Royce

Aria's Night Out| 15

ANBU

It was around 10pm and the lights were out.. I carefully pushed my bike out of the compound trying not to gain any unnecessary attention.

My brothers had noticed my discreteness, I knew they were gonna grill me tomorrow but that was tomorrow's problem. I leaned on to my bike as I waited for Aria. I rubbed my clammy hands as I waited patiently, my foot drumming on the concrete as I looked ahead and then from a distance, I could see a feminine shadowy figure approaching me, step by step the figure became more distinct and I could see that it was Aria.

She finally approached the bike, her face masked by her scarf. "Ready?" she asks as she looks at me with her big doe eyes.i simply nod as we got on the bike and rode together.

The journey was smooth, with a gentle breeze brushing through my hair.

"So where are you taking me, Anbu?" she asks.

"Well, what do you want to do? I know some good places to get some food and for shopping but it's kinda late for that though," I answer.

"Food sounds good, I am quite hungry," Aria admits.

"Are you craving anything?"

"Hmm," she hums for a brief second as she continues, "Some authentic South Indian food, street food in particular."

"Done," I say as I rode to our first stop. I parked the bike and Aria hopped off. She removed her scarf revealing her face which was adorned in simple makeup as her curious eyes wandered off.

"So?" she prompts.

"Come," I say as I drag her with me. "Anna, podi dosa kudu na."

(Brother, give me a podi dosa.)

Anna just nods as he prepares the dish and soon enough we are served.

Aria's eyes lit up as a smile crept on her face. She bends forward inhaling it in. "Wow, it's been so long since I had podi dosa... It's my favourite, you know.."

"Glad to hear that," I say with a simple smile. It warmed my heart knowing that I got her favourite. Aria didn't hesitate for a second as she dug in. Her eyes screwed shut as she enjoyed her food. "It's so good.. God I missed this," she says excitedly like a kid. It elicited a chuckle as I watched her, she looked like a cute kid as she continued.

Soon enough we were done and she leaned back on her seat, completely satisfied.

"How about some kothu parotta?" I asked.

"Sure," she smiles.

I smiled as we walked around until we reached a stall that sold kothu parotta.

I ordered some kothu parotta and as we were waiting for it to be served, we engaged in some casual conversation.

"It's been so long since I had kothu parotta, you know.. I can't wait," she says. I just simply smiled at her simplicity, who knew kothu parotta could get a girl so excited, as I took the moment to admire her, I saw Aria's eyes wandering around until it stopped on a couple of young kids. They were around 10 & 13, their clothes were torn, hair dishevelled,their eyes sunken in and extremely skinny.