Shruti went inside, hunting for Priyanka and Vikram. Just as she was about to call Priyanka to know about her whereabouts, someone tapped on her shoulder lightly, and said, “Hello…”

Shruti completely lost her balance and was about to fall down at the unexpected presence, when that person instinctively held her by her hand to support her.

Both felt as if electric shock waves ran through their body,  although for a second, as she blurted, “What are you doing here?!”

To be continued….

Shruti held a nearby table for support and steadied herself. Her pulse rate had gone in a frenzy and she just stood there; her mind and soul dancing a jig of joy. She didn’t know how to react, and just stood there gaping at him.

All the emotions were clearly visible on her face, from surprise, to disbelief, awkwardness, shy and finally a heart-warming smile that touched the deepest chores of Atharva’s coldest, farthest chambers of heart. Her face was as transparent as a veil, mirroring her emotions with crystal clarity. His hope started soaring seeing her reaction. He looked at her intently. Both stood there for a full minute, completely forgetting that they were in a public place, just stealing glances at each other.

At that point, a waiter said, “Excuse me,” and they both jolted out of their dreamland. Atharva was the first one to gain composure, cleared his throat and said, “Shall  we sit somewhere?”
Shruti hesitantly said, “Y..Yes… sure.”

She had too many questions popping in her mind, all at once. Why had he come, all the way here? Obviously, he had coordinated with Rohan, but when did he do that and more than that, she didn’t remember him asking for Rohan’s number.

She asked a very stupid question, "Why did you come?"
Atharva made a face,  and shrugged,  "Well.. Nashik seems to be a good place for a long drive."
She gave him a look stating that she is not buying that. He shrugged and replied, "Well,  why do you think I drove all the way here?" Shruti instead of answering, came up with another query, "By the way...  I am intrigued. It's obvious that you planned to come here and Rohan knew about all this, but when did you get his number? I don't remember seeing you ask him to share his contact."

Atharva was enjoying this thoroughly, although he didn't let it reflect on his face one bit. He dodged her list of questions and said, "Take it slow lady. First you have to answer my question. Why do you think I came to Nashik?"
She went crimson in her cheeks, unable to bring herself to answer and said meekly, "I...  I don't know..." and looked down.

He kept looking at her, giving her an intense look, that made her melt. She said instead, before she changed her mind,  "Look.. I am really very sorry for behaving abominably with you yesterday... I usually don't. But I felt genuinely hurt and blurted whatever came in my mind, without weighing my words." There! She said it. She felt so embarrassed that she couldn't gather courage to meet eyes with him.

He said in the most understanding manner,  "Shruti, I understand completely. Please don't mention. I was equally distraught. But then, am extremely thankful that life gave me a second chance. Let me assure you that there is no more misunderstanding now and everyone is in favor. I know you were not satisfied yesterday, in spite of me telling you repetitively. So just had to come.  My mind didn't let me be at peace until I met you once more... So here I am." He answered her query and she sat listening to him.

She was in awe of the way he said it all; without mincing words, in a very straight forward way.

A waiter came at that point to take their order. Atharva asked, “What would you like to have?”
Shruti shook her head, “Nothing much... had a late lunch.”
He responded, “Oh...ok.”
She looked at him and asked, “Did you have lunch? You were traveling na.”
He answered, “No.. didn’t have time.”
She asked, “Oh .. did you leave late?”
He shook his head, “No.. not really.. left around 11.30 a.m.”
She knit her eyebrows together and questioned, “So you should have reached by 2.30 p.m. max or taken lunch on the way. It’s already 4.30 p.m. now… wayyyy past lunch time. What took you so long?”

He answered a bit sheepishly, “Well.. on the way, there is this beautiful Jain Derasar, called ‘Manas Mandir’ at Shahpur. I am sure you must be aware.”
She just nodded in response and he continued, “I stopped over there to offer prayers to Adinath Bhagwan and Kshetrapal Dada. It is said that if you pray over there wholeheartedly, your wishes get fulfilled.”
She spontaneously asked, without giving a second thought, “What did you wish for?” And realisation dawned on her at that very moment, and she bit her tongue.

He raised his eyebrows and asked in a husky tone, his voice full of emotions, “Do I need to answer that?” His gaze was such that she got goosebumps all over, and didn’t dare to look up. She got engrossed in reading the menu, as if her life depended on it.

The waiter came back and waited patiently for them to give order. Atharva said, “Please suggest. What should I have?”
Shruti tried to act as if nothing had happened and replied, “Well, they serve very good enchiladas and nachos here, besides a variety of sizzlers. Their falafel and hummus with pita bread is also mouth watering, since you have skipped your meal, you better order something filling.”
He questioned, “Any preference?”
She denied, “No.. will have a little from whatever you order. I am fine, just a cold coffee with vanilla ice cream please.”

Atharva turned towards the waiter and said, “ Please place an order for 1 serving of half n half enchiladas, and a serving of Hummus with pita bread.. 2 cold coffees.. 1 with ice cream.. that’s all for now.”

Shruti unconsciously kept staring at him, lost in the way he talked and his gestures.

He just loved the way she felt shy;  it was so endearing. She was obviously a girl who never held back, her face and expressions spoke louder than words. He had never dreamed that he would get so enthralled by anyone in such a short span of time. But then, life is supposed to surprise you at the most unexpected moments.

Shruti out of the blue realised, he was yet to answer her previous query. “You didn’t answer. How and when did you get Rohan’s contact?”
Atharva smirked, “Since you were a tough nut to crack yesterday, I was pondering over the issue, when I thought of it. Remember, I got a message while we were on our way back?” She responded with a nod.
He continued, “Well.. it was a message from Minish asking me how long will we take. It was then that I told him to take Rohan’s contact. Thought it would come in handy if I plan to come, without involving our parents.”

She was once again bowled over, realising that he was a person who didn’t act without planning; in fact he was just her opposite. He said further, “Today around 12 in the noon, I messaged him that I want to meet you once and requested him not to let you know, lest you don’t agree. I am highly obliged to both our brothers, without whom this wouldn’t have been possible.”
Shruti had not an iota of doubt about his intentions now. She in fact felt really ashamed that she ever did, but was thankful that it didn’t hinder their affection for each other.

He mentioned, “I specifically asked my dad to call uncle on Monday, so as to give you space to think and come to a decision. Meanwhile, I didn’t want to leave things to destiny… so gave it one last try… and….” He held his breath before continuing, “I hope there are no more confusions. I am not an easy person to live with Shruti. Have formed a wall surrounding myself, which very few have been able to break through. I hate hypocrisy; would rather talk to few genuine people than have a huge number of friends. I wish I wouldn’t be so outspoken and frank with my opinion, but then that is the way I am. I wish I would have been more diplomatic, but I am not. I am quick to say if I don’t like something, and however much I try, cannot change myself. Am not a very social person either for the same reasons. I just wanted you to take your decision with a clear mind; don’t want you to be under any delusions.” He continued, “However, my family and the ones who are close to me mean a world to me.. can go to any extent for them.”

Shruti just responded with a murmur, as though the cat had caught her tongue. She then confessed, “Well, I guess everybody has their flaws and strengths. I am too talkative which leads to a lot of problems sometimes. Have always been lucky, so tend to take things too lightly, not taking anything seriously; absolutely don’t know how to cook, never bothered with it actually. So… I guess you can say, no one is without imperfections. The important aspect is how much are we willing to accept the person, keeping aside those imperfections.”
She said it with a lot of emotions and compassion in her voice.

Their conversation was interrupted with a beep tone on Shruti’s mobile. It was a text from Rohan. It read, ‘Shru… peetne ka iraada na ho toh let me know at what time should I come to pick you up.'
Shruti couldn’t stop herself from bursting into a giggle, which not only intrigued Atharva as to the reason but also pleased him to see her smiling face.

Shruti asked, “By what time do you have to go back?” She said checking her watch, “Gosh! It’s already 6 p.m.! Didn’t realise where the time flew by!!”
Atharva replied, “Yeah.. didn’t realise… and I might as well leave. It will take me a good 3 hours to reach as well.” She didn’t know why was her mind conflicting with her heart. Logic said he has to leave, whereas her soul didn’t want him to go away so soon.

Atharva asked the waiter for the bill, paid it, leaving a generous tip, and they both got up to leave. Shruti was replying Rohan, asking him to come as they were done, when Atharva interrupted, “Hey! Would you mind .........”

To be continued.....

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