Wrong Impressions

Chapter 5

The entire time she was driving back to her home, Teja felt like she was being followed. Initially, she was lost in her music and thinking about the recent dinner but the feeling became too hard to ignore. She tried to catch a quick glimpse from her side mirror to confirm her suspicions and could have sworn she saw Karan's car but another good look made her realize that there was no one. Suspecting it to be her paranoia, Teja shrugged it off. Her house wasn't too far so she was home within fifteen minutes and ended up parking her car outside, not wanting to bother her parents. They would wake up from the sound of the main gate opening so it was better if she left it out. Dada (driver) would park it inside in the morning, anyway. With that, she jumped out of her Hyundai, made sure the doors were locked, and was almost inside, her hand on the grill of her door when she paused again. Her heart was drumming unceremoniously and the earlier feeling of there being someone else within the same vicinity returned, this time more prominently. Her suspicions were confirmed when the front lights of a car parked on the side suddenly lit up and went off, making her take a step back to make sure it wasn't who she was thinking it was.

Karan hadn't meant to follow her. He had no intention. But this was the first time he was coming to this area so late in the night and it looked like a ghost town to him, despite it being in Mumbai. For someone who stayed in Andheri, an area that was always lively, he felt uneasy and didn't want to let her go alone. But if he asked, she would have agreed to him accompanying her in any way so he tried to be discreet in his mission, driving slowly, parking silently, simply to make sure she reached home safe. He would have left too once she'd gone inside but damn the headlights! It seemed like they had caught her attention too so rather than pretending to stay silent, he figured he'd just come out and reveal himself. The first thing he did was flash the car lights once more to give her a heads up. The sudden flash made Teja jump and turn, looking like a deer caught in headlights. From surprise, the look on her face turned into a frown and he knew he was in trouble - she clearly didn't seem happy finding him there. Letting out a sigh, Karan turned off the car lights and stepped out, the cool October breeze hitting him, gently swaying his hair with some force. He ran a hand through them as he walked towards Teja with a sheepish smile.

"Did you follow me?" She questioned - her tone was accusatory, giving him the hint that she was a little weirded out. Karan didn't blame her. He would have felt the same had he been in her place.

"Would it make me look like a creep if I say yes?"

"Yes?"

Following someone with informing them was a stalker behavior - definitely creepy. But again, this was Karan and he didn't look like he meant any harm, nor was he a creep so she wasn't jumping to conclusions. In different circumstances, this would be a red alert but Teja was giving him a benefit of doubt.

"Shit. Okay, I am sorry. I didn't mean to follow you like this but the road looked deserted and it was late... if I had asked you, you wouldn't have let me so I figured I would just make sure you got home safe." Karan knew he couldn't wiggle his way out of this so what was the point of lying. Plus, lying at the expense of ruining all the image correction he had done earlier? Nah. Not taking any chances.

Considering his words for a few seconds, she searched his face before coming to a conclusion. "I believe you." Teja said in resignation. It was too late in the night to argue over it and he was right, she wouldn't have allowed him follow her, considering how she thought (and was) completely capable of driving on her own. Plus, this gesture of his, though weird, touched her. It was sweet. No one had done that for her. Her ex had obviously dropped her back but no one had taken such risks, knowing how it could annoy her, label him a stalker, etc, etc. It was unnatural but touching.