You and I

Chapter 8

"You got this, this is your forte, you can do it" Dharam kept chanting to himself like a mantra.

But his knees felt weak, and his hands were sweating. The AC was blast on full mode and yet he felt hot - very hot!

He was waiting in the basement parking of the building where Tara worked. She had texted him the previous evening after their phone call to set-up their date.

She had suggested a date at the golf club and given that golf was something that he was indeed very good at, Dharam had agreed to this. She had also asked if he could pick her up from her office for the date, to which too he'd agreed.

So, Dharam was here, waiting for the clock to tick 4 in the evening - they had agreed to meet at 4 'o clock in the evening at the parking lot of her office building.

Dharam being the ever-punctual man that he is, obviously arrived half an hour earlier than what they'd planned and had spent the past 20 minutes in the car, trying to take deep breaths and calm himself down, waiting for the clock to tick 4 so that he could call Tara and tell her he's here for her.

Dharam gazed at his reflection in the side view mirror and straightened his shirt collar. As he'd spent the past few months in Scotland, he was accustomed to wearing a thick jacket and a vest over his shirts. Given that his sister Taniya or his mother usually did his shopping, most of his shirts were Tuttle-neck shirts to cope with the cold weather. Besides, the two women in his life loved him in turtle-neck shirts - it made him look more handsome they always said.

So now in the humid weather of Mumbai, he was forced to wear shirts, which were definitely more comfortable, but he still wasn't really used to having his neck exposed.

Today, the white shirt he was wearing was one of Taniya's designs - it was very similar to a kurta, but shorter - with the hem of the shirt reaching his hips. He'd tucked edge of the shirt into his black trousers. The shirt had a peter-pan collar, so it was smaller than the collar of a formal shirt. It was also full sleeves, but the fabric of the shirt was soft and thin - an excellent choice for humid weather!

Taniya knew he was going for his second date today, and so, she'd picked out this shirt for him, along with the black trousers he'd worn. She'd forced him to wear a black-and-white coloured pair of golf shoes as well.

Overall, Dharam was impressed at how he looked today. He was however more impressed and surprised at how Taniya hadn't once pestered him about information on the woman he's dating!

She had just asked him once how their first date had gone. Dharam had stuck with the safest answer 'it was fine' and that's it! Taniya hadn't asked another question but had beamed and hugged him tight.

Today too, it was Dharam who had approached Taniya for tips on how he ought to dress for the date. And Taniya had given her professional opinion, not once badgering him about the date! He had never known his sister to be this mature! But he was relieved anyway!

Dharam wanted to be absolutely sure about Tara before he could talk about his dating life with his family. He wanted to be sure that he liked her, and if she liked him too!!

His thoughts were put on hold as he saw a flutter of purple, and his heart skipped a beat.

Tara was walking out of the elevator, which was a little away from where he'd parked the car, a small duffle-bag hanging from her elbow, a clutch under the arm, holding a phone in the same hand!! In her other hand, she had small can of coke, and what looked like a half-eaten sandwhich held in just two fingers!

Woah, he thought - here he was, hardly able to manage holding a laptop in one hand, and there she was, holding all sorts of things... women truly are made of something else, aren't they?