Exploring Love...the shade of PINK

The Code Between Us Chapter 3

The Code Between Us

The next evening the café was quieter than usual.

Soft music played somewhere in the background, blending with the low murmur of conversations and the occasional hiss of the coffee machine.

Meera arrived five minutes earlier than usual.

She didn't want to admit it—even to herself—but part of her was curious.

Would he actually be here?

The answer appeared before she even reached the counter.

Of course he was.

Aarav sat at the same corner table near the window, one elbow resting casually on the chair while he watched people passing outside.

He looked like he belonged there.

Like the whole place had been designed around him.

Meera shook her head.

Unbelievable.

She grabb-ed her coffee and walked straight toward him.

"You're predictable," she said, setting her cup down across from him.

Aarav looked up slowly.

"And yet you still came."

His voice carried that same calm confidence that irritated her more than anything.

Meera dropped into the chair.

"Don't flatter yourself."

"I'm not."

He studied her face for a moment.

"You're in a bad mood."

"Oh really?"

"Yes."

She crossed her arms.

"And how did you figure that out this time, Professor Mind Reader?"

"You walked past the counter without looking at the pastry shelf."

Meera blinked.

"You always glance at it."

A small pause.

"But today you didn't."

She stared at him.

"That's ridiculous."

"You're also tapping your foot under the table."

She froze.

Then immediately stopped moving her foot.

Aarav's lips curved slightly.

"Exactly."

Meera groaned and leaned back.

"You're impossible."

"And yet you keep proving my theory."

"Your theory is annoying."

"No," he said calmly. "My theory is correct."

That smug tone did it.

Meera leaned forward suddenly.

"You know what your problem is?"

"What?"

"You think you've already figured me out."

"I'm close."

"Oh please."