Along the Lines of Love | ✓

Chapter 2 : Bon Appétit

 Pehli baar tumko maine jab dekha thha

♪

 you found me just in time 

~ ♤ ~

Sharanya entered the ladies washroom of Rose Sky Rooftop with Gargi on her trail.

As soon as the door shut, she began "Seriously, Gargi? That guy with Arun? Oh God! Are you kidding me? You set me up on this date, after all?" She should have believed her gut feeling when Gargi had proposed the idea of going out for dinner.

"Well, a double date technically. Arun and I are here too." Gargi muttered, "by the way, what's with your dressing? And can you please redo the ponytail or open your hair, even better."

"My hair is not washed." Sharanya muttered annoyed, running a hand through her slightly oily looking hair. "And, FYI, Bangalore rains don't come with warning quite like you I would say, trying to set me up with not so much as a warning!"

"Okay, stop over reacting. I told you it's a nice place and we'll click pictures. So I thought you'd be more, uh, presentable."

"Oh, you did, thank you!" Sharanya exclaimed with a smile full of sarcasm and went on muttering, "My boss decided to lay over me the interviews that technically she had to conduct and to add to that, this stupid rain. I had to wait for twenty whole minutes for the second, note, second shared ride I booked, because the first one cancelled after ten minutes. So excuse me, if I am over-reacting. Oh, and to add to it... this is my new kurta... that has been smudged with water in potholes. Thanks to perfect timing of a stupid motorbike guy. Ugggh!"

"Okay, it's time for deep breaths." Gargi muttered, taking her friend's handbag. "We'll fix this. Just relax."

"You can't. I am going back. Cook up an excuse. Say I got stuck in the traffic and I won't make it. I will sneak out!"

"That's going to be so rude and Arun already saw you. Besides, running away is not you."

Sharanya's gaze shot daggers at her friend. "Yeah, not me. I didn't sign up for this. And anyway, I had a look at him, side view. He didn't even see me, so please let me go. I haven't even waxed my arms, look." She said stretching her arm out, trying to come up with as many reasons as she should to avoid meeting the guy who was sitting out with Arun.

Gargi smiled. "Trust me, it doesn't count. When men look for some fun, in better words, short term relationships it is then that the physical features carry more weight age than other factors. On the contrary, a man looking for a long term relationship— a companion, he is likely to be more concerned about how you carry yourself, your behaviour and basically how you are as a person. Besides your sleeves are almost full. I wouldn't even notice it until you pointed out. I don't think he'll even notice. Trust me, men are way less bothered about body hair than women. I speak with conclusions formed with my own experiences with my clients."

"Okay, you're doing that thing now, talking to me like you're my shrink."

"Okay, I will tone it down, just comes naturally to me, you see. Now, if you're done venting your day's frustration why don't you freshen up and we'll walk out?"

"Please let me skip this one."

"Listen, this won't work. Luckily, I have got my eyeliner with me. Wash your face, we'll make an effort to make your beautiful eyes appear more striking. Oh, and the hair... you'll have to run a comb through it. I know you carry your comb always. So let's start."