Rupali had gathered a bunch of old bound journals on the table and was sifting through them. She was startled by someone depositing a rose in front of her. She looked up and her confusion increased when she saw Paritosh standing there smiling.

“Sir?”

“Hi! You didn’t tell me that you were planning on burning the weekend oil!”

“I just decided on an impulse this morning.”

“This is for you,” he pushed the rose further towards her.

It was a red rose. Rupali looked alternately at the rose and at Paritosh in confusion.

“For me?” she spoke very slowly and uncertainly.

“To thank you for the delicious cookies I had a while back.”

“Cookies? Oh – you went home?”

“Yes. Mrs. Banerjee told me you were here. So, I came here. But not before having a fill of the cookies. They were really tasty.”

“Thank you,” his appreciate lifted her spirits. But the rose was still confusing her. She saw Paritosh looking at the flower and felt compelled to pick it up. “For this too,” she said.

Paritosh smiled and asked her, “Yesterday you did not tell me whether you like movies or not.”

“Who doesn’t like movies in this age?” she replied, “Apart from action and gory stuff, I watch everything.”

“And when did you go to a movie hall last time?”

“Few months back,” Rupali laughed embarrassed, “Actually just after coming back. With Sunidhi.”

“Let’s go to a movie tonight then.”

“We?”

“If you don’t mind.”

“No… Why would I mind? It was… just… unexpected… But sure. Let’s go. Which one?”

“There is a new animation movie from Pixar. We can go for that.”

“Okay.”

“I will get the tickets and pick you up at 6.30 from your home.”

“Sure.”

—

In the evening, Rupali was utterly confused about what to wear. It wasn’t like it was a date. Dr. Khanna would never think of it that way. But then what was it? Going to a movie?

‘Come on, Rupali,’ she chided herself, ‘Don’t you go to the movies with friends? Just treat it like one of those occasions.’ She put up a blue kurti on her black jeans and wore matching ear-rings. She looked at her nails. The nail polish was coming off. When was the last time she had put on a new coat? She hadn’t actually thought of her grooming in a long, long time. She used the nail polish remover to remove it altogether. ‘My nails look fine without it,’ she thought. She put up minimal make-up and waited for him to come.

After the movie he took her to a continental restaurant. He hadn’t told her about it earlier. It was a surprise.

“Thank you. The food was delicious and the restaurant was really good,” she told him while coming back.

“Good that you liked the restaurant. Does the outing do good to your mood? How are you feeling?”

“I am feeling like coming out of a perfect first date–” she bit her lips. What was she doing? “I’m sorry,” she said next.

“There is nothing wrong in feeling that way,” Paritosh looked cool.

“Everything is wrong in feeling what is not meant to be. I should just–”

“Rupali!” he pulled over suddenly and looked at her, “I have thrown it away once. But if I asked you for another chance, will you give it to me?”

Surprise and uncertainty clouded her eyes as she stared at him.

“Please!” he added earnestly.

“What… do you mean?” she didn’t want to hope.

“I was stuck in time; stuck in the situation nine years ago, when it would have sounded so wrong. I was thinking of the time I had first seen you. You weren’t even an adult legally. It was so wrong then. But not now, when you are an adult who can take decisions for herself. I have realized that and I want to give ourselves, our relationship, a chance. Will you?”

It took her a few seconds to digest what he was saying. “Our relationship? You feel that way?” she mumbled an uncertain question.

“Yes. Our relationship.”

She was about break into a smile, when doubt clouded her face again, “Is this because of Mom?”

Paritosh did not quite understand her, “In a way, she did influence me. But–”

“Don’t do it then,” she suddenly turned cold.

“What do you mean?”

“I know that Mom is… going away and I know that I come across as weak. Well, I am weak and somewhere I and Mom have brought you in between all this. You feel that I am your responsibility.  But that cannot be reason to force yourself into–”

“Shut up, will you?” Paritosh’ voice was soft, not quite matching his harsh words. He spoke again after a pause, “Let me lay out the facts before running wild with your imagination. I had no clue that this is what you meant when you asked me that question. When I said Mrs. Banerjee influenced me, what I meant was this. She said certain things that made me feel that she would accept our relationship. Probably even be happy about it. That gave me the confidence that it won’t be bad for you, or for me. I, sort of, trusted her life experiences. That was all that I meant. There is no pity, no emotional blackmail, no coercion involved here. Trust me Rupali. Please.”

It was her tears that showed first and then her smile.

“Wipe those off. Please,” Paritosh smiled and pointed to her tears. She did that as her smiled broadened.

“Do I, then, have the right to ask you out for a movie with real people next time?” he said playfully.

It made her laugh slightly. She blushed as she nodded a yes.

—

“I had told you, you needed to talk to him,” Sunidhi was happy to hear about Rupali and Paritosh.

“It wasn’t that simple, Sunidhi. But it doesn’t matter now.”

“Yep. To the happiness! But, oh my God! Dr. Khanna. I can’t imagine what it would be like between the two of you. There is so much–”

“Alright. Stop right there. Don’t start imagining things,” Rupali laughed, while blushing at the same time.

“No. I won’t.”

“I guess you have your own share of imagination to do.”

“I. Hope. So.” Sunidhi tried to sound cautious, but it was clear that she was optimistic.

“Come on. Spill the beans.”

“Let’s just say there is hope. Lots of it. He is really getting better. And so much more positive. We should all go out sometime.”

“Yes. Coming weekend?”

“Will Dr. Khanna spare you?” Sunidhi winked at her, “Or better, would he join us?”

Rupali smiled, “He is away for a week for a conference. He won’t be in town until the following Tuesday.”

“So, we are being hired to entertain the lonely princess.”

“Shut up!”

—

To  be continued