We met at this Navratri Festival of my society where they had fun games, activities and obviously, Garba! So, I ran into him while I was waiting for my order in the burger queue. I got my order and as I turned around, I bumped into him. Before I could shout on him, I saw his white kurta stained in ketchup and mustard sauce. I was scared but he didn't say anything. He just walked away like nothing happened. I ran behind him. I apologized to him but he said it wasn't my fault. I said, "It is definitely my fault. I wasn't looking, I bumped into you and now your kurta is all stained. Let me help you out. You can wear one of my kurta." But he refused. When I insisted, he agreed half-heartedly. I texted Z that I was going to home for some work and would be back in 10 minutes. We went home and I gave him one of my kurtas to change into. He changed into it and came out. I could not control my laughter when I saw hin. He was too frail and my kurta was looking like an oversized clothing. But then he got irritated so I stopped. Then, he started laughing. I hit him for messing with me. He said that we should go down otherwise we'd miss the dance. He thanked for the kurta and went away. I joined my friends back and started the Garba again.
After an hour or so, I saw him coming towards me. He handed over me a burger and said thank you for the kurta. And he went away again.
I stood there clueless as to what had just happened. My friends asked me who he was, so I told them the whole story. They just let it go thinking that it was probably just a stranger. Little did we all know what the future held.
I didn't see Ishan the next day at Garba. On the weekend, my bell rang. And there he was, standing on my doorstep.
"Hello, Mr Sehgal. May I come in, please?"
"Yeah, definitely you can come in..."
"Um, Ishaan."
"Yeah, Ishaan. Come on in."
We sat down to talk for a bit. He was pursuing English Hons. from Gandhi College. We talked about life in general, life before this and all that. We didn't realise when time passed. It had been around 2 hours. While leaving, he asked me, "Would you like to go out sometime?"
I said yes. I mean who wouldn't? He was a total cutie. But I still thought that he was asking for a normal hangout. I would never have guessed that he wasn't straight but thanks to Tinder, we matched.
He swiped right before I did, He found me on Instagram and added me there. Boy, was he fast!
So we started going out on dates. We did movie marathons and hangouts. He had a very magnetic vibe around himself. No wonder I was attracted to him.
The day he proposed to me is still very much clear in my memory.
We were all at my place, my friends and Ishaan. I was sorting the snacks and Ish was helping me with ice-cream. So, what happened was, suddenly the power went off and it was dark everywhere.
We switched our flashlights on and looked for the fault. The MCB had tripped. When the light came back, Ishaan wasn't there. I panicked. Z said that he might be in the washroom. I checked, he wasn't there. I checked in the store room, he wasn't there either. That was when I got a text from him. "Come to the other room's balcony." That was weird. As soon as I stepped into the balcony, I saw Ishaan standing on the edge. I went there and stood beside him.
"Arjun, do you see that?" He pointed out and specific direction. It was dark. No stars, not even the Moon.
"There's nothing, Ish."
"There is. You see, that's emptiness. Just like my life."
"What are you talking about?"
"Arjun, see I'm not really good at this. There are days when I am alone, when I'm vulnerable. I thought solitude was my solace but, it clearly isn't. Being all by myself is not my thing. It's for the brave and I certainly I am not one. I don't know if all this make any sense but you are my refuge. Refuge from chaos and tiredness. You warm me up with that kind heart of yours. You are adorable Arjun."
"Ishaan..."
"Shh. Arjun, will you be my boyfriend?"
I was taken aback. This was so sudden but I guess it was about time. I've always had this huge crush on him and over all this time, I've grown really attached to him.
I kissed him. Then I touched my forehead with his, just like in the movies and I said yes.
"Boom!" There was the sound behind us.
"Congratulations idiot!" Z exclaimed.
"So finally Sehgal sahab, you are not single anymore." Abeer said.
"Jijaaji!" Vivaan teased Ish.
Apparently, they all had planned everything and it was great. I'd never really thought of this. Someone was finally bring back love to my life. Or, so I thought."
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