Sweet 'n' Sour | ✔

forty

40. Ek baar phir shuruvat karte hain. (Let's start over once again.)

•°•

- priya -

I was a nervous wreck the moment I heard Preeti welcome Aditya inside, confirming it was indeed him. It wasn't a surprise we had completely stopped talking for the last week. I was too embarrassed after the text I had sent him, and he, as usual, made no efforts from his side. Not that I blamed him, to be honest. I suck at communication and I had proved that twice in a row. But still, I wasn't prepared to meet him today. I don't know why, but him coming here feels a lot more special and different than us meeting tomorrow at home.

"C'mon, let's go outside," Nisha bhabhi urged softly, pulling me from my thoughts.

I looked around in an effort to find a reason that'll allow me to stay in the kitchen for a while before I gather enough courage to face him. I wasn't in the best of my attire either. Just my old pants and a worn-out t-shirt. My hair was washed this morning, but instead of sorting the mess with a brush, I had just thrown them up in a bun, and now it was a bird's nest. I didn't want to meet him looking homeless.

"I'll just, I need to check everything to finish up-"

"Oh, let loose, Priya. C'mon!" She turned off the burner and dragged me out of the kitchen. Dragged because my feet skidded across the floor, literally. But she seems to have a lot of practice with dragging stubborn people around. I believe the credit goes to Ashish.

We made out of the kitchen and I quickly straightened on my feet, our appearance catching the attention of the folks in the living room.

Aditya, who had been talking to Sameer and Vikram with his back on us, turned around when the men's eyes flickered towards us over his shoulder.

My breath hitched in my throat when our eyes met.

He was wearing an all-black suit that I'm absolutely in love with. It hugged his tall, lean body snugly, emphasizing his broad shoulders and trimmed waist, stretching and wrapping around at all the right places. I swallowed at the sight.

My attention snapped away from him when Nisha Bhabhi tugged me forward, taking me along to where they stood. She left my side when I was right in front of him, walking up to her kid who was shuffling through the family album with Preeti. Sameer and Vikram had dived into another conversation, leaving just us two to awkwardly stare at each other.

It all felt too similar. Like the first time we had met for an actual date.

I fiddled with my wrist, lamenting the absence of my watch. Reaching to tuck a wayward tendril behind my ear, I underestimated the mess my hair was and ended up pulling at the roots as my finger got tangled. With a hiss, I carefully pulled my fingers away and pushed my hair back with both of my hands.

Embarrassed to the core, I lifted my gaze, only to have my eyes widen at the sight of him cackling behind his knuckles.

I blushed, grateful to my brown skin tone that camouflaged the shame well.

He cleared his throat, pulling his hand away, a ghost of a smile still painted across his inconspicuous as sin lips. As strange as it sounds, I was relieved to see those dimples that had stolen my month's worth of peace.

"Kaisi ho? (How are you?)" His voice drifted over the buzzing chatter spread across the room but my ears picked up on the words almost immediately, as though they had been almost begging to hear something from their favourite person.

"Fine. Aap? (You?)"

He nodded, rubbing his nape as red darted across his cheeks and the tip of his ears. "Fine, I guess."