Better Together | ✓

4 | introduction

Chapter 4 : introduction 

"Hi, let's meet over the weekend if you're free? If you want to."

Aadarsh had found that message when he was scrolling through his notifications after reaching office. He had left for office an hour earlier than usual under the pretext of important work while actually his objective was avoiding his siblings. He couldn't deal with them first thing in the morning. There were days when he just wanted to runaway from everything.

He had assumed he wouldn't hear from her. He was all set to meet other women his bua had ready in the pipeline in hope to find a better match. But Ruhaani had turned the tables. 

He wasn't sure what he should reply. He thought over it. Maybe Abhi was wrong. She was not trying to play hard to get, maybe she was genuinely indecisive. He began formulating a reply. Perhaps he should keep it straightforward and simple. 

"Okay. Let me know what time suits you. Friday works for me." He typed and stared at the message for a whole minute before pressing the send button.

A few minutes later he received a message. 

"How about Saturday? You can meet Pari too."

Reality began hitting him hard. Was he actually ready for the responsibility of being a father of a four year old. Abhi's words came rushing back into his mind. Was he making the wrong choice? Maybe he should consider meeting someone who was better match. His gaze went to the photo frame on his desk which had a picture of him with his siblings. His gaze lingered on the faces of the twins who were standing behind him, each head on his each shoulder. 

He often felt bad for them. When he was growing up, he had his mother's love his father's attention. They didn't get their dad's time. They had never seen their mother. It was unfair. He looked back at the screen of his expensive smartphone. He began typing.

"Alright. Is it okay if I bring along Nirvaan and Mukti?"

He let out a deep exhaled and waited for her reply. 

"Sounds like a plan. Let's meet for lunch? We can go to JP Park and then have lunch at JP restaurant. The food is pretty good there and not spicy."

Aadarsh blinked. He read the last line again and slowly a smile made it to his face. Her thoughtfulness impressed him. 

"Done." He texted back. 

* * *

Ruhaani's chachi had insisted she wear a proper Indian dress, like a Punjabi suit or Anarkali this time around. But Ruhaani preferred her denims. It was only a park visit after all. When her aunt couldn't change her mind about that, she had moved on to  forcing her to wear a fancy red top. She made sure she wore a matching lip color too. Ruhaani felt overdressed for a park visit and protested but her aunt was very very adamant this time around.

"Let's go inside," Pari said for the fifth time in the past ten minutes or so as they sat on a bench at top of the slope that led up to the 

"Just a few more minutes, Pari."

"Why is your friend not here yet?"

"He is on the way."

A few seconds passed and then she spotted Aadarsh walking in. He was in his casual wear. A light blue pair of denim trousers and a white t-shirt. His eyes hid behind sunglasses. For a few fleeting seconds she was thrown off her ground. The man was effortlessly attractive. As he approached her she noticed that he had trimmed his beard. It was a stubble now. His hair was trimmed too.