Once Upon A Mr. Goody Two Shoes

Chapter 13.

"Red...nope...blue...too frilly...navy blue...too formal...uhh!" I groaned as I peered down at the mess on my bed with my hands on my hips. I had never, ever cared about my looks. Or the clothes I donned. They were supposed to look neat, and that's where my criteria ended. It was crazy why I was going extra bizarre for an outing.

Which isn't your regular 'outing', my subconscious duly informed me.

I simply took out my go-to turtleneck black top and ripped blue jeans. You can never go wrong with black. But just when I had got out my outfit, my eyes landed on an off-shoulder, brown crop top. Taira had forced me to buy it, but I hadn't been comfortable. Revealing and short were the type of clothes I never indulged in. But today was about being daring. I was risking my job, my everything for something as stupid as a date. Might as well live it to the fullest.

Plus, brown has it's brownie points.

Something Abeer would surely give out, considering its his favourite color. Ugh!

I got dressed in a jiffy, and applied the lightest layer of make up. I could do everything right (eh, mostly) except outfitting. But I looked fine. Not transformed, or heavenly beautiful, just fine. Hair tied in a pony tail, some nice earrings, a thin pendant, and nice clothes - I was way more dressed up than I usually was. 

I didn't have a thin frame. It was...well endowed, in all areas. Perhaps more than the required areas. And I did work out. Everyday. Being a chubby girl in school does inspire you to work on it in your adult life. But I liked having a muscular stature. It made me feel powerful, and a little less...feminine. The feminine part didn't always bare good results, though. Considering this is my very first date, you sure see what I mean.

My phone pinged with Abeer's message. He was here. My insides fluttered with nervous excitement. A concert...with Abeer. It would be an enchanting evening. I gathered my belongings and strutted out of the house, locking all my fears in.

Today was about me, and what I wanted.

The rest of the world could wait.

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I was met with his dazzling smile as I walked out from the gate, then his profile leaning against his bike. He was casual. Charming. Suave. Nothing, from his dressing to his body language spoke of anything other than assuredness. He was dressed more casually than I had seen him ever before. T-shirt and jeans. It was way too pleasing to the eyes.

"You look attractive," he said, his eyes straying from my face to the rest of me, before meeting my eyes again. My heart warmed at his words. He knew exactly what to say. Not sexy, not beautiful, attractive. Body, mind, soul.

Attractive.

"You look charming, as always," I complimented back, to which he chuckled and handed me my usual helmet.

As I strode forward to climb up on the bike, he held my hand, stopping me.

"Aashi, I'm sorry for that night." When I furrowed my brows in question, he cleared his throat before facing me, his eyes nervous and apologetic. "I'm sorry I asked you about today so abruptly on Friday night. I didn't know how you would react if I had asked you any other day. You were so excited and...I'm sorry I took advantage of that." His voice dimmed at the last bit.

I would have never admitted to it if it were me. Good God, was this guy a saint? Who admitted to their spur-of-a-moment impulses and apologize for them? This guy was totally, utterly stupid. And it warmed my heart.

"But...you didn't cancel on it. I'm really happy for that. I truly am." I could see it in his eyes. He truly was.

I bit back the 'I'm happy too' that lingered on my tongue, and simply smiled. I climbed on the bike and stared. All this time, I had restricted my hands to his shoulders. Never given in to the temptation to let my hands travel down his lower half. But today was different. I shifted ahead a bit, and let my hands travel down his torso and encircle his waist. He stiffened under my touch, but as I leaned in and rested my cheek on his back, his manner relaxed.

"Should we leave?" He asked, his voice soft.

To which I only tightened my hold on his waist. 

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The night was a blast. The concert was magnificent. The songs, the crowd, the madness - it was beyond exhilarating. I was high on adrenaline that night. Pumping my fists and jumping up and down at the grooviest tunes, dancing without abandon, it was something special. We sang on the top of our voices when the party songs were sung and danced with his hand on my waist and mine around his neck on the slow songs.

 I wouldn't have dared to dance with Abeer the way I danced with him in the concert, my arms around him, puling him in the romantic songs, having him hold my waist, twirl me around if it were a regular day. My desires had unleashed that night. All the abandons, the restrictions - I was free of them all.

All was left was me, Abeer, and that night. Perhaps delirium is the best state of conscious, because you tend to live like there's no tomorrow. No world, no after - just that moment, that day, that life.

Even though it was stupid, impractical, thoroughly nonsensical, I felt the need to be nonsensical that night.

"This night is amazing," I blurted out of the blue, my eyes fixed on the stage.

"It is," I heard Abeer murmur softly behind me. I looked up to see him smiling down at me, his eyes warm, glowing. He had never looked that beautiful before. But before I could say anything, we heard it on the stage. Tum hi ho. My favorite song.

I looked up at Abeer and turned around to grab his hands and place them around my waist. His eyes felt so warm, so beautiful, the golden in them dancing in the light, the crinkles in the corners of his eyes so adorable...and the smile. Dazzling, glowing, mystical...Good God, I was doomed. I could hear the people hoot and shout in delight as the song came to life.

The most loved song of all Arijit Singh fans.

Tum hi ho.

We swayed rhythmically to the soft lull of the song, the voice taking us to new abyss. Tum Hi Ho did that to people. Even the most sane of them too. It was hot there, the Delhi night chill didn't stand a chance where thousands of people were crammed in, high on adrenaline. But it felt good in Abeer's arms. I turned around so I could look at the stage, my back facing Abeer. The night was filled with French fries, laughter and even sweat from so many bodies crammed in this space but trust me no one in their right mind was complaining. And neither was I.

"Should we leave?" Abeer asked just as Tum Hi Ho ended. I looked up, surprised.

"But the concert hasn't ended, has it?"

"The concert won't end until the wee hours of morning, Aashi. You don't wanna grab dinner? It's already 11.30."

I grimaced, not wanting to leave the space. And just on cue, my stomach grumbled, making Abeer raise his eyebrows amusedly. Lovely, the embarrassment never ends.

"Dinner sounds good," I grinned sheepishly at him to which he shook his head, clearly amused.

Just as we were about to leave a hand patted me on my shoulder. I turned around to the biggest shock of my life. All the way from Mumbai. Abhay! 

You must be wondering who Abhay is.

Well, Abhay is trouble.

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For our readers:

Tum Hi Ho: As mentioned earlier, it is THE most loved and popular song by Arijit Singh. Not one living Indian soul, or any soul into Bollywood music AND Arijit Singh would deny it. Well, Google doesn't deny it too. In commemoration of the recently gone romantic event, also known as 'Valentine's Day', we have attached the love song above. Do give it a shot, it feels awesome with the chapter!

PS: If our readers our wondering, the date hasn't ended yet. We do have a lot coming up! Just informing ;)

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