Once Upon A Mr. Goody Two Shoes

Chapter 10.

You wish for palaces when you are younger. You wish for penthouses when you reach your teens. But when you start earning and inch closer to entering your third decade, you wish for houses like these. Natasha's house had become my dream. A two-storey cozy row house in a nice locality with a terrace that promised a lovely view of the busy city underneath.

Delhi nights were always chilly, but the wind was kind today. A soft breeze blew, playing with my hair as Abeer and I stood leaning against the railing, staring at the glittering lights of the busy city in comfortable silence. My heart reveled at the peace, easily coming down from its high, making me sober again. I looked at Abeer who was still staring ahead, the gentle breeze teasing his curls, making my insides warm.

"Its good here, isn't it?" I broke the silence.

"It is," he said, his eyes soft. "This is what I work for, you know. This is what I want."

"What exactly do you want with life?"

He turned to look at me, his eyes warm. "I want the peace. This peace. But I don't want to have it alone. I want to share it with someone. Live everyday in this joy with someone for the rest of my life."

"And this someone might be whom, if I may ask?" I asked, my lips perking in a wicked way, trying to mask the incessant thudding of my heart. He chuckled lightly, shaking his head.

"Trust me, you will know when I know. For now, its just a hazy idea. But you have successfully changed the subject for the second time this evening. I'm telling you, I won't let go of twenty question this time, okay?"

I simply grinned and shrugged.

"I will go first," he declared. "Favorite color?"

"Easy, red. Yours?"

"Brown."

I raised my eyebrows. "Seriously? That is so unusual, no one likes brown."

"Why shouldn't one, all my favorite things are brown. Chocolate, soil and even the color of your eyes!"

"Smooth, real smooth. But its not just mine - more than half of the people in our country have brown eyes," I rolled my eyes but my cheeks couldn't help but turn into my favorite color at his words.

He simply grinned. And someone says he doesn't flirt.

I continued in a vain attempt to seem unaffected, "My turn. Favorite festival?"

"Diwali."

"Why?" I furrowed my eyebrows.

"For the bonus," he exclaimed, leaning sideways on the terrace railing. When I mock-glared at him, he sighed and continued. "Not that, I am kidding. It's just all the lights, family, excitement! It's also Durga Puja, to be honest. Its a grand affair in Kolkata, you see."

"Oh! Is Diwali celebrated with as much pomp and show as is Durga Puja in Kolkata?" I questioned, genuinely curious.

"Yes, of course. You forget Aashi, there are a lot of Marwaris in Kolkata too." He was right. A lot of my distant relatives did live in Kolkata.

"I like it for all the food," I said, to which Abeer flashed me an exasperated look.

"When was the last time you were so excited that it kept you up all night?" He asked, continuing our teenage frivolity.

Honestly, it was when I was going to - correction - I thought I was going to get a promotion but for some reason I lied and told him it was when I was going to visit home in Mumbai after a long time.

"What do you enjoy doing when you are alone?" I began my next question.

He burst out laughing and flashed a devilish smile saying, "Trust me, you don't want to know."

My jaw fell down as my eyes widened. I willed myself not picture him -

Bad Aashi, bad!

"Oh no, it was a joke," he managed to say between his chuckles. "I like watching cricket, a little reading, songs, series - nothing out of the blue." He smiled as I struggled to compose myself. I glared at him as he flashed me a lopsided grin, making me shake my head in disbelief.

This man, the perfect man in every sense of the word was acting like a child today. This side of his astonished me. The ever patient, the every proper Abeer could be a child too. It made him more endearing, if I were to be honest.

"If you could give up one sense which would it be?" he questioned.

I ruminated on the question for a while. It couldn't be touch, or I would not be able to touch someone's brown, lush curls. It couldn't be sight, or I would never see the hazel orbs again. It couldn't be ears, or a certain deep, magical voice I had come to like wouldn't be heard. I stared at his lips, as I thought of taste - 

''Food!" - yes, that's exactly it! I love food from the bottom of my heart. I can't give up on food!

I shook my head, landing back on earth. 

But it wasn't me who had said food and neither was it Abeer. We both turned around to find Natasha waving her hand, asking us to come in and have dinner. Abeer nodded and we started walking in but before we entered I held his hand to stop him.

"Sense of smell." Because someone doesn't wear perfume, and I'm so glad that he doesn't. I hated strong smells. They made me dizzy.

He smiled. "Let's go inside and eat."

As we move downstairs, a sudden thought invaded my mind that made me livid. I had associated everything with him. My answer was in relation to him. What the actual hell was happening?

He stole my job. The job that meant everything to me. And yet, here I was, being friendly with him. Perhaps even more.

The thought alarmed me. I knew, in the bottom of my heart that it wasn't his fault he got the job after trampling on my dreams. My anger was unjustified. But I didn't want to think further than that. I pushed all the unsettling thoughts to the farthest corner of my mind and focused on the food in front of me.

He picked up the non-veg plate and I picked up the veg one from the counter. We continued eating while making small talk with others when I glanced at his plate and mine. We might share the same dreams in life, but the reality of the society differentiated us in a myriad ways.

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For our readers:

Diwali: Diwali, as perhaps many of our readers might know is one of the most widely celebrated festival in India. It is essentially a Hindu festival and is also called the festival of lights. Celebrated in the month of October or November. The date changes according to the Indian lunar calendar. Firecrackers and oil/ ghee lamps or diyas are the min highlights of this festival, along with a variety of delicacies.

Durga Puja: This is an annual festival originating in the Indian Subcontinent which reveres and pays homage to the Hindu goddess, Durga. It is particularly popular and traditionally celebrated in the Indian states of Odisha, West Bengal, Assam, Tripura and the country of Bangladesh. It is a ten day celebration that corresponds with the Gregorian months of September-October. Kolkata, being the capital of West Bengal happens to celebrate this event with grandeur. It is a very important festival for the Bengalis across the country.

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