The Confession!

An hour and 45 more problems to go. "A Piece of cake", he thought to himself. He finished the test in time, albeit guessing three problems on the go. An otherwise social person, locking himself up in his room was a habit while he studied or did any important work. The clock struck an 8:30 pm on a formerly lazy Saturday evening.

These days, it was getting difficult for him to curb the anticipation of receiving a message or a phone call from this certain someone. He checked the phone to find 18 whatsapp messages on a family group, one reminder to pay the internet bill and a text message on 'Free car loans'. Nothing from her. Slightly disappointed, he turned to make himself some Maggi noodles for dinner. The cook had bunked today, fourth day in a row.  An episode of Modern Family ensued an hour later and a familiar ringtone jolted him to life.

"Want to get some Haagen-Dazs post dinner?". His lips said a 'Yes!" before he typed a forcibly-nonchalant "Well, sure" and agreed to meet in half an hour.

They both liked the same kind of songs. Well, almost. He would always be DJ on their drives together, sometimes forcing her to listen to songs she may not necessarily like. She would act grumpy but listen to them anyway, with a smile stifled in her eyes. It had been two months since they met at the Tennis Coaching Classes but only a couple of weeks since they actually 'met' elsewhere, informally. 

"Two scoops of Mango please", she ordered, waiting for him to pick. "Tender coconut. Make that a cone." He wasn't a fan of ice creams to say the least. It was her. It was her company that made him want the ice cream on a freezing winter night.

She turned up the heat in the car, noticing that he was cold yet not complaining. Initially, they ate in silence, intermittently looking at one another, speaking a bit and then pausing again. He could tell that she was nervous from the way she would clasp her hands together before having a serious conversation with him. She was having butterflies in her stomach for what she was about to tell him. She took a deep long breath, gazed him in the eye and finally said it.   

"I'd prefer to be blunt with you. I would be lying if I denied this untapped chemistry between us and I'd definitely like to get to know you better. This may be too soon, or not. Too much, or not. You don’t have to answer anything right now but I assure you that, you and I, 'Us'… is worth it."

As happy as he was, was partially surprised and more so impressed by her honest demeanor.  He looked at her for a minute, agape, not knowing what to say. He was waiting to hear this and now when she did say it all, he had frozen in time. She reached out to hold his hand and a sudden warmth, like never before, spread into his body. She undid her seat belt. A hug broke the ice in an instant and he was back to his senses. Neither of them wanted to let go.

  

Tucked into his bed, he picked up the phone to text her before he slept.

"Hey,
I had a great time today. Thanks…for everything"

"Hey, my pleasure. And likewise. So… if you want to talk about this later, we could"

"Well, I think we are on the same page now :)"

"I think so too.

Strong enough to stand alone, Different enough to stand apart, But wise enough to stand together. That's us.

Good night :)"