Chapter 6 Chapter 5. Will you be my girl

Anvi

After Aditya and his family left, everyone in my family circled me to ask about Aditya. All of a sudden, I became everyone's target. They were laughing at me because I was blushing so much. After dinner, I escaped my crazy family and ran away to my room. I was sprawled on my bed, grinning like an idiot, thinking about Aditya when my phone pinged with a notification. As I opened it, my face brightened because it was a message from Aditya. I felt butterflies fluttering in my stomach. Aww! He is taking the initiative to start our conversation. I didn't want to look desperate so I decide to reply to him after 2 minutes. I had never conversed with boys over the phone before. I used to talk to boys in college but they were just classmates, not even friends. This is new for me, it made me terrified and excited at the same time. Like never having a boyfriend before and suddenly now I have a fiancé. Although I am confused now whether he is my boyfriend or my fiancé.

"Hey." I texted back after exactly two minutes.

"I hope I didn't disturb you." His reply came quickly. "No, not at all. I was just reading a book." I lied smoothly. I couldn't possibly tell him that I was thinking about him only. "Oh! Do you love reading books? I love reading books as well. What is your favourite genre?" "Yeah, I love reading. I like all genres. It's someone's hard work, who am I to not like." "Hmm. Good thinking😊" He replied with a smiling emoji. "I think your favourite genre is non-fiction, business books. You have that vibe." I typed fastly and pressed the send button. I couldn't picture him as a romance genre type of person. But after I had texted him, I felt like I am being judgemental.

"This is where you are the wrong, missy. I agree I read Adam Grant and Taylor Pearson but I have read Jane Austen too. I love all genres of books." I grinned at his response. Oh! nerdy features, Just the kind of guy I like. I imagined him wearing reading glasses and giggled. He would look even hotter.

"Sorry for being judgemental but you don't look like a guy reading romantic books." I typed quickly. "Looks can be deceptive too. I hope I proved it." I wondered if it was considered flirting. I couldn't stop smiling and my face felt hot. "Can I call?" He asked and I thought for a minute before replying. "Okay." My phone started ringing within a minute. I picked it up nervously. "Hello," I mumbled nervously. "Hey." We both stayed silent for a moment. "You wan...ted to t...talk?" I stammered in nervousness. "Yeah. I wanted to say something, Khush. Is it ok if I call you Khush? Khush comes out easy, I guess." I reckoned that he was making excuses to just call me by my nickname. My name was already short, there was nothing difficult in it in the first place.

"Yeah. It's ok. You can call me Khush. My friends call me Khush too."

"Oh ok. I hope you are not upset with me because I hid the fact of me being the owner of Rayson's Ltd. when you told me about the job. I was just trying to have a normal conversation. Because you didn't know my identity, our conversation was so good. I didn't want to spoil it." I was so happy that he clarified the issue. For a second, I did think that he lied to me purposely but now the issue was cleared.

"I am not upset. We were just trying to know each other and in fact, I think it worked in favour of our conversation. If I knew it beforehand that you were the owner of such a big company, I don't think I would have been able to utter a single word."

"So, are we cool?"

"Yes."

"I want to say something else too." He said softly making my heart beat faster. My hands were getting clammy. "Say," I whispered to him. "I understand everything is new and you are nervous. I am nervous too. I just want you to be comfortable with me. I don't want you to feel restricted in our marriage. Marriage shouldn't bind you from fulfilling your dreams, rather it should make you feel more at ease. I promise I will always support your dreams. You don't have to worry about anything in our relationship. Please tell me if you don't like anything in our relationship and I would try to change it." I felt myself tearing up at the honesty in his voice. He understood my inner turmoil so easily. "Are you listening?" He asked after not receiving any response from me. A tear rolled out of my eye, I wiped it quickly and assembled my thoughts before answering. "Thank you so much, Aditya. This means a lot to me. I always wanted to have a life partner who will understand and support me. Whatever you said, it was important for me to hear. So, thank you."

"Can I ask something too?"

"Yes, please ask."

"When bhabhi came to take us back from the garden, I was asking you whether you like to travel or not. Can you answer that now?" I spoke. I wanted to know it from him, not from a search engine. I just got to know that he is Aditya Aggarwal from Google but I never scrolled down to look at the searches in detail. It felt immoral to me, searching about him and judging him for whatever was written over there. "Of course, I can answer it. I love travelling just like you do. I can answer the other question too where you asked me why do I have a British accent and you answered it yourself only." He said with a chuckle. "I was nervous. I thought I offended you so I was trying to change the topic. I know I acted foolishly. I don't normally speak so impulsively." My face heated up in embarrassment. "Oh, am I special then, if you speak impulsively with me? I think it was cute."

"Hmm." I couldn't think of any other response and it made me blush.

"I think it is making you blush so we can change the topic. Yeah, so I have a British accent because I was born in London and was raised there for the early years of my life."

"Oh! I didn't know but I guessed that you may have done your graduation there."

"You still haven't searched my name online, right?" He asked me as if he knew I didn't do it.

"It doesn't feel right to me," I said softly.

"You know somewhere I knew it that you wouldn't want to know me from there."

"Didn't it occur to you that I could be pretending when I said my dream place is London?" The question was nagging me a lot.

"With that cute and innocent look on your face, I would have been foolish to doubt you. In the beginning, I was a little sceptical but later on, I just realised that you were umm... I guess different from others?" He answered.

"Good different or bad different?" I asked curiously.

"Good different."

"Ok." I smiled, feeling pleased with his response.

"Umm, When is your birthday?" He asked after some contemplation.

"17th September. When's yours?"

"February 8th. Shall we play 20 questions?" He added. "Okay. You first."

"Umm... Favourite colour?"

"Black and also blue. Yours?"

"Black. Favourite food?"

"Every single cuisine on earth. I want to try everything. I am a big foodie."

"You are a foodie and yet you still are so tiny. I thought you are like other girls who diet a lot. But I should know by now that you are not like others." He laughed. "If you are going to make fun of me, I won't answer anything. And anyway I don't know what kind of girls you have met because the girls I know are all foodies." I replied while thinking about my friends.

"Sorry, don't be angry. I am not making fun of you. I won't generalise all the girls then. Cool, next question."

"Hmm good. Ok, your favourite food?"

"I like Italian but I like Japanese food also. You can say I am a foodie too. Umm, Favourite book series?"

"Harry Potter series. I have always been a Potterhead. Yours?"

"I like that one too but I am more into The Lord of Rings. Have you read it?"

"I haven't read it but I have watched the movies. I will read it sometime."

"Okay."

"The most embarrassing moment of your life?" I don't know why I asked because he seemed like a perfect human being.

"It's very funny but please, still try not to laugh at me. So in tenth grade, I fell straightaway on a teacher's feet whom I had a big crush on. The whole class laughed at me. My heart broke into pieces when she also started laughing." I waited for a minute to digest everything before I busted out laughing. "Not you too. Yeah yeah, keep on laughing." He was acting annoyed but I could hear him chuckling too.

"Ok, on a serious note, how did you even fall? You don't look like a klutz to me."

"I am not. It's just that I was looking at her and didn't see there was a step. I missed it and fell right on her feet." I imagined him pouting. So cute! "Aw, you poor thing. I hope you learned your lesson. Have you learnt to walk properly now?" I teased him and started to laugh again. "Nah, I guess there will be a repeat episode soon. I can't seem to walk straight when I am looking at you." He said in a husky tone which sent shivers running down my spine. My laughter died down and I blushed profusely.

"Oh! Now, I know how to hush you." He was the one laughing at my expense now.

"Ok, next question. Let's not make it uncomfortable for you. Tell me your weirdest wish."

Oh, thank goodness he changed the topic. "Umm, I don't know if it's weird or not but every time, I have said it out loud, people think I am weird just because they have never heard anyone say it before."

"Your description is making me laugh. But do tell." He said chuckling.

"I love drinking coffee. So, I want to taste every single type of coffee in the world." I thought he would find me stupid but his answer left me in awe.

"I don't know who told you that this wish of yours is not normal. What is weird in this wish? It is legit. Isn't it the same as trying different cuisines or travelling the world? I will make sure it is fulfilled. We have a lifetime to taste many coffees together." And just like that, my affection for him increased ten folds. We talked for nearly three hours. It was past midnight when we bid each other goodbye. I couldn't believe that I talked to a guy for that long. It's just been one day and we have shared so many things already. I couldn't wait to talk to him again. I wish I had the courage to tell him that his accent was sexy. Someday I am gonna tell him that.

************************************ Aditya I couldn't believe this, it has been only one day and we both were so comfortable already. I never knew I could talk to a girl about my strange habits and embarrassing moments. The girls I dated before, usually talked about themselves, no one ever made an effort to know me. Suddenly I was questioning my past choices, what kind of circle I was into. With only one conversation with Anvi and I already know that she will be the only person in my life who would ever get to know me completely. Because with her, neither do I have to think about what to say next nor do I feel like hiding anything. I am sure about one thing now and that is my life wouldn't be boring with her. And the thing that touched me the most is that she didn't search for me online. I don't know why but when she said "it didn't feel right", my feelings for her intensified.

I crave to know every single thing about her. I wish to know her from deep within. I want her to share her deepest darkest fears with me. I want to know what sadness she hides behind her beautiful eyes.

I want to be her saviour and I want her to be mine.

When she said that she was not in the right frame of mind to go with her family to London, I was itching to ask her why. But I knew she couldn't tell me everything in a day. She had some pent-up emotions in her heart, her eyes were happy but they held some long-buried pains too.

I know I can't be a perfect husband but I am gonna try my best to make her happy. With that thought in my mind, I slept with a smile on my face. ____ It has been a week since I and Anvi's first meeting and I am already starting to feel the desire to meet her again. I was in my office when someone knocked on the door. "Come in," Dad poked his head inside. "Let's go and eat. I am hungry." I nodded at him and walked to him at the door. But before we could go, mom arrived with our lunch smiling. "I thought you had an important meeting today. What happened to it?" I asked her. "If I tell you how was my meeting, you will start jumping with joy." Her teasing told me that it was related to Anvi. I rolled my eyes at her in response. "I went to see Pandit Ji ( priest) for your engagement and wedding dates. Yeah, that was my important meeting." She clarified when she saw me looking at her in apprehension.

"Ok, so he has fixed 20th August for engagement and 19th September for marriage. I am so excited. In just two months, you will be a married man." Mom did a little happy wiggle. "I hope you are happy with the dates, Adi." Mom looked at me with a questioning stare. I smiled at her and nodded. "Mom, did you inform Swati aunty about the dates? Are they okay with it? I mean they don't think it is early, right?" In reality, I wanted to know whether Anvi was happy with the marriage dates or not. "I get it that you want to know if Anvi is happy or not but believe me they talked to her and then decided. There was one more date available but that was after one year so Swati and I decided on this one after a thorough discussion. You can ask Anvi too. I know you have her number." She winked at me and then her phone started ringing. "Oh! Excuse me." Mom excused herself while dad and I discussed the dates. "Hmm. Two months. Huh?" Dad nudged on the shoulder. "Not you, too. I can't stop mom but at least you act maturely." Dad gave me a funny stare. I sighed giving up. My parents are the meanest bullies ever. "I am sorry, you guys. There is an emergency so I need to leave. You both have your lunch." Mom informed us after attending her call and left hurriedly. Dad and I ate our lunch in my office lounge.

"Adi, are you happy? Do you genuinely like her? You don't feel obligated for this marriage because of us, right?" Dad asked after we had our lunch. "It's nothing like that dad. I am happier than you guys with this marriage. I know because I am behaving sappy all of sudden so you guys are getting paranoid whether I am pretending or genuinely feeling it. But honestly telling you, I have not felt this kind of happiness in forever. Having a person by your side, to share your life is a blessing. And I want to have it, dad." "We are happy if you are happy. I just asked because as parents it's our responsibility to make sure our child is happy with his life. We may have been the ones forcing you for the marriage but we will never impose something on you which you don't like." Dad explained.

"I know, dad. I have never felt that you guys control me. Never. I have talked to Anvi on the phone this past week and you won't believe but we have talked for more than 2 hours every single time and not just random talks but real conversations. I didn't even know I could hold a chat with a girl for that long. You know me, I have had girlfriends before but nobody made me feel even close to feeling like this. Khush is just different. She is so amazing, dad. But I am scared, dad. How can I like someone this early?" Dad patted me on the back. "There is nothing to be afraid of, Adi. You know I had the same effect when I met your mother for the first time. Even I was not ready to admit at first that I like her. Time is not required to fall in love." Dad left me alone after ruffling my hair. I smiled at the thought of falling in love with Anvi. I was suddenly itching to talk to her so I ended up calling her. "Hello Adi, how are you?" She answered happily after two rings. "So I am Adi now?" I started teasing her. "No, that...Ummm."

"Call me anything you want to. I love it." I told her. "Hmm." I could imagine her blushing right now. I don't know how but I always know when she is blushing. "Why did you call? Uh, I mean did you call for a reason." She fumbled making me smirk. "Do I need a reason to call my fiancèe?" I teased her again. "No no, I didn't mean that way." She started explaining. I chuckled. I love teasing her. "Hey, I am joking. I did call for a reason."

"Stop teasing me then. And also I am not your fiancée yet."

"So what are you to me if not fiancée? Are you my girlfriend then? Huh, Khush?"

"Umm, I don't know, you tell me. Am I not?" She replied hoarsely. "Informally, yes. Not formally."

"Hmm then."

"Then, What would be your answer if I ask, will you be my girl?" I asked after a few seconds of silence.

"I would say, yes I would love it very much." She murmured.

"Are you blushing again?" I teased her.

"No." She denied.

"Why am I blushing then?" I asked chuckling.

"Shut up, Adi. Stop. Can we talk about the reason you actually called?" She whined. We were just so comfortable with each other. Ah! I love talking to her.

"Fine, I called because I wanted to ask if you are ok with our wedding dates." "It's good to know that my opinion matters to you, Adi." She answered.

"Your opinion will always matter to me, Khush." It is the truth. Her opinion will always matter to me. "Thank you. I am ok with the dates. Our family discussed it before telling your mum. Are you ok with them?"

"I think it's cool that we will be married in two months," I replied excitedly and she chuckled at me. "You are crazy." She muttered vaguely but I heard it. "Yes, I am. Only when it comes to you." I said chuckling.

"Sir, your meeting will start in a few minutes." My secretary informed me through the intercom.

"I will be there," I answered her.

Listening to the voices behind, Khush understood that I needed to go. "Good luck with the meeting. Bye." Khush said over the phone.

"Thank you for understanding and bye, take care. I will call you later." I kept looking at the phone for a few minutes with a smile on my face.

She is so understanding, she never nags me for these things. I feel like I am going to be the nagging one in our relationship.

So, you have a girlfriend now. Congrats, Adi.

I laughed at myself and went to the conference room to attend the meeting, not before replacing my smile with a poker face.