Kya Yeh Hai Mohabbatein?

Dhaaba Peh Khaana

"Haan, accha theek hai. Challo." Ishita said. She had never done this before. Even when Prateek had asked to go with her on a dinner date, Ishita said she had felt uncomfortable and refused. But alas, she sat in Raman's car.

"Kahan jaana hai?" Raman asked. Usually he just went to the local dhabba.

"Mujhe nahi pata, tumhe agar achi jagga pata hai toh hum wahan jaa sakte hai." Ishita said.

"Theek hai. Challo." Raman said. He put the car in drive and started. It was only a few minutes before they reached his favorite dhabba. He realized she might not enjoy Punjabi food so he thought he should ask her. "Yeh meri favorite jagga hai. Mein yaha jabhi bhi late hota hoon, toh yahan aata hoon. Yeh traditional Punjabi khaana banate hai aur masaladar khaana bhi hota hai. Tummein yeh jagga achi lagi ya kuch aur jagge dhundhe?" he asked.

"Nahi, yeh jagga achi hai. Challo, khaane chalte hai." Ishita responded.

They both walked to the dhabba and asked table for two. They sat down, across from each other. A man came up to them and asked them what they wanted to eat. Ishita looked at Raman and he knew what she was trying to say. She had never been so she didn't know what to order.

"Aap hummein paneer tikka aur garlic kulcha dedijye." Raman said.

The man left and they were left in silence. They didn't know what to say to each other.

Raman hated the silence. He was trying to think of things to say. 

Ishita hated the silence. She was trying to think of things to say.

"Tumhara din kaisa tha?" they both asked in unison. 

"Mera din acha tha, lekin bahot busy thi. Once again, thank you meri wait karne ki liye. I really appreciate it." Ishita said. She was still very surprised that he waited for her but she was glad he did.

"No problem, akhir mein padosi kiske liye hote hai? But, mera din bhi acha tha. Subah subah do meetings thi aur phir kaam bahot tha lekin aisa toh mere saath kitni baar hota hai. Yeh dhaabe walle toh mera naam bhi jaante hai."

As soon as Raman was finished saying that, the man came with the paneer and kulcha. He placed the plates in front of Ishita and Raman and left. He came back a few seconds later with a jug of lassi. He turned to Raman. "Bhabhi ko mein pehli baar dekh raha hoon yaha, toh lassi zaroor pelana, bahot masaledar banaya hai, har baar ki tarah." He turned to Ishita. "Bhabhi, aap yaha saab ke saath aaye ho, bahot achha laga. Aap ka pehli baar hai, nikalte waqt zarror batana ki khana kaisa tha." And with that, he left. That left Ishita and Raman extremely uncomfortable. He called Ishita bhabhi. Raman's cheeks were very red. Ishita was just thinking about what the man said. Suddenly, both of them tried to take a look at the other and their eyes locked. It wasn't a shallow lock that people have when passing each other when shopping. No, this was a deep and intense lock.

"Sorry, woh mein in logon ko batadunga ki tum-." Raman started. He looked at Ishita. Her face was glowing with the reflection of the moon in the beautiful dark starry sky.

"Koi baat nahi, misunderstand hoga." Ishita said. She was still very uncomfortable but for some reason, them calling her bhabhi wasn't bothering her as much as it should have. In fact, she didn't have much of an issue with it at all.

"Khaane shuru karein?" Raman said. He had to distract himself from her.

Will they be uncomfortable due to the incident at the dhaaba? Will it change their relationship?

Stay tuned for another update!