"Chotu, get me a cup of chai", She orders.

"Hey chotu, cancel that and get by-two cutting chai", He orders as he occupied the chair infront of her.

"Excuse me! There is so much place. Why do you have to sit here? And why did you cancel my order?", She yells at him.

"Suno, by two chai mein 1 cup se jyada chai aati hai, toh ek tum peeyo baaki dusra mein pee lunga" he winks. {Listen, when you order by two chai, you get a little more tea than 1 cup, one for you and the remaining one for me}

"Wow!! I ordered 1 full cup only for myself why do I have to share it with you? Which movie dialogue are you using on me, huh?", She scolds him.

"Whichever movie it is from, how does it matter? If idea is good then we should just take it.", He suggests.

"My money, I decide what to buy. Why should I buy and share my tea with you? Do I look like an idiot to you? Try somewhere else", she says angrily.

"Nahi idiot toh nahi dikhti, bahut smart lag rahi ho. Isiliye try maara warna tumhara purse maarleta", he winks. {No. You look smart rather than idiot. Hence I thought of trying else I would have directly flicked your purse.}

"Huh? Sach mein tum chor ho kya? How exciting!!" She asks him curiously while she sat with her folded legs on the jute woven rope cot. {Really, are you a theif? How exciting}

He smiles. "Wow! You seem to be not scared of being robbed. So ran away from your own wedding, huh?", He asks her.

"Huh?? How do you know?", She asks surprised.

He laughs. "Looks like you think I am a dumb. Have you seen yourself? That pink heavily decorated bridal lehenga, the dark mehendi in your hands and a heavy makeup, and you sitting in this road side dhaaba at midnight alone. Unless there isn't any fashion show going on in this dhaaba."

Chotu gets cutting chai.

"Hmm.. Arey, it's obvious. I came home after completing my studies and my big joint family was decorating marriage pandal. For my marriage!! Mazzak hai kya? I didn't even get to choose my bridal lehenga forget about choosing a groom alone. Aajkal toh kasaai bhi ek baar murge ko puchta hoga ki bhaiyya main tujhe kaatu aur kaatne ke baad kaunsa masaale se pakoge aap? Do you believe that I didn't even see the groom? My father was saying he is a good boy and is his best friend's son. My foot, Shaadi toh mein apni marzi se karungi. Mujhe na love marriage karni hai. Kyuki who knows if I will love the person I marry or not. So I don't want to take that risk, you know?"

He sips tea and nods. "Superb Chai, iske saath kuch khaane ko mil jata toh maza aa jata. Why don't they serve food to groom before marriage yaar? I would have eaten before running away from my marriage."

She was shocked. "What? You also ran away from your wedding like me?"

He nods, by sipping her tea as well.

She grows excited as she picks up a cushion and keeps it on her lap. "Arey haan, I didn't notice that you are in Sherwani too. (Laughs) Bada mazza aaya hoga na, bhaagte huye? Mein toh kehti hoon, life mein sabko ek na ek baar apni shaadi se bhaagna chahiye."

"Haan yaar, but kharcha bahut ho jata hai. Chotu, chaar aloo ke paranthe le aao, mast makhan maar ke. Tum kuch khaogi?", He asks.

"Mere liye bhi ek parantha lana chotu."

Looks at her tea cup which was already emptied by him and frowns at him.

"Chotu, aur ek chai bhi", she orders

"Ek nahi, by-two cutting chai. (Looks at her) Woh jyada milta hai na.. "

"Chotu, ek full aur ek by-two cutting chai. (He smiles) Achcha, why did you run?",  She asks.

"Oh!!, I love someone. And my rule is simple, marry the person you love, else you don't marry at all.", He says by spreading his arms.

Chotu gets paranthas and he hogs as if he hadn't eaten since ages. Before she was done eating her one parantha, he had finished all four. He burps and she makes face.

"So, where do we go now from here?", He asks by washing his had in a finger bowl.

"We? I am going to the city. I had applied for a job and had given an interview before coming home. I got a message from them while I was getting dressed into this bridal wear. I just took the bag and ran away from the back door." She giggles.

"Nice yaar! You got time to take your bag. I didn't get my wallet as well. I just have a phone in my pocket. I've told my friend to get my belongings but until then I don't have anything or any place to go", he says.

"Huh? So what about your bill now?" She asks him in surprise.

"I am sure you would have got some jewellery or cash before running. (She hugs her handbag tightly) Didn't you? (He smiles) Please pay my bill as well", he makes puppy face.

"Okay, fine!", She smirks. "I don't even know why am I entertaining a stranger like you. I don't even know your name."

"Hey, I'm Sidharth, naam toh suna hi hoga!" He says forwarding his hand.

"What? Are you SRK's fan?", She asks.

"No. But are you Simran? You know Sim also RAN??"

"No, I am Shehnaaz" She flicks her hair and says proudly with a boss attitude.

"Woaahhh, I like it! Chale?", He asks.

"Where? And why are you coming with me?" She enquires.

"Arey, now we know each other by our names right? So we are friends. And a friend in need is a friend indeed, you see"

"What the hell? Waise to, even I know Ambani and Narendra Modi by their name, so are they also my friends?"

"No, cause they don't know you by your name na darling?" He laughs.

"What? Darling? Seriously?" She looks at him in frustration.

"Arey sweetheart, friendship mein sab chalta hai. Darling, sweetheart, jaan. You know" he winks.

"Right? We are friends! I call my friends, Gadhe, Kuttey, Kamine, Dumbo. So what do you like to be called as?"

"Whatever you want Sweetheart. Atleast you agreed that we are friends!"

"Arghhh.. okay come. Let's go!"

"Where?", He asks.

"To the city with me. You can stay with me in my PG as my roommate until your friend gets your belongings and you have a place to stay.", She says.

"Oh!! Thank you.. thank you.. thank you so much meri Jaan", he hugs her.

She jerks him off. "Oye! Don't touch! Else I'll take back my offer"

He holds his ears. "Sorry, sorry, sorry! Waise, you know that I have a girlfriend already."

"Then, why don't you go and stay with her only?"

"I would have but she is out of country right now", he tells her.

"Woahh!! Big catch!!", She says.

"Excuse me! I am a big person myself."

She looks at him from top to bottom. He gulps.

"Big person? I paid your bill few minutes back. Remember?"

"Yeah, fine. I ran my father's business. But now after running away, I have to find a job for myself." He says disappointed.

"Okay, no worries. You will get it as well."

She gives him her bag and handbag, takes out a pair of clothes from the bag.

"Wait over here itself. I'll go and change myself." She says.

She takes two steps and comes back and takes her handbag with her. He smiles. She changes into casuals and comes back. She stuffs the heavy lehenga into the bag.

"You want to change?" She asks.

"I don't have any clothes with me."

"Iske neeche kuch toh pehna hoga na? Yaa phir nange ho?", She asks.

"What? (Shocked) Nahi, I have a T-shirt inside. You know how uncomfortable it is with just sherwani"

"Try Lehenga and Choli next time. It's very very comfortable." She smirks.

He frowns as he takes off his Sherwani and she allows him to stuff it into her bag.

"Woahh!! Iske neeche bahut bade dole shole chipake rakha hai, haan?" She says touching his biceps.

"Don't touch. It's only for my girlfriend to touch"

She glares at him. "Hush, maine kaunsa tumhara izzat lutt liya? I know my limits. Come let's go!"

They board the bus to the city.

__________________________________

To be continued.. ❤️❤️

Story on request and idea by anindita2014 - I hope you are liking it. 😊