Haven't proofread, please feel free to point out typos or errors if any.

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Chapter 11 : A Date

"Abhi, are you mad?" Aadarsh shouted as he chased his brother around the king-sized bed in his room. 

"You should be thanking me, what you couldn't do from the past twenty minutes I did it in two." Abhi said typing something on his phone.

"What the fuck are you typing?" Aadarsh hollered.

"It's a date. She said she'll come directly from work." Abhi announced and threw the phone on the bed.

Aadarsh glared at him and picked up the phone. He quickly read through the text messages, Abhi had sent to Ruhaani. "I am never giving you my phone ever again. Not even if you beg." He muttered, reading the last message from his side. "You sent that freaking smiley. You're fucking mad!" 

Abhi laughed heartily slumping on the bed. "It's so much fun to see you curse, all you rawness comes out and how!"

Aadarsh glared at him and then looked back at his phone's screen cringing. "Seriously man! Who puts emoji in texts? I am not a teenager."

"It's called an emoticon. Emojis are those animated fellas, you know those yellow faces."

"Which cafe is this?" Aadarsh asked.

"It's a really cool cafe for romantic dates." He had barely finished saying when he received yet another glare from his elder brother.

"Get lost!" Aadarsh muttered, clearly annoyed. "I have a meeting at six tomorrow."

"Cancel it or move it. That's the least you can do for a woman you're about to marry."

"Yeah, get lost."

"It's a date. Don't fret over it, bro. Now that my work here's done, off I go."

"You better!" Aadarsh muttered still annoyed.

Aadarsh sighed, staring at his phone's screen as his brother left the room. He had been considering the idea of meeting Ruhaani before their engagement. But he was unsure. He didn't know what to say, what to talk about. Especially after that weird moment where he had been staring at her like an idiot when she had come home the first time. He wondered what she thought of him.

He had to now come up with topics to speak on. He didn't want to make a fool out of himself. Stupid, stupid Abhi! Who puts an emoji or whatever it is called!

* * * 

Ruhaani was glad she reached a few minutes before six. She got enough time to use the loo, wash her face and reset her hair. She stepped out of the washroom and grabbed a seat in the far corner of the Cafe. 

It was a garden cafe. Climbers decorated the walls. Fairy lights were placed along the climbers such that they appeared like tiny fireflies against the leaves. The tables and chairs were painted white. Colorful cushions were arranged on the chairs. Wooden partition walls with a mesh pattern separated the tables to ensure privacy. They were also adorned with climber plants. It reminded her of the cover of the book— The Secret Garden. It was one of her favorite books back when she was thirteen.

She settled on one of the four chairs around the table. She picked up one of the two  menu cards that the waitress left her with. She had barely skimmed through two pages of the menu card when she heard his voice.

"Hi," 

She looked up and wore a smile. Her eyes took in his form. He was dressed in a white crisp shirt that was evenly tucked into his pants. The full sleeves of the shirt had been neatly folded up to the elbow. His eyes hid behind stylish sunglasses "Hi," Ruhaani said as he settled on the chair across the table from hers. 

"Sorry to keep you waiting. The parking was almost full." He spoke as he pulled down his sunglasses and placed them aside. She noticed the watch on his hairy arm, it had a big dial, she wouldn't be surprised if it was worth lakhs.

"Yes it was, it took me a few minutes too to get a spot. It's no problem, I just got here few minutes back." She said.

"Did you order something?" He asked glancing at the menu card before her.

"Not yet." She answered, forcing a polite smile. Didn't he know it was rude to order before one's date arrived?

"Okay, shall we order something first?" He asked his hand reaching out for the other  menu card. 

"Yes, sure." She said, the fingers of her right hand running along her hair, pushing it back, as she went back to reading the menu card.

Aadarsh's gaze did a quick rise to catch her action. His attention was captured by her earrings that were highlighted against the brown if her hair. She wore dangling earrings that were shaped like the crescent moon. She had a unique taste in earrings. Every time he met her it was a different pair. 

He quickly glanced at the menu. He was moderately hungry but was unsure what to eat. He didn't want to eat something heavy or anything unhealthy. As it was, off late, one way or other he was ending up with fried greasy samosas or cutlets or spring rolls or pizzas.

"What do you plan to order?" Ruhaani asked scanning the menu. She couldn't belive the rates. Who charged hundred for a cup of tea, that was excluding the taxes? She decided to go with something that could fill her stomach instead.

"Uh, I am thinking of ordering the fresh green sprouts salad with a latte. You?" 

"Uh, I was thinking to go for a chaat." She spoke looking up at him. "Sev puri."

"Sure," he said turning to find a waiter. A waitress caught glimpse of him and smiled making her way towards him.

"How can I help you Sir?" She asked gazing at him.

"Um, a fresh green sprouts salad... it is boiled right?"

"No Sir. But I can request the chef to have the sprouts boiled."

"Excellent, so we would have that and Sev Puri, and a latte for me and.." he turned to Ruhaani. "Your preference for beverage?"

"Uh, nothing. Some water at room temperature would be great."

He smiled at the waitress and she nodded walking away.

"You don't drink tea or coffee?" He asked.

"Uh, I do. But I have had enough caffeine for the day."

He nodded, and a hesitant silence fell. He looked around. The place seemed nice and cozy. 

"So uh, how have you been?" Ruhaani spoke up.

"Great." He answered turning back to look at her 

"How's everyone at home?"

"Good. They are thrilled. The only talk at home is my...our marriage."

She smiled.

"I actually had a few things to discuss..." he spoke up after much thought.

"Yeah sure..." Ruhaani said.

"Uh, so, acually I was just... you know..." he paused to form a proper sentence in his head. "So, the thing is that, our company has a lot of deals with the government. So I make it a point to keep all legal documents updated and clean. So, I was wondering if it's okay to run a background check on you. I mean, it's just a legal process to make sure we don't have any issues in future. When you're dealing with the government, it's essential to make sure your family's records are clean as well."

"I understand. You can go ahead. I don't mind." She said with a polite smile. "You might find a few tickets for wrong parking nothing apart from that."

Aadarsh looked at her, nodding. "Also, umm for the application of marriage certificate I would need a few of your documents, ID proof and your, " he hesitated a bit as he went on to say, " late husband's death certificate."

"Oh," she leaned forward on the table. "Actually legally I am not married as per law."

"What?" He asked confused.

"Yeah. Actually when we had applied for the registration of our marriage there was some glitch in the application and it was rejected. But by the time we realized that, he was long gone, so.." she sighed.

"So, you mean to say that as per law you haven't been married."

"Yes,"

"So you...you're not associated with him in any legal way. You don't get, I mean support from the government or a part of his assets?"

"No. I don't." She passed him a tight smile. "There's no legal document that associates us in any way."

"You could get an affidavit from court saying that you're his wife based on circumstantial evidence. I mean it would have secured your future and Pari's."

Ruhaani nodded in agreement, "I could. But the timing of everything was so ...messed up. I only realized that the marriage wasn't registered two weeks after his death. And by then his family didn't want to have anything to do with me. And I did consider the option, but at that point there was too much tension between me and his family. They had lost their only son too. So, I didn't pursue the matter."

Aadarsh stared at her. Up until now he had assumed she'd be having the benefits provided by the government but he had been wrong. The waitress arrived with their order. 

Ruhaani placed two spoons in her chaat plate and pushed it towards him. 

"No, thanks!" He declined her silent offer to taste, politely. It was such a strange situation. She wore the tag of a widow but wasn't even given the benefits that came with being one. He watched her as she took her spoon and dug into the chaat.

"So, you're a foodie?" He asked as he tasted his own salad.

"Mostly." She smiled. "Are you not?"

"I won't call myself a foodie but I do love traditional, well made, healthy food."

She smiled, recollecting how he had rolled the spring roll in a tissue to remove the extra oil before eating, the first time she had visited his home.  During their roka he had avoided jalebi which was fried. "You don't like oily stuff?"

"Nope. Once in a while it's fine, but uh, I get acidity too quickly. So I try to eat healthy as far as possible."

"Hmm, this is good you should try it." She spoke as she took the second bite. She loved chaats. She was ever ready for street food. She had eaten a lot of delicious chaats but this one was certainly one of the best. It was a perfect blend of savory, sweet and sourness. The freshness of the green coriander and mint chutney and the crunch of the sev just made it better. 

"Uh," he shook his head, looking at his own plate. The salad was a wrong choice. He regretted ordering it. He should have gone for the sandwich instead.

"It's not spicy." She added.

He nodded and took the other spoon in his hand and took half a spoon of the chaat. 

"So?" She quizzed, waiting for his reaction.

"It's fine." He said. It was good, actually really good. Slightly spicy but tolerable enough. But admitting it somehow was out of question. 

"So, I have hired a wedding planner. Right now Ashvi and Abhi are brainstorming on options."

"They seem excited."

"Oh you have no idea how much!" He remarked stuffing his mouth with the sprouts salad.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Hmm," he looked up at her reaching for the cup of coffee.

"Your father wasn't present for the Roka. I know you had mentioned he was sick. I was just wondering if he'd be there for the engagement. I haven't met him."

His fingers didn't lift the cup of coffee. Suddenly the taste of salad seemed much better than the taste of bitterness that came in his mouth. "He is suffering from Alzheimer's disease. It was an early onset for him. He has trouble making new memories. So I don't think it makes any sense for him to meet you or. . . attend the engagement. He won't remember it anyway."

"That's unfortunate. Do you all visit him?"

"Once in a while, Abhi does." Aadarsh answered shuffling the contents of his plate with the spoon in his hand. He somehow hated talking about his father.

"It must have been hard to come to terms with your father's disease...especially after your mother's demise. Your Bua told me that she passed away at childbirth."

"Yeah!" He sighed. "Do you want your order something else? Your plate is almost empty." He said shifting the topic.

She shook her head realizing that he didn't look at her in the eyes. He was dodging an eye contact. Maybe she had touched a sore nerve. They ate in quiet for a while. 

"Aadarsh," she said to draw his attention, realizing it was a good time to ask about the size of ring.

He looked up at her. His dark eyes finally meeting hers. "I was wondering if you know your ring size."

He subconsciously glanced at his ring finger. "I don't wear rings, so I am not sure. But I can visit some jewelry store and find out and let you know."

"Okay, or wait, actually I can measure it. Give me a minute," she said and turned to ther bag on the other chairs. She dug through her bag and brought out the measuring inch tape.

Aadarsh was surprised, although he didn't let it show on his face. She carried an inch tape in her bag, it was peculiar.  Or maybe she came in prepared.

"Your hand," she said. He forwarded his left hand towards her.

"The right hand. Men wear their ring on the right hand in our culture."

He nodded and withdrew his left hand and forwarded his right one. She looped the measuring tape around his ring finger. He gazed at her as she focused on the task in hand. The fingers of her right hand held his palm while with the left she was working on wrapping the measuring tape around his finger like a ring.

Her eyes drew narrower as she tried to form a ring around his finger. She then used both her hands to hold the shape in place and then gently slid the circle out of his finger. She then read the measurement. In the next few seconds, she was typing something on her phone.

"I think this should work," she said with a smile that had a sense of achievement.

He nodded pulling back his hand. He lifted the cup of his coffee and brought it to his lips as he silently watched her put the measuring tape back into her bag. 

"So, Pari didn't come along?" He asked.

"She's at home. I came directly from my office." 

"Right, you did. So uh, have you planned your leaves?"

"Leaves?" She asked confused.

"For the wedding. I mean you may have to inform before hand right?"

"Yes, that I have to. I still need to talk to my manager about that. But I have enough days to take a vacation, so it should be fine."

He nodded. She looked around. Suddenly they had run out of topics to talk on. 

"Uh, actually for the engagement... have you decided on the dress?"

Ruhaani was surprised he asked that. Frankly, she hadn't. Her aunt had asked her to get two of her saree blouses altered. She still wasn't sure what she would end up wearing. 

"I have options, but I haven't zeroed on yet. What about you?" She asked.

"Not yet. Actually, Ashvi wanted to select my outfit. She wants to have a common theme. So she's selecting an outfit for everyone. In fact, she actually wanted to select one for you too. That's if you don't mind. I mean, I am sure you'd have a lot of ideas for yourself. She just asked me to ask. So out of formality I did."

"That's fine with me. I don't mind."

"No, you don't have to agree just because I said it. I didn't want to lie to her that I asked so I brought it up. You don't have to change your plans for her."

"No really, Aadarsh. I am okay, if she wants to select a dress for me. She seems  excited about the whole thing."

"Yeah, I guess it's a woman thing. All the ladies at home and Mukti are super excited about all the functions. The whole day all I hear is discussions around it."

Ruhaani chuckled.

Aadarsh looked up at her surprised. Was she laughing at him or was there humor in his words? 

"You know they have added me to a group chat where all the discussion takes place."

"They have?" He questioned, his eyebrow raised in disbelief.  No one told him about this.

"Yes. It's filled with decor ideas, dress ideas and the likes."

"Wow, I wasn't aware of that."

"I was wondering why they didn't add you. I mean almost everyone's there, your brother and Phupha Ji as well."

"Because it's an unsaid rule to not add me to any random chat group." Aadarsh answered nonchalantly, drinking the last bit of his coffee.

"Oh!" She reacted. She stared at him thoughtfully. It seemed like he was the disciplinarian of the house. 

He looked at her. "What?" He asked.

"Nothing," she murmured picking up the glass of water. Their eyes remained locked as she drank from the glass. He was sure she had meant something by that 'oh' and wanted to say something. But she didn't.

"So, maybe you can coordinate with Ashvi about the dress." He said 

"Hmm, I will do that." She replied. A silence fell again. She thought hard and came up with a question. "So what's your day like?"

"My day?" He repeated perplexed.

"Like, what a day in your life looks like."

"Oh that way. Wake up, get ready, have breakfast drop Mukti and Nirvaan to school and then work. Get to the gym after work, get home have dinner, sleep."

She nodded. 

"What's your day like?" He asked curiously.

"More or less similar to yours. Get ready, drop Pari to the preschool, work, get to the store ... I used to work as a part-time accountant at this retail store and then get home have dinner, spend time with Pari and sleep."

"You don't work anymore?"

"Not anymore. There's hardly enough time with all that's going on."

He nodded.

"Do you work on weekends too?"

"No. Not unless there's something on priority."

"So, how do you spend your time on a weekend?" She asked.

"Saturdays are set, mornings with Ashvi, noon with Nirvaan and Mukti, evenings with Abhi. Sundays, we try to go out, if not then it's just staying home and getting things done. What about you?"

"I take dance classes for the kids in society and yoga classes for the ladies in the mornings. Other than that, it's usually spending time with Arti and Pari."

He nodded, pushing his plate aside. A silence fell again. They stole glances at exactly other than looked around. Aadarsh glanced at his watch. It had been more then forty-five minutes.  "So shall we get going?"

"Yes, we should I guess." She replied.

He nodded and turned to the waitress who was looking in the direction of their table. Ruhaani couldn't help but be amused. The waitress wasn't making it any secret that she was totally checking him out time and again. 

"Bill, please."

"I will pay, today." Ruhaani spoke up as he reached for his wallet.

"No, please. I will pay it. Besides, I always pay when I take someone out "

She blinked and kept quiet. She was slowly understanding the tiny bits of him. He always wanted to be the one in control, the one in command, the one dictating the terms. She could be wrong, but that was her initial judgment of him. 

Once the bill was paid they rose from the table and made their way out. He walked ahead of her. 

"Aadarsh," she called out while her gaze was fixated on his back. He looked over his shoulder at her.

"There's a bee on your back." She said, stepping back from him.

"Uh what?"

"Bee. It's on your shirt at the back."

"So get rid of it," he said turning so that his back was in front of her.

Ruhaani looked around. She picked up the table number tag from the nearby table.

"What's taking so long?" He muttered impatiently.

"I can't use my fingers, so I am... don't move " She muttered. With her shaking hand she tried to lift the bee onto the table tag.

"Ruhaani, what.. "

"Shh, it seems stuck."

"I don't want to get stung." He muttered restlessly.

She used her left hand and grabbed the material of his shirt where it disappeared into his pants. She pulled the material away from his skin so that he didn't get stung, creating a gap between his skin and shirt. She tried to separate the bee from his shirt by sliding the cardboard table tag in between. After a few seconds she was successful and the bee flew away.

She drew out a sharp exhale. "Done."

He turned to her, his hand rubbing his back.

"It's gone," she assured 

"Thanks," he uttered, looking around.

They quietly began walking out again. They entered the lift to go down to the parking.

"I will see you around then," he spoke up as they exited the lift. 

"Yeah, actually I have something to give you. It'll take a minute." She said. 

He nodded following her to an old  model of a Suzuki. She opened the door to the back seat and brought out some covers.

"It's cupcakes. I had promised Mukti I would get her the ones from the bakery near my office. And there's donut for Nirvaan, and dhoklas for Dai Jaan. There's enough for everyone."

Aadarsh glanced at the carrier bags and then at her. He took them from her "Thanks!"

She smiled. 

"See you then." He said.

"Bye," she said softly.

He walked away towards his car. His gaze lowering to the paper bags in his hand. He placed the bags in the back seat aof his SUV and got onto the driver's seat. He saw her car pass by in the front. His gaze following the car till it disappeared.

He smiled starting the engine of the car. Ruhaani was the right choice. There was no doubt there.

• — • — •

Hope you liked the chapter. Looking forward to reading your comments and thoughts.

Next update on Thursday (tentative)

—Anami!♡