His Dusk, Her Dawn

Chapter 28. Aloof

I thought everything was going fine, but Sandhya had started acting aloof again. After the college fest ended, I discussed with Parth and Nikhil about choosing a right time to confess to Sandhya. They told me the sooner the better, so after a whole week of pondering over it, I decided to tell her on the first date of the next month.

That day would have marked the one year anniversary of my cafeteria, and I could have held a surprise party for Sandhya too. With that thought in mind, I tried to keep my excitement under check, but the person I was planning all of that for was in no mood to even look at me.

Whenever I talked to her, she would avoid me and say that she had to attend her volleyball sessions or assignments to submit. I suspected if she was also anxious, but her body language told me that her mind was occupied with something else.

Also, that wasn't the only thing bugging me. Her attitude towards me had changed suddenly. In the morning of that day, she was her cheerful self, but after the fourth period, she behaved as if I didn't even exist.

On seeing Nikhil always interrupting our conversation, I asked him what had happened for Sandhya to behave like that. He always made an excuse or ran away from me. Others didn't have any clue either. Seeing no other option, I decided to visit Sandhya's house and meet her parents.

I had met them before, and they were lovely folks, but it could have been possible that they were strict about dating. There were a lot of doubts, so to root out one of them, I had to meet my monkey's guardians.

I had no intention of disturbing Sandhya, so I didn't ask for her when I reached her place. Aunty was delighted to see me, and it was nice to see a contented expression on her face.

I knew she was busy, so I didn't waste any time and told her that I had something important to discuss. Her instant glance at Sandhya's room made my lips curl up. It was good that Aunty had an idea of what I wanted to tell her.

"Please feel free to say what you have in mind," Aunty said.

I took a deep breath and smiled at her. "Aunty, I know there is no use hiding anything from you because you are Sandhya's mother. Before I confess to her, I want to inform you that I love your daughter. I am not asking you to marry us off instantly, but I was wondering if you guys have any rules against dating or have other plans for Sandhya in mind."

Wow, Ved, good job. Just pray that you make it out of here alive.

Aunty's eyes twinkled, and she just stared at me for a minute without speaking.

"Aunty, if you think I crossed the line, I apologise. My intentions are not bad," I said.

"I know that, beta," Aunty said. "I am just wondering how did you fell in love with our crackhead."

Did Sandhya's mother just call her crackhead?

"Aunty, she might be a little slow, but I still love her," I complained.

Aunty laughed and nodded. "Thank you for considering to inform me. I remember you and Sandhya used to fight a lot when you were kids. It is nice to see the turn of events."

My cheeks heated up as Aunty looked at me with a teasing look. I twiddled my thumbs.

"Well, Aunty, I am sure Sandy Pandy also feels the same. We have gotten on good terms - really good terms recently. I want to confess to her, but there is a problem," I explained.

"If you are wondering about the dating rules, then yes we have them, but we can talk about that stuff later. Also, I am on your side. Sandhya's father already likes you, so I am sure he won't have any problem with you liking our daughter," Aunty said.