who ever stood up for Gauri are her grandmother, her aunt and her older brother. Now days her mother made sure no one was around when she was taunting Gauri.
Gauri turned away from Siddarth. “You don’t know anything about me.”
“Then let me get to know you. Spend rest of your vacation with me.”
Gauri shook her head. “No, I am here with Sweta and we will be spending the vacation together.”
Siddarth was getting desperate. “Fine spend the days with her, but let me take you out in the evenings. And it’s not like this will be the end, we can see each other once we go back home. You don’t live hundreds of miles from me. It is only a two hour drive from North Jersey to Philadelphia.”
Gauri curled her hand into a fist to keep from giving into his pleas. She was tempted beyond belief, but couldn’t take the risk. “I think we should go back.” She started walking in the same direction they had walked from, towards where the car was parked. Siddarth had no choice but to follow her quick strides.
Once they got to the car Siddarth opened the door for her and closed it quietly. He sat on the driver's side and glanced at her before starting the car. He tried to think of a way to convince her but his mind discarded all the options he came up with. He realized it was best to back off for now and hoped that he had another chance to spend time with her and convince her.
She kept quiet all the way to the hotel and as they walked up to her room. She pulled out her room key and looked up at him. "Thank you for dinner and the walk." He placed his hands in his pockets to keep from taking her by the shoulders and shaking some sense into her.
Gauri was barely holding herself together. His words kept echoing in her ears, her senses were filled with his musky aftershave. She wished she had kept the blazer around her shoulders for few minutes longer. She had left it in the car. She felt as though she will remember this one evening and this one man for rest of her life.
So ends the first date. I stop here for now as the update was getting too long. We will continue from here in the next update.
Please do vote and leave your comments, most appreciated. Thank you all in advance.