Once Upon A Mr. Goody Two Shoes

Chapter 28

"Let's go," I said to Dhruv as I closed the door to my house behind me.

He nodded and called for the lift. We waited in silence as the lift arrived. "You look very nice," I heard Dhruv say softly, almost inaudibly.

I forced a grin on my face. "Why, thank you." His neck turned red at my statement. I had dressed in the most horrid shirt I could find in my closet. The top was striped black and white with a boat neck, paired with blue jeans. The most distasteful combination even by my standards. I used to wear this top to my office on casual-Fridays, to come off as business-like and yet keeping with the theme of the day, before Natasha chose to make me aware, quite bluntly, how horrible I looked in it.

I hadn't dressed bad for Dhruv. No, I had dressed bad to keep in with the theme of the day. Which was to have a bad day. Hauz Khas wasn't a place I hated. In fact, I loved it there. And in a way, I was showing Dhruv a part of me. A true part of me. But I wouldn't make it the first place to take a guy to on the first outing alone together. No, Hauz Khas would come way later on the list.

However, as planned with Taira, this outing was particularly planned to deter Dhruv from having any romantic interest in me. And bore him to tears. Which eventually would speed up the process of this entire business coming to an end, which was the ultimate goal.

The loud ting of the elevator brought me out of my thoughts and we both stepped in the lift.

"What are you doing?" I asked Dhruv as we walked out to the street in the bright sun.

"Booking a cab," he said, his head bent, focused on his iphone screen.

"Oh, I was planning on taking the metro," I said, grinning inwardly.

He looked up from his phone, brows furrowed. "The metro?"

I nodded. "Yes, it would be the perfect Delhi outing. I love the metro. Don't you love the metro?" I said a little too enthusiastically, and without waiting for his reply, marched towards the other side of the road to take an auto to the metro station. I did a happy dance in my head as I saw him follow me, the look on his face telling me how not thrilled he was with the arrangement.

It was just the beginning of the day. There was a lot to look forward to. And in his case, not many things to look forward to.

It was the rush hour of a Saturday morning. Over the week from lunch at his place, he had taken my number and occasionally left a text or two, which I had replied in the most concise manner possible without coming off as aloof. It was jam-packed with people travelling to their various offices and colleges. The rush added the extra touch to my oh-so grand plan of making Dhruv Jain find me as unattractive as possible. And tiresome, really tiresome. We reached the Hauz Khas metro station after a jostling, air-deficit ride of the Delhi metro, our clothes wrinkled and creased and tired already.

"Let's start the day?" I commented chirpily as we got out of the subway to the main street. I looked behind to see Dhruv wiping the sweat off his forehead, huffing lightly.

"Not accustomed to the metro life?" I asked, grinning. Dhruv managed to look sheepish even in his disheveled state.

I did not push him further and started walking.

"Where are we going?" Dhruv asked as he caught up with me, his face looking less flushed than a minute ago.

"Oh, I was thinking we could go see the Chor Minar. It's less than a kilometer away from here," I said as I dodged people, walking briskly.

"You have this all planned, don't you?" Dhruv said teasingly, to which I sharply turned to look at him, panic gripping me for a moment.

"What do you mean?" I let out a false chuckle to get over the nerves.