Chapter 4: Excuse me, hum murder ki bas sochte hai, tumhaari tarah karte nahi hai!
Chatting was fun, conversations with her were really nice, but meeting... what if he messed it up? This was the natural course of an interaction on this app. People spoke, then met, then parted ways, and disappointed, they deleted the app. This was what had eventually happened with majority of his friends except for one relationship which was going real strong. Who would guess that Vicky would find a dancer on the app and she'd end up choreographing for them? Neha was really a good find but Taani, the probability of something similar happening with him and her was undeniably miniscule. She was weird, and on chats it was cool but in reality, agh! At this point he just hoped that in any case, his chats with her in the past won't get tainted.
He sat at the café, nervous and fidgety when she walked to his table.
"Excuse me, is someone sitting here?"
He gets up, smiles at her and says a no.
"Ha pata tha! Tumhaare saath toh koi baithega bhi nahi!"
She sits on the chair leaving him shocked. He absorbs the situation and sits,
"Excuse me?"
"Excused."
"What the hell Taani!"
"Nice to meet you too"
She giggles, making him smile in return.
"Ab toh milne se dar nahi lagraha na? See it went so well!"
"We literally just met and you have already insulted me!"
"Arey insult karne se pyaar badhta hai Rey.."
In a bid to annoy her he picks up Deepika's accent from Chennai express and says,
"Kaha se seekha aisa bokwaas pyaar?"
"Mai na jaarahi hu" she says while picking her bag and walking two steps ahead at his reference to the movie he knew she dislikes. He just smiles and mouths a sorry. She rolls her eyes at him and sits across him again.
The waiter walks over to them and Rey asks her,
"Kuch normal khaogi ya fried rice with ketchup mangwaana padega?"
Her eyes twinkle at the fact that he remembers her comfort food.
"Arey nahi wo toh special occasions keliye. Tumse milna bas ainvayi hai!"
She calls for waffles and he smiles.
"Happy food?"
"Right in front of me" she winks as he rolls his eyes.
"Itna flirt kaise karleti ho?"
"Tum itne unaffected kaise hosakte ho? Ladke marte hai mujhse flirt hone keliye.."
"Well you are drop dead gorgeous so.."
Her face brightens. He was beginning to speak her language and hiding a blush she happily compliments,
"Not bad, not bad at all. Sangat ka asar already?"
"Ha buri sangat ka jaldi hojaata hai"
"Mai? Aur buri sangat?"
"Dekha nahi kaise entry maari tumne?"
"Toh kya tumhaare liye 'ek ladke ko dekha toh aisa laga' gaate hue aati? Oh ya better, 'tu hi Rey, tere bina mai kaise jiyu'"
"Waiter ko bolta hu andar cheese ki kami ho toh tumse thoda lele, yaha bohot hai already!"
She just joins her hands in a namaste, as if accepting a reward and bends in thanks.
A dude walks in from behind and taps her shoulder, she turns and her face glows at the sight of him. She gets up and hugs him squealing "Shivamm" which Rey presumed was his name. Cool name!
"Oho someone looks great today!" Shivam remarks checking her out and she flips her hair saying,
"You know I had an institution ki aaj tu miljaayega, phir kya, bas had to match up to you na!"
"You know you're like the only one in the world who will ever compliment me itna!"
"I have ulterior motives dude!" She says seriously and then adds after a pause, "gotta make you smile na, how else will the world light up?"
Shivam half rolls his eyes at this and flustered, changes the topic,
"Someone's out in a really cool café on a weekend enjoying huh?" He says indicating Rey on the other side of the table who was typing on his phone a little too strongly. He smiles at Shivam awkwardly as Taani asks him about his schedule.
"Cool name huh?" Rey thinks to himself, suddenly he couldn't help but get annoyed at the sound of it. This name sounded like it was that of an annoying ex-boyfriend his girl had had. He felt for it some slight hatred, almost like it wasn't a dude he'd just seen but someone who had betrayed his bestfriend in the past! Where were all these reactions coming from? Probably some parallel life where all this had happened! Yes, it was easier to say that than confess that he was annoyed with Shivam for spoiling his and Taani's moment and reminding him that he wasn't special, she flirted with everyone!!
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"I'm taking a fry ha" she says, reaching for his plate as he pulls it away.
"Woah! I.. I thought I made it clear, I don't share food."
"Sachi? Dude what?"
"Arey it's my food!"
"Toh? You can have my food!"
"Ha but Mai.."
"Arey yaar! Tum single child ho kya?"
He gives her a look.
"Yaar life me sharing se ek bond banta hai. Khaane ka kya hai, I'll order more for you na!"
"Then order more for yourself only na"
"Pura nahi chahiye. Normal log share karte hai aise you know"
"Not me."
"Yeah okay laalchi!"
"Khaana mera hai, jo chura rahi thi tum, aur laalchi hu mai?"
"Chura rahi thi? Oh God! Grow up Rey. The only thing I'm here to rob is your heart."
He squints at her and proclaims,
"You know how everyone talks of like creeps on dating apps, wo tum hi ho!"
"Chalo is hi bahane tum hi ho toh bola" she smiles and he's lost for words. In person when she was flirting, he knew it gave out more of a buddy vibe than a love interest one and laughed at himself.
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"Ek secret batau?"
"Ek min."
He pulls out his cell phone and starts recording her.
"What are you doing Rey?"
"Proof. Kisi din issi secret se toh blackmail karunga tumhe."
"What? Shut up Rey!"
She swats his hand away.
"Ok ok, bolo."
"Uhm.."
"Are you sure you're ready? I mean you don't have to.. I have already sensed it.."
"What?" She asks making a confused face.
"Taani listen, I know it can be hard, but I know that you aren't normal. You're a creepy stalker.." he starts laughing.
"Shut up Rey! You know what let it be, I don't want to tell you!"
"Cool."
"Huh?," She exclaims in shock, "You're not even going to ask me?"
"Teko fries nahi khilayi apni, bhaav thodi khilaunga."
"You know what I will definitely tell you this" she says determined, "my secret is that.." he'd be lying if he said he wasn't curious. She closed her eyes and says, "I haven't seen Chennai Express."
He squints at her and bursts out laughing, "You've been going on and on about hating it without actually having seen it? "
"Acha story time, bohot burai suni thi uski by my cousins and like they discussed it a lot in that particular wedding.. bhai jaa chuke the, family functions me I really missed having company so I picked it up there and then jab bhi in cousins se milti thi, which just got frequent somehow, I didn't know what to talk about and I brought this up everytime and," he was controlling his laughter at her embarrassed face "I just repeated it so many times ki vo movie ka naam sunke hi gussa as reflex aajata hai" she exhales,
"Also I didn't expect ki wo confession ke baad mere bachpan ki sad story bhi aajayegi on this date so sorry for that. You know what, I'm gonna read up about confessions on first dates."
She picks her phone up and he gently holds the back of her palm, stopping her from typing anything into it.
"Is this a nervous habit? Checking research on something you're unsure of?"
"I guess.."
Rey was never great with words, the date suddenly got kind of intimate and he didn't know how to handle it and embarrassed Taani just kept her eyes to the phone screen. Awkward! He felt like picking his phone and reading up about awkward dates when the waiter showed up with their bill. Never before had anyone been so happy on seeing the bill as they were. Two awkward souls had just gotten rescued by a payment obligation, who said money couldn't buy everything? Taani laughed at her own thoughts and he smiled at her. Yeah awkwardness was probably just part of a normal date.
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A loud Arabic song begins to play and he realises it's her ringtone as swipes her finger on the phone screen.
"Spam call" she says.
"Tumhaara phone silent pe nahi hai?" He asks surprised,
"Huh? Is it like a lunch etiquette with you?" She asks equally puzzled.
"No no aisa kuch nahi, just that everyone our age always keeps their phone on silent, like I don't even remember what my ringtone is!"
"What? Oh I have friends whose phones are always on silent but then how do you know when someone calls?"
"No one calls me" he says flatly.
Her reply begins with shock then pity and goes on to something like offering help,
"Huh? Uhm ok sorry.. I'll call you.."
"Arey no no no not like that, I made this happen, like time laga, bohot calls miss kiye, sabko bola and now thankfully koi call nahi karta" he ends almost relieved and she looks on amused.
"Kabhi tumko torture karne ki naubat aayi na toh call karungi!"
"Ay psycho! Tum psychology waale humesha torture ki hi sochte ho kya?"
"Nahi kabhi kabhi murder ki bhi soch lete hai"
"Ha yehi chahiye bas!"
"Excuse me, hum murder ki bas sochte hai, tumhaari tarah karte nahi hai"
"What? Murder?"
"Meri expectations ka..." His face wrinkles in confusion,
"Itni easily surpass karloge toh murder hi hua na unka!" She says it as if it's a given, proven fact.
He tried to process it. She just said that he surpassed her expectations. She just confessed that she was enjoying the date and she liked him. A blush formed on his face, this announcement had caught him off guard. He looks up, conscious of the fact that she'd see him blushing on their first date itself and to his surprise, he saw her blushing, eyes on the table, huge smile on her face.
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They walked out in silence, settling into the late evening breeze as a hawker walked up to them and attempted to sell roses. They both declined and walked off and Taani, back to her zone made a typical Taani comment.
"Kaisa aadmi hai, gulaab ko gulaab bech raha hai.."
"Taani yaar.." he blushes evidently this time, surprised by her presence of mind and his feelings. Di she just call hima rose?!
"Haye kitna sharma rahe ho, pasand aagayi na mai? Waise mai koi pasand naa aane waali cheez toh hu nahi, nothing new!"
"Acha? Toh single kyu ho?"
"Mujhe nahi pasand aaya na koi"
"Aur mai aagaya?"
"Ha matlab kaafi genuine types ho tum, koi fake hote hue toh itna boring nahi hosakta" she laughs walking ahead, leaving him taken aback.
"Waise Taani," he says sullenly "wo gulab ko gulab nahi, kaate ko gulaab bech raha tha."
"Mere ek rejection ne itni self-deprecating baat bulwa di?" She held his hand gently and he replied,
"I meant ki wo tumhe rose bech raha tha.."
"YOU.." he started running and she followed, hands in reachinyout to seat him.
"Ow!"
"Dude you missed a golden opportunity, why say ow when you can say kaata laga!" She laughs at her own joke, his face contorted in a way that said that he regretted calling her a kaata now.
"You know what would be missing a golden opportunity? If I didn't say 'What is the procedure to change your date' in Swami from Munna Bhai ki awaaz." And they both laughed at the meme reference. The evening was seemed happy. The first date seemed successful. Rey looked at a brightly lit fancy store opposite them and remembered something.
"Oh I have to pick something up from here,"
"Can I come too, that shop looks happy!"
"Huh? Yeah sure ok." He says amused.
They enter the store and Rey asks for his order as Taani looks around. He analyses the box and nodding in approval, asks them to gift wrap it. Picking a tiny card from the counter, he with a smile writes on it,
"I love you Shekhawat ❤️"
Peeking over his shoulder, a surprised Taani laughs.
"Isn't it a little too early for this?"
"Haha! It's for a friend re, my best friend in fact, I told you about Swayam na.."
"Swayam Shekhawat?" Her eyes enlarge in horror, " You mean Swayam Shekhawat my bhai?"
"Huh?" His mind assembles the pieces of this puzzle, Taani Shekhawat who has a brother who left home for studies earlier, Swayam Shekhawat who spoke of his sister, his Chhoti sometimes..
"Swayam Shekhawat, Taani ka bhai, freak noo!!!" His mind screams and he closes his eyes, feeling the world shake a little bit.
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Hello! I know I'm kinda late but long update today!
Also just wanted to say this thing, we all know that now the Taarey community on IF is not as populated as it used to be and there's a tightly bound few of us here, still relishing what they make us feel.. let's have each other's back, yeah? Let's express when we like or dislike something. I guess it's obvious that acknowledgement increases the motivation of someone who's writing and makes them happier, comment, if not comfortable with that dm, tell people what you like or feel about their work, that's the only way this community survives..
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