Rab Rakha

Chapter 25

"Hi!" Ishani smiled, greeting Sidharth outside the Brew cafe the other day.

"Hey." He extended his hand behind her, gesturing to her to lead them in.

"Weather's not really nice today." She mentioned, looking outside one last time before entering the cafe. It was raining, not very heavily though but she was glad that he made it.

"Yeah." He nodded.

"Tum Mumbai me nayi ho?" He couldn't help but ask because she didn't look like she was used to the traffic and weather.

"I mean 6 mahine pehle hi properly shift hui Mumbai me. Usse pehle.." She replied.

"Is this table okay?" She asked, they got the corner most table since the cafe was at it's peak rush at this hour.

"Yeah, fine by me." He shrugged, taking a seat in front of her.

"You were saying.." he asked her to continue.

"Mumbai se pehle maine Bangalore me kaam kiya saal bhar pehle, that was when I had joined E-times." She told him.

"Oh, good good." He replied.

"What about you?" She asked him.

"Me? Oh I've been in Mumbai forever. School, college, almost sab kuch yahi kiya maine mostly." He replied.

"What would you like to have?" The waiter interrupted them at that very moment.

"A latte would do.. you?" Sidharth looked all over the menu and then looked at Meera.

"My regular?" She smiled and turned to the waiter.

"Chocolate creme frappuccino." The waiter replied in order to confirm that's what she wanted.

"You do come here often." Sidharth commented.

"A lot! Poora din baith ke sirf articles likhti rehti hu, bore ho jati hu. And then, I love coffee so much!" She replied.

"What are you more into, chai ya coffee?" She asked then.

"Chai I'd say. The smell, the taste. Anytime anybody asks, chai." He replied. He indeed was a chai person, he'd enter his kitchen for that particular thing.

"Family bhi yahi rehti hai tumhari? Maine Meera Vardhan se kafi kuch suna hai sabke bare me." She asked him.

"Yeah? All good things I hope." He chuckled, indeed his friends were like and all of them had been together for a few weekends last summer.

"All good things! Meera is like Sid ki Mom itna acha khana banati hain, Sid ki di has always been such a great help! Your sister gifted her saree to Meera and she was so touched." She told him and he couldn't help but smile, indeed Meera was his one good friend.

"And then she insisted this, I mean, usne mujhe tumse milwaya apni party me." She added a little later.

"Yeah. She suggested the similar to me." He replied. They looked to his side when the waiter arrived with their orders.

"It's good." He said upon tasting his coffee, it was strong, wasn't too sweet either and it was just as he would have preferred. When he looked at her, she was stirred her coffee a little and sipped it using the straw.

"I'm a coffee person. Anytime coffee. Helps me concentrate." She told him.

"That sounds little like an addiction." He commented and she couldn't help but laugh at it.

"Acha, are you coming to Natasha's cocktail tomorrow?" She asked him.

"Sorry who?" He replied.

"Natasha Nair, she was there at Meera's wine tasting. Tum sab friends ho na?" She told him, wondering how did he not know those people.