Like a dream

CHAPTER-14 THEN

     I am sitting on a nice upholstered seat at Heathrow. I am flying home in an hour and what I'm more excited about is I have a travel companion. Yes, I'm accompanying Nick for his gig at Goa. Also, this is our first travel together. We made a travel itinerary which included a visit to my parents' place at Hyderabad. My mom was initially a bit disappointed when I told her about Nick. She thought I was being impulsive. Also, she didn't know what to expect from a Brit-Indian hipster. I convinced her saying that it is really hard to hate Nick's sweet demeanour and calm personality. Though she is disappointed, I'm pretty sure she wouldn't disapprove him.
'I am so happy about this' Nick says as he sits by my side, handing me a cup of Starbucks coffee. 'I never thought I'll be travelling to India with my girlfriend.'
His girlfriend? This is the first time he has called me his girlfriend! I've never seen him express his feelings or verbalize his emotions. This is the first time he has done this and I'm overwhelmed. Also, ever since we bought the flight tickets he has been super nervous. 'Will your parents be okay with my long locks and tattoos? And what about my job?' Though I convinced him saying that my parents aren't crazy conservative, I couldn't relieve his anxiousness. Today, he even wore a white shirt and navy blue chinos, which are completely out of his style, just to impress my parents. I feel so fortunate to have him in my life.
After a ten hour-long journey, we walk out of the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport. We take a cab to my house at Gachibowli. During our ride, Nick asks me to take him to a flower shop and when I deny, he almost throws a tantrum.
'Flowers aren't necessary' I tell him.
'Of course, they are' he retorts. 'If you don't take me to the shop, I'm gonna get off the car.'
'Okay, fine, fine. We'll go.'
We stop at a florist on our way and Nick picks a bouquet of red and white carnations.
'Happy now?' I ask him and he gives me a childish victorious gleam. In about forty minutes, we reach my house. We grab our baggage, pay the driver and walk to the door. Even before I can ring the bell, my dad gets the door. 'Dad!' I exclaim.
'I missed you a lot' my dad says as he gives me a warm hug. He then turns to Nick. 'Hi' is all Nick manages to say.
'Hello, Nikhil! We heard a lot about you!' my dad says as he grabs Nick's hand for a shake. Shortly, my mom joins us and welcomes us with a friendly smile. We step into the living room. Nick hands over the bouquet to my mom. 'You needn't have bothered to buy them.'
'It's no bother' Nick replies anxiously.
Seeing how nervous he is, my mom sits by his side on the sofa and holds his hands.
'I love the flowers. Thank you Nikhil' she tells him. 'Refresh yourselves. I'll set the breakfast table in no time.'
'Take him upstairs' my dad motions me. I lead Nick to the guest room. He puts his luggage at one corner and lays flat on the bed. 'I feel so good!'
'I think my parents like you' I tell him as I sit by his side.
'You think so?'
I nod my head vigorously.
'Still, I should put efforts to stay in their good books' he says as he gets up from the bed.
'Wash yourself quickly. I'll come and get you in a few minutes' I tell him as I walk out of the room.
I hurry to my bedroom, which is next to Nick's. It is still the same, except that the walls are painted in lavender. My study desk still has the poster of Imagine Dragons, which I bought when I was eighteen. I walk to my closet, grab a towel and a mustard yellow salwar, which has remained untouched for almost a year. I take a quick shower, put on my clothes and hurry to Nick's room. I knock the door twice before it opens. Nick stands tall dressed in all black- black turtleneck and black jeans. He has his thick black hair slicked back into a half-bun. I smile involuntarily as I've never seen his hair like this before.
'Does this look bad?' he asks me.
I shake my head no. 'You've impressed me' I tell him.
'Anyway I haven't dressed up for you' he retorts, playfully. 'I need to take better care of myself to impress my girlfriend's parents.'
'Okay, Mr.Miller. Down to the breakfast table.' I say.
'You look pretty Leila' he bends down and whispers in my ear. I feel his breath on my neck.
'Stop being cheesy!' I reply and motion him to follow me downstairs.
Mom and dad are already sitting at the breakfast table. Nick and I sit opposite them. Mom fills our plates with pooris, potato curry, rava upma, Pongal and vadas. Nick stares at his plate in awe. 'They look scrumptious!' he says. 'Though I haven't had much in the past, Indian food is sort of heaven.'
'Happy to hear that! Hope you like the taste too' my mom says.
Nick takes a hearty bite out of the vada. 'It's delicious' he says before he takes a second bite.
'Leila loves them' my dad adds. Yes, I've loved vadas since I was a kid. Still, they are my favourite snack.
The breakfast goes well. There is a good conversation between Nick and my dad. Nick talks about his parents, his dad's construction company and his job. He tells dad that he moved out of his parents' house after his mother passed away. This is the first time I'm hearing him speak about his parents. I've never asked him why he moved out of a glorious mansion to live in a shitty dungeon. I never asked him why he didn't own a car when rows of exotic cars were parked in his mansion's garage. I am sure that he will open up to me whenever he feels like and all I need to give him is some time.
Nick dozes off after breakfast. Of course, it was a really tiring journey and the weather also isn't kind. I make use of this time to plan a surprise trip. I grab my laptop, find the best place to spend the night and pay the registration charges. I am quite sure that Nick will be taken aback by my plan.
Nick wakes up at noon and after we have our lunch, we set for our mini trip. I borrow my dad's car and we drive for three long hours before we reach our destination.
We are miles away from the hustles of the city. Before us lies a huge stretch of grassland with a bare strip of land coursing through it. The sun is just peeping from the horizon and the evening is slowly turning dark blue and cold. Tiny butterflies are dancing in the air and insects jumping among the blades of grass. I can feel his intense gaze penetrating me.
' I'm not gonna say where we're going even if you give me those flirty eyeshots' I refuse literally for the hundredth time.
'I'm not giving you flirty looks. I'm just looking. '
He leans closer towards me with his soft hair cascading gracefully over his beautiful forehead and asks,
'By the way... Where are we heading anyway?'
Pretending unaffected by his gesture, I stick out my tongue at him 'Nice shot Nicky.'
'Oh... Come on Leilei.' I smile at the way my new nickname sounds in his rough voice. Funny and cute.
'You know what... it's a torture. When you first said about this surprise. I was just a tiny bit excited. But all the way, you were like'....suddenly he clasps his hands in front of his chest and starts wriggling his body and squeaks in a high tone which sounds more like a dying chicken! "Oh...Nickiee you're gonna love that place, I guarantee you" and "Oh...Nickiee I can't wait to get there." How can I not get worked up? It's all your fault.'
Yeah, that was the worst ever impersonation of me. Ever.
I elbow him hard 'When did I ever do that?'
He looks at me with eyebrows raised.
'Yeah... I said many times that it would be worth the while but that wriggling and screaming, I never do that.'
'Yeah, you do.' he chuckles.
I pout a little and start walking ahead of him.
I see a guy standing with a writing pad and I go quickly and finish the registration procedures and instruct him not to breathe a word to Nick. Again Nick's attempt to extract information from him goes in vain. I know he'll find out in an hour but teasing him is just so... irresistible.
There are nearly ten tents and the registration guy shows us ours. Just a small tent with enough space for two people. Thinking about sharing the same space with Nick makes my heart throb crazy. This is going to be another one of the "firsts" we share together. First night we stay together. I think this night either I'll hurry up and sleep before Nick comes or I'll wait until Nick falls asleep. Thinking of waking up in his face tomorrow morning only turns my face red.
There is also a big bonfire in the middle with logs arranged around it. There are a few people sitting and dinner is being served.
'Nick let's have dinner.' I drag him out after keeping our bags in our tent.
We fill up our plates with mushroom manjurian, naan, paneer butter masala and sit on the logs. The bonfire has been set up and people start howling.
'So outdoor camping?' Nick asks eating a big chunk of paneer.
'Yeah. Oh look up'
He rolls his eyes up and they widen slowly.
The night finally sets in and boastfully shows the countless stars. There is not an inch of empty space in the sky. The stars are scattered everywhere.
'This is where we're gonna spend the next two days. We'll do a lot of adventure sports. I'm looking forward to the fun memories I'm gonna make with you.'
I smile softly and reach for his hand and intertwine my fingers with his.
He looks at me and I can see the brightest ever star I've ever seen which is coloured hazel green.