hard bank

Plan laid.

Taking her helmet, I glanced at her, and for a moment, time seemed to freeze. Her beauty caught me off guard—her hazel eyes sparkled under the sunlight, her small nose added a delicate charm, and her tender lips seemed to invite thoughts I tried to push aside. My cheeks grew warm, and I felt a blush creeping up, something that rarely happened to me. I quickly tried to avert my gaze, but the allure was too strong, like a magnet pulling me back. Somehow, I managed to tear my eyes away, just in time for her to speak.

“Can I have your number?” she asked, her voice soft but confident.

“Yeah, sure,” I replied, trying to keep my voice steady as I fumbled for my phone. I gave her my number, and she saved it in her contacts. “Sumedh,” I added, telling her what name to put with the number.

We exchanged brief goodbyes, and I got back on my bike. The engine roared to life as I started it up, and I set the navigation to the jewelry showroom I had in mind. As I pulled away from her house, I couldn’t help but replay the moment in my head, the way she had looked at me, the way I felt.

But halfway to the showroom, my phone rang, breaking me out of my thoughts. I slowed down, pulling over to the side of the road, and stopped the bike. I checked the screen—Sanjana. A small pang of concern hit me as I picked up.

“Hey, it’s me, Sanjana. I, uh, need a bit of help. Can you please come back?” she asked, her voice carrying a note of worry.

“Okay, sure,” I replied without hesitation.

It took me less than five minutes to get back to her house. As I pulled up and parked the bike, I noticed she was still standing at the door, her expression a mix of frustration and uncertainty. I walked up to her, trying to read the situation.

“What happened?” I asked, genuinely concerned.

She sighed, looking a bit embarrassed. “My parents aren’t home. They won’t be back until tomorrow afternoon.”

“Do you have a spare key?” I asked, hoping for an easy solution.

She shook her head. “No, I don’t.”

Realizing there was no easy fix, I suggested she call some of her friends, maybe crash at their place for the night. But one by one, the calls went nowhere. Her friends either couldn’t accommodate her or just weren’t available. As I listened to her conversations, a slow anger bubbled up inside me—how could they leave her stranded like this?

Just then, an idea sparked in my mind. Four months ago, my parents had put me in an awkward position. They had called one of my close friends and asked a very strange question: “Is Sumedh gay? Does he have any female friends?” It was a bizarre conversation, but I knew what had prompted it.

I wasn’t the type to talk about girls, especially not at home. While my friends would chat about their girlfriends whenever they visited, I kept to myself. I had always been shy, declining invites from girls, steering clear of relationships. Even when my parents started bringing up marriage proposals, I turned them down without hesitation, not because I wasn’t interested in marriage, but because I was waiting for the right person, the girl of my dreams.

But in the last four months, things had changed. I had started leveraging the network I had been building over the past six years, gaining popularity and confidence. I began talking to more girls, socializing in ways I never had before. Yet, my parents were unaware of this new chapter in my life.

Now, standing in front of Sanjana, it hit me—this could be the perfect opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. I could help her out of this situation, and at the same time, show my parents that I wasn’t as distant from girls as they feared. Plus, there was something about Sanjana that drew me in, a connection I couldn’t quite explain but was eager to explore.

“Sanjana,” I began, hesitating slightly as I formulated the plan in my head. “Why don’t you come to my place? You can stay in the guest room tonight. It’s not far from here.”

She looked at me, her expression a mix of surprise and uncertainty. I could see her weighing the options in her mind. Finally, after a few seconds that felt like minutes, she nodded.

“Okay,” she agreed softly.

Relieved, I led her back to my bike. I got on first, handing her the helmet once she was settled behind me. As she fastened it, I could feel the warmth of her presence, a strange comfort in knowing she trusted me enough to come along.

I reset the navigation, this time directing it to the jewelry showroom. The engine revved, and we sped off into the evening, the city lights beginning to twinkle around us. As we rode, the wind rushing past, I couldn’t help but feel that this was the start of something new, something unexpected and exciting.

With her arms gently holding onto me and the road stretching out ahead, I felt a sense of clarity. The doubts, the hesitations—they were all behind me now. The road to the jewelry showroom and beyond felt open, full of possibilities. And as we headed out into the night, I knew one thing for sure—I was ready to see where this path would take us.