The Date

I close the car door and nervously pull on my clothes. I was on our driveway, our house few steps away. I reminded myself not to clutch the flowers too tightly which I has picked up on the way home.

Pull yourself together, I said to myself.

Taking a deep breath, I walk to the house and ring the bell. Ru opened it. I tried to smile at her but honestly, I was so nervous, I don't think I did a very good job at it. She looked at the flowers in my hand and smirked.

"Shut up" I muttered and walked inside.

"She's in her room" I heard Ru say.

I nodded and started walking.

"Hey" Ru called out.

I turned back to see her still smirking and she said "good luck".

I rolled my eyes, thinking she was teasing me about the date and walked to the room. I hesitantly put my hand on the handle and released a deep breath before pushing the door open.

And stopped short at the sight before.

There she was, Seema, standing in the middle of the room, looking absolutely gorgeous. She slowly walked towards me and my body heated up at the not so innocent thoughts.

"Hi" she smiled, nervous.

I tried to speak but it was like I had no air inside me.

"Breathe" she whispered, putting her hand on my forearm.

It was as if my body was waiting for her command and I deflated like a popped balloon.

"Breathe" she whispered again, running her hand up and down my arm.

"You look absolutely stunning" I said, and stood like an idiot just staring at her.

"Thank you" she smiled shyly.

"Are those for me?" she said, nodding towards the flowers in my hand.

"Yes", I said, pulling myself together.

I gave her flowers and the smile I got in return was enough to make me breathless again.

"Thank you. They're beautiful" she said, sniffing them.

"Are you ready to go?" I asked because other wise I'd spend entire day just looking at her.

"Yes" she said, straightened her back and said, "Let me put these in a vase".

I trailed after her like a lost puppy.

Ru was at the kitchen, smiling happily. We both watched Seema place the flowers and then Seema turned.

"Ready?" she asked.

"Yes" I said, determined.

We talked together and we heard Ru say, "Have fun. Don't do anything I wouldn't do" and I didn't have to look at Seema to know she was blushing. I just shook my head and walked out of the door.

The silence inside the car was painful, or rather, full of nerves. Her or mine, I didn't know, or maybe it was us both.

"Where are we going?" she asked, after few minutes.

"You'll see" I said, smiling at her.

She didn't say anything, just smiled and looked outside the window.

She looked at me in surprise or maybe a tiniest bit of judgement when I pulled in the driveway of my office. It was after work hour so, it was just us. No one else was there.

"You have some work at the office?" she asked, disappointment clear in her voice.

"No" I chuckled.

"Come on" I said, taking her hand and pulling her in.

"Our date is at your office?" she asked, confused.

"Yes and before you judge me, you'll know why I made arrangement here" I said, stopping us in front of our terrace room.

"You ready?" I asked, wanting to pull my hand from her and wipe off the sweat.

"Yes" she smiled.

I opened the door and let her enter first. I entered as well and went around her to see the expressions on her face.

For a spilt second I panicked to see her eyes welling up before telling myself she was probably emotional. I followed her line of sight and admired the photos on the wall. I had divided the wall of the room in 3 sections. One section containing all the photos of our family, with her in center. All the candid pictures of took off in the previous years. I particularly liked the one where the kids were kissing her each cheek. It wasn't scripted. I think she gave them their favorite dessert or something after school and I candidly took the photo. There were many such photos which I had taken on a whim.

The second section was solely hers. All he solo pictures I had taken without her knowing in the recent months. At first I didn't realize I was doing it, but when I did, I couldn't stop. There were all kinds of pictures. Her in the kitchen, making something, her with my parents, her laughing, her smiling at Ru, just her.

The 3rd section was completely blank. There was nothing there.

She looked at me, eyes full of tears, few escaping as well, and my heart hurt looking at her tears.

"Don't cry." I said, wiping the tears away.

"They're happy tears" she said, giving me a wobbly smile.

She moved closer to the wall, towards the first section and slowly touched the pictures with her fingertips.

"It's been ages since I last saw those" she said, her one hand still not leaving mine.

I said nothing, giving her time to refresh the memories.

"Where did you get these?" she asked, laughing at the chocolate smeared faces of our kids and her looking at them with stern face, hands on her hips, but her twisted lips giving away the stern facade.

"Few days ago, I was cleaning up my computer to delete unused files and saw this folder. I hadn't known I had these." I replied.

I was thinking hard about what to do in this date. I didn't think she'd appreciate going to places with too many people, and frankly, I wanted to be alone with her tonight. So, I was in middle of giving up when I remembered the folder. This room always contained strings to attach the photograph to show to our clients. I think I scared my staff for the first time, when I pushed them to prepare the photographs.

I simply decorated the room with some fairy lights, didn't want to over do it.

"They're beautiful" she said.

She moved towards the 2nd section, and what I was most happy about was the face that she didn't leave my hand at all.

"When did you take these?" she asked, with a bit of surprise when she looked at them closely.

"Ever since I realized what an idiot I was" I replied, honestly.

She looked at me like she wanted to say something, but just shook her head and turned back to the photographs.

"I look so different" she said.

"You look beautiful" I said, admittedly sappily.

She laughed but didn't turn back. Just  kept looking at them. Then, she moved at the 3rd section.

"Why is this empty?" she asked.

"Because I want this to be full of us" I said, tugging her towards me. She came easily, put her one hand, right above my heart, the next, still on my other hand.

"Us?" she asked.

"Yes, us. Just you and me. We shared everything, house, parents kids, room. But I want to share something I should've done a long time ago. My heart. And I want to capture every memory we make, all those moments when I am doing nothing but stare at you, nothing but be beside you, all those moments which I wanna put close to my heart in my death bed" I said, her figure becoming a little blurry.

Damn it!

I blinked like a lunatic to clear up the fog when she put her hand on my cheek. I look down at her to see her eyes full of tears too.

"Don't cry" she said, like I had before.

I nuzzled her hand, kissing her palm. We stayed like that for what seemed like forever before I pulled away.

"I have something more" I said, walking to the drawer.

"What?" she said, tilting her head.

I pulled out a tape which, also, apparently was in my office. I don't ever remember bringing these here but thank god, I did.

I put on the tape, and turned on the projector. I couldn't help but preen when she leaned back on me as I placed my arms around her.

It was a collection of all the videos we had captured in the previous years. From the kids' birthdays, to parent's anniversaries, to kids' graduation, to simple things like my parents fighting. Every small, significant or night, it was captured. Though I was seeing the picture on the projector, it felt like I was reliving every moment. Life really flew by. There were so many things I was proud of, so many things I'll always regret, so many things to be happy for, so many things to cry for. It was life, I guess, and whatever mistakes I had made, I'll die trying to make it right.

With this thought I pulled her even closer, wrapper her tighter and vowed. The videos ended, but the two of us stayed in the same position.

"We really are old now" she said.

I chuckled and turned her towards me.

"We went through so many up and downs, happiness and sadness, and whatever our situation may had been, I am glad I got to experience it with you. Thank you for giving me this family" she said, chocking up.

"There is  nothing to thank me for. Instead, I am the one who should apologize. I" I started to say, but got cut off when she put her pam over my lips.

"Alright. No more thank you or sorry. Let's try from start. Like you would have if we had met under normal circumstances" she said.

I nodded, kissed her palm, and pulled her in for a hug.

The next events were nothing special. I had prepared for a dinner in the rooftop of our office. And I had to admit, the night view from the terrace was spectacular. We had a nice dinner, sat with her head on my shoulder, hands clasped together, watching the night fall on, talking about everything and anything. As the night went on, so did the mosquitoes attacks. So, we went inside, and I steered her towards the break room with another event. I had couple of mattress thrown together, cushions to soften up the hard mattress, a big projector with her favorite movies.

We sat there, much like earlier, her head on my shoulder, feet tangled, my head on top of hers, her laughing at the movie, and me being mesmerized by her laugh.

We sat there for a long time and it was almost midnight before we decided to leave. It was all going according to plan, and there was one last surprise waiting for her. I parked the car, and we walked towards our house, hand in hand, before she pulled me to a stop.

"Thank you for today" she said, giving me a smile bright enough to blind me.

"Thank you for going out with me." I said, tucking few strands of hair that had escaped her bun.

She smiled, but instead of walking toward the door, she walked to me, went on her tippy toes and kissed my cheek softly. She lingered there for few seconds and the only thought that kept me from barging in the door and dragging her to our room was the people behind the door, waiting for us. The amount of willpower it took to not grab her was amazing to me.

She smiled, her cheeks giving away her embarrassment, and she walked to the door, and I once again, trailed like a puppy.

She opened the door and ran back into me when she heard the collective, "SURPRISE!!!"

Whew, this was a long chapter and I think my brain gave up towards the end.

But, anyway, this was the date you guys were waiting for. I hope I didn't disappoint you. Did you like it?

I am sorry for last week once again. You guys were amazingly patient and understanding. You are best!

Anyhow, this was all for today. Please leave a comment and vote if you liked the chapter.

I'll be back next week. Be safe, healthy and happy.