Sameer popped the crispy outer filling of the samosa into his mouth, discarding the filling

"Bhai, kuch bhi kar, samose ka aisa apman na kiya kar. Mujhse nahi dekha jaata" Pandit said, flinching seeing him doing that.

"Mujhse toh kal se kuch khaya bhi nahi jaa raha" Sameer said, visibly sad

"Oye Devdas ki aulaad. Aise hi aansuon ki chutney se samose khayega ya kuch karega bhi? Seedha jaa Naina ke paas aur apne pyar ka izhaar kar de, uske jaane se pehle. Pata nahi pichle janam me tune kaun se karam kiye ki tujhe ye masterni hi mili"

"Abbey oye. Itna aasan nahi hai jitna tujhe dikh raha hai"

"Pata hai. Usne uska devi ka roop dhaaran kar liya toh teri lag jayegi. Isiliye bolta hoon khao, piyo aish karo aur inn chakkaron mein mat pado. Koi sunta hi nahi hai" Pandit shook his head

"Koi idea de na Pandit" Sameer said, knowing it was hopeless asking for his help

"Maine kya yahan 2-2 girlfriends pata ke rakhi hai jo pooch raha hai tu? Par ek baat keh sakta hoon, ye maniben-"

Sameer glared at him-

"Mera matlab hai woh behenji-sorry bhabhi- bhi kahin na kahin tujhe pasand karti hi hogi. Warna woh tere bimaar hone par apna train miss kabhi nahi karti"

"Baat toh tu sahi keh raha hai. Par usne mujhe reject kar diya toh?"

"Toh hum dono ek ashram join kar lenge brahmachari bankar. Bol toh abhi se booking karwa doon?" Pandit chuckled as Sameer looked blankly into the distance, anxious about getting a negative reply.
_____________________________________________

Sameer entered the apartment cautiously, a bouquet of roses wrapped in newspaper, behind him.
'Chocolate laana toh bhul hi gaya. Ab toh pakka mana karegi.' he thought as he inspected the flowers

Naina had put on the tape recorder and was on her one of her cooking 'experiments'.

Raat akeli hai
Bujh gaye diye

Sameer gulped as soon as he heard the song while walking in-
"Chun chun ke ise aise hi gaane milte hai kya?" He murmured as he took in her form as she tried to roll out rotis.

Naina immediately switched off the tape recorder on seeing him, smiling awkwardly.

"Aagaye tum?"

"Gaana kyun band kiya? Diye toh bujh gaye par yahan itna dhuan kyun hai?" Sameer coughed as he opened a window.

"Oh. Lagta hai sabji jal gayi thodi si" Naina said, checking on whatever she could salvage of the curry

"Sabji Ko bhool jao. Chalo aaj bahar kha lenge. Waise bhi Monday ke baad kahan milogi." he said, changing his plans to propose her outside.
Proposing inside that rundown apartment didn't bode well with him as soon as he saw the peeling plaster. He wanted to make it special for her.

"Accha. Main pav bhaji khaungi"

"Umm. Naina main restaurant mein jaane ki baat kar raha tha"

"Ohh. Kyun tumhara birthday hai kya?"

Sameer wanted to hit his head somewhere on hearing her and asked her to get ready as it was getting late.

"Biwi nahi hoon main iski. Dekho abhi se kaise rob jhaad raha hai" Naina made a face as she shut the door. She got too upset on hearing they won't be having any pav bhaji that night
_____________________________________________

Sameer had tried out two different suits and none of them were to his liking.

'Suit pehnu ki nahi?'  he thought as it would raise unnecessary suspicions beforehand. He finally decided to wear only the shirt, leaving behind the coat

Naina came out wearing a wine coloured saree and stopped in her tracks seeing Sameer. He looked extra handsome today, in his formal wear and there was an extra sparkle in his eyes, which didn't go unnoticed by her

"Chale" she said softly, looking at him bring out something wrapped in newspaper

"Ye tumhare liye" he said awkwardly, almost thrusting the bouquet into her hands, with the cover on

"Ye kya hai?" She said, looking curiously

'Kaisa bada wala gadha hai tu Sameer. Newspaper ke saath phool kaun deta hai?' he thought as he started tearing off the newspaper hurriedly and some roses came off the bouquet

"Bas bas. Bohot sundar hai" Naina said, overwhelmed by his gesture, preventing him to tear it off further

"Sorry paper chipak gaya tha" Sameer said sadly looking at the bouquet, which now looked as if a sandstorm had passed by it

"Uphaar ke peeche ke iraade jyada mayne rakhte hai" Naina said, keeping the flowers in a vase, pouring water in it. She noticed that all of the roses were red

"Ab chale nahin toh baad mein pav bhaji khani padegi" she said as Sameer looked on, her words warming his heart to a certain degree.
_____________________________________________

"Kya matlab ek bhi table khali nahi hai? Abhi toh phone pe kaha ki seats available hai" Sameer said angrily as the restaurant which they had gone to, refused to entertain them

"Aaj shanivaar hai toh pehle se bohot si booking hai. Aap kal aa sakte hai" they said in finality

"Sameer chalo idhar se." Naina almost pulled him to his bike seeing him get ready to put up a fight with the manager

The street lights flickered on as Sameer sat on his bike in an empty road near the restaurant, with Naina looking on as he murmured curses

'Mere saath kabhi kuch sahi kyun nahi hota? Itna bada panauti hoon kya main?' he was starting to question himself.

"Ab bas bhi karo. Chalo waise bhi der ho chuki hai. Pav bhaji ya chaat ki dukan toh khuli hi hogi. Wahan chalte hai"

"Baat pav bhaji ya chaat ki nahi hai" Sameer shook his head sadly

"Toh kya hai? Agar tumhe Chinese khane ka itna mann hai toh kal aa jayenge"

"Itni tayyari ki thi maine, itne mushkil se himmat bhi ki thi. Sab bekaar" he said kicking his bike in frustration

"Bechare iss bike ne tumhara kya bigada hai. Aur kis baat ki tayyari ki thi tumne?"

"Kuch nahi" he said, looking away, his hair falling on his eyes. The setting which he wished to have for his proposal was gone anyway.

"Tum chaahe kuch na kaho, par ye aankhen..ye mujhse kabhi khamosh nahi reh sakti Sameer. Inhe kabhi mat pherna" Naina said, plucking up courage as she wrapped his arms in hers, smoothing away his hair, all the while looking in his eyes  with a mix of adoration and desire

"Aur kya dekha tumne meri aankhon mein?" He asked, taking the chance, his free arm slowly snaking around her waist

"Ki koi hai. Jo meri itni parwah karta hai jitna kisi ne aaj tak nahi kiya. Hadd se jyada badhkar mere liye kuch bhi kar Jaana. Kabhi kabhi lagta hai ki kahin yeh sapna toh nahi? Ki aankhen kholi aur tum gayab-"

"Sapna nahin hai Naina..yeh sapna toh bilkul bhi nahi" Sameer said as he crashed her into his chest, hugging her tightly, engulfing her into his soul as Naina smiled across his shirt, feeling his warmth for the first time, knowingly, yearning for more.

They parted as they heard the honk of a  distant car, their bodies aching for more.

Naina looked down shyly as she found Sameer smirking at her. She immediately went and hid herself in his chest, unable to face him

"Ab chale madam. Ya poori raat meri baahon mein hi rehna hai? Par isse mujhe koi problem nahi hai"

"Tum kabhi nahi sudhroge" she hit him on his arm as he smiled, content. As he had his whole world, right here in his arms now.

Sorry for the delay as was caught up with work. So proposal bhi ho gaya. Tried to be romantic, but khud nahi hu isiliye kuch khaas hua hi nahi😂😂😂
Hope you'll like it. Do vote if you do😊