"What were you doing there?", I asked him in the little time we got between eating gol gappas.The stall boys are usually too fast when they serve them and the only thing you can do is to take down one after the other. " The same thing that you were doing", he said taking his next one. "You had fun?", he grinned and I glared at him. "Why did you do that?I was so embaressed".

"What did I do?I just texted you. You were the one who blushed. You got caught. I am innocent", he said raising his hands. Hearing that from him I blushed again and turned away so that he wouln't notice " You look cute when you blush", he said trying to look at my face. He started laughing when he realized I was hiding my face from him. "Let's go. Enough now", I said walking to his car.

I got a call from him in the morning and being a sunday, both of us were free. He wanted to meet and suggested we go for a drive. The weather was pleasent and also looked like it would drizzle, perfect for a long drive. He loved driving, he told me on many occasions. There was just one thing, what do I tell mom? She has not been talking to me after that day.I got ready and was struggling to talk to her when the door bell rang. I was surprised to see Viren, I did not expect him to come in and talk to my parents.

" I am sorry aunty, I know we are making you wait.My mom is furious about this. But just give us some time we will tell you our decision. We just want to talk about some important stuff before we take the call. I hope you understand", he said in a very polite and genuine tone. I was surprised he thought of it and wanted to actually talk to my parents about it. My mom also seemed impressed." Can I take her out for today. I will get her back before lunch", he asked like a gentleman. That bowled my dad over and he gave his consent.

"So what are you expecting out of a marriage?", I asked observing him. The road was empty with trees on either side. The breeze was gentle and clouds hovered in the sky. We lowered our windows to enjoy the weather  " Can I be frank with you?" he asked." You have to be frank with me" I emphasized on 'have'. He looked at me and considered for a minute" Ok then.I had no idea of marriage until a few weeks back.My parents forced me emotionally to start thinking about it. So if you ask me, I am not expecting much. All I can ask for is a good friend" , he said looking back at the road. That was exactly how I felt before he came my way. If you ask me now,  I would not know. However I would not let him know my state of mind."This is one of the things I wanted to discuss with you.What do you think?", he asked. "Well, marriage was never on my mind and I had been dodging it for a while now",I said and he looked at me surprised. I continued," I don't want to trouble my parents any more " and smiled at him.

"Wow! That is such a relief Payal. I was worried how girls would react if I said that. I am happy we think on the same line. I can now tell you everything I have on my mind. It will probably take me some time to accept someone as my wife. I am not saying it won't happen. I think it should be built over time and is not something that can develop over night. I try telling this to my mom but in vain. I am really happy I met you", he beamed. What he just said made absolute sense but there was a slight pain in my hurt that kept nagging me. I didn't respond to him but kept looking ahead. "Is there anything that I don't know about and need to know?", he asked. I laughed at his question, " Ask me what you want to know?", I said.

"What are your long term plans?", he asked after thinking for some time." Is this some HR round of an interview", i grinned. He ran his hand through his hair, " What else do I ask?". "Ok! So, I want to travel around the world to start with. I work for an NGO and I want to start one myself, in the future.  I want to adopt a girl. I want to contribute to the welfare of a village. I want to do my bit to see a better India.Finally, this is silly, but I want to have a pet, preferably a dog ", I said and looked at him. He was staring at me like I was some extra terrestrial being."What?", I raised my eyebrow questioning his reaction."Seriously?Do you want to do all this in one life?", he chuckled and I punched him on his shoulder. I know all that I have on my mind might not be possible to fulfill but I will strive for it."Ok!Ok!Sorry. But the last one is simple and I can help you with it.", he said laughing. " And how is that?", I asked sarcastically. He fished for his phone from his pocket and browsed his gallery. He showed me the picture of a brown cockier-spaniel. It looked so cute, I felt like pulling it out of the phone and pamper it. "So cute! Is that your dog?", I asked him and he nodded " Boxer".  My mom never let me have a pet, she thought it was too much of a responsibility to look after it and she was not really fond of animals. If I get to marry him, I will at least get to have a pet I thought and laughed at myself. Marry for a pet!Great!

"What about you?What are your long term ideas?", I asked him. " I want to be an entrepreneur and find my name among the top ten", he said with conviction. " Are you already working towards it? Do you have some ideas on mind?", I wanted to know further. "Yes I have some ideas but I don't think the time is ripe yet. I will wait for few years before I totally shift my focus onto that", he spoke like he has his plan set. "Interesting!", I exclaimed. I always found men who worked to achieve some tough goals, very attractive. I kept looking at him and I found myself shifting my gaze from his face to his arms, there was a notable bulge near his biceps. I had the urge to reach and touch it but refrained myself and looked away.

" Were you in a relationship before?", I asked him and he was caught off-guard. I had no clue why but I thought he did not want to talk about that. " Well, yeah just one. It did not work out for us. She is about to be married", his face changed. I have never seen him so distant and cold. He clenched his teeth and I could see it . His eyes showed a mixture of emotions that I was not able to read. I realized this was a sensitive topic and I let it go, though I had a lot of questions stirring in my mind. He did not get back to normal after that, no matter what topic I tried to get. He did respond and spoke well but there was this hollowness in his replies. I wanted to ask him and probably even apologize for bringing up that topic but I decided against it.

He dropped me home as promised and gave me a hug before he left. My dad grinned at me as I entered the living room and my mother came up to me with a glass of water." Let's have lunch first then you can drill me", I said understanding their intention. At lunch I told them all that we spoke except for the past relation part and some other parts that I thought they need not know. They were pleased at the discussion and how the entire thing went. " Payal, there is something I want to tell you", Mom started as I looked at her with 'now what?' expression. " Padma called me in the morning", she said and hesitated. I felt bad realizing my mom was scared of my reactions. I nodded trying to encourage her to continue. " Mrs Geet's husband is here for a holiday. Now that you both have met today, she wanted to know if they could come and meet us tomorrow", she said lowering her voice that was full of anticipation. Even before I could say anything, she continued " It is just a casual friendly meet.Don't think this to be  formal or something" she tried reasoning. "What did you tell them?", I asked." Nothing yet. I thought I will tell you and then inform them", she said a little relieved from my response. "I don't mind Mom", I told her and she let her breath out like she had been holding it for a while. With that my mom and dad started their own discussion as to how the meet should be arranged tomorrow. Casual meet?who are they kidding. I know what a big deal it would be. Not just  our families but a lot of other relatives would be there to look over the proceedings. It will be embarrassing but I had no choice but to give in.

"Mom", I said suddenly making them both silent. "Tell them we will come to their place", I said and my mom's eyes went wide." But Payal-", she started but I cut her off. "Please mom", I pleaded and she looked at my dad for his opinion. "Let us try to tell them but if they object we cannot do anything", he said looking at both of us. My mom nodded and went to call Padma aunty. I checked my phone to find a message from Viren.

Game Over. Time to take a decision! I smiled looking at the message and I wondered what he has on mind.

Yes! I replied not extending it any further.

See you tomorrow then. Bye!  his next message read and I could feel butterflies hovering in my stomach at the thought of tomorrow.

My mom walked in followed by my dad and both had a contented smile on their face. "We are going to their place tomorrow", my mom announced and my excitement doubled. I will get to see Boxer and of course his place. Along with excitement I was anxious to meet his parents and mainly about the big decision.

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