Once Upon A Mr. Goody Two Shoes

Chapter 30

I looked at my steaming cup of hot chocolate decorated with floating marshmallows, drizzled with chocolate sauce. It looked almost ethereal to drink. But it would be a shame to let the decadent hot chocolate go waste, so I took a dainty sip of my drink and stared out the cafe window onto the busy streets. After the storm two days ago, the weather was still slightly breezy. The days weren't as hot as normal in the summers. But people weren't complaining. It was not everyday that Delhi had a pleasant weather and not running in the extremes. I sighed and took out my copy of 'The Viscount Who Loved Me', and caressed its cover lovingly.

It was a Thursday, and I had done everything possible to finish work early and drop by the one place I loved Delhi the most for. I was sitting in Gaiety, a book cafe. It was a perfect place for a food freak and bookworm like me. The cafe had this homely ambience to it, with pieces of vintage utensils and cutlery strung on its walls, along with rows and rows of books. It was chic, it was homely, it was basically perfect.

Twice a week they would have a book discussion with all their customers, giving it the feel of a book club accompanied with appetizing food. While frequent discussions had been held for thrillers, young adult, romance and mystery genres, it was a rare occurrence to have a historical fiction book being discussed. I was all pumped. I usually only took part in the book discussions that happened on Sunday, but I had to come this time. It was historical fiction, my favourite genre being discussed! The fact that the novel being discussed was 'The viscount who loved me' from the Bridgerton series made it even more amusing.

I usually sat near the window but today I chose a table right in the middle so that my voice would be heard clearly. Not that it wouldn't from the window. Abeer always teased me when we spoke on the phone saying that if I raised my voice a little more we could save on the phone bill as he would be able to hear me without one. I chuckled as I remembered the time Abeer had once come with me to a book discussion here, and could only whip his head from person to person, trying to understand what they were saying. It was that moment that I had thought to take pity on him and never drag him here. He had never been more relieved.

The cafe started filling up, copies of the book peeking from their hands. I adjusted myself and waited for the event to begin. The person who was conducting the discussion took her place on a high stool in between. I waved to a few familiar faces and exchanged some pleasantries.

Just when the session was about to begin I saw Dhruv entering the cafe. His lanky built and square-framed glasses were hard to miss. He looked about the cafe before his eyes landed on me, and to say he looked shocked would be an understatement. Eyes wide, he took a full minute to assess me before finally passing me a feeble smile. I smiled back and waved him to come and sit beside me.

"Hey," he almost whispered and he drew his chair closer to our table, looking anywhere but at me.

"Hi," I replied back, opening my copy of the book. "So," I leaned forward, elbows on the table, smirking at him. "You are a Bridgerton fan? You didn't mention that on the biodata you sent after the lunch. All it said was that you're a Dan brown fan," I teased him.

"What, what's that? I just came here to have a cup of coffee. I had no idea that there was an event going on here," he chuckled nervously, still not looking me in the eye.

My eyebrows hopped up in surprise. "Don't tell me you haven't even seen the series!" I said, bewildered at his lack of knowledge about Bridgerton. He shook his head intently, making my eyes pop.

"You do live under a rock," I commented which earned me an eye roll. We sat in silence for a minute before I spoke up again, unable to contain myself.

"You seriously hadn't heard about the series before?" I couldn't believe my ears. "Sure, its no Peaky Blinders, but damn everyone has at least heard about it." Sometimes I forget all people don't watch and read things I do. It's a bad habit. A very bad one.