Indu

I texted him, tried calling him. He didn't answer.

Assuming he was asleep after a long day at work, I decided to meet him today morning.

I asked mom to make breakfast for him as well. She made puri bhaji.

I put them in a box and went to his house.

I knocked twice, when he opened the door.

Half naked. No shirt.

Do chefs get time to work out? Work out so much that they have abs? Those which I can count and sum up to 6?

Oh my god!

His body is something else.

Rohan is a different package in bed hair.

"Good morning sleepy head" I said, covering up the weird feelings I was getting looking at him.

"Indu, hey. Get in" he said moving aside, giving me space to walk in.

And only then he realized he wasn't wearing a shirt.

"Sorry, I will just come. Sit" he said.

He went to his room.

His house was so clean. Things are sorted and sitting where they are supposed to.

He came back wearing a black t-shirt that hugged him like second skin.

"This is a surprise," he said sitting next to me on the couch.

He always sits across.

"Surprises are not just your thing, mister" I said, giving him the box.

"I love puri," he said.

"You didn't even open the box" I was surprised.

"And you call me Masterchef," he reminded me.

"Oh yeah! The chef instincts" I said.

"Feeling better?" he asked.

There was a relief in his eyes, one that I didn't see all these days.

"You look different today" I said.

"That's because I haven't taken a shower and just woke up"

"No, something with your eyes. You know how I have been asking you why you look worried, I don't see that anymore" I said.

"That's good right?" he asked.

"Yeah. It is"

I thought he'd tell me.

"Alright, I will give you time to get ready and go to work," I said.

"Sure, thank your mom for the breakfast," he said.

"Yeah"

I walked to the door and he followed.

There was something different, for sure. Something awkward.

What was that?

"Good day"

"Thanks!" he said. I walked out and he closed the door behind me.

Okay, there is something going on.

Two days passed with the same odd behaviour of Rohan and it was slowly getting on my nerves now.

Around 6:30 in the evening, mom left making me enough snacks for a month.

She made sure she'd pack for Rohan separately.

"Bye mumma" I said, giving her a hug.

"Bye beta. Take care. I wish I could I stay"

"That's okay. I understand. Dadi needs you more than I do and I am fine now"

Dadi is bed ridden and needs mumma to be there to take care of her. This is the first time that she left with her nurse.

Dad and mom separated eight years back. Dad found another woman who he felt loved him more and left us. Dadi loved mom so much that she disowned her own son and chose to stay with us. They live in a village in Ahmedabad which is mom's native place.

After mom left, I checked Rohan's door to see it was still locked. He should come back home soon.

I was having the Gujarati snacks that mom made watching TV when I saw him walking past my house. I left the door open.

I put the box on the table and quickly rushed to catch him.

"Hey, you're back" I said walking up to him.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" he asked.

"Better. Mom just left. She made snacks for you too. Call me after you freshen up, I will get them" I said.

"Sure. Thirty minutes"

"Yep!" I said and walked back home.

He texted me that he was done with his shower.

I took the bag mumma packed for him. He left his door open.

"That's a lot of snacks," he said looking at the bag.

"There is no in between for that woman" I said, giving him the bag.

"You're a gujarati?" he asked.

"My mumma is"

"Thank her for me! Can't wait to have them" he said, putting the bag on the table.

"Alright then, I will leave you to rest" I said.

But, I wanted him to stop me.

I wanted to spend some time with him.

"Yeah," he said, shrugging.

"Goodnight Rohan"

"Goodnight,"

He closed the door behind me and I went back home.

Five minutes later, I heard the doorbell ring while I was in the kitchen.

I opened the door to find him standing there.

"Rohan?"

Without saying a word, he hugged me.

It was so sudden I almost lost my balance. I had to hold on to the table that was behind me.

---------

Rohan

I was a coward.

I knew she was upset the last three days because of my stupid behaviour.

But that's it.

I walked to her door and rang the bell. She was quite surprised to see me back.

I didn't say anything, just did the only thing I have been wanting to do all these days.

I know she must be shocked at the moment, but I didn't really care.

"Rohan, atleast let me close the door,'' she whispered.

And that's when I realized she didn't hug me back.

I let her go and walked inside her house. She locked the door and turned around to face me.

"I am sorry" I said.

"Really?" she asked.

"You know what, forget it. I am not sorry" I hugged her back, sending her into another shock.

However this time, I was on the receiving end.

She hugged me back.

"I missed you! I am sorry I behaved like an idiot the last three days. I wanted to do this day when you were out of quarantine. But then your mom was here. I was....I just....I didn't know what to do. I was so restless. I thought I would have you for myself and I was disappointed. I didn't know how long she would stay. I didn't..."

"Shush...calm down. You're literally shaking"

"I know. I just...."

"You have me now," she said, patting my back gently.

Okay! That was a bomb on my poor heart.

I pulled back, my hands still around her waist to look at her.

There was something in her eyes that said she wanted this as badly as I did.

"So this was bothering you all this while" she asked.

I nodded yes.

"Laugh all that you want," I said.

"No, it's cute. You were going all devdas on me" she said.

"Oh hello. Don't give yourself so much self importance okay? It's just that I have been used to kinda seeing you whenever I want"

"Just so you know, I hated staying away from you as much as you did," she said.

"Really?" I was super happy.

"Do I look like I am lying? And this morning, you were shirtless. Come on! How much do you think my poor heart can take? And you were sitting next to me on the couch. I never realized there was so much sexual tension between the two of us, until this morning. But you acted like there's nothing"

"Wow! I definitely did not see this coming" I was smiling, like a fool.

Did she just say there was sexual tension? She read my mind!

"You enjoyed watching me shirtless, didn't you?"

"Of course I did," she admitted.

One gutsy woman.

"Be my girlfriend Indu. You agree there's something between us, I do not want to overlook it anymore. I don't want to fight with my thoughts"

"Only on one condition" she said.

"What is it?" I asked.

"More shirtless appearances and more vanilla ice cream," she said.

"I am already starting to get dirty thoughts," I said, smirking.

"Pervert," she said, hitting my chest.

"Thanks for making this easy for me. I would have died with anxiety"

"You know you are my first boyfriend. So you need to be patient with me. I may do some reading and behave like a typical girlfriend" she said, hugging me back.

"Anything for you! And just so you know, you are my first girlfriend too" I told her.

"Fair enough!"

That moment right there felt so surreal!

She is my girlfriend and I am her boyfriend!