For my sake, I and Sahil got seated at the corner, the same one, in the cafe. I wore black denim and yellow blouse that had embroidery on its neck. I looked around, trying to act normal in front of Sahil.
I wondered if I should break the ice. But what was I going to start the conversation with? Asking him how the weather is? Or asking him how the day at college was?
"Dhvani, you look beautiful today," he said grabbing my attention.
"Huh?" I furrowed my eyebrows at him as I was not paying attention to what he said.
"I said, you look beautiful today,"
"You look beautiful as well," I grinned at him.
I instantly regretted. How can I mess up the conversation so bad? What would have Sahil thought of me? I was doing really bad.
"You mean handsome?" he giggled.
"Yeah, yeah handsome." I corrected.
"Have you ever been on a date before?"
"Umm, no." I shook my head.
"Weren't you dating Armaan?"
"Yes, I was. Oh, yes I had gone on dates with him." I bit my tongue.
Why was I getting so nervous? Like Atharv had said, Sahil was not going to eat me up. I really needed to stop acting like a weirdo.
I kept quiet for another five minutes. I started to wonder why he was not ordering anything. We were sitting in a cafe, right? Why wasn't he ordering anything? Or asking me to order something for us?
The waiter came to us and I looked at him helplessly. I had a mental debate on whether I was supposed to order or ask Sahil to do the honours.
"What would you have?" Sahil asked, finally.
I didn't really need to go through the menu card, as I knew what was there in the menu. Besides my favourite pizza, I liked the burritos from the cafe. Since the latte option was not going to work, I went for a burrito.
"Burrito supreme,"
"I don't like the burrito,"
"I've ordered that for me. You can order for you," I stated.
I rolled my eyes on the thought of sharing my food, it's only Atharv with whom I do the sharing thing, forcefully.
After noting down our orders the waiter went away leaving with the two of us again. Food was the hidden reason why Appu must be going on dates, I suppose.
"You have an older sister, right?"
"Yeah, my cousin."
"I'd met her last year in the Yuva Fest,"
"Oh yeah, she had come along with me." I gave him a confused look as to why was he so curious about Appu.
"Okay," he took a deep breathe, "Let me be clear. I love your sister since the past one year. Would you please talk to her about me?"
It took me a whole two minutes to understand what he said. Sahil liked my sister, not me. He was chatting with me sweetly only to convince me how good he is for my sister? That was so pathetic. I would have never thought of that.
"What the hell? If you love my sister then why the hell did you ask me out? You could've asked her out. You're such a waste." I ranted.
I rose from my seat immediately to leave. On finding no solid object to throw at him, I threw the water on his face. He had completely ruined my date. I had never imagined Sahil would do that to me.
"My sister is dating a way handsome guy than you. And let me tell you, she's out of your league. She'll make you a bankrupt in a week."
I had to give him a piece of my mind. And no, Appu wasn't dating anyone. It was just to make him know where he lies.
I swung my backpack over my shoulder, "And don't you dare show me your face again otherwise I'll punch right in your face." I gushed at him before storming out of the cafe.
I groaned loudly, not caring if people gave me looks - anyways, there were no people around. The street was lonely and the local shops were getting closed. In Dehradun, the shops would get shut before eight on offseason. In winters, being the main season, the shops would be open till twelve.
At that moment I literally felt like beating Appu's ass for giving me useless advice. I was stuck in the midst of the road with no one around. With no option left, I pulled my phone out to make a call to Atharv. But to my dismay, he didn't pick any of my calls. I called him once again, the ring irritating my ear while on the parallel I could hear somebody groan.
I glanced at the source and was amazed to find a puppy wandering in the midst of the road. I looked around hoping to find either of its owner or its mother. On finding no one who seemed like related to the puppy, I decided to get it since it was dangerous for it to wander on the road. The puppy looked way cuter as I stroked its head gently. It was of the size of my two palms, with white and brown fur. Its eyes were hazel brown.
A sudden honk of some vehicle snapped me out of the admiration I was having for the puppy. I noticed the nameplate of the car under its Jeep logo and immediately stood up, scooping the puppy in my arms. My eyes went wide as I realised whose car it was. I mentally cursed my luck for having me landed in the situation in front of Ryan.
"You're Atharv's friend, right?" He asked, looking at me.
I wondered. According to me, I was non-existing for him, but I was wrong. He knew me. That itself lit my mood.
"Yeah," My voice croaked.
"What are you doing in the midst of the road?"
"Well I, I found this puppy wandering helplessly on the road so I picked it up," I spoke, trying my best not to fumble.
"Oh,"
"Is it yours?" I asked since he was the only person I noticed on the road which I regretted later.
"No," he sounded like but obvious.
"If you want I can drop you," he spoke looking around for Atharv, I suppose.
And I went speechless. Did he just ask me to sit in his Jeep? I wondered. I wished if I could ask him to repeat what he spoke, but I didn't want to sound stupid again.
"Dhvani?"
"Yeah," I forced a smile at him as I edged towards the door.
I stepped inside carefully, hoping not to embarrass myself. I glanced at the stereo that had led set on it. I tilted at him hoping him to start the car.
"Seat belt,"
"Oh yes," I murmured awkwardly knowing that he was waiting for me to put on the seatbelt.
Once I clicked the seatbelt he pulled the engine and drove smoothly. Anxiety was all I could feel, for sitting in Ryan's self bought Jeep or being with Ryan I wondered.
"Where do you live?"
Shit. I was so excited on getting an offer for a ride with Ryan, that I almost forgot I lived just a few minutes from the cafe. He would definitely think I was insane on knowing where I lived.
"It's on the way, I'll tell you when to stop." I spoke, hoping that he heard it.
"What are you gonna do with the dog?" he asked confusing me as to what he meant.
"I mean, would you raise it or put for an adoption?" he asked.
I glanced at the innocent lad that I'd held in my arms. Adoption was definitely I was going to strike off the options though my parents won't like my decision of keeping the puppy in our house.
"I'll raise it," I replied to which he didn't say anything.
"That's a doodle puppy," he spoke.
"How do you know?" I asked.
"My sister loves puppies and she is searching a perfect puppy that would fit in the amount she has saved. You are lucky you found one for free," he chuckled.
"Oh,"
No matter how much ever I wished that the journey won't end, after a few minutes of the drive I reached my home. I muttered him a "thank you" as I stepped out.
Ryan waved at me, to my utter shock. I recalled how he had waved at me in childhood and I waved at him back. It was later that I realised he was waving at the boy beside me. That was an epic failure back then. I looked around, like an idiot, hoping to find a person at whom Ryan supposedly waved.
I waved back at Ryan with a smile. I hardly had five minutes with Ryan and I forgot about the worst date. He really had some spell on me.
A/N :
It's my twin friend's birthday who calls me her twinheart and is really special to me. Happy birthday may born Miss_Perfect99 ❤️