CH 11 || Unanswered Question

Dhruv

******

"Seriously, a friendly date?" Namit asked in disbelief.

"I had to make her agree so I told her, it's a friendly date," I replied scratching the back of my neck.

"And the award for the best proposal goes to Mr.Dhruv Kapoor," Arjun said dramatically.

"Ok, ok, guys enough. We don't have much time. You have messed up with the proposal and now don't mess up on the date." Saying this Rohit went with Arjun and Namit to make the arrangements. Riddhi was at Saavi's place as she wanted to make her ready for the date.

Jai and Nikhil were busy making other arrangements and here I am getting nervous. Is it normal to be nervous on the first date, I thought. I couldn't even ask anyone as none of my friends has ever gone on a date with someone. I just hope everything goes well and I don't mess up anything.

Taking a long breath, I decided to look something good to wear. I checked all my clothes but couldn't find anything good to wear.

"What The Hell! You are still not ready? And what mess have you created?" came the startled voice of Namit who was looking at the scattered clothes on the ground.

"I could not find anything to wear."

"And what about these clothes?" He pointed towards the clothes which were scattered on my bed and the floor.

"I don't know if Saavi will like them or not."

"Dude, you are so whipped."

"Wait till your turn, Namit Khanna."

"I will never behave like this, trust me." His overconfidence was dripping from his words.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Saying this I rolled my eyes.

"Now help me find something."

"Oh my dear lord, Please forgive my friend. It's not his fault. The stupid heart of his is making him doing such things." I heard the voice of my dramatic friend. And there he was standing near the door with his hands folded and he was looking towards the ceiling.

"Namit, can you tell me why we are friends with this drama queen?"

"Because no one can resist my charm." He plopped down on my bed smiling at me and acting cute and I shook my head in disbelief.

I started to pick up the scattered clothes from the floor when a picture caught my attention. It came out from the pocket of my jeans which was lying there. Arjun picked it up before I could reach it and said,

"Your sister is cute."

Taking back the photo from his hand, I caressed the picture thinking about my little one and said, "I know."

"She must have grown up now, like you," said Namit.

"Dude, will you let me date her when you will find her?" asked Arjun.

"No."

"What? But why?" he pouted sadly.

"Am I not cute?" he asked blinking his eyes making a puppy face.

"Cute? No. Dramatic? Definitely yes. I can let Namit date her but not you."

"Okay, fine. Namit, how about I date Nitya when she...."

"No way. She is a kid," replied Namit when Arjun tried to ask about his sister.

"What after when she grows up?"

"No, not even then."

Rolling his eyes Arjun said, "Overprotective brothers."

They both helped me in putting back my clothes into the cupboard. Time was running fast. I was so confused about what to wear and also I hadn't prepared muffins till yet which I was going to give her.

The date was tonight and so many things were undone. Deciding to bake muffins, I made my way to the kitchen and Namit and Arjun started to look for something for me to wear in the pile of my clothes.

Sheela Aunty helped me a little, although I was adamant in not taking her help, but, she didn't let me do everything by myself. Keeping the last batch of muffins in the oven, I set the timer and stood there deep in my thoughts whether everything will go as planned or not.

"Don't think too much. She will like it." Sheela Aunty answered my unasked question.

"I haven't even decided what to wear." I put up the list of my worries in front of her to which she replied,

"Beta, you are thinking too much. As far as I know Saavi, she will not even pay heed to what are you wearing. All she will notice is your nature, if she will judge you then the judging criteria will be your true self and not the outer facade." Sheela Aunty removed all my inferiority which I was having a while ago.

"Thank you, Aunty."

Taking out the muffins from the oven and after keeping it in the box I went to my room to get ready.

Wearing the clothes in which I felt comfortable, I went to the location of our date which is my backyard

Wearing the clothes in which I felt comfortable, I went to the location of our date which is my backyard.

Wishing me luck all my friends went to their homes. The nervousness was long gone. I decided to be my true self and not to do anything over to impress her.

I looked at the time and there were still 10 minutes left for her arrival. After ten minutes, I heard the horn of the car which was a signal that Rana Uncle had brought her. The ringing sound of my doorbell reached my ears and I went to open the door.

I opened the door and the instant I laid my eyes on her, I felt happy of my decision to not do anything over, because she was in her normal clothes but was looking more than pretty. The only difference was her tee-shirt was tucked in and I was sure it was Riddhi's idea. This simplicity of my muffin attracts me more towards her.

This simplicity of my muffin attracts me more towards her

"Hey."

"Hi, come in." I moved aside so that she could get in.

I took her to the backyard and she gasped looking at the arrangements. Her expressions were proof that she liked the arrangements and I was glad about it.

Her expressions were proof that she liked the arrangements and I was glad about it

I made her sit on the chair arranged around the round table. She was admiring the beauty of the renovated backyard when I said, "Thank You."

"What for?"

"For saying yes."

She mumbled "Oh." loud enough for me to hear.

We were sitting in awkward silence when I decided to break it.

"Would you like to drink something?" I felt like a waiter while asking that.

Wow, Dhruv. You have already started to make things awkward. My inner self mocked me

"Water," she replied and I felt so stupid of not asking her water when she came. I brought a glass of water along with two glasses of juice. After she drank water, I handed her the glass of juice.

I was thinking about what to talk to completely evade this awkward silence which was prevailing between us and I guess God got my signal when Saavi herself started to talk.

"You made these arrangements?"

"Not completely, others helped."

"I loved it," she said smiling and a smile appeared on my face hearing that. I started to tell her about my, Namit and Arjun's conversation from the morning when suddenly my inner self again mocked me by saying,

'What are you doing idiot? It's your date, you should be talking about yourself and her and not about your friends.'

Thanking him for giving me a piece of helpful advice, I started to tell her about my family. I told her about my childhood stories too, when my sister Dhriti used to go overprotective over me and how she used to fight with our cousin Kiaan, Smita Maasi's son. I told her about my friend Hredhaan who lives in London.

"So you will go to London now?" she asked me.

"No, I won't."

"Then?"

"I don't know. I have not decided which college I will join." She nodded in response and I thought I never asked what will she be doing since the school has ended now. Everyone knows I want to opt for business management even when I am a science student, but I don't know about her.

"What about you? I mean what do you want to become?"

"A painter," she replied.

"So, will you paint for me too?"

"Of course, I will. You don't have to ask for that."

Soon after, I went inside the kitchen and brought the food Sheela Aunty and I prepared. I prepared muffins only while Sheela Aunty prepared, Paneer Tikka, Mushroom Manchurian and also veg cutlet which was shaped in the form of heart and it was my idea.

We ate while talking and when her gaze fell on the heart-shaped cutlet, she looked at me and I just rubbed the nape of my neck feeling shy.

She blushed and tried to hide it with her hair but failed. After eating I brought the box of muffins and gave it to her, "What's this?"

"See for yourself."

She opened her box and as soon as she saw the contents of the box she squealed in happiness,

"Muffins."

I know her love for muffins is undying and it brought the most beautiful smile on her face. I felt a little proud of myself that I was the reason for the brightest smile on her face.

"It's so tasty. Please thank Sheela Aunty for this from my side, or wait I will myself thank her." Saying this she went inside before I could stop her. I knew what was going to happen and as expected she came with a surprised expression.

"You made this?" I nodded in response.

"I am sorry, I thought it was Sheela Aunty. I didn't want to hurt you...." Stopping her from blabbering further, I said.

"It's fine, muffin. I didn't feel bad."

"Come with me, I want to show you something." Holding her hand, I took her to the endpoint of the backyard. I have got a habit of holding her hand ever since I held her hand in the school cafeteria to calm her down. The good part was she never pushed me away and let me hold her hand.

We stopped in front of the small tent.

"This is so beautiful," she said and I made her sit

"This is so beautiful," she said and I made her sit. Switching on the projector, we watched the movie Cinderella, because Riddhi told me once that my muffin always wanted to watch it. She started crying when Cinderella's stepmother was torturing her.

"Muffin, what happened?" Turning her around, I wiped her tears not before pausing the movie.

"How can someone be so heartless? She was her mother, after all."

"I hugged her and said, "It's fine, muffin, it's not real. It's just a movie." I held her close to me all the while we were watching the movie.

"You liked it?" I asked her when the movie finished.

"I loved it," she replied and I grinned at her response.

She moved away when she noticed our proximity and I didn't like it, but at the same time, I also didn't want to make her feel uncomfortable.

"Muffin" I called her.

"Hmmm."

"Will you dance with me?" I asked extending my hand to her.

She thought for a while and then replied, "I don't know how to dance."

"I will teach you. Now, Can I please have the honour to dance with you?" Hesitantly, she placed her small and soft hand in mine and I took her out of the tent. I played the music and kept her one hand on my shoulder and ask for her permission, before holding her by her waist.

We danced just like Cinderella and the prince in the movie. There was a comfortable silence between us, the only sound which we could hear was that of the song. We both were lost into each other eyes and my heart was beating faster. We stopped dancing when the song stopped but I didn't leave her. Putting the strand of her hair behind her ear I caressed her cheeks with my thumb and said, "You are the most beautiful girl, I have ever met."

Taking out a box from my pocket I said, "Muffin, I want to give you something." I gave the box to her and when she opened it she was shocked to see the same bracelet which she lost on the day she was being bullied on the backside of the school.

"How?" she wanted to know how did I find it and I told her it was Namit and Riddhi who found it. Clearing her confusion, I told her that it was me who gifted her this bracelet on her birthday last year.

I apologized that I didn't have the courage before to gift her face to face. Making her wear the bracelet again I bent down on my knee. She had no idea what was going on and I knew if I didn't get the courage today to tell her about my feelings then I will always regret it.

"Saavi Bhatt, I saw you first time in the orphanage. The way you were smiling lifted my mood. I was deprived of my parent's love but I was not short of anything else. But you, you lacked necessities and still had the million-dollar smile on your face. At first, I was curious, curious to know how can you smile like that and I didn't know when this curiosity made me attracted to you. You became the reason for my smile and I started visiting the orphanage every weekend but suddenly one day, you were gone and so did my smile.

I thought I didn't deserve good things in my life but you appeared again, as my schoolmate and I was more than happy. I changed my section only to see you. You became the sole reason for my 100% attendance. I had no idea what I used to feel for you until my friends confronted me and made me realize what it was."

She was just standing there, looking at me dumbfounded at all my revelations. I took a pause and then again started,

"I realized, it was Love. I fell for you without even realizing and my love for you only grew stronger day by day."

"I know all this is too much to digest but I had to tell you."

When she didn't speak for the whole 5 minutes I asked the most awaited question,

"So my cute little muffin, Will you be my girlfriend?" She was still in shock and didn't say anything. Getting anxious I said,

"Saavi, please say something." and finally she spoke, "I...I don't know what to say."

I got up and said, "I am sorry for this sudden confession but I couldn't keep it all this to myself for long."

Our date ended with an Unanswered Question. I went to leave her to the door but before she could sit in the car, I pulled her into a hug and to my surprise she wrapped her arms around my torso making me smile.

I pulled apart and left a lingering kiss on her forehead which made her blush. She left saying she will answer me by tomorrow.

Tossing and turning around on my bed at night, I kept thinking about our date. Hoping for a 'Yes' from her, I drifted to sleep.