Riya

I sat in the cafe, absentmindedly scrolling through Pinterest. I was trying my best to drown the discomfort that reared its head in a situation like this.

The cafe I sat in had a wooden aesthetic and white-bricked walls. Too polished and pristine like Sia's place years ago. Not a place I would've chosen, but it was decided by my supposed date.

Who even went to cafes for dinner dates? Was I too old to know that this was a thing?

It was conveyed by Sia, by the way. The dude didn't bother to text.

Sitting alone while surrounded by a group of families and friends was a little bit suffocating. I sat there in the middle, pretending I blended in. Pretended I belonged and scrolled down Pinterest to find the word 'science' was connected to the word 'sek'.

I wore my usual casual clothing, but I put some effort into the makeup department because Sia had video-called me to see if I was lying. It was getting tougher to trick her.

I loved putting on kajal and lipstick, but I didn't want to do it for some random guy who I had yet to see.

I sighed at the thought and the doorbell chimed.

I glanced up to see a grey-eyed Greek god walk in. He looked like a guy straight out of a Taylor Swift music video wearing a sage green t-shirt and jeans. His hair had that slightly overgrown look and that made him feel more human.

He scanned the room and his eyes fell on me.

wow, Okay!

I tried not to let my jaw drop on the floor as he walked towards me with a smile on his face.

I had a feeling I had seen him somewhere.

"Riya?" He asked in his smooth voice with no amount of uncertainty, and I nodded. He felt like a person who knew he was good-looking.

"I'm so sorry, I got stuck in traffic." He pulled the chair in front of me. "I'm Arjun." He said as if sensing my confusion.

I was already being a bad date. Not remembering his name. Great start.

I straightened up. "I'm Riya"

"I know." He said, looking at the empty coffee cup in front of me. "Looks like I made you wait a while."

He asked my name in the beginning. Why was I so dumb?

"No, no. It's fine." I straightened up. My voice sounded more like Ruhi than my own, all guarded and distant. He raised his brows with an amused smile.

He ordered a coffee while I tried recalling where he had seen him. I needed more information before making any assumptions that I had already made.

"So, tell me about yourself. I know basically nothing." I said, ordering one for myself too. I needed more caffeine to get through this because the nagging feeling in my mind didn't look good.

"Arjun Chauhan, Economics, Xavier's. I like to play video games with my cousin-who you know. He loses every time, by the way." He wiggled his eyebrows playfully.

My eyes widened at the Xavier's part. That's where I had seen him.

"Do you, by any chance, play football?" I asked.

He stopped for a beat, then smiled. "I might."

"So, you know I'm a Mount Mary student?" I raised my eyebrows.

"I might've known that." He took a sip of his coffee.

"Mhmm."

A lot of 'mights' with this one.

"I just wanted to see how an ogre like him can have such a beautiful sister." He leaned with such unabashed confidence that I couldn't help but laugh. I would've loved to see Dhruv's face right now. This was absurd.

"Were you in the last game?" He nodded.

"I felt I had seen you somewhere."

"Yeah, I saw you there."

"So, is this something like 'pissing off the player of the other team by dating his sister' game?" I asked, sipping my coffee. I could feel myself relaxing.

"No." He laughed, shaking his head, and leaned back in his chair. " I just wanted to get to know you. Sia's pretty insistent on this dating thing,"

"It's tough to say no to her," I said, leaning back in my chair as well.

"I think Rudra pampers her too much." He rolled his eyes. His guard was finally down.

He did, but I was not going to accept that. "That's how relationships are Arjun. You pamper each other."

As much as I was starting to enjoy his company, I knew this was not going anywhere.

"Anyways, now that we both know we're not into this whole dating thing, we can end this date here," I said, ready to go home.

There was a pang of disappointment that this date was also a failure, but at least I tried.

Now, I would be free from Sia's matchmaking for a while.

People had matchmaking mothers, but I had a matchmaking best friend who put my mother's effort into making me meet her friend's son look pale in comparison.

What was she thinking, sending me on a date with a guy my brother possibly hated?

He looked at me for a while his expression unreadable. "At least have some food before you go. You don't plan on going home hungry, do you?"

He was right. I did plan on going to Sia's place hungry and making her guilty enough to order a pizza because that girl can not cook to save her life and sleep like a baby at her place.

I told my parents I was at her place so they wouldn't question the whole date thing.

A dinner wouldn't hurt. And Arjun seemed like a nice guy. So, I agreed.

After we ate, I paid for my share and got up. I expected to have an awkward silence, but surprisingly, I had a good time. Arjun was fun.

"I can drop you home," he asked, opening the door.

I agreed, it was better than waiting for a cab.

"You can drop me off at Sia's place. I'm staying there for the weekend." I said.

We stood outside the cafe. A gentle wind passed through hinting at the approaching rain.

"Let me bring my bike here." I nodded.

My eyes fell on Dhruv, who sat on his bike a few feet away, looking at me with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. My stomach sank.

My eyes searched around to see if Abhay was there. He wasn't.

Dhruv walked to us, and Arjun stopped when he saw someone was coming our way.

"What are you doing here?" He looked at Arjun. His voice was too calm.

"Having a nice date with a nice girl," Arjun said casually but his demeanor shifted to a guarded one. The playfulness was gone.

"Well, the date's over. You can go." Dhruv said in a cold voice.

"He was dropping me home," I said to remind him I was there too. What even was this reaction? He was not going to create this ruckus in public.

"I'll drop you." He looked at me with anger. I didn't like that. But I also didn't want him to do something rash, which was his characteristic these days.

"Fine." I turned to Arjun. "Thanks for the dinner. I had fun." I said genuinely, hoping he would understand.

He waited as if assessing the situation, then smiled and winked, "my pleasure. I'll text you. Good night."

"Good night."

After he was gone, finally Dhruv spoke. "Text?"

"What is your problem?" I asked crossing my arm. "It was just a date."

"A date with him? Do you know who he is?" His voice held the sharpness that he used so casually these days. I missed my sweet brother.

"I know. He's Rudra's cousin. Don't be like this."

"Since when did you start going on dates?" Look who was talking.

"And why do I need to tell you that?"

"Because you do stupid stuff like going on a date with my rival."

"Not everything revolves around you and your football drama." I gritted out. "I'm not in the mood to discuss all this. Drop me at Sia's place."

"Why at her place?"

"Because I'm staying at her place." I gritted out.

"And why is that?" Was he serious?

"Didn't know we were updating each other on what we did in our lives." I taunted, all the hurt from the last few weeks coming out like a poison.

"No, but you can not date him," he said it like a command and that pissed me off.

"And why would I listen to you? Didn't we decide to stay out of each other's way?" I tried to remain calm and keep my voice in check because I hated public fights. I wanted to run away.

"I'm not staying out of this." he gritted out, and I could feel eyes on us.

"Just...drop me off at Sia's place. We can have this conversation later. People are staring."

He looked around and clenched his jaw. "Fine, let's go."

He dropped me off at Sia's bungalow and waited as I rang the bell. It was Ruhi who opened the door in her pink night suit, and she visibly stiffened seeing Dhruv. Then she ushered me inside and shut the door with a bang.

"You wore sneakers to a date?" Sia made a half-horrified and half-amused face while she held a piece of cake in her hand. She also wore the same matching pink night suit. Was it someone's birthday?

A horror spread through me at the thought of forgetting their birthday.

"Dhruv dropped her off." Ruhi said looking at Sia. then she looked down at me as I removed my sneakers. "I guess the date didn't go well."

"What?"

"Why didn't you tell me he was a Xavier's student?" I asked Sia, who had a confused look on her face.

"And why is he being from Xavier's a problem?" she asked.

"He's Dhruv's rival. Football stuff." I groaned, sitting down on the floor.

"I didn't know he was a rival," she said. "But isn't that cool? It's like an angsty romance novel. You're in love with your brother's rival. A secret love affair. You both against the world."

"I'm not in love with him," I shouted exasperatedly.

"Let her freshen up first," Ruhi said.

"Wear the pink night suit after you take a shower. I'll keep a towel in the shower," Sia said.

"What's the occasion?"

These girls were my only constant. I didn't want us to drift apart like Dhruv and I did. 

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