First Date to Forever

One step forward

     It was a cool evening making the environment perfectly cozy in the cafe. The Qutub Minar was visible clearly from their table with soft music playing in the background. The setting was perfect , almost as it was on their first date.

    When Sujay reached the place , he could not help but smile . It was always his favorite place but now it meant much more to him. He could not wait to see her again ! As soon as he entered the cafe , his eyes met with hers for a brief second as if she was waiting for him but she quickly looked away to hide her blush. Sujay laughed at her antics . He was sure his presence affects her but she will not accept it so easily .

    Sujay introduced his sister to all his friends one by one and came to Shonali in the end .
"And this is Shonali. " He introduced her.
Shonali held her hand out for a handshake when Shruti pulled her in for a hug !

"Wow , I finally get to meet you ! I have heard so much about you , it feels like I have known you for years !! " she said , making Shonali blush and everyone else laugh.

     Sujay faked a cough as if to signal her sister to keep quiet but she didn't get the memo !! She kept teasing them a little bit until she noticed Sonali was getting a bit uncomfortable.

"Sorry Shonali for making you uncomfortable but the thing is Sujay keeps on troubling me always and he keeps pulling my leg. Now I finally have a master key to trouble him so I am going to use it alot ! " she laughed

     Shonali was surprised at the bond these two share. Sujay had mentioned about his elder sister but she did not realize they were so close . She saw how happy Sujay looked while his sister was talking to her .

      After all the meet and greet they all sat down , making sure Sujay and Shonali are next to each other , ofcourse! Once they were all settled down and were busy in their own conversations Sujay finally found the opportunity to talk to Shonali.

"Hi" , he said quietly while leaning a little bit towards her .
A surprised Shonali looked at him and then relaxed ,
"Hi to you too ! "

"I am really sorry about my sister. She just loves to trouble me ."

"It's alright, I don't mind . I know how siblings are , I have a younger sister too ! "

He was a bit relieved hearing this.

"So did you like the place ? " Sujay asked with a mischievous smile .

Shonali blushed at his question
"I love this place ! It's one of my favorite place now !" she smiled .

He left out a chuckle.
"Oh is it ? Any special reason for that ? " He asked with a straight face.

    Shonali smiled . She was freaking out internally. Are we flirting now ? Why are we so comfortable after the last incident? Wasn't it suppose to be awkward?

"No no just a friend brought me here for tea few days ago... " she teased him .

       He became serious immediately. Am I only a friend to her ?
      Shonali noticed his expressions and immediately added "...Also because it was my first date ever ! " she blushed .

     He immediately chuckled at her innocence. Both of them continued their cute banter absolutely unaware that Shruti was looking at them in awe ! She was really proud of her brother for choosing a person like Shonali. From what she could observe she understood Shonali too had feelings for Sujay but has not accepted it yet.

    The evening went on with lots of laughter and teasing sessions. Shonali saw a different side of Sujay today. She has never seen him so happy , so carefree . May be being surrounded by his sister and his graduation friends brought out this side of him . There was something different about him today.
 
    It was almost time to leave and everyone was giving their wishes to Sujay and Jeet for a great trip . How they both would be missed here. Sarika gave them a huge list of gifts to bring for her which Jeet 'accidently' tore starting a fun banter between them. Amidst all the fun , nobody noticed Shonali was sitting very quietly absolutely lost in her own thoughts.

     Shruti made her way towards Shonali and sat down next to her breaking her chain of thoughts.

"Are you fine Shonali ? You seem a bit lost . " Shruti asked .

" Oh yes , I am absolutely fine. It's been a long time since I had such a nice time with my friends. I was just thinking about that." Shonali tried to cover up with a smile .

     Shruti smiled , though she was not convinced with her answer she decided to not push her much "I know right , college life is amazing. I miss my friends and my college days too. I rarely get to see them due to everyone's work schedule and commitments but when we do get time we have such a nice time. "

     After a moment of silence between them Shruti decided to probe Shonali, "It was nice meeting you Shonali ! You are exactly as Sujay described you .. "

     Shonali was a bit taken aback with the sudden change in topic. She gave a small smile to Shruti . "It was nice meeting you too. I have never seen Sujay this carefree . He misses you alot I guess. But then I've known him for only a couple of months ..."
It felt as if Shonali was trying to justify herself .

     "Sometimes it doesn't matter how long you have known someone, it's the intention that matters ...I mean look at my parents.." Shruti said with a sad smile.

      Shonali was confused and shocked. What did Shruti mean by that? She immediately looked at her with questions on her face and Shruti understood Sujay hasn't really opened up to her.

" Not my story to tell , but honestly I have never seen my brother this happy in a long time . Thank you Shonali ! " She said while making a mental note of confronting Sujay.

    Shonali too understood there is still a lot she and Sujay have to know about each other.

   Soon it was time to leave and everyone started deciding their car arrangements when Shonali surprised everyone by asking Sujay to drop her . Sujay stood there in shock for a minute when Shruti nudged him to bring him back to reality. Shonali felt embarrassed when she realized Sujay did not bring his car but pooled with Jeet. Understanding the situation Jeet gave his car keys to Sujay and volunteered to take a cab and also drop Shruti to her place as it was on the way to his house leaving Sujay alone with Shonali, while all others left in Akshay and Arush's cars .

    Sujay and Shonali waited till everyone left before walking towards Jeet's car. Both of them were a little nervous because of what happened the last time they were alone in a car ! While Sujay was happy that it was Shonali who took the initiative this time , Shonali had a million things running on her mind. With the farewell and hearing all those good bye words she was feeling restless. All she wanted right now was only one thing...
 
      "Sujay" she said softly. If the parking lot wasn't so quiet he might not have heard her. He was just about to open the car door for her when he heard her . He turned around immediately to see her standing there looking at him with a weird emotion in her eyes.
"Yes Shonali ? " He looked at her confusingly.
"Is everything okay ? Do you need anything?"  He asked .

"Can I hug you ? " Shonali asked ...