# The wrong Mr Right.

Part 21- The Disastrous Date

The week passed in a jiffy, it was Friday night . Sanyukta stood in front of the mirror in the hall adjusting her hair over her shoulders.
She looked through the open door into the living room , recalling Randhir's compliment about the interiors. She was now gazing around with fresh eyes , as Randhir had done, she revelled all over again in her achievement.
The little girl looked up from the T.v program long  enough to give her mother a disapproving look. Sanyukta had told her that she was going out with her friend.
"Is your friend late mummy?"
"Only a bit " , Sanyukta said avoiding Ishika's eyes.
The familiar sound of the car's engine made her swing around and face the front door. Her heart leaped and fluttered as she battled with the latch of the door. A moment later, there he was , standing at the her doorstep with a bunch of flowers and a big box of chocolates.
"I decided to be unconventional ", he grinned stepping inside as Sanyukta was conscious of another presence beside her. Her daughter was staring up straight at him. Undaunted , he handed the chocolates to Sanyukta ,
"These are for you.......and these flowers are for the beautiful young lady here". He gave them to Rimi whose eyes became impossibly wide.

"What do you say??", Sanyukta prompted her.

"Thank you", the little girl whispered , but it didn't take long for her voice to return to its full volume ,
"Ishika look...", she called out." Its that man you know. The one mummy said wouldn't bother us again".
Sanyukta chewed her lip while Randhir smiled sheepishly at Ishika who on hearing Rimi had walked in .

"I ....err...take it, Sanyukta didn't tell you who she's going out with"...he chipped with a hesitation looking at Ishika .

"I didn't get the chance to", said Sanyukta defensively.

"I didn't expect to see you again", said Ishika, a little surprised."
"Your brother .....???", Ishika left the question hanging.

"Is thoroughly enjoying his honeymoon in the Maldives ,as far as I know".

Sanyukta was desperate to make a getaway."Rimi, why don't you go and put those flowers in water. Ishika will help you."

But Rimi didn't move ." Would you be back early Mummy?"

"Errrr....", Sanyukta didn't know what to answer .

"Don't worry", Randhir interrupted,
"I won't keep your mom out for too long after dinner".

"Right then, we better make a move ", chipped Sanyukta .

"But there's plenty of time. I wanted to ask you something while Rimi was here". He pause and then continued.
"If you both are free on this Sunday , I was wondering if you both come over to my place for lunch.?".
Sanyukta frowned while he continued looking at Rimi,
"I have a dog called Poggy and a Pony too".
"A pony!!!!!", Rimi was jumping up and down tugging at her mother's sleeve.
"Can we go Mummy??? Can we??"

Sanyukta turned to Randhir," I didn't know you had a pony".

"Well...errr..  It's not actually mine. It belongs to my neighbour , but it usually comes up to my fence and hangs around with Poggy. Rimi can feed her sugarcane lumps if she likes."

"What's the pony's name???", asked Rimi with excitement .

"I don't know actually, may be you can think of one on that day"..

"Shouldn't  we be going now???",asked Sanyukta imperiously .

"You haven't said whether you want to come yet... Rimi obviously does".

"Can we talk about it over dinner ??"

"Well... Are you going to keep Rimi and me hanging on for your answer???"

'Oh Damn him', she thought, before chipping "OKAY...We'll come". And with that she brushed past him , leading the way down the path until she reached his  vintage classic BMW. Randhir hurried to hold the passenger door open for her. Waving goodbye to Rimi and Ishika, they drove off in silence.
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"Are you angry???", he asked breaking the silence.

"That's observant ", she replied coldly.

"What have I done??"

"You manipulated me into agreeing to come over on Sunday. You used my daughter and have put me in an impossible situation"- she complained.

"I ...I'm sorry", he apologised.
"I...err didn't want you to think that I wasn't interested  in Rimi...- I realise that you  both come as a package---"

"Its too early and premature to see it like that .I wanted to keep Rimi out of it as much as possible .At least until --"
Sanyukta stopped herself , she hadn't looked that far ahead . There was no denying the physical attraction that had sprung up between them, but where it might lead to???
Her concern about her daughter came to the surface..she felt a rush of guilt over her love- life taking precedence.

Randhir reached out and grabbed her hand. "I'm Sorry", he murmured ." I didn't think".

The warmth and the pressure of his fingers reminded her of how good it had felt, when he had held her close .
As he let her hand go in order to change the gear, she turned to him ,"I'm sorry too"..she sighed. "It's just that I don't want to confuse Rimi and I don't want her to expect something that might ----"
He was silent ." I understand . If you want to forget about Sunday--"

"It's too late. Rimi loves anything to do with ponies"

"So???"

"So let's see how it goes..."

There was a long silence through out the way until Randhir parked his car in the reserved parking area.

"Hope you like Italian??? I should have asked before I booked."
"It's okay. I like Italian anyways".

"But you'll love the food here. It's excellent . You normally have to make a reservation well in advance but since I know the owner who's also the chef , it's not an issue.", he said leading the way to the restaurant.

As soon as they entered ,the waitress showed them their table.Sanyukta sat in the leather bucket seat . She sighed, thinking-  for tonight at least, she wanted to stop being so analytical and just enjoy the moment and Randhir's company.

A few minutes later, a plump man came out wearing a chef's hat to greet Randhir. He stood behind Sanyukta's chair so he couldn't see her.
"Helloooo my friend, it's been months I haven't seen you here", he chipped excitedly .

"I know- --I've been busy with my business recently".., replied Randhir .

"And how are you ViDhushi. It's ----",
he stopped abruptly as soon as Sanyukta turned her face towards him.

"ViDhushi ???" ,

He raised his brow at her and turned his gaze towards Randhir whose face was showing a different emotion.
The colour on his face had seemed to evaporate . Sanyukta kept moving her gaze from one man to the other .

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