First Date to Forever

The Great Palak Intervention

     Last 5 minutes were remaining for the class to get over . Mrs. Rai , their faculty for  Marketing Management was giving out the assignment for her next lecture. Early morning lectures and winter mornings do not go well . Half of the class was still sleepy , some of them hungry because of skipping breakfast, while Shonali was waiting eagerly to get her first cup of tea , Sujay was wishing the lecture never gets over ! It is not everyday he gets to share a class with her and start his day by looking at her beautiful smile !

     As soon as Mrs Rai left the room , all the students let out a sigh of relief together. Guess no one enjoys such mornings . Shonali got up from her seat and quickly dashed towards the door . Almost as if all her friends read her mind , everyone got up and started making their way towards the little tea shop right outside their college gate . It was their everyday morning ritual to meet at the tea shop before the lectures start , however today well the early morning lecture delayed their tea session !

      Shonali loved drinking tea , especially Delhi winters have increased her craving for a nice hot cup of strongly brewed Tea. Sameer too was addicted to drinking tea. They both bonded over their mutual admiration for this beverage! And this had started the group's ritual of meeting at the tea shop.

    While Shonali was soaking in the winter morning sun and sipping her tea , her friends were having random discussions when suddenly Palak remembered the text message Shonali had received the previous day . The topic for discussion was now Shonali and her list of admirers ! Shonali purposely kept herself away from the discussion and ignored everyone while completely enjoying her tea. Palak and Maitri quickly updated everyone on the 7th proposal and everyone was teasing Shonali as always and enjoying her embarrassment!
"Come on Shona , atleast say yes for once!"
"How will you meet someone if you keep rejecting everyone? "
"She is probably waiting for her prince charming to come on a white horse and swipe her off her feet ! "

Seeing her friends laughing and having a good time made Shonali felt content even though it was at the expense of her embarrassment.

  Her attention was quickly diverted towards Jeevika and Arush ! They both were lost in their own conversation , absolutely unaware that Shonali was looking at them in awe ! Jeevika and Arush were in a relationship since the past three months and were mostly found around each other. They both lived in two extreme ends of the city with their families hence were unable to meet outside college . Though Shonali felt they should give each other a little freedom , she kept her thoughts to herself . She found them too cute and sometimes craved the affection they had for each other . Palak was noticing her silently.

    After enjoying their tea and a good session of catching up , all of them made their way towards their college building and quickly dispersed to their respective classes.  While Shonali , Palak , Jeevika , Aarush , Akshay and Sneh were in the same class and had all lectures together , Maitri and Sameer were the only ones together in one section , while Charu , Sarika and Harsha were in another section with Sujay and Jeet . Ruhi was enrolled in a different college but sometimes shared few classes with Shonali's section.

   After settling in their seats , Shonali was talking to Akshay while Palak had a train of thoughts running in her mind. She was determined to find the perfect person for Shonali .. she knew all about Shonali's past and her apprehensions to accept new people in her life. Palak knew how Shonali too craved for this feeling but was too shy to accept the fact.

"Alright , it's enough! I think I will have to take matters in my hand ! " announced Palak .

     Both Shonali and Akshay looked at her with confusion on their face ! They gave a look to Palak as if asking for more clarification .

"Shonali let's toss a coin and if I win I will decide if you should reject or accept the next proposal and if you win I will not eat cheese for the next two weeks !!! "