Urvashi Rautela as Esha Shah

~

Arjun: What did Parth say to you?

She received his message just after she reached home. She decided not to tell him the truth.

Sanam: Nothing.

Arjun: I saw you two. It wasn't nothing.

Sanam: Fine, it was something. Ask him. I'm not going to be the one to say it.

Arjun: I did. He wouldn't tell me.

Sanam: Then I can't help you.

She didn't like being hostile towards Arjun for something that wasn't his fault. He hadn't sent Parth after her. That was on Parth. Still, she wasn't going to be the one to say it and risk their friendship. She could see Parth had a good intention behind saying what he did.

Arjun: Was it about me?

Sanam: I'm not going to say anything, Arjun. Good night.

Arjun: Then it was about me.

Sanam needed to give him more credit for being smart. Good night. She repeated.

Arjun: Wait, are you free tomorrow?

She read the message a couple of times, thinking of all the reasons he would ask her that. Depends on your reason. She eventually responded back.

Arjun: Are you?

Sanam: Reason, Arjun.

The answer didn't come instantly. Instead, his call did. She looked sideways where Esha was sleeping. Yes, her mom and her sister were still staying at her apartment as school hadn't restarted for Esha. She thought of not answering it, but then she did. "What?" She whispered, loud enough for him to hear it, but soft enough so Esha wouldn't wake up.

"Why are you whispering?"

"Because Esha is sleeping in my room. Now, why were you asking?" She whispered back.

"Sweetheart, what is the number one reason a guy asks a girl whether or not she is free?" He questioned, and she knew the answer to that. She wasn't going to say it though. He let out a sigh a few seconds later when she didn't answer. "Fuck, are you really going to make me say it?" More than anything, she was taken aback by his curse that caused her to remain silent. She heard him exhale deeply. "Alright. Will you go out with me?"

Again, she didn't answer. It had surprised her a little. She knew of their arrangement, so she knew they'd be seen spending time together before they approached their parents. It still had an impact on her heart to actually hear him say it. The way he said it, it sounded as if he was serious, not just because of their understanding.

He pressed for an answer when she didn't give one for atleast five to ten seconds. "Well? Are you free?"

She gulped before answering, "Yes." She was so rattled. She didn't remember to whisper. She also ended the call hastily. He is probably amused at me. She was twenty-four years old, and rattled when a guy asked her out on a date, even though a part of her knew it was supposed to be casual and for pretense.

~

The clock on the side table read 2:23 in red when she woke up. Her eyes widened and she sprung up in bed. She found Esha at the study table working on the laptop.

"Morning." She greeted, not shifting her head in the direction.

"Morning? It's the middle of the day! Why didn't anyone wake me up?" She reached for her phone, "I'm pretty sure I have an alarm for 8 am."

She answered in a nonchalant voice, "Yeah, I turned it off."

"You know my password?" She turned her head to her, surprised.

She finally looked at her, "I've known all your passwords, sis. Don't be so naïve." Sanam gaped at her. All the time, she never knew her sister knew her passwords. "By the way, why was Arjun calling you so late?"

"You went through my phone?!" She was about ready to scold her.

Esha shrugged, "Well, not really. I saw the missed call, and then I saw you'd answered a call earlier. So, what were you two talking about so late?"

"Go back to study." She silenced her, not answering her questions. She left her phone be on the bed as she pushed the covers aside and made her way in the bathroom, wondering why he called her again. Her phone was kept on do not disturb mode. Hence, she didn't realize he'd called again. She didn't remember how long it had been after the call that she'd fallen asleep either. It probably was right away.

Staring at her reflection in the mirror, she recalled what she agreed to last night. She took in a deep breath to get rid of the jitters. It was bugging her at the pit of her stomach. She was going to have to tell her mom something when she asked where she was going at night time, and why she shouldn't make dinner for her.

She looked like crap, and she felt twice as much worse.

~

She texted him after she had taken a shower and went to the kitchen to eat something. Her stomach was growling for not eating over twelve hours.

Sanam: You called?

Putting her phone aside, she picked up the spoon to eat the rice from the bowl. She hadn't thought he would answer within two minutes. They'd only texted starting last night and she didn't know if he always replied this quick.

Arjun: Did you just wake up?

Sanam: Maybe.

Arjun: Haha. Good morning then. I'd called because I thought the call got dropped suddenly.

She realized how he could have gotten that impression. She hadn't even said bye, or even good night for that matter. Her thumbs dwindled over the screen, unsure of what to reply with, when he sent another message.

Arjun: Anyway, when should I pick you up?

Sanam: That depends on what we are doing?

He'd only asked her out. He hadn't said if they were going to movies, dinner, or what.

Arjun: It includes dinner. I hope you won't ask where.

Sanam: Lol, okay. 7?

Arjun: Sounds good (:

She sent a smiley back. Then she thought, and sent another message.

Sanam: And can you just text me when you do get here? I don't need my mom making this difficult.

Arjun: Sure, sweetheart.

Sanam: See you then (:

Her mom woke up from her afternoon nap, and came to start preparations for dinner. Since she had just finished the rice, she was still downstairs. She walked into the kitchen to inform her. "Hey, mom? Don't make dinner for me tonight."

"Why? Are you going to the library again?" She questioned as she took out tomatoes and potatoes from the fridge.

"Uh, no... You know Arjun, right?"

She stopped working and glanced at her, "Yes?"

"He called to ask if we could have dinner."

She took in that information, and then nodded. "I see, and you already said yes. Why are you telling me than?"

She sighed at her mother being defensive. She could tell she wasn't happy she had done that without asking their permission first. Her parents needed to not be so conservative. "Mom, don't be like that please. I could have lied and said I was going to library, but I didn't. I wanted you to know from me, not find out from someone else. I'm not trying to do anything behind your back."

Her conscious nagged at her, because technically she still was.

This time, she sighed, which was surprising for Sanam. "We just expect more from you, Sanam."

She could tell she was still being a bit condescending. She chose to let it go. She didn't want to ruin everyone's mood by getting into an argument right now. It had turned out so well last time that the next day, she'd ended up asking Arjun to marry her.

She walked out of the kitchen, and saw Esha glued to the end of the hallway. She was coming into the kitchen, and had stopped overhearing their conversation. It was good that she didn't walk in. Their mom would have found a point or two to nag her about as well. Then it really would have been a blown out fight, for Esha didn't hold back like Sanam.

She silently followed Sanam back to her room, and closed the door behind them. Then she went off, "Big sister say what now?"

Sanam chuckled at her surprise. It's not every day Sanam did something that she knew her parents wouldn't approve of. That was Esha's department. "What? He asked. Should I have said no?"

She grabbed her hand and pulled her to the bed, "Ofcourse not! Wow, I just can't believe it. I'm glad you said yes. I can already see it. You two are perfect for each other."

"Okay there, calm down now. It's just... dinner." Sanam said, trying to act chill even though the back of her mind was aware of the agreement between Arjun and her.

"Dinner." Esha scoffed at the word, "It's your first real date, Sanam." She bombarded her with a list of questions, "When is he picking you up? Where are you going? Have you decided what you are going to wear? Does Neha know?"

"At 7, I don't know, I don't know, and no." Sanam answered, remembering the order of her questions, "I'd rather tell Neha when I see her. If I told it to her over the phone, she would freak."

"Well, didn't you ask where you were going? How are you supposed to know how to dress?" She brought up a very logical point.

"Um, I can wear a pair of pants and some top." Sanam offered.

She gave her a disappointed look, "C'mon sis. Don't be so boring. You are not going to wear jeans on a date. You have to wear a nice dress atleast. This is why you need to tell Neha. She would have given you the perfect advice."

"Okay, you know what, go do your homework." Sanam ordered, and then walked into her closet. Esha protested from outside, but she don't come out nor allowed her to come in either as she sat on the floor, leaning up against the door.

She didn't need her sister making her anymore nervous or conscious about tonight.

~

Sanam walked out of the house about five minutes after he had texted her of his arrival. It had taken her that long to look at herself once more in the mirror, grab her wallet, get out of her room, tell her mother she was leaving, and put on shoes. Ofcourse, her mother was upset with her, and she was sure her dad would be as well once he heard from her mother. She barely said anything. Sanam would have usually felt bad, but she had told herself to not feel guilty about hurting her feelings. She needed to do this for her future.

He was leaning against his black sleek BMW dressed in dark jeans, that didn't look new, but they weren't old either and a button-up white shirt. That in itself was enough to take her breath away. She didn't even need to look up at his face to put his whole look together. But, when she did, her breath really hitched.

Noticing her walking out, he stood on his feet instead of lazily leaning back. "Hey." He whispered out, looking at her from top to bottom.

She had settled on a peach colored dress. It was nothing special, just a sleeveless dress that reached a little above her knee and a belt around the waist. She had kept it casual, but not too casual. The dress was paired off with fancy flats as heels wouldn't have went with something that looked this plain. Well, given the right pair, it could have. She simply was more comfortable in flats.

*Imagine this dress but without the back flow?*

"Hi." She answered, walking closer.

Just when she was in front of him, he complimented, "You look pretty."

"Um, thanks." She answered, looking away from his eyes. She didn't respond back well to compliments. "You too. Uh, I mean..."

He let out a chuckle, understanding what she had meant to say. "I know, ready to go?"

She nodded, glad he didn't stretch that conversation. Before she could, he reached the handle of the door and pulled it open for her. With a small smile, she muttered a thank you before slipping inside. He closed the door once she settled, and then hopped over to the other side. She put on the seatbelt just as he closed the door and turned the key in the ignition. Without a word, he put on his seatbelt as well and pulled out of the neighborhood. She noticed the car was manual, not automatic.

"Impressive." She commented, nodding towards it.

Seeing what she was nodding towards, he bobbed his head to the side, "Eh, not really."

She disagreed, "No, trust me. I tried once before. Failed terribly."

"Really, it just takes some practice. I'll teach you sometime." He took a turn that Sanam figured lead away from the main city.

"If I were you, I wouldn't trust me with a BMW." She leaned back in the seat, starting to grow comfortable in the conversation. She realized she was having the nerves since she woke up for no reason.

His eyes flickered to her for a second, before switching back to the road. "Sweetheart, what makes you think I would care about you crashing my precious BMW?"

She grinned at that, catching the meaning of his words. It was obvious he loved the car, like any guy, but he was also not backing out of his promise. At her grin, he smiled himself. A few seconds of silence later, she informed. "I told my mom."

He looked surprised. "You did?"

She nodded, though he couldn't see that as he wasn't looking at her. "Yeah, I didn't want it to be a surprise later on."

"Right." He said, switching gears as he pulled on the interstate, "Makes it believable."

For a second, she wondered if there was something underlying his tone. She didn't know him well enough to know if he was mad, but trying to conceal it. She didn't say much after that until he had parked and she looked around. "Are you serious?" She questioned at what stretched in front.

"I take that as your approval." He smiled, and she hoped he wasn't mad or anything anymore. While she unbuckled, he had already walked out and over to her side. He opened it and offered his hand. Taking it, she stepped out, glad for it. The car was low and made it a bit hard to get out. He opened the trunk and pulled out a black leather jacket. He handed it to her, saying, "It'll get cold once the sun goes down."

She accepted it with gratitude and then looked up at the sun that was close to setting while he took out a basket. Then, they walked up the dock. To be entirely honest, she was glad he hadn't picked a restaurant. He might have picked one of the fancy ones, and she would have felt the pressure then to be according to their surroundings. Reaching the edge, they sat down. He took off his shoes and let them dangle over.

*If you'll watch the video & pause at 2:35/45, you'll see an idea of the place he takes her*

https://youtu.be/4wF6rFp4sqg

A private dock with a clear lake surrounded by trees at its edges and the perfect view of a sunset without any tall buildings blocking the serenity of it.

She pulled the picnic basket closer. "Let's see what you have in here."

"It's nothing healthy." He pointed out, and she definitely saw that. Burgers, grilled cheese, soda, and cheesecake.

She grinned, amused. It's definitely not dinner. "I think your definition of dinner is... interesting."

"Hush, the view makes up for it." He chided for teasing him.

She laughed, closing the basket. "Grilled cheese is mine."

"I figured." He answered and removed the cans of soda. He popped one open and handed it to her, and does the same for his. "Cheers to an interesting dinner."

"And an amazing sunset." She added, clinking the cans together. They both took a sip.

Then, he asked, "You don't drink, do you?" She shook her head. "Glad I didn't bring wine then."

"Why here?" She asked, certain this was not the place he must have taken other girls for a date.

"I think I know you a little by now to know you wouldn't be impressed by fancy dinners."

She agreed to his answer, "That would be true."

He added, "Or getting impressed by a manual car over the fact that it is a BMW."

She had a sip of the soda before answering, "That too."

He grinned back, shaking his head, "It's good to be normal around someone."

She turned her head to look at him, and the way he stared at his soda. He didn't mean to say it out loud. She looked away to not make him uncomfortable. The sky turned into shades of pink. A smile unintentionally spread on her face.

"I love sunsets." She said in a hushed voice. From her peripheral, she could see him turn his head to look at her. "You know, it tells people that hey, no matter how rough the day has been for you, a new one is on its way. You don't have to let what happened today bring you down tomorrow. You can start over with unlimited possibilities."

A rush of wind crashed through her face, and she took in a deep breath, closing her eyes to let it refresh her. It made her feel awake and alive. To just feel was a wonderful feeling in itself. She reopened her eyes and turned her head sideways to see he was still looking at her. He hadn't looking away since she started talking.

"That was beautiful."

Again, she don't know if it was his compliment, or the way he was intensely looking at her that caused her to blush and look away from him. As she stared down, her hair fell over curtaining her face. She tugged them behind her ear before looking up again. "Everyone looks at nature in some form." She offered, trying to overcome her moment of being shy.

"True, but I like your version of it." He then turned to face her so that one of his legs was still dangling while the other was folded. "So, tell me, were you born here?"

She shook her head, tucking her legs underneath her. She couldn't very well fold them crisscross seeing she was wearing a dress. "No, in India. I was eight when we immigrated here."

"You don't have an accent."

"No, I guess not." She played with the hem of the dress, not divulging in the details of how she'd worked on losing it. "I'm guessing you were born here?" His accent was definitely American Indian.

He confirmed, "Yup, all three of us. Mom and dad moved here after getting married in India."

"Have you ever been there then?"

"Yeah." He answered as she fidgeted. The wooden boards of the docks were imprinting on her legs, making it hard to sit in one position for a long time. It was better to sit facing the water instead of each other. "Here, get up, just sit on the jacket." He said seeing her discomfort.

She shook her head, "No, it's okay. This jacket is..."

She couldn't tell which brand, but she figured it had to be the expensive kind. He offered, "Armani, but doesn't matter. C'mon. Up."

His tone told her he was serious. "Are you sure?" She asked, to really see if it was okay. She didn't know all the high-end brands out there, but Armani was definitely heard of. He cocked his head to the side, and she muttered, going up on her knees to put the jacket over the floors of it. "Okay, okay." It was definitely helpful to have something under her legs.

They talked a bit more, asking basic questions. She noticed he didn't ask any of too personal questions. He was drawing a border, and she respected it. She didn't want to push him.

All of a sudden, he asked, "If I asked you to jump, would you?"

Her eyes widened, "What? Are you crazy? No!"

He grinned, "Why not? It'll be fun."

"The water is probably cold. We don't know how deep it is, and plus, we don't have a change of clothes." She offered up all the reasons to not do that.

"It's still fun." He offered that one pro that was always worth taking risks.

She stuck to her decision, "No, Arjun."

He made the general assumption, "You think over every action of yours in life, don't you?" She couldn't get offended at that. He was right, after all. Even if to do something crazy, it was hard for her to not think of the reasons to do and not do something. He let it go, nevertheless, "Okay, not today. But next time, we are definitely bringing spare clothes, and going to do it."

"Oh, really?" She asked to tease him for making it sound as a definitive plan of the future. He sounded too confident that simply having a pair of clothes to change into was going to make her jump in there.

"Oh yes." The confidence didn't falter with even the slightest hint of uncertainty.

She chose to not fight him over it and let the conversation go. If he was confident, she was too. She didn't let just anyone talk her into doing things she didn't want to. In that department, she had yet to meet someone to match her stubborn nature.

"Do you have a time you need to be home by?" He asked after few seconds of silence.

That was when she realized she didn't know what time it was. She reached for her phone and pressed the button. 9:43 p.m. Her eyes widened. They had been there for almost three hours. Dang.

"Oh. Wow. Okay, um, I don't, but still, we should probably head back. I don't want to test the waters with mom. I get the feeling she is already not going to talk to me for a few days to prove a point."

"Yeah, I don't think I want them to hate me either." He pointed out, getting up and then offering his hand. She let him help her up and then reached to pick up his jacket. It took about half hour to get back home. He had pulled up in the driveway and parked the car. When she unbuckled and reached for the door, he unbuckled as well. "Here. Let me."

Before she could tell him it wasn't needed, he'd already stepped out of the car. Hence, she put on a polite smile and waited for him to open the door. Once she was out of the car, he leaned back on the door and closed the door. He crossed his arms across his chest.

"Thank you, for the grilled cheese. It's the best I ever had." She complimented, following his action and standing beside him.

He let out a soft laugh, "If we are going to start with the 'thank yous', then thank you for being the least expensive date ever."

She laughed too realizing she was being silly and making things formal with displaying her gratitude. "What can I say? I'm a normal girl, you see." She had to ignore the feeling she got when his arm brushed against hers very subtly. She doubted he even noticed.

"Can I ask a personal question?"

She nodded. People always told her they thought she was mysterious, but for her, if they simply ask the question that makes them think she was mysterious, she would answer it.

"You seemed surprised when I asked you out. You're a smart and beautiful girl. Surely, you've been..." He trailed off as he looked into her eyes and received the answer to his own question. He inhaled sharply when he made the realization. "Shit. If I had known this was your first date..."

She smiled, took a step forward, and then turned to face him. "Don't sweat it, Arjun. I couldn't have asked for more. I liked that there was no pressure. Imagine, if we had gone to some restaurant, we wouldn't have had half the fun we did." He eventually let out a nod, letting her convince him that she still had a great time. "Though I do have one complaint."

"Yeah?" He stiffened and stood properly, thinking she was going to say something serious. 

"I appreciate you being a gentleman tonight and opening doors for me, but don't ever do it again." The area around his eyes crinkled, thinking she was joking at that. She put her hands on her hips, "I'm serious!" He turned, and she leaned back when he towered over her. "Uh, Arjun?" She started to turn conscious.

He didn't stop. He put his hand on the car behind her, right beside her face. "I'm serious too, sweetheart. I know what we agreed on, but this is also who I am. I'm not going to stop. Just because I offer you my hand or open doors for you does not mean in any way that I think you are not capable of doing it yourself."

"I..." She wanted to tell him she didn't think that of him, but she couldn't come around to finishing the sentence. He caught her by surprise when he leaned in further and placed his lips on her cheek. Her chest raised as she breathed in and held it in, afraid to exhale for his face was standing too close.

When he leaned away and took a step back, she wanted to question what it was for. Her eyes asked the question, and yet he just smiled and got in the car. She watched, stunned, as he drove away. He did that, she let him, and she didn't say anything back.

Why?

This was all meant to be for show. Why is he making it real? And why did I feel the way I did?

~

authors note;

this might be cheesy date.. but which first dates aren't? They had a good time, so there. That's all I care for :P Sanam so has no idea what she's getting herself in, lol!

Gear up for some real conversations next chapter... some secrets will be shared ;) As always, leave your votes & comments behind. Eagerly waiting :D