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Riya's Pov
The aromatic scent of myriad herbs and spices emanating from the Indian curries instantly hit my nostrils as soon as we stepped inside this cozy little restaurant, with quintessential chalet-style dining, decked with earthen tones, soft music, wood-paneled walls, and dreamlike lighting.
The ambiance was as heartwarming as the personality of the man beside me.
Intimate, Homey, and Comforting.
Paving our way out of the hustle and bustle of Delhites, we made our way towards the window side empty table.
Making our orders, we were patiently waiting for its arrival when my gaze randomly flickered around, and I witnessed a multitude of relationships, each reflecting a teensy-weensy glimpse of their beautiful lives.
That young college-going couple towards the left, thoroughly lost in conversing with each other resonates with novice young love.
That family of five with those two little bunnies jumping here and there engrossed in their little world with their parents patiently feeding their cute little sister resonating stability;
That elderly couple, so in love, happily cutting their anniversary cake resonating pure eternal love;
Those school-going bunch of boys and girls who probably have bunked their classes, giggling animatedly and chortling heartily at their funny jokes resonating freedom, and carefree life.
And those occasional furtive glances, shy smiles, and concealed messages to their crushes couldn't be missed, which resonated nothing but that divine feeling of first childhood love, that almost every one of us would've experienced in our high school.
Ah! These places, these little encounters, and these diverse webs of relationships make you nostalgic and make you reminisce about your times, and on the same hand build hope for the coming future.
You can never get tired of witnessing such scenarios, because every single time your gaze darts around, you'll encounter a new story, a new perspective, a new lesson, and a new scenario.
Such as someone rudely calling for the waiters; while some politely thanking them; some patiently waiting for their orders; and some admonishing their children to not do mischief.
Those newlywed couples spending some quality time; while elderly couples finding time for themselves after fulfilling their lifelong responsibilities; those humorous jokes passed by a bunch of boys, their teasing sessions and their carefree laughs; those dreamy looks passed by some bunch of girls whenever they would see some handsome hunk passing by their tables, and their animated discussion about probably anything and everything in this world.
Every person you see, every conversation you witness, each teaches you and unconsciously makes you realize these little yet valuable things in life, which we generally take for granted or do not put deliberate thought into.
*******
After savoring a lip-smacking Indian meal, we were walking towards our car with our stomachs full and happily satiated.
"Where are we going now?" I asked, turning towards him, to which he rubbed his neck, masking an innocent face.
"Uh, honestly I also don't know." He replied sheepishly, making me frown in confusion.
"Actually, I earlier thought to take you to some tourist places, that's why I took you to the nearest restaurant so that we could save some time and I could take you to some sightseeing." He explained before I could ask anything, and I nodded signaling him to continue
"But we hardly have two to three more hours with us, and with Delhi's impenetrable traffic, I don't think we could make it there on time, sightsee, and reach back home before five. Because you have to travel back to Hoshiarpur today itself." He added, sighing, his lips set in a thin line.
"Is there any park nearby?" I prodded, taking in the sight of him looking exceptionally handsome in a simple white collared t-shirt, and regular-fit blue jeans.
The weather was thoroughly pleasant today, so at least people will not think of us as two free-bees, chucked out of their homes, having a walk in the park at a scorching three in the afternoon.
"You want to go to the park?" He knitted his eyebrows bewildered, unlocking the car.
"Yeah." I shrugged,
"We have our whole life, Aditya, to explore Delhi, but this time, the one before marriage will never come back. Even our last face-to-face conversation happened almost a month back, so what's better than peacefully conversing in the silent and serene environment of the park, with this windy weather being an added advantage? Isn't it?" I suggested sincerely, sitting inside the car, as he revved the engine.
"Hmm. You are right" He replied smiling, "There are many parks around, we'll have enough time with ourselves. Let's go there then."
"Yeasy Peasy." I said, fastening my seat belt.
"Vaise Isha's impact is getting visible on you with each passing day. God! There's a new member in that team of satan who would be discovering such alien words every other day. As if she wasn't enough, you've joined her as well." He chucked, thoroughly amused making my lips quirk up at my buffoonish antics.
*******
It took us hardly ten minutes to reach the nearest park which was a few kilometers from the highway. Entering inside, we started walking leisurely, in comfortable silence amidst us.
After a few seconds of ambling, he asked,
"When are you resigning from the college?"
"Umm, I'm thinking of giving the resignation letter this week itself, because we are supposed to give notice fifteen days prior. And if I give notice by the end of this week, I'll be free almost ten days before our wedding." I answered.
"Okay." He replied.
"What about your clients?" I probed.
"I'm trying to finish up all the pending work, and not taking any new assignments as of now. Because every other day we have to go to the market to purchase some or the other thing, and managing work with all this is quite tough."
Pocketing his phone, he continued, "Moreover, no matter how conscientiously you organize the schedule for all the shopping and purchasing, still, one or the other thing is left omitted and you have to travel all the way again for the same." He sighed exasperated, shaking his head.
"God." I sighed, "Weddings in India are in itself a challenge, from finding a suitable match to arranging everything, it tires the hell out of you." I spoke shaking my head helplessly at the mention of the exhaustive Indian weddings.
We kept walking in tranquil silence, peacefully admiring the lush green grass and diverse seasonal flowers in myriad colors blooming all around.
"You know, if Purva and Rishabh would have been here in Delhi today, I would've taken you to her so that you best friends could meet, and spend some time with each other. But unfortunately, they are out of town for some function at Uncle's side. So.." He trailed off half shrugging, pursing his lips.
"I wouldn't have met her, even if she was here." I voiced instantaneously, casting a glance at him.
"Why?" He spoke furrowing his eyebrows, perplexed.
Releasing an inaudible breath I spoke gently, locking my gaze on his,
"Because I wanted to spend this whole day with you Aditya and nobody else. Purva and I have known each other for the past seventeen years, and we can meet anytime any day after our wedding. But these few hours that we've got today, I wanted to freely talk to you, laugh with you, know you, and let you know me."
Tucking the loose strand behind my ears, I added, "Each minute and each second of this day, I wanted to give it to you, because after this day, when we meet next, we'll be officially labeled as husband and wife. And we've hardly got two months of courtship period, with us meeting just two times, thus I couldn't forego this last chance of being with you before our wedding."
His lips curved into a beautiful grin at my words, as he looked at me affectionately, and spoke softly,
"I thought you would have loved meeting her if she was here."
"I would have loved meeting her, but today is about us, and just us, and I wanted to give all my time to you and no one else Aditya. Moreover, before me, Purva would have refused to meet me saying that currently, we both need to spend time with each other, rather than her and me." I assured, blinking my eyes.
His flustered face looked away smilingly, with his heart-melting dimples on display, making my heart flush into a solemn sense of happiness, just watching him smile blushfully.
Despite this soothingly delightful weather, not many people were present in the park, just us and a few more people leisurely walking, exercising, or silently sitting on the benches.
Unspoken propinquity burgeoned, as we kept walking wordlessly, taking slow, unrushed steps, relishing this serene quietness amidst us. Though when after every few seconds, our gazes would find each other, our eyes would remain locked in an intense eye contest for a microsecond, and later we would look away from the exact stance with these little traitor smiles playing at the corner of our lips.
We ambled in the contagious proximity of one another, side by side, close enough for our shoulders to brush accidentally with our hands stroking each other's mildly with every step we took. But neither did he take a step aside, nor did I. Neither did he create a distance amidst us nor did I. We kept walking at our carefree rhythm, our hands tenderly grazing one another's again and again, again and again.
Our faces might not have reflected the emotional predicament we were currently going through, but truth be told, our hearts were pounding incessantly, our hands sweating profusely with unadulterated hope blooming within, to what will follow next.
Undoubtedly, he was contemplating inwardly as much I was, to make the first move, and do what our hearts had been inaudibly screaming since the last ten minutes, to just fully enclose our palms into one, in a positively comforting, and intimately beautiful grasp which was nothing but Secure, Protective and Welcoming.
And we did.
*********
Aditya's Pov
I can articulately feel the fast thud in my heart, each time her hands would involuntarily graze mine. Conflicting emotions raced within me with every step we took and every move we made.
Silently musing for the past ten minutes, I finally dared to make the move, that my mind and heart had been screaming madly for the past ten minutes.
Instinctively stepping a little closer to her side, I delicately enclosed her soft palm perpendicular to mine, my rugged fingers gently wrapped around the back of her hand. My heart thumped rigorously yet joyfully at this subtle contact, and it felt like every muscle, every joint, and every ligament of our hands had been carved just for this moment.
True to say, this inexplicable gesture speaks volumes without words, and it can make you feel a thousand distinct sensations without voicing anything.
My hands ensconced hers protectively. Her nimble fingers fit perfectly against my sinewy ones. They felt as if magically aligned. Just like our fates.
Needless to say, both our hands were cold and sweaty, and despite the awkwardness of this first intimate gesture, I felt a thousand unfathomable emotions surging within me. This underrated intense proximity felt terrifying yet invigorating, warm yet tranquilizingly soulful, intimate yet spiritually rejuvenating.
She stopped midway at the exact moment when my palm protectively enclosed hers.
Her bewitching chocolate-brown almond eyes gazed unblinkingly at our encircled hands, a permanent red hue plastered on her face.
Her smile, ah, her infectious smile perked up instantly at the corner of her lips.
"We can walk you know." I whispered hoarsely in her ear a few minutes later, my tone playful and startled, she looked at me in a daze,
"Huh?" She blinked in stupefication.
This woman of mine seems to lose her senses every single time I'm in her vicinity.
God, Help us and make us marry soon, We both are becoming certified gone cases with each passing day.
"We are standing in the middle of the park because you stopped midway for the last five minutes," I answered biting my cheeks thoroughly amused.
"Is it?" She furrowed her eyebrows, her eyes roaming here and there, examining the authenticity of my words. However, the moment she comprehended what I spoke, she jerked her head towards me with her flustered face, eyes widened and mouth parted, while it took every ounce of self-control in me to suppress the budding laughter at her innocent antics.
Embarrassed at her lost state, she took a step aside and arduously tried loosening her grip, but tightening my hold on her even more, I tugged her towards myself and started walking.
"Chal, Riya." I drawled playfully, an amused smile playing on my lips and she pouted defeated, her face glowing like a burning fire, that held the power to melt my insides, merely at her sight.
"You tired? Want to sit?" I asked a few minutes later, noticing her slow, weary steps with her hair swaying with each step she took.
"Hmm." She replied, a little exhausted, looking for an empty bench. "There. There's an empty bench there." She pointed towards the direction an empty bench was situated.
Making our way towards the bench, we settled ourselves at a decent distance amidst us, our palms still enclosed in one another, loosely placed in the space between us.
"Aditya?" I heard her say, after the inevitable deafening silence of a few minutes.
"Ji" She smiled lazily at my reply, as I peered at her turning diagonally towards her side.
Shifting sideways towards me, she asked a little apprehensively, "Uh Aditya, in this one month of us knowing each other, haven't you ever thought of saying no to me? Um, I mean to say, Have this thought ever crossed your mind that you shouldn't have said yes to me, or this alliance?"
I furrowed my eyebrows puzzled and stupefied, trying to comprehend the underlying meaning and insecurity masked behind her query.
"No, not even once" I stated firmly, "Why did you ask?" I added, directing my gaze on her.
She looked away shrugging casually, averting her gaze aimlessly towards the group of children playing at the far corner of the park.
"No reason. Just randomly it came to my mind." She mumbled, dodging all sorts of eye contact with me.
"Riyaa.." I prodded again, while she matched my gaze, and spoke, "Arey Sachi, It's nothing, I just asked casually."
I raised my eyebrows at her in questionable gaze, and voiced, "You cannot just always dodge such conversations, and act all indifferent Riya. You need to voice out your inner predicaments someday. You know na I'll not judge you no matter what?" I finished, looking at her softly, my tone a little pleading towards the end.
She huffed and puffed, muttering, "Stubborn-head" making me smile at her choice of word for me.
"Fine." She sighed, pursing her lips, and voiced her thoughts after a moment of pondering,
"Haven't you ever felt that I'm extremely arrogant or egoistic? Um, like there have been innumerable instances when I've dodged your playful remarks or kept mum at your teasings, or didn't openly express my feelings, or haven't initiated or added much into our conversations."
Absentmindedly switching her gaze towards me and our palms, she added, her face devoid of any emotion, her eyes empty,
"Haven't you ever felt bored talking to me, which made you think, that you could have said no to me and find someone who's as extrovert as you, instead of such an introverted person like me?" She rambled anxiously, her expectant eyes fixated on my face, probably, just to get a glimpse of my reaction.
*******
Riya's Pov
His face remained neutral at my question purely laced with illogical, irrational insecurities of mine, as he looked away staring absentmindedly at the rustling leaves, and the blooming flowers.
He took a deep sigh, his lips set in a straight line, and turning his face towards me, he looked at our enclosed palms thinking profoundly.
For a second, my heart sank, and a lump formed in my throat when I noticed him loosening his hold on our hands, I was almost sure he would be leaving it anytime soon, and I didn't want that.
Not now, not never.
But unanticipatedly, he loosened his grip on our hands, as he rotated his palm and folded it over mine, interlacing our fingers together in a firm grip, our palms kissing in a way that not even a gush of air could pass through it. This little gesture of his stirred erratically strange emotions within me as if he wanted to assure his support just by his hold on me.
He peered at me with his penetrative gaze, and countered "Have you ever thought of me as extremely over-friendly, or too presumptuous? There have been innumerable instances when I've made a lot of playful remarks, kept speaking even in your silence, openly expressed my feelings, or have always initiated or added to our conversations.
Didn't you feel annoyed talking to someone like me, who could speak too much, non-stop, that made you think you could have said no to me and found someone as introverted as you, instead of such an extrovert like me? Have you ever, Riya?" He finished, looking straight into my eyes, his voice stoic.
I looked at him baffled as I realized he had used the exact words like me, and questioned me in a similar context, just replacing a few words here and there.
And true to say, his question caught me off guard and rendered me speechless. I thought of a logically convincing answer, but unfortunately couldn't. Because I said yes to him because I felt like saying yes, my decision on taking this alliance ahead or not was never based on the personality type he carries.
My internal monologue came to a halt when I heard his voice debarred of his usual warmth, "I know your answer would be no. Isn't it?"
Nodding meekly, I whispered, half shrugging, my eyes downcasted at our intertwined hands, "I never thought such things about you in this one month of conversing with each other, and nor did I imagine replacing my decision to say yes to you on any of these grounds."
"Then how can you expect me to think all this about you Riya? How can you think I'll ever want to reconsider my decision of choosing you just because you are an introvert?" He retorted immediately, his voice glum, his eyes filled with unadulterated concern, his face devoid of the usual glow he carries.
I kept mum at his question, staring aimlessly at our entwined fingers as I avoided meeting his eyes because I knew I wouldn't be able to utter any reasonably coherent answer at this.
"Where is this coming from?" He probed in a hushed whisper, after a few seconds of my silence, and I matched his gaze to see his brows knitted together, eyes perturbed and lips pursed, that captivating dimpled smile long gone.
Gulping the ball of nerves in my throat, I wetted my dry lips and answered after a moment of internal monologue,
"From childhood, I have always been that socially awkward girl who would dodge every attempt to elicit a conversation with someone. I was that introverted girl, who would feel lonely and left out even in a huge group of people.
As in, I used to feel very uncomfortable and out of the place around new people, new places. These talks about makeup, dresses, and fashion never gained my interest. Hence, I would feel conscious listening to all these because I had no knowledge about such things, there was nothing valuable I could add to the conversation. Resultantly, I would just restrict myself, and avoid meeting people who would make me conscious of my own self.
You can say, that I had set some unseen boundaries for myself, that even if I wanted to enjoy and behave freely, I just couldn't. There always have been this strange power holding me to open up freely."
Smiling humorlessly, I continued,
"Now, not everybody could be Purva, right? Not everybody tried to understand that it's inherent and is in my nature, and if given some time I'll surely open up and enjoy in a way everyone does.
But the judgemental society we are living in Aditya, wherein most of my classmates, relatives, and other acquaintances have blatantly termed me as a person who's arrogant, egoistic, overly proud of her academic achievements, someone too overconfident to even initiate a conversation, someone who does not even know what enjoyment is and a killjoy."
Biting my cheeks to control the developing traitor tears, I said, softly smiling,
"Long story short, in their words, I was nothing but boring, overly mature, and colorless."
I matched his gaze to see him looking at me intently. Not uttering a word, he blinked his eyes and squeezed my hands assuringly. Giving a warm smile, he silently asked me to continue,
"I've grown up listening to all this, and when you came, with the same extroverted personality which had always made me conscious and insecure of myself because these extroverts are known to enjoy every moment, add colors to people's life, are highly confident, social, outgoing, friendly, gregarious, and whatnot."
I breathed out a sight, my gaze focused on his opalescent irises,
"How can I not have doubts regarding you choosing me and this alliance Aditya when I'm nothing like you? I am just a plain girl who's always been termed as reserved, lackluster, inhibited, egoist, passive, and nerdy.
How can I not be afraid of people judging my introverted self, when this is what I've been listening to since eternity?
How can I assure myself that you don't feel bored or irritated with my silence, my lack of responses, and my lack of initiative?"
My gaze flickered absentmindedly towards the park, and meeting my eyes with the man beside me, I pinned him with my firm gaze,
"Even you know that in this one month of us being together, I've never called you on my own. I've always answered your calls, or back-called you whenever I would miss your call, but never called you in the first place.
Didn't you ever feel frustrated or disappointed by my lack of initiation and efforts in this relationship? When you were the one who told me that you expect nothing but just efforts from the other person, and I couldn't even give you that. Didn't you ever feel that I need to make equal, considerate efforts in this relationship?"
"How can I not feel deserving enough for you Aditya, when you are the only one making all the required efforts and investments in this alliance? And ironically, it's just the beginning, and I'm already failing at it." I finished in a hoarse whisper, momentarily shutting my eyes, and looking questionably into his glum eyes, which were currently filled with nothing but worry and concern.
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A lot has happened in this chapter, isn't it?ð
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Could you all relate to what Riya said and what she must be feeling? Especially the introverted ones here? Extroverts have their struggles and challenges. What challenges do you face if you are an extrovert?
They held their hands finallyâ¤ï¸ðHow was it? Could you feel their emotions?
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