'First Encounter'

"Seenu this is the fifth florist we are visiting today, if you don't pick something here then I am leaving you and going back to our dorm" an annoyed Arjun stated.

"Don't rush me Arjun" Seenu scolded, as him and Arjun entered a florist shop, "I need to find the perfect flowers, it's mine and Naina's first date, I can't give her anything but perfect flowers".

Arjun sighed, "Seenu, I don't think Naina will really care if the flowers are perfect are not, I think she will focus more on the gesture then the quality".

"Found them!" Seenu suddenly yelled, his eyes landing on a bouquet of baby pink roses, "These are perfect for my Naina".

"Oh thank god" Arjun said, breathing a sigh of relief, "Now go pay for it and let's go".

Seenu nodded his hand, he grabbed the bouquet and started walking towards the register when his phone started ringing, taking it out of his back pocket, he realised Sameera was calling him.

"Arjun, take this" Seenu said, handing Arjun the bouquet, "Pay for it and bring it outside".

"And why am I paying for your girlfriend's flowers?" an annoyed Arjun asked.

"First of all, she's not my girlfriend, yet, second of all, Sam's calling" Seenu informed.

"So?" Arjun asked.

"Naina is with Sam, you idiot" Seenu informed, "If Sam's calling me, it obviously has to do with Naina, so you go pay for those flowers while I solve whatever's happening with Naina, and don't worry, I'll pay you back".

Before Arjun could stop him, Seenu had rushed out the florist.

"Such an idiot" Arjun mumbled, "He couldn't just give me the money now?".

After a shake of his head, Arjun walked over to the register to pay for the flowers, while outside, Seenu answered Sameera's call.

"Is Naina okay?" Seenu asked, the second he answered his phone.

"Seenu" Naina greeted, making Seenu realise Naina was calling him through Sameera's phone.

"Naina?" a confused Seenu asked, "Why are you calling me with Sam's phone?".

"My phone died, I forgot to charge it last night" a sheepish Naina informed.

Seenu chuckled hearing Naina's words, "Don't worry, it happens to the best of us".

"Yeah" Naina whispered, "But I didn't call you to talk about my died phone, I actually need to ask you something".

"What?" a curious Seenu asked.

"What should I buy you?" Naina asked.

"Buy me?" Seenu asked confused, "Why will you buy me something?".

"Because it's our first date together, I can't not buy you anything" Naina said.

"Naina, you don't have have to buy me anything the fact that you agreed to come on this date with me means the world to me" Seenu said.

Naina sighed, "I told Sam this is what you're going to say but she didn't believe me, you and Sam are both no help, goodbye".

"Naina listen--", but it was too late Naina had already hanged up on Seenu, an amused Seenu chuckled and looked at his phone with a huge smile on his face face, he then ran an excited hand through his hair, he was so excited for his and Naina's first date, he couldn't wait for tonight, he just wanted it to come as fast possible, he wanted to shower Naina with so much love that she never regrets or second guesses her decision to choose him.

Seenu turned to go back to Arjun, when suddenly his eyes landed on a oblivious girl walking in the middle of the road while a speeding truck was coming towards her.

"Oh hello!" Seenu yelled, trying to gain the girl's attention but failed as the girl was wearing noise cancelation headphones, she couldn't hear Seenu's yell or the loud beeping of the trunk, "Shit, shit, shit!", a panicked Seenu quickly rushed over to the girl and just as the truck was about to hit her, Seenu grabbed her arm and pulled her towards him, in the process both of them fell on the ground, with Seenu on top of the girl.

Seenu looked at the girl and immediately she seemed very familiar to him but Seenu couldn't for the life of him figure out where has he seen her, "Are you okay?" he finally asked, but the girl didn't say anything, just kept staring at Seenu, her eyes wide open, Seenu clicked his fingers infront of the mystery girls eyes, immediately breaking her trance, "I asked, if you're okay".

"Of course I'm okay, you saved me" the girls said, looking at Seenu with dreamy eyes.

Seenu breathed a sigh of relief, and once the worry went away, anger started flooding him, he stood up and held his hand out for the girl, who immediately put her hand in his and let Seenu pull her up.

"You really should be more aware of your surroundings" an angry Seenu said, "If I had been even one second late, you could have died".

"But you weren't late, you were right on time, you saved me, almost like you're my guardian angel".

Seenu shook his head, "I'm no one's guardian angel" he stated, turning to walk away, but quickly realised he couldn't walk away as the mystery girl was still holding on to her head, Seenu turned around and faced the girl, who was still staring at her, "Let go".

The girl smirked, "What if I don't want to?".

"Did you hit your head in the fall?" Seenu asked.

"I don't think so".

"Seenu!" Arjun yelled, stepping out of the florist and seeing his best friend talking to a girl, a girl whose face he couldn't see.

Seenu looked behind the girl and saw his best friend standing there with the flowers he picked out for Naina in his hand, he then looked at the girl and this time forcefully ripped his hand from the girl's hold, "You shouldn't hold a hand of a stranger for too long" he said.

"Seenu, hurry the hell up!" an annoyed Arjun yelled, "I will throw these flowers in the bin if you don't come now!".

"Don't you dare do that!" Seenu warned, running over to Arjun.

"Who were you just talking to?" a curious Arjun asked, as Seenu took the flowers from his hand.

"Some weird girl" Seenu said, glancing back at the girl who had turned around and was looking at him, seeing Seenu's glance on her, the girl waved him, a small smile on her face, immediately causing Seenu to shake his head and turn to Arjun who was too busy on his phone to notice the interaction, "What are you doing?".

"Trying to find a place to eat tonight" Arjun replied, turning around and starting to walk.

"Why?" a confused Seenu asked, following his best friend.

"To eat, Seenu, duh" Arjun replied, "Not all of us have a date tonight".

"Ask Sam out" Seenu suggested, "Then you'll have a date".

Arjun slapped the back of the Seenu's head, "Don't give me shitty suggestions".

"It wasn't a shitty suggestion, it was a good suggestion" Seenu defended.

"Nothing you suggest, is good, it's always shitty" Arjun said.

This time Seenu hit the back of Arjun's head, "Dick".

"Back at you" Arjun said, Seenu simply chuckled at his best friend, and both of them kept walking, Seenu really excited for his and Naina's first date together.

***

"Naina, I swear to god, if you don't pick something here, I will leave and never offer to help you again" an exhausted Sameera complained, as her and Naina entered a watch shop in the mall.

"I promise Sam, this is the last shop, I finally figured out what to get Seenu" Naina said.

Sameera looked at the shop infront of her, "A watch?" she asked.

"Arjun told me that Seenu has been looking for a good watch, he recently broke his old one, so this isn't just a good gift but also a useful gift" Naina replied.

"You do realise watches in here aren't going to be cheap, right?" Sameera asked, looking around the very fancy store.

"I know, I have a lot of money saved up from all the dance competitions back home" Naina replied, "I couldn't think of a better way to spend the money".

Sameera smiled at her best friend, before she could say anything to her though, her phone started ringing it, immediately causing her to pull it out of her back pocket, "Shit, it's mom, I forget to call her this morning".

"You go talk to aunty, I'm good here, I'll meet you outside" Naina said.

Sameera nodded and quickly proceeded to walk out the store, on her way out, she bumped into someone, causing her phone to fall to the ground.

"Are you blind or what?!" an enraged Sameera asked, immediately bending down to pick her phone and checking to make sure the screen didn't crack.

"You're the one who bumped into me, shouldn't I be asking you that question?".

Sameera looked up and realised she had bumped into a man, an annoyed Sameera stood up and glared at the man, "I didn't bump into you, I was leaving the store, you're the one who entered the store through the exist sign".

"Yeah, you are definitely blind", the mystery man pointed towards the entry he used to enter the store, "That says entrance only, not exist".

Sameera, refusing to believe she was wrong, immediately looked in the direction the man was pointing at, and her eyes immediately widen realising it said entrance and not exist, an embarrassed Sameera closed her eyes and wondered how she was going to get out of this situation.

"Listen--", before Sameera could defend herself, her phone once again started ringing, looking down she realised it was her mom calling her, "Thank you mother India" Sameera whispered, her mom having saved her from apologising to this man, she looked at the man who clearly was waiting for an apology, "Sorry gotta go, important call".

"You--", before the mystery man could complete his sentence, Sameera quickly ran out the store, leaving a flabbergasted man behind, "Unbelieve" he whispered, shaking his head in annoyance at Sameera's actions.

He then turned to go further into the store, when once again he bumped into a girl, causing both of them to lose their balance, the girl's hand went over to the collar of the coat the man was wearing, and the man's hands went on the girl's waist, stopping her from falling to the ground.

The shocked man, looked at the girl who bumped into him, ready to take all his anger on her, but as soon as he looked at the girl, his words got stuck in his mouth, he was simply stunned seeing the girl infront of her, she was a beauty like no other.

"Naina!" Sameera yelled, standing outside, her eyes wide in shock seeing the scene, her best friend in the arms of the stranger she lost the argument to.

Hearing her best friend's yell, a shocked Naina finally opened her eyes only to see a man with intense brown eyes staring down at her.

"Naina, hurry up!" Sameera yelled again, this time breaking the mystery man's trance, who slowly pulled Naina up, after seeing her awkward face.

"Thank you" Naina whispered, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear, a nervous trait of hers.

The mystery man, didn't say anything, simply gave Naina a nod, after giving the mystery man a small smile, Naina clutched Seenu's gift to her chest and then walked out the store, as she was walking towards Sameera, Naina turned and looked at the man, only to see him already staring at her, Naina quickly turned and looked at her best friend, for some reason this mystery man's gaze made her extremely uncomfortable, quickly shaking her head, Naina turned her attention back to her best friend, not wanting to spend her afternoon thinking about a person she was never going to meet again.

***

A nervous Naina smoothed her dress while looking at herself in the mirror, she was nervous for tonight, she had no idea where Seenu was taking her, all he had told her was dress casual but not too casual, which caused him to hear a huge rant from her, letting him know he wasn't helping her stressful situation, but in return Seenu simply laughed and told her to get ready for the night of her life.

"I can do this" Naina whispered to herself, "It's just Seenu and me, no one else, it's just us, nothing is going to go wrong tonight, hopefully".

While Naina was busy giving herself a pep talk in the mirror, the knock on her dorm room door caught her attention.

Naina took a deep breath, "Here goes everything" she whispered, taking small steps towards her door, after taking another deep breath, Naina finally opened the door.

Seenu looked at Naina and immediately his breath was stuck in his throat seeing the sight infront of her, she looked extremely breathing taking to him.

"Hey" a nervous Naina whispered, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear.

"Hey" Seenu whispered, he cleared his throat and handed the flowers in his hand over to Naina, "Um, these are for you".

Naina looked at the flowers and a huge smile formed on her face, "They're beautiful" she praised.

"Oh thank god" Seenu said, "I was so nervous you wouldn't like it".

"I love them, Seenu" Naina assured, putting the flowers in an empty vase by her bed.

"So, you ready?" Seenu asked, as Naina walked back to him.

Naina nodded her head and placed her hand in Seenu's outstretched hand, "Ready" she said, letting Seenu take her to wherever he wanted to take her for their special night.

***

Presenting chapter fourteen of Hero!

I'M BACK! I know it's been a while but life has been extremely tough recently, hopefully now I'm back for good and will be able to update regularly! 🤞🏻

Anyways, how was the chapter?

Thoughts on Seenu saving a girl from an accident?

Thoughts on Naina and Sameera's encounter with a mystery man?

Thoughts on Naina being nervous for her and Seenu's first date?

Next chapter: Seenu and Naina's first official date!