Aavya's POV
Arnav walked ahead and reached the car first. Without saying anything, he opened the door for me.
Okay… that's actually really nice, I thought. But then again, most guys do this these days.
Out loud, I teased him.
"Oh wow, sir opened the door for me. Ahem, ahem."
He raised an eyebrow.
"Oh? What do you want then—should I close it?"
Before I could react, he actually closed the door.
"Hey! I was joking," I said quickly.
He opened the door again, laughing.
"Yeah, I know. But even if you weren't joking, I'd still open it. I just closed it once to tease you."
I laughed.
"Very funny. Come on, let's go."
We both got inside the car.
"So," I asked, buckling my seatbelt,
"what's the plan for today?"
He shrugged.
"You tell me. I honestly don't know what people do on dates."
I smirked.
"What? Haven't you watched dramas? The way you act, it seems like you do."
"Oh wow," he said dramatically.
"Madam judged me so fast. For your information, I don't watch dramas."
"Oh really, sir?" I asked.
"Then what do you watch?"
He looked at me straight and said,
"Lately, I've been watching a 'chudail'… the one sitting right in front of me."
"Abe saale—" I started, then stopped myself.
"Forget it. What would you even know?"
He laughed.
"Absolutely right. Now tell me what we're doing, because honestly, I've never been on a date before."
I rolled my eyes.
"And you think I've been on ten dates or what?"
"Maybe," he said casually.
"For me it's 'maybe,' and for you?" I asked, narrowing my eyes.
"You said you liked someone once. Didn't you go out with her?"
"Arre, I told you already," he said.
"I don't like anyone. That was just a joke."
"Liar," I said.
"Guys don't say things like that without a reason."
He laughed.
"Yeah, yeah. Believe whatever you want."
"Okay then," I said.
"First, let's go for coffee."
"Fine," he nodded.
"Let's go."
We reached a café and sat down. Arnav looked at me and asked casually,
"So tell me, what do you want to drink?"
"Oye, talk properly," I said.
"I'm on a date with you today. And I don't want anything to drink—just get me a chocolate cake."
He smiled.
"Yes ma'am, as you say. But why don't you want anything to drink?"
"I'm not used to tea or coffee," I replied.
"So you don't like it, or you just don't drink it?" he asked.
"Both," I said simply.
"Alright," he nodded.
"I'll go place the order."
He walked away.
I took out my phone and messaged Mr. X Gaming:
"Oi, idiot, are you awake or not?"
In my head, I thought, He's lazier than me. No way he woke up this early.
Just then, a notification popped up.
Mr. X:
"Yeah, I'm awake. What about you? Did you wake up?"
Me:
"OMG, you woke up this early? How, lazy fellow? And no, I didn't just wake up—it's been like two hours."
Mr. X:
"You're saying OMG? Look at yourself, you woke up early too."
Me:
"Leave me. What time did you wake up?"
Mr. X:
"8 a.m."
Me:
"Why did you sleep so little? Sleep more. Humans need proper sleep. Sorry—sorry—you're not human, you're an animal."
Mr. X:
"Abe, don't talk too much. Like you're some great human yourself, animal."
I was about to reply when I looked up and saw Arnav coming back.
I quickly typed,
"Okay bye, I've got some work. Bye bye."
I put my phone away, thinking, Using my phone on a date would look weird.
But when Arnav placed the tray on the table, I felt something was off.
There were three cakes and orange juice.
He didn't even order coffee for himself? I wondered.
Arnav's POV
I could clearly see the shock on Aavya's face. I knew why—because I hadn't ordered coffee for myself.
I placed the tray in front of her and said,
"Here you go, ma'am. Your order."
She looked at it and asked,
"Why three cakes? And why orange juice?"
"Three cakes because," I said calmly,
"one is yours, one is mine… and the last one is also mine."
She stared at me.
"Seriously? I thought all of them were for me."
Her expression was honestly so funny. Truth was, I had ordered two cakes for her, but teasing her was more fun.
I laughed.
"Yeah, yeah. You thought right. These two are for you. Eat."
I slid two plates toward her.
While she was drinking the orange juice, she asked,
"And why didn't you order coffee?"
"I didn't want to drink coffee alone," I replied.
"And Coke without eating anything doesn't feel right. Orange juice is healthier anyway."
She looked impressed.
"Wow. Green flag behavior."
I smiled slightly.
"Aavya, it's not about green or red flags. It's about how a man treats the woman with him."
She raised her eyebrows.
"Wow. What a line. Did you learn that from someone?"
"No," I said.
"I didn't learn it from anywhere."
"Oh really?" she said.
"Is that so?"
"Yes," I nodded.
"Now eat your cake."
"Yeah, I am eating," she replied.
We continued eating. I finished mine first and looked at her—she was still eating slowly.
Without realizing it, my eyes drifted to her eyes.
They were really beautiful.
Suddenly, she looked up at me.
I panicked a little and looked away, not wanting to make things awkward.
But she noticed.
"What happened?" she asked.
"What are you looking at?"
"Nothing, I was just—"
Before I could finish, she leaned a little closer and said teasingly,
"Arnav beta, don't tell me you've started liking me. I've been noticing—you've been staring at me all day."
I sighed.
"You're seriously misunderstanding things. I was just looking at your eyes. And at least let me finish my sentence—you always interrupt."
"Oh, is that so?" she said.
"My bad."
"Your bad?" I smirked.
"You are the bad."
"Go, get lost," she said.
I laughed.
"Yeah, yeah."
Aavya's POV
God, that was so embarrassing.
I speak without thinking sometimes. Who knows what that idiot must be thinking about me now? Let me just finish eating and get out of here.
I looked at Arnav.
"So, where are we going now?"
"You decide," he said.
"Where do you want to go?"
"Let's go shopping," I suggested.
"There's a game zone there. We can play something."
"Like what?" he asked.
"We'll see when we get there," I said.
"But tell me—do you have money?"
He looked offended.
"Are you crazy? If I've come on a date, obviously I brought money. Why did you even ask?"
I laughed.
"I know, I know. Just asking. You didn't use to bring money when we were kids, remember? You'd eat and then ask me to pay."
"That was when I was small," he said proudly.
"Now I'm grown up. I can pay all your bills. I'm that rich now."
"My bills?" I laughed.
"Nice joke. I spend a lot—don't even expect that."
"We'll see," he said.
"Come on, let's go."
"Yeah, let's go."
We went to the counter. Arnav paid with his card, then opened the car door for me again. And just like that, we headed out for shopping.
To be continue....