Unfulfilled Desires

Date?

"Rachit's point of view,"

"What have you been thinking for so long? Come in and take a seat calmly inside the car." When I told her to get in the car, she remained outside, staring at me in disbelief as I approached her.

Yes, I see why she's upset with me for the way I treated her today. However, I am not the only one to blame for this; she is also a co-defendant.

"Riya, don't be so hard on yourself. Come inside the car and sit down."

"Mr. Khurana, please. I'm not a fan of getting a lift from my superiors." So, she walked after saying this.

"Please, Riya, I'm sorry.

Please forgive me." I jumped out of my car and chased her down to bring her to a halt.

"Your apologies to me, sir, are unnecessary because it's rightly stated that I should treat my superiors with respect and obey their commands." Tears streamed down her cheeks as she wiped them away.

"Please take a seat inside the car; passers-by are looking at us." I said this as I led her to the car, holding her hand. I was terrified she would yank my hand in anger and take out her rage on me right in front of everyone on the road. But to my astonishment, she did nothing like that.

Inside the car, she sat quietly in the passenger seat.

"Please don't cry." I said this while holding her hand in mine.

"Rachit, I'm tired of your mood swings. I can't predict when you will become enraged with me, when you will talk to me with affection, and when you will insult and accuse me of using obscene and degrading language toward me. So why are you treating me like this? What have I done to deserve all the abuse I've received today?"

"Riya, please stop sobbing. I've already apologized for my mistake."

"But why did you do this?" She inquired tears in her eyes.

"Because you didn't even bother to inform me you were taking a day off." I explained why I was angry with her.

"Isn't it possible for you to inquire about me?" Rather than admitting her mistake, it preoccupied her with proving mine.

"When my number is still on the blacklist and you have vowed not to remove it, how will I contact you?"

"You're lying; you didn't even dial my number once. If you had, you would have realized that I had already taken your number off the blacklist."

"When?" It took aback me and stared at her.

"Yesterday at noon," she mentioned this while displaying her phone's blacklist.

"Oh, I called you last night, but your phone number was not connected."

"Although you knew I had not arrived at the office, you didn't even bother to call me again." It filled her eyes with both complaints and inquiries.

"It's not like that; I assumed that since you'd met Harsh after so many days, you'd be spending quality time with him and that my phone call would cause you to be disturbed." Seeing Riya with Harsh on that night left me deeply disturbed. Riya might not be aware of this.

"Quality time? It sounds like your brain isn't functioning. How can you think of me in that way? Do you honestly believe I wasn't at the office because I was busy with Harsh?"

"I apologize to you. Now let's end the matter." As I remarked this, I started the car.

"Talk over?

First, I'd like to know why you believe I'm so cheap."

"Riya, I don't think you're cheap, but what should I do? It irritated me that day to see Harsh asserting his authority over you."

"And you've made me the target of your wrath."

"You don't even try to figure out why I didn't show up to work, so leave it. Everyone else in the office has inquired about my health but you." Now she's teasing me since I didn't call.

"Madam, did the people who contacted you and inquired about your well-being do so on their own accord?

No, I instructed them to contact you."

"What are you talking about?" She gave me a surprised expression.

"Yes," it's another thing that the calls from those people should disturb you and Harsh. I'm afraid I won't be able to tell her the real reason. Then she'll undoubtedly continue her emotional drama.

"Yes, drop everything and tell me how you're doing now."

"Feel better."

"So, what exactly happened to you?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary, just bodily aches caused by exhaustion."

"Are you telling me the truth?" After hearing her and Shweta's conversation at lunchtime today, I know she is lying to me.

"Why isn't anyone tired?"

"Riya, despite everything that's going on between us, you're still shy about me."

"OK, fine. I had to take a day off from work because of my menstrual cramps. Now you're happy." She irritably stated.

"Okay, so this was your first day?"

"Shut up. Who asks such ridiculous questions?" To avoid making eye contact with me, she began staring out the window.

"Please let me know."

"No, it's the second day." In a quiet voice, she said, looking at the hands-on her lap.

"Rachit, why did you reverse the direction of the car?" When she noticed the car wasn't moving on the route to her house, she inquired.

"I'd like to speak with you and spend some time with you alone."

"But where do we intend to go?"

"On a date," I responded by pulling over to the side of the road outside an Italian restaurant; "date, now I'm not even fresh."

"Come on. When did you care about your looks?" I took her by the hand and led her to the table that had already been reserved.

"When did you decide to go on this date?" She inquired, her brows furrowed.

"I had planned to take you out on a date to Shimla. My strategy, however, failed because of myunexpected return from there."

"Ohhh," she murmured, looking at me with acalculated eye. "But today, when did you plan this date?"

"I found out that you hadn't eaten lunch this afternoon." I murmured this while I held her hand inmine.

"Yes, because of your efforts." She was still attempting to prove mymistake.

"Can I ask you a question, Riya?" I decided it was time to ask her what was bothering me so badly.