"Milke bhi hum milte nahi,"

Inayat's POV

We reached the restaurant and it was just the two of us, me and Jiju. I looked over to see Jiju talking to the manager while rubbing my right palm against my left elbow. I didn't really know how I was feeling about all this, you know?

Arrange marriage, probably to a heartless rich guy. I heard the door behind me open and I turned around to find my sister entering. With her was a guy in a formal pants, shirt and blazer. He presented himself really nicely. He was looking at his phone so I wasn't able to see his face. I turned back immediately but my sister noticed.

Great, he's a workaholic too.

She walked towards me and held my hand. Whispered something in my ears which I was barely able to hear as all my attention was drawn towards calming myself down as I was extremely nervous.

She took me to the guy who had put his phone in one of his pockets now, I think. She nudged me a little, kind of like asking me to look in his direction.

"I'll let you both introduce yourselves to each other." She smiled at both of us and left me alone with this guy. He looks like someone I know from somewhere but I can't put a name to it.

The guy smiled at me and then motioned his right hand towards a table. Both of us went there and sat down.

"So...," I said, tucking my hair beneath my ears. "How did Nisha Ji lure you into agreeing to this?" I gave an awkward smile. Why'd I call my sister Nishaji? Who even says that?

"I really didn't have any options," He let out a dry chuckle and then smiled. "What about you, how did the king himself make you say yes to this?"

"Well, I like to call it playing with my emotions." I smiled, again awkwardly. Obviously.

"Jokes apart, he's done a lot for me. Enough for me to agree to the only thing he's really ever asked of me." I smiled. I don't want anyone thinking Jiju emotionally blackmailed me into this even though he kind of did. He chuckled. Bruh?

"Oh, by the way, Nisha Ji did tell me that you lived in Mumbai till March of this year, so you're from there or here?" He asked, taking a sip of water. He has a stunning wristwatch.

"Uh, so actually I moved to Mumbai for my bachelor's degree, then I eventually did my masters there and found a really nice job there. But, before that I spent the first 17 years of my life here, in Udaipur. And I came back because I felt like I was drifting too far from my family." I smiled and started playing with my fingers and luckily my hands weren't on the table so he couldn't see my nervousness.

"Oh, that's really nice. I too did my schooling here and moved to Cambridge for my bachelor's and master's degrees. I came back to join the family business, obviously." He smiled back. Oh, my God. His smile's sweet.

My phone rang, I looked at the phone and then at him. He eyed the phone. That means he's okay with me picking it up. ...Right?

I turned my phone screen side up to see who was calling. The screen showed, 'Kabir 🧑‍⚖️'. Why's he calling me? That too right now? I picked it up nevertheless.

"Hi, Inayat. Sorry for calling this late. But I need your help. I'm proposing to her tonight and I need you to be there."

What the actual hell?

"I— what? I'll kill you if this is a prank, Kabir Sharma." I said as my hands covered my mouth.

"If this were a prank why would I be standing outside the restaurant you're at?" He sighed. This isn't real.

"How— how do you even know?" My hand was still covering my mouth and I was not ready to believe what was going on. Chachu told him already?

"I'll tell you. Tu bas bahar aaja, mai raste mein tujhe sab batata hun." What is going on?

(You just come outside, I'll tell you everything on the way.)

"Give me 5 minutes." I cut the call and stared at the guy sitting in front of me blankly. I shouldn't be doing this, should I? But... I have to.

"Uh," I looked at him and tucked my hair behind my ears. "Turns out, my best friend is being proposed to by Ka— her boyfriend. And he's waiting outside for me. I know I shouldn't be doing this but these two are very important for me and I promise I'll make it up to you tomorrow." I was so out of breath saying this because I said it too quickly.

"It's totally fine." He chuckled. "But how will you make it up to me if we have no contact with each other?" I stood up and took my purse from near the chair. I looked at him and smiled.

"You can take my number from either one of them," I looked towards Di and Jiju and he turned his head to find them too. I started walking away.

"But, what will I save your number as?" He asked, and I was in a little too much in a hurry to actually comprehend what he said.

"They'll tell you." I smiled and walked outside the place. Who says that? Oh, my god. That's dumb.

I went with Kabir and it turns out, he actually proposed to Vaidehi. I am really happy for both of them, after all why wouldn't I be? But, my best friend just got proposed to by the love of her life and here I am. Getting married to a random guy, whose name— I don't even know. He probably knows my name now. That's unfair.

Vaidehi came towards me and I didn't even because I was so busy staring at the three stars I could see in the sky, thinking about Mr. Nameless. She shook me and asked me where my mind was. I told her everything. She hit me and her now fiancé on our heads.

"Are you seriously out of your mind, Inayat!?" She screamed as I looked away. A lecture was ahead of me and I know that very well.

"Thank God Jiju made you meet with a normal guy, what if it was some psycho or old uncle?" She held my hands from my wrists and looked straight into my eyes.

"I knew he wouldn't do that, though." I defended him. I had to.

"What's his name, then?" She raised her eyebrows and sat next to me.

"Why are we talking about him right now? You just got engaged, let's celebrate that." I tried to avoid the topic and Kabir started looking at me questioningly.

"That means— you don't know his name." Kabir spoke and face-palmed himself. I stared at him to stop. Aise bhai se toh koi dushman hi hota behtar tha.

(It's better to have an enemy than to have a brother like this.)

"You don't know his name!? You fucking idiot. Have you lost it?" Vaidehi shouted at me while hitting my shoulder and again, stared at me.

"He doesn't know mine either, probably—" I whispered and before I could say anything, I was pulled away from where I was sitting.

"Babes, tu itni badi loner kabse ho gayi?" Vaidehi said, as Kabir nudged her with his elbow asking her to stop and she denied. She's like my adoptive mother. Just crazier than the actual one.

(Since when have you become such a big loner?)

I didn't say anything, I just looked down at the ground; ashamed. She's right but I'm right too. Tears formed in my eyes. She pulled me into her arms and hugged me. Kabir joined the hug. Jealous saala.

(Bloody jealous)

That's why they're my best friends and adoptive parents too. They know when I need them and they know how to act when I need them.

Vaidehi broke the hug and looked at me. "What's he like?" She now had a smile on her face. Mood toh Flash ki speed se badalti hai hai.

(Changes her mood with the speed of The Flash)

"He's uh— nice? Kinda funny, like his humor is a little lame but it's still kinda funny. He's nothing like the heartless businessman I imagined Jiju would make me meet. If this weren't an arrangement but rather a dating app, I'd swipe right." I smiled and checked my phone. There was a message from an unknown number.

Hey, the guy you met tonight here.

How'd the proposal go?

He took my number from them. Even worse, they gave it to him. This is bad.

Hi, guy.

It went well, she said yes!

Waise tumhara koi naam hai ya phir iss number se hi sab pukaarte hai?

(Do you have a name or do people call you by this number only?)

He's typing. Oh, my God, he's typing.

Naam toh hain, lekin mai chahunga meri hone wali biwi mera naam pehle mere muh se sune.

(I do have a name but I'd like my to-be wife to hear it from my mouth first.)

What the hell!? He called me his future wife, God he's delusional.

Hone wali biwi? Thode tez nahi ho rahe hai aap?

(To-be wife? Don't you think you're going a little fast?)

Besides, don't you know mine already?

Iss tez zamane ki speed pe nahi chalenge toh peeche nahi reh jayenge?

(If I don't walk at the speed of this fast generation won't I be left behind?)

And to answer your question, no I don't know your name. Looking forward to hearing it tomorrow though.

I felt my cheeks heat up a little bit. A smile spread on my face. I settled in my seat in the car and my mind went to his sweet smile. My cheeks heated up again. Mr. Sweet-Smile workaholic knows how to flirt too. Jiju wasn't wrong when he said the guy'd be good for me.

"Do you have any pictures of mystery guy, Inayat?" Kabir asked me, his eyes still locked on the road and one hand on my best friend's thigh. Get a room!

"Well no, but Kabir, you will be the one to drop me off tomorrow when I go to meet him. See him then, okay?" I said, diverting my eyes from Kabir's hand to the window.

"You know, I missed this," Vaidehi spoke, and put Kabir's hand on the steering wheel and widened her eyes at him, warning him to stop.

"By this, I mean, you, me and Kabir. Boy talks about a new guy in your life. You blushing without any reason. It hasn't happened since Ad—" She was smiling throughout saying all this, so were me and Kabir, it was true after all. Although, everything went silent when she paused. Am I happy that she stopped because I don't wanna remind myself of it? Or am I pissed off at her for thinking I can't handle a name?

I was about to say something when I heard Kabir's phone ring and decided to talk about it later. This was probably a sign. Vaidehi picked it up. Although I could hear it I chose to look at the moon. Until Vaidehi's voice raised from normal decibel.

"You ditched because of a first date!? What kind of a friend are you, huh? Do you know that Ina— you know what? Nevermind. You Won't Understand Anyways." And, she cut the call. Vaidehi 'Angry' Bansal is definitely something that poor guy didn't know he was messing with.

"Calm down, Vaidu." I patted on her shoulders from the backseat. She sighed and so did I. "He'll be paying for this," She said and then finally took a deep breath. Whoever that was, will probably pay for it, poor him.

It was a Friday night and so naturally, Vaidehi, Kabir and I were out the whole night— doing shit that makes us feel like we're back in our school lives. Screaming to AR Rahman songs at the top of our lungs at 2 in the morning, going to a bar and getting drunk in 3 shots while Kabir looks at us because he had to drive. And finally, getting kulfi at the kulfi stall at the lake— with me and Kabir fighting over the last Pista Kulfi. I miss these days.

Best part about all this? No one from home calls me even once saying that I'm late. All of them call Kabir and bother him. Only good thing about this guy. We dropped Vaidehi off at her place and went to our place. Kabir looked at me and I looked at him.

"Darwaza khol, Ini." He looked at me and chuckled as if I was the one supposed to open the door. 

(Open the door)

"I don't have the key. You were supposed to have them, no?" I crossed my arms around my chest and rolled my eyes.

"Great. Ab kya?" He sighed and looked at me.

(What now?)

"Maa ya Chachi uthe tab tak jhule pe intezar karo, aur kya?" I sighed and went towards the swing. I sat on it and Kabir came and sat beside me. We looked at each other and couldn't control our laughter. He shushed me and pointed to the house. Oh, right.

(Wait till mom or aunt wake up, what else?)

I took out my phone and realized that I had accidentally left my mystery man's message on seen. My mystery man? No. Maybe.

That's true.

Sorry for leaving the message on seen,

I got busy and forgot.

By the way, for tomorrow, I'm thinking let's go to The Botanical Café?

I sent him those messages and looked at Kabir. He raised my eyebrows at me. I shook my head in the negative .

"Sorry for barging in on that date even though it wasn't even a date." He looked at me and then hugged me from the side. I slapped his chest.

"It was a date. And, you know what? Thanks, honestly. We're probably going to the Botanical tomorrow. Without Nisha Di the great's surveillance." I chuckled and rolled my eyes.

"That's nice. I'll drop you off." He demanded with that protective tone of his. He's always had this protective tone when I talk about boys. Well, except— nevermind.

At Seven, we were finally let into the house with several lectures about how we should always have a key with us. But Kabir and I both tried to cool them down by side-hugging them at the same time. But, they pushed us. Both of us went to our rooms and I slept till 11 AM and at 12:30 I had to throw water on Kabir to wake him up.

Mystery man and I talked and decided upon meeting at The Botanical at 1:30. And this idiot, Kabir, wasn't taking the name of getting ready. I had to bang on the door of his restroom to make him quicken up. It was around 1:05 when we left and the place was almost 35 minutes away from home. If that wasn't bad enough, I got a text from mystery man at 1:23 to be exact.

Reached.

I'll be waiting for you.

I'm so sorry, my brother woke up late and because of him now we're running late.

But I'll reach by 1:45.

:(

I messaged him and started blasting the music on full volume and then, the song changed. Complete silence.

"Na hai yeh paana, na khona hi hai—"

(It is neither achieving or losing—)

I shut it before it even had the audacity to ruin my day. Not today. Not at all.

"Jaldi chala na!" I said, transferring my anger towards someone else to Kabir. He didn't say anything. He knew.

(Drive faster!)

At 1:40, we reached the Café, it was beautiful. Both Kabir and I looked around. I didn't know he was looking around, but I surely was looking around for mystery man. His eyes stuck to a car, a BMW X5, to be precise.

"What's this car doing here?" He looked at me with horror. I was in too much of a hurry to even realize the look on his face.

"Whose is it anyways?" I spoke as I was finding my airpods from the car. "You'll k—" He spoke and then shut up almost immediately.

I walked towards him and my eyes went towards the door again. He was right there. I smiled and waved. He waved back. Kabir was staring at the two of us like crazy.

"Accha, chal bye. Mai ja rahi and don't come behind me right now. Jab lene aayega tab milvaungi." I smiled at him and walked away.

(Alright, bye. I'm going and don't come behind me right now. When you come to pick me up, I'll make you meet him.)

"Khilke bhi gul khilte nahi."