Shrishti Reborn

Chapter 39. The Calm before the Storm

The trip back home was uneventful as almost all of them slept through the drive down the hill and through the flight back home. Megha and Shrishti even fell asleep during their drive back home from the airport. Once home, Shrishti spent the first day sleeping and lazing and only unpacked the next day. Then it was flurry of to and fro between her and Raghav's house as the presents had been mixed up for the sake of packing and now needed to be given back to the ones who bought it. Shrishti managed to sneak in Raghav's new book in one of the presents and neither Arpit nor Megha noticed it. Shrishti was relieved. She kept Murder on the Orient Express with herself. She could have checked if the library at her home had it and if it was there, she could have handed Raghav's new copy to him. But she did not want to. She wanted to read from this copy. She had no idea why and she refused to look further into it.

A day later, Shrishti was out meeting her friends, Divya and Daljeet, at the mall as there were college stationary that she needed to buy. If she also bought some clothes for herself, that was between her and her wallet. She also handed over her gifts for them. Daljeet had dragged her then to help her choose a dress as Arpit had asked her to go to Essel World and it was clear that it was a date. Daljeet wanted to wear something sporty as they were going to an amusement park but she wanted it to be something unique and special too as it was a date too.

It took Shrishti few minutes to find the perfect sporty but flirty outfit and then it was her turn to buy a sports outfit. She went for some track pants and loose sport tees. This year, she was planning to participate in anything her friends thought she was good at. Cycling, shot put and javelin throw were on the top of the list.

In between shopping they managed to get some lunch and by evening, Shrishti was heading back home with lots of shopping bags in her car trunk. As they reached home, her eyes flickered to the neighbouring house and she could not help but wonder where would Raghav take his date if he ever took someone on a date. She shook her head. Why was she thinking about this?

Days passed and soon it was time to go back to college but before that, there was a Sunday to tackle. She had promised Raghav to have tea with him on the Sunday before College reopened. Raghav had already messaged her in the morning to confirm that she was coming over for the tea. She had said yes without a thought but as the time to meet him came close, everything felt nerve wrecking.

In evening, an hour before her tea meeting as she called it, she decided to get ready. With trepidation, Shrishti opened her wardrobe and looked through it, wondering what to wear. It was not a date with Raghav but it was something special. She had to look pretty and yet not all dressed up. But what to wear? She stared at her wardrobe with wide eyes before slamming the door shut and willing her heart to slow down. That was daunting! How did Daljeet be so casual about a date with Arpit when Shrishti was feeling like she was having a panic attack just at the thought of meeting Raghav for tea!

'If you are like this for a tea, how would you be if he asked you on a date?'

Shrishti glared at her friend's face whom she had video called for help.

Divya giggled. 'You silly girl. Show me your clothes. I will pick something for you.'

At the end, a simple lemon yellow kurti paired with black leggings was selected.

'Casual enough for tea and yet not your usual western wear making the meeting special.'

Shrishti nodded and after the call ended, she changed into the outfit. As she looked through her earrings collection, she could not help but grab silver jhumkas. There were two jhumkas attached to each earring, one attached to a short chain while other was attached to long chain and touched Shrishti's shoulders. She wore them and giggled as the four jhumkas jingled as she moved. Then unable to resist, she grabbed some bangles but then made a face. Now she was going overboard. She changed it to simple silver bracelet in one hand and wore a watch in another before looking at herself in the mirror and took in a deep breath. Should she do something with her hair?