Forgetting The Ex

Be Yourself,Sandy.

"Are you going somewhere?"

"Yes",I go through my cupboard,look down at whatever I'm already wearing.

"Where? With whom?"

I give Anshu a you-know-who look.

"Where are you going?",she repeats.

"Dinner."

She scans my attire,"You look fine,if it's just dinner, unless you have other plans,you know."

I try hard to keep the blush out,as I roll my eyes, underplaying it even if my heart raced for a second,"Lol."

"Are you returning?"

I frown,"What?"

"I mean,are you coming back to the room tonight?"

"Anshu!",I throw a Kurti on her face as I hunt through my closet.

"What about protection ?",she asks like she's asking me about my wallet.

"Stop it",I hiss, "We're just going for a dinner. And I will be back home. Stop this crap."

"Oh",I glare at her disappointed face,"But it's high time you guys have sex."

"I'm gonna break your face if you continue to speak nonsense."

Anshu rolls her eyes,"Just wear this",she hands me a black top and jeans,"The dude's hair will turn grey by the time you find a dress."

I give her the stink eye, grabbing my clothes from her hand.

"Are you sure you don't need condoms? I have a few in my wallet,just in—"

I smack a hand over her mouth,"We're not going to have sex. Shut the fuck up."

"Why so violent",she mumbles,rubbing her chin.

"Bye. Call Avyukth over,so you could make use of them, desperate human",I roll my eyes, bidding her Bye.

I take a deep breath,nervous that my heart started to speed up in Nikhil's presence,a behaviour I've recently picked up,but something that makes me anxious as fuck.

"Hey."

"Hi again."

We walk in comfortable silence towards his car,"Do you have a place in mind?"

I shrug,"Not really. What about you?"

Nikhil shakes his head,"We'll go to the place we usually go to or something new then?"

"We could go somewhere else",I fish out my mobile from my pocket.

It could be our place.

I discard the silly thought immediately, trying to stop a sheepish smile from erupting.

"Cool",Nikhil smiles,as we sit in the car, checking places out.

We decide on The Sassy Spoon.

Just because of the name.

I could feel my palms sweating as I sat quietly, restless.

"All okay, Sandy?",Nikhil asks when I sigh the third time.

"Of course",I say, the tense atmosphere vanishing in an instant as Nikhil gives me a warm smile,my own mirroring his.

He squeezes my hand for a moment,going back to driving the next.

"I'm still me Sandy,and you're still you. Be the same, confident. I don't want to change you",he turns to me,"Although I can't deny I like the shy version too."