I was nervous in a way I couldn't control, I was beyond sure that I would do something to ruin the date. My heart restlessly thudded against my chest, every breath I took was shaky and sweat wetted and drenched my palms. 'If everything goes my way, I promise I'll buy food for a needy person on the streets and I won't break my promise, I swear', throwing my head up, I whispered to God, in the elevator, which led to the thirtieth floor of the five-star hotel Darshan booked for the date; it was one high-budgeted date for a broke human being, like me, for sure.

The elevator doors slid open, exposing an open-space, where tables and long couches were arranged; it was a roof-top restaurant, which towered over the bustling city of Mumbai. Fairy-lights were hung around and gigantic chandeliers dangled from the ceiling; but the lighting was still dim and romantic. The lights were in dull shades of blue and purple, and the dullness in the lounge forced the brightness in the city of Mumbai to stand out; the view was breathtaking. A decent crowd gathered in the lounge, the usual soft music echoed in the background and waiters stood in every nook and corner of the space, like bodyguards guarding the President's house. A long distance away from me, Darshan leaned against the high glass-tempered fence and stared at Mumbai. Suddenly, my feet were glued to the ground and I couldn't move an inch, but I dragged my feet on the ground, struggling to walk in the pencil-heels Nash forced me to wear. With every step I took, I thought of different ways to greet Darshan; I thought I'd simply tap on his shoulder and smile at him, allowing him to initiate the conversation, but I didn't want to make it obvious that I was nervous about the date. He certainly was smarter and sharper than I thought he was, and I was certain he'd read and understand the reason behind my sudden silence; not that it mattered, but I didn't want him to know. Within moments, I stood alongside him, looking ahead at the lengths of buildings that towered upon one another and illuminated the whole city; it looked like the stars descended from the night sky and sparkled on Earth. The second I stood next to him, my shoulder brushed past his, unintentionally, and he turned his head snapped in my direction, slowly and calmly. Was he actually that calm, or was he pretending?

"Hi", I said, softly, and turned to face him; the moment my eyes fell on him, I fell weak on my knees because he looked different, different and beautiful...and hot. He wore a white shirt, and left the top three buttons unbuttoned; exactly the way I told him once before. The skyscraper view was definitely the best, but before him, it was a close second-best. The night sky full of stars, the sunsets that defined beauty and the crashing oceans filled with depths of calmness...everything, every little thing, failed before him. In his eyes resided the sparkles of a starry night and in his smile I found the calmness of a sunset sight; his face was as bright as day, yet it looked as calm as night. The Universe stretched itself on his skin; I stood inches away from the Universe, and I was head-over-heels in love with the sight. It was a matter of a moment, a stretch into smile and a twinkle in the eyes...I was falling in love and it was beyond my control. I closely resembled an ocean that night; the depths of emotions that bubbled within, and took control of me, was unknown to the eyes of someone, who stared at me from a distance. I was an ocean that could have drowned him, but how would he, who stood at the shore know?

"Hi. What's up?", Darshan questioned, in a tone that was ten times softer than mine, and it took great willpower to get hold of myself. "Good. You?", I questioned back and forced a decent smile at him. "Yeah, good", Darshan answered, and rubbed the side of his neck, nervously. 'Great, he's nervous, too. Now, we'll need a third person to set things normal between us', my inner-voice sighed, while I simply tightened my grip around the clutch I held. We remained silent for ten long seconds, looking around in hesitation, but every second of those ten seconds took eternities to tick away. I studied my freshly painted nails, as though it was the world's most interesting thing ever, because I had absolutely nothing to talk about; all of a sudden, my mind was a blank sheet of paper, thanks to him. "I thought you'd take a little longer to reach, because when I drove to the hotel, the roads were blocked", Darshan awkwardly said, and my inner-voice screamed, 'Is this all you can think of?', but I chose to take the conversation forward because I had nothing to say, either. "The cab-driver took a shortcut from my new house; I moved houses this morning, and it's somewhere around this area", I answered back; I felt I was talking to a complete stranger, but it was the fact that we were on an 'actual date' which ruined the settlement and comfort between us. He should have simply called it an outing, or a hangout, or a meet-up, or whatever; anything, but a 'date'! "How's the new house?", Darshan questioned. "It's good; it's far away from the rush. We're living with an old couple...they own the house and we only have a room to ourselves", I informed. "Old couple...that's good, you know. It's safe", Darshan awkwardly smiled and I forced a nod in agreement, although I didn't agree with his thought. How come living with an aged-couple was considered as 'safe'? Say that a robber barged into our house, by the time the old people stood up from their seats, the robber would have emptied the whole space. But it was an argument I kept within me. I didn't utter a word of disagreement; I couldn't even talk, let alone argue. "Is the Mumbai Railways closer to your new house?", Darshan shot yet another question; I couldn't believe we talked about the traffic, my new house and the goddamn Mumbai Railways on our first date together! "It's fifteen minutes away from where I live", I said an estimate. "That's good", was all he managed to say, before falling silent. 'Is there anything else you want to know about? Do you want to know about how far the Police Station, public toilet and grocery is from my new house?', my stupid, and insuppressible, inner-voice blabbered. Yet again, the deadly and disturbing loud silence interfered between us, and it was nothing but awkward; I wanted to call off the plans and run back home.

"Do you know that they had to clear an area of shanty houses to build this hotel?", when I thought that he couldn't get any weirder than he was, he proved me wrong. "Oh...now, I know...", I didn't know how to react to it. "They didn't even provide compensation to the residents of this area, post clearance; they were forced out of their houses. That move was extremely unfair", Darshan said with much seriousness. "Totally, how unfair and inhumane of them", I judged the builders of the hotel, while standing on the rooftop of the hotel for a date. "They should have at least built a separate building, or provided cash to the residents, don't you think?", Darshan suggested and I forced a nod. We conversed and differentiated between what was right and what was wrong on our first date; how romantic and mushy. I wasn't on a date; I felt I attended a Parliament meeting with a Minister. I thought that a Minister would have made a better and more romantic date than him; I wondered how he wrote all the romantic songs, when he was that unromantic in real life. But it was a matter of time until he proved me wrong. "Excuse me, Sir, your table's ready", a waiter politely said and flashed a kind smile at us. Our ever-so-important conversation about how Darshan believed that compensation ought to be provided to the residents of the shanty houses abruptly ended, as the waiter guided us to our table, which was in a small room, cornered on the rooftop. "Have a good evening, Sir. Good evening to you, Ma'am", the waiter smiled and excused himself, stranding me with Darshan and that was exactly when my heart relentlessly began pounding against my chest. Butterflies unleashed, turned wild and tickled my insides; it was hard to breathe, or even stand still. Darshan held the glass-door open for me, and gestured me to walk inside. Struggling to walk on the high-heels, I staggered my way towards the inside of the cuboid-shaped room, which was beautifully illuminated in calming shades of lights.

A round table stood tall right in the middle of the room, with two chairs on either ends of it; a shiny, white table cloth covered the table, and over it petals of a rose were scattered all around with scented candles and an uncapped bottle of champagne arranged in one corner. I was busy gazing at the room, that I didn't strike me that I stood right in the middle of the path, blocking his way. "Dityaa", Darshan called out from behind, and cleared his throat, snapping me straight out of my thoughts.

He was gentlemanly enough to drag a chair out for me and I genuinely smiled at him because the gesture was simply adorable and heartwarming. Until that moment, boys had only dragged chairs out so that I'd fall hard on the ground and hurt myself! He sat down on the opposite, as he adjusted his shirt, and then reached out to pick a bouquet of fresh roses. "This...um, this one's for you", Darshan held it out towards me. Midst the bunch of roses, he managed to stuff branded chocolates and I bet they were imported! I was embarrassed and felt utterly stupid, because the thought of gifting something to him did not cross my mind at all. All my life, dates were something my partner and I would show up for – empty handed – and we'd hog on good food, before parting ways, which made me realize that I had never been on an actual date before and I had absolutely no idea how it worked. Silence consumed us for a little longer, until something went wrong because of Darshan's nervousness, which eventually did break the cold silence and ice between us.

He fetched the champagne bottle from the corner of the table, and I noticed how his hands trembled in nervousness. He filled a tall glass with champagne, and I had absolutely no idea what was running on his mind, but he ended up over-pouring the drink; like an erupting volcano, champagne poured of the glass and wetted his white shirt. "OH SHIT!", I screamed on the top of my lungs, and my jaw dropped open. "OH MY GOD, THAT WAS SUCH AN AMAZING WHITE SHIRT", I blurted out and Darshan stood up, wildly shaking the liquid off his shirt, while I giggled softly. "Breaking News; Darshan Raval's "wet". Please tell me you get the joke", I laughed hysterically, watching him struggle and he shot a death stare at me. We figured out that there was absolutely nothing we could do about the shirt he ruined and getting through the rest of the date shirtless was not an ideal option, so Darshan sat back down with a disgusted look on his face. "I thought I would ruin things, but thank God you took the initiative", I sounded casual and calmer, because the fact that something went wrong was comforting. "I don't go on dates because it makes me extremely nervous", Darshan confessed. "Oh my God, same pinch!", I raised my hand in the air for a high-five and Darshan slammed his palm against mine, with a smile. "This is the third time I'm spilling a drink on myself on a date", Darshan revealed. "But your date wouldn't have said anything, because you're The Darshan Raval. You can spill a goddamn hot coffee on your date, and she would laugh it off", I rolled my eyes. "Not true; it happened once and she stranded me, after calling me a senseless prick", Darshan opened up. "Be thankful, because if I was her, I'd pour three mugs of coffee on your head", I joked and he chuckled. "By the way, I think...no, I mean...you do...", Darshan paused and cleared his throat. "...you look beautiful", finally, he complimented my outfit and smiled at me. "You look different...but you look nice...like really nice", he was definitely not someone who mastered the art of complimenting a girl, and I thought it was cute. "You were never that flirt at school, right?", I teased and he smiled in embarrassment. "Thanks, though, and I honestly think that you look amazing in this messy look; it suits you best. You compliment white so wonderfully. You know what? I was expecting you to show up in a blazer and probably, something extremely formal...but I must admit that you blew my mind!", I was comfortable and out-of-control; back to square one, exactly where I belonged and perfectly fitted.

A long night lied ahead of us, where I spoke and he listened, where I blabbered and he smiled at everything I said, where I cracked terrible jokes unintentionally and he laughed hard, where I wanted time to stop and he was the reason why, where I fell in love and he simply was clueless.