"No more forced smiles and awkward talks with you."
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The engine roared to life and they were off to the restaurant near their home. Aahana had seen its advertisement in one of the local newspapers a few days back and came to know about it. And though one shouldn't trust these advertisements, she was sure the food was delicious.
As usual, Atharva seemed very tensed and suffocated inside the car and Aahana had to switch on the music for him to relax. Living with him for months now, she had known this much that he was relaxed when he worked or was thoroughly distracted.
In less than 10 minutes, they reached the restaurant. They were greeted by the guards who bowed slightly as they walked through the antique door. And to say the inside was beautiful would be an understatement. It had these ethnic and intricate patterns on the wall with glass doors. The pieces of furniture were deep blue and tribal art adorned the walls. Even the utensils they used for serving were all of brass and copper.
Everything looked traditional.
Aahana smiled and let her eyes search for an empty table and luckily, she found one in the extreme corner of the huge restaurant, just in front of the glass window.
"There," She muttered and they both made their way to the table and sat down opposite each other.
Atharva looked very out of place in his formal clothes amongst the swarm of people who were chattering and eating like there was no tomorrow.
Aahana gave him a reassuring smile and squeezed his hand that was resting on the table. "Take deep breaths and don't look around."
He breathed in and out like she told and felt his body loosen up. The tie he wore no more suffocated him. The blazer he wore no more made him sweat. He could feel the cold night air brush against his skin in a tender way and he relaxed completely in his seat.
"Okay?"
"Okay." He nodded.
Aahana called the waiter and ordered their food. He scribbled it down on the paper and went away saying he'd be back in 10 minutes. And he sure did come back with their food but after 30 minutes. Atharva had no problem sitting there, gazing out the window but Aahana was annoyed and she scolded the waiter for his irresponsible behavior.
The waiter said sorry for about 10 times before Aahana finally let him go.
Atharva rolled his eyes. "You wasted so much time. Look our food is cold."
"It is not," Aahana said as she munched her naan with butter paneer.
Atharva started eating too and thankfully the food was still eatable and it tasted delectable.
