XOMANTORAL

Chapter 3

The morning was cold and foggy. She woke up early and made breakfast for her and Ritika. She prepared a tiffin for her.
"Goi paai etaa phone koribi. Thanda lagile eii shawl khon uri lobi, okay?"
She advised Ritika as she was getting in the bus.
"Hobo mor maa. Toii bhalke thakibi eikeidin. Beyaa lagile Snehaak kobi. Bye bye."
She gestured the bye with her hands and walked to her room. She quickly got ready and went to office.
"Good morning, miss Aditi."
A familiar voice struck her ears. She turned around and saw Rohan. That was the last thing she wanted to see at that moment.
"Good morning,  Rohan."
She replied, with a sense of irritation in her voice.
"Have thought about my advice?"
She tried to ignore him.
"Moi kiba xudhi....."
As he was trying to say something more, she said,
"Rohan, apunar jodi eko kaam naai, please mor karone coffee ek cup aani diyok."
He was shocked at her words
"Ohh..... wow. Hm... o....k..."
He started walking towards the coffee machine with a bit of weirdness in his face
"Two pounds of sugar please."
She again shouted from the back
"Guess I am not your servant ma'am."
He said not looking back
"Then stop giving your free advise"

Aditi was sitting in her cubicle, writing something on her laptop. Sneha came to her cubicle.
"Hii!"
Sneha called her. Looking at her, Aditi closed her laptop and smiled
"Hii!"
"Aaji bule kabar date aase, hmm?"
Sneha raised her eyebrows. She replied
"Date.... mane... tumi kot gom pala?"
Sneha gave a weird look
"Cuz Arohan mor dada hoi and.... xii tumar karone gift kinibole mor poraa advice loisil..."
She waited for a bit
"Am I oversharing?"
Aditi smiled at her silly question
"Naai naai. Tumii bhalke nokola nhoii kii gift hoi."
Sneha laughed. She went near Aditi and pulled her cheeks
"Aditi, you make Arohan happy. Bohut dinor murot tar mukhot smile dekhisu, honest happiness dekhisu, all because of you. Okol tumar karone I again got close to him. Thank you"
Aditi brought her hands and held it
"You mean everything to him Sneha. Teu khaali olop okora. Bujale kintu buji paai. Moromot kole maani loi. Obhiman lagile dhorii nathake. Obhimaan bhangibou jaane. Khong korii morom koribo o jaane. Thank you toh moii teuk kobo lage. Iman aloxua hridoy ekhon mor agot dekhuwa babe."
Sneha clicked near her ears as she got drowned in her thoughts.
"Hey, hobo hobo. Iman morom khini dadar agoto kobaa akou."
Aditi smiled again. She stood up from her chair and went to the window.
"Moi expressive nohoi Sneha. Mor morom mor actions teii lukaai thake. Ghor bhale bhale goi pale ne? Ga tu bhal pale ne? Dorob loise ne? Iyatei mor morom lukaai thake."
Sneha went near her and kept her hands in her shoulder
"Be expressive. Arohan e morom ketiyao pua naai. Detakor napale. Maake dibo bisara morom khinio noloi gusi aahile. Khong obhiman bohut ase taar majot. Monot thaka kothaa uliyaai diba taar aagot. You never know when it's too late."
"Too late hobo nidiu."
Aditi turned around. Sneha again said
"Etiya moi jaau. Bohut filmmy hoii gol. Bye bye. And best of luck"
She did thumbs up with both her hands. She again said
"I need explicit details about what happens, okay?"
Aditi smiled. Sneha went out of her cubicle.
She returned from office early, excited about her first date. Her first night out with Mr. Arohan Sonowal, not as his colleague, but as his date. She directly opened her wardrobe and picked out a beautiful purple dress. She wore a necklace and little eaarings to go with it. She didn't like heels, but anyhow she wore it.
Arohan called her and let her know about his arrival. She picked her purse and went out. As she was about to sit in the car, he said
"You.... look..."
"Weird? Too much? Very chicky?"
"Beautiful. Atleast sentence tu xekh koribo dibo lage akou."
She laughed. He smiled and kept looking at her
She said, after sometime
"Bolok aakou."
He returned from his zone out
"Ohh ohh.. bola"
She giggled as he his manly cheeks turned pink

They reached the restaurant. It was a luxurious restaurant. Aditi was not used to this. She couldn't afford such costly restaurants. She hesitantly asked
"Aa.... aami belegot jaabo paarilu hoi sun."
Arohan replied with a confused look,
"Kio? Bhaal loga naai nki jaga tu?"
She stumbled
"Nhoi.. mane... olop besi hi-fi nhoi jaanu?"
He laughed. He replied
"Arre. Aaji moi he aanisu tumaak. Aaru sinta nokoriba. Aami aru jaabo aase beleg jagat. Mm mm bola bola joldii. Nhole aamar plan bur completeii nhobo."
He held her hands unknowingly and pulled her to the inside of the restaurant. She kept looking at him. He suddenly realized about his holding her hand and slowly released it.
"Ohh sorry. Beya napaba."
She looked into his eyes. He was embarrassed. She smiled and said
"Eko naai"
They sat at one of the reserved tables. Menu was provided to them
"Ki koribaa? Aage order dii lou"
He asked her. She replied
"Aapunii ji bhaal dekhe."
He decided to order two mocktails for them.
"I suppose tumii alcoholic drinks nukhuwa."
He tauntingly asked her
"Naai. Nakhau."
Her one word answers annoyed him. He said
"Aahhha.... ki khaam nakhau hobo korii asa. Thora toh boholaai kuwa. Tetiahe bhaal lage. Tumaar voice tu xunibo paau."
He winked at her. She blushed and looked down. He again said
"So....... etiya kothaa paatim. Moi start korim ne tumii?"
She had a lot of questions for him, a lot of confusions to clear out. But she replied
"Aapuni start korok."
"Mor story bohut dighol hobo. Tumi kuwa. Tumaar kotha."
She thought for a bit and looked into his eyes. He was looking at her. She looked away and started
"Hmm. Mor ghor...."
"Jorhat. Xeibur jaanu moi. Moi e loisilu sun interview tumaar. Olop tumaar bixoye kuwa. Ghorot kun kun ase. Life stories, funny sad"
She giggled at his words and again started
"Achaa. Amar ghorot 6 taa manuh. Moii, maa, deta, dada aaru borma"
"Aaru... borta......? Borta hotor lora suwali?"
She paused for a moment
"Bortar last year death hoise."
She nodded with the words
"Ohh ohh. I am really sorry."
"Naai naai. Eko naai. Aaru bortarei loraa jon, Dhon dada. Xi Hyderabad t thake."
He nodded with her. She again started
"Moii middle class family r poraa belong koru. You know, xoru poriyaal. Xohoj xorol maa deta. Borta khongaal aasil. Maa detaai bortaak bohut manisil. Teur kotha xilor rekha jen aasil. Mok bohut morom korisil bortaai. Moi bule bortar favorite child asilu."
She wiped tears from her eyes and said with a smile
"Amar maa aaru bormaa xorur xokhi aasile. Bortaahotor biyat bule maak detaai dekha paisile. Tetiyaar poraa bule line maribo start korisil detaai maak. Bortar vespa ekhon asil. Mone mone loi jaai aaru maak uthaai duyu fure. Bortaai xodaai tel nuhuwa hua dekhii confuse hoi bohii thake."
Both of them laughed
"Bortaai jidina gom paisile, khub pitile bule detaak. Kintu aakou maanio lole. Hoi gol duyuru biyaa. Happy couple. Detaai ketiyaba jaane, maak gift diye xoru xoru. Dhorok korobaat dhuniya mekhela saador ejurei paale, korobaat etaa fulei paale. Beleg napale aaru paasoli e gift diye."
Her jokes made Arohan laugh out loud. She kept looking into his eyes, laughing, with tears in her eyes out of her laugh. She again said
"Enekoye haahi thakibo sun. Dhuniya dekhii aapunak"
He was startled. He said
"Ohh look who's flirting?"
She again giggled and replied
"Xosaa kotha aakou. Hahi thakibo."
"Tumi hohuaai thakiba. Promise xodaai haahi thakim"
She nodded childishly.

She said
"Etiyaa apuni kouk. Aapunaar kotha."
He became a little serious.
"Hmm. Mor kothaa. Aditi, don't judge me after this. I'm gonaa be real honest."
"Never"
Aditi replied,  with a little fear
Arohan started with an upsetting smile
"Mor story. Eko naai mor story. Jonmo dibo lage karone disile. Xorur poraa nanny r logoteii thakilu. Xeii ghor khonot kebol moii koka, aita, khurii aaru Snehakeii bhal paisilu. Koka dhukaai thakil, aitak pehi loi gol nijor logot, aaru khuri nijor problems r logot busy hoi gol. Edin koi dilu nathaku bulii xeikhon ghorot. Ulaai gusi golu mama kokar taat. Nasalu ghuri ebaaro xeikhon ghoror faale. Xeii je golu taar pisot mama kokar ghoroteii moi dangor holu. Aitai mok bohut morom kore. Etiyaao kore. Office r poraa goi puwar loge loge saah ek cup bonaai diye. Best tea ever."
She smiled. She felt bad for him
"Sir.."
"Jaanibo khujisa kio beya paau xeikhon ghorok? Mor detaa ejon dangor businessman. Actually deta nohoi. Koka aasil dangor businessman. Kokaa ejon honest aaru sincere maanuh aasil. Detaai loi nijor hypocrisy start korile. Khuraa detaar literal saakor. Ketiyaao detaai khurak uporot uthibo nidile. Khuraai gomokeii napale. Aaru maa. Huh. Maa. No reason teuk beya pua. She chose deta over me. She chose her family over her son. Mama kokar ghorot juwaar pisot edin apple loi goisil. Huh.. najaneo je moii apple beya paau. Moi log nokoru bulii kuwaat gusi gol. Ebaaro ghuri nasale. Moi bisarisilu ebaar request koribo. Nokorile. Gusi gol. Moi pordar faakedii saai thakilu. Gusi gol."
His eyes got hazy with tears. Aditi kept her hands over him. She said
"Aapunaar fault nohoi. Kintu... aapuni ebaar try..."
"Try? Seriously? Jikhon ghorot moii cartoon r volume borhoa karone maar khaau. Bhaat khuwaar time t olop oxaanti korile maar khaau, schook t parents meeting thaka buli kole maar khaau, xeikhon ghorot jaabo moi try nokoru Aditi."
She didn't say anything.
"Aaru Rohan, taak bhaal paabo nuwaru. He was the perfect child. Kunu complaints naai. Detaai jeneke bisaare xeneke thaake. Tohh xii bhaal amar ghoror. Bhaal paai."
She wiped his tears with a napkin.
"Aaji amar eii date tu crying session type r he hoise jen paau."
Aditi tried to lighten the situation. He laughed a bit.
"Etiyaa olop beleg kothaa paatu, ne ki kuwa."
She nodded. They talked about different things. She cracked jokes, he laughed. Both enjoyed the time. They enjoyed their dinner.
After a long time, they went out of the place. It was 10 pm. They sat in the car
"Etiya aaru jagat jaabo aase."
Arohan said
"Aaru kot jaai? Derii hol sun."
He smiled and touched her cheeks.
"Don't worry, darling. Derii nohoi."
She blushed as he drove the car.
The car stopped near a tapri.
"Eibar eitu treat tumr poraa? Hobo ne? Equal equal."
She laughed hearing Arohan's words. She nodded and went out.
They sat in the tapri. There was no one, only them. The tea seller made two cups of hot tea. As the tea cups were served, Arohan bent down to pick up his wallet that had falled on the ground. He suddenly saw blisters in Aditi's feet. He said
"Aditi? Heel jur khula. Goteii jolaa futii goise."
She got nervous and said,
"Eko nohoi... diyok. Moi paarim sombhalibo."
"Iman beyake kaatise. Khula khulaa. Pindhibo nuwarile je kio pindha eibur bujii napau."
Aditi kind of liked his slight scolding. She took off her heels and comfortably sat. They had their teas. She said,
"Aapuni mor logot iman share korile. Bhoi nalage ne moi belegok koii dim buli?"
He sightly smiled and looked into her eyes
"I never opened up to anyone. You are the only person."
She nodded and said
"Thank you for sharing."
He slightly touched her hands and said
"Thank you for listening "
As they were having tea, suddenly it started raining. Arohan got irritated and said,
"I hate this thing."
Aditi smirked and said,
"Beya pabole ki tu ase? Iman dhuniya boroxun. Aapuni komtii lucky ne first date t boroxun paai gol."
He made a weird face and said
"Ihh lucky, etiya je bhiji bhiji jaabo laagibo."
"Jaam bhiji bhiji. Eko naai. Olop sordii lagibo. Bhal hoi jaabo."
She slightly bent her head. The breeze messed her hair and it fell on her face. He slowly took his hands to her face and removed the strands of hair. She blushed and looked away. She paid the money for the tea and said to Arohan,
"Ready?"
He nodded. She forwarded her hands and he held it. They both ran towards the car with her other hands holding the heels. As they sat in the car, they both couldn't stop laughing. He drove off the car
They reached her house. It was 11:45 pm. She went out of the car. The rain had stopped. He lowered the glass. She looked through it and said,
"Thank you, bhaal lagil aaji."
He smiled and said,
"Roba roba eta bostu."
She confusingly came out of the car with a bouquet and a gift.
"Ei duta lua. Pahori e goisilu. Dumb ass mind."
He slapped his forehead while she smirked. She said
"Kio je eibur aanise. Moi eko nanilu."
"Next date your turn."
"Done"
"Jaai khuli saba. Koba mok kenekua lagise."
She nodded and went inside.