Beating Hearts : A PaNi FF

Chapter 7

Parth

I looked over my shoulder slightly to make sure she was following me into the eating joint. I really needed some food inside me to be able to think clearly. An empty stomach never helped anybody!

I also needed a minute.

A minute to absorb how royally I had screwed up things with Niti. A minute to deal with the fact that I had clearly underestimated the repercussions of my less-than-decent behavior with her in the past year. I clearly did not have my brains in the right place when I had thought that she would be as thrilled and excited by the events of last night as me, ready to explore the mysterious passion that had burned between us, and to be honest, that had always burned between us.

I couldn't have been more wrong! Unlike me, she was clearly thinking with her brains rather than various other anatomies of her body. She was not ready to look past my erratic behavior in such a hurry and that had left me feeling evidently guilty and uncomfortable. I really had been a jerk to her and it pained me to realize that it affected her deeply, probably more deeply than she was letting on. Although it gave me a secret sense of satisfaction that I was not alone in this, that she was not completely oblivious to me, but more than anything it was the slight sadness in her voice, the hesitancy and uneasiness in her eyes that had pierced my heart brutally when she had so innocently asked me the question that honestly I didn't have an answer to.

"If I am not sure which one of them I am talking to or which one is actually the real one, how can I possibly believe what you have to say?"

My stomach twisted uncomfortably at her words.

As I entered the place, I looked for the quietest corner in there, for we had much to discuss. I scanned the entire area until my eyes fell upon a table for two in the extreme end of the small place. I looked over at Niti and pointed towards the table. We both settled on the table and I looked up to find her face adorned with a skeptical expression. Her eyes seemed uneasy and I could see her playing with her fingers.

"Is this alright?" I asked in an unsure voice, gesturing towards the place in general, hoping to take away the slightly awkward expression from her face.

She looked up at me in surprise, like she didn't understand what I had said and she had been thinking something else but then after a couple of seconds she shook her head lightly and smiled a reassuring smile, adding in a hasty voice, "Yes, yes of course! It's quite alright."

I heaved a sigh of relief, although the slight uneasiness didn't leave her face completely.

I gestured for the waiter who caught my eye to take our orders while I passed the menu to her. She took it hesitantly and it did not escape my notice that her hands were shaking slightly. What happened to all the bravado she had just show cased when she had so casually yet candidly expressed her opinion on me, I wondered dejectedly. There had been no hint of fear or awkwardness when she had torn apart my character like she had known me for a very long time and not just a handful of months, even less if one considers the fact that we didn't speak at all for most of that duration.

To make her feel more at ease, I went ahead and placed my order first. I ordered all the dishes that caught my fancy and my hungry stomach growled in appreciation. As I turned to Niti, after sprouting the order at inhuman speed to the waiter, I found her eyes wide and staring at me in shock. I chuckled at her expression and prompted her in a mock serious voice, "Niti? What do you want to eat?"

She shook herself out of the surprise at that and spoke in a disbelieving voice, "That was all just for you?"

I smiled at her words and clenched my fists to keep my hands from brushing her cheeks as they stained with a very attractive hue. I said in a casual tone, "Of course. Don't even think of getting your share in that. You are more than welcome to order whatever you like for yourself."