Doore: A Short Sapphic Romance (GxG)

A Date

I woke up early morning after planning a long list of things I want to do and headed down, only to find out that Ashwathy had gone for her side gig. Sanjana had gone to have a coffee with Shailesh Tripathy, a styling executive for multiple photographers, with some photos I'd given her. I decided to wait two hours and went back to my room, sitting on the edge of the bed. When that got tiring, I headed down and found aunty in the kitchen. 

"Aunty, do you know where Ashwathy goes for the modelling?"

"Hmm, that Tony's photo studio", she replied. 

"He's the only one who knows people in Kochi magazines. He got published in Vanitha once", aunty said. No wonder people thought I lived some dream. I was indeed established. But Ashwathy choosing him instead of me was what confused me, to a point where it got annoying now. 

I got on the first autorickshaw I found and headed to the studio, aunty had told me about. It was a block away from the electronics store. I got off and paid the driver and walked up a shabby flight of stairs. The interior was well maintained compared to the exterior of the building. I walked in to find a lean guy in his late teens manning the reception. 

"Tony..", He cut me off before I could speak further.

"Tony is busy. Come tomorrow", I frowned in confusion as the man sat back down playing clash of clans on his mobile. I pulled out my ID and shoved it in his face. Times like these made me feel bad about abusing my popularity but it was unavoidable. He looked at the card and back at me. I raised an eyebrow, smirking. He went in and brought along another guy with a camera around his neck. 

"I think she doesn't understand malayalam, Tony. You tell her in english", he murmured to the guy who looked at me puzzled. I didn't speak for half a minute, expecting him to recognize me but what was I thinking! 

"See, madam, today not free", I rolled my eyes. That was when Ashwathy walked out of the room with her bag in hand. 

"Anjali, what are you-", she said and looked at Tony and the receptionist. 

"This is Anjali Shenoy, I told you about"

"Oh-", Tony's face lit up in a gleaming smile which made me narrow my eyes. 

...

And as expected. Starting with a paneer appetizer, to a penne aglio olio, a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon and a tiramisu for dessert. I sighed as I looked at the plate of banana chips kept in front of me on a wooden table while Tony clicked away. Ashwathy stood beside my chair and smiled. Tony asked if I could supervise a few shoots he had for the day and Ashwathy had to jump in and be the good cop. There went my dreams of taking her on a dinner date at the Trident's popular fine dining restaurant which Sanjana had suggested. By the time we got out, I was famished but Ashwathy was apparently tired. I stood beside her as she called for an auto. 

She looked at me for a while before murmuring something indaudible to the rickshaw driver. I got in after her. When we reached a turn, I narrowed my eyes as we drove past our usual turn. I leaned in towards Ashwathy, letting her know in the lowest voice possible, "I think he's kidnapping us. He drove past our normal route". I looked at her for a reaction but she only smiled. "And why would he do that?" She asked smiling. I looked skeptically but decided to shut up and focus on having my hand balled up in a fist in case I had to punch my way out. He stopped beside a river, with some structure erected with small candles on it. Ashwathy paid the driver and walked to stand in front of me. She held my wrists and led us to the structure. A cabana, with two chairs and candle lit tables. 

"I'm sorry about today. I overheard your call with the hotel about the reservation!" She spoke apologetically. I chuckled and looked at the table. 

"This is perfect. I'll forgive you", I said pulling my arm up so we were holding hands. The annoying guy from the electronics store walked towards us and handed over a cover of something to Ashwathy before driving away on his bike. I looked at it, with a frown.