Colliding Fates (On Hold)

Chapter 5: Connections

Raza looked at himself in the washroom mirror, holding a green button in his hand, and murmuring, "I can't believe it fell off," while glancing between the button and his kurta. Frustrated, he thought, 'I will leave a bad review.'

He stepped out of the washroom, placing the button in his pocket, and looked around to spot his mom. But, he couldn't believe his eyes when he saw the girl from the mall – 'the pehli baar girl' – wearing a green saree. 'And I thought she only looked good in blue,' he thought, observing her as she walked from one table to another, smiling while looking at her phone. He seemed confused for a moment, then he noticed her giving side-eye and smiling – 'she's listening to the guests conversations,' he thought with a wide smile, scratching his chin and shaking his head.

Raza decided to follow her closely for a few seconds and noticed that she was holding her phone upside down – 'she's so absent-minded,' he thought, remembering how she bumped into him at the mall. He stood behind her and said, "I didn't know people could read their phones upside down."
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Dua walked around, observing the guests. She had learned early on, when she started catering, that you can tell a lot about the food just by observing the customers' faces. Some people may say the food is good or bad just for the sake of it, but the reality can be observed by walking around and seeing the expressions on their faces and the comments they say under their breath. Quite frankly, Dua enjoyed seeing all the happy faces, and even the light criticisms helped them improve their business.

This time, she had two missions: one, hearing the comments, and secondly, making sure they don't run out of rice. Dua smiled, listening to the comments about biryani, pretending to scroll on her phone.

"Biryani is so good, even with just the scent, it's too good," one of the seniors said.

"It tastes so good, I can eat it for the rest of my life," exclaimed a teenager.

Still pretending to scroll on her phone, she heard a voice behind her saying, "I didn't know people could read their phones upside down."

Turning back with a confused look at the man and then back at her phone, she chuckled and held it the right way up. "I wasn't paying attention," she said, biting her tongue.

"Raza," he said, holding out his hand for her.

With a small smile, she shook his hand and replied, "Dua."

"You don't remember me? We met at the mall" he said with one of his eyebrows and Dua still looked confused

"You wanted your blouse stitched and you bumped into me" he said moving his hands

"Ohh! Mr. Weirdo!" Dua exclaimed pointing at him and then immediately put away her finger away and closed her mouth

Raza laughed hearing his nickname and Dua had an apologetic face and said "sorry, I didn't mean it that way"

He waved it away laughing and murmuring "its ok" while Dua had an embarrassed face.

"What are we listening to?" he whispered to her "huh" she said looking at him confused

"I know you are listening into others conversations" he whispered giving a knowing look

With an embarrassed look she confessed "the food here is from my restaurant I just wanted to know if everybody liked it"

He leaned in closer, a mischievous glint in his eyes, "Well, I must admit, your eavesdropping skills are quite impressive. But don't worry, your secret is safe with me."

She chuckled nervously, relieved that he wasn't angry. "Thanks for understanding. It's just that I manage this restaurant, and I can't help but be curious about people's reactions to our food."