Her Mr. Right

Messy Date 😐

“Neha, I didn’t mean to intrude”. Arjun tried to placate her as he wondered perhaps, she was appalled at the discussion of her smoking habit while Neha had her eyes cast down. She was zoned out feeling ashamed at her folly. Yes, she smoked casually to overcome her stress but she always smoked in her personal space, behind the closed doors of her house.

“Look at me”, Arjun spoke softly as his palm caressed her knuckles and her heart fluttered uncontrollably.
As her pitch black eyes met his dark brown ones, he assured her, “It’s completely okay and it’s your choice to drink or not to”, caressing her knuckles.
Her heartbeats raced and she feared that she might die out of heart attack if Arjun continued to caress her hand.

Abruptly, pulling her hand away, she clarified, “I smoke just occasionally”, with her pitch black eyes cast down in shame and humiliation.

“It’s completely fine”, Arjun assured her as he sipped wine from his glass. As an uncomfortable silence seeped in, he decided to ask, “When did you smoke for the first time?”, just as an attempt to initiate an interaction.

“I was just twenty-one when I had moved out from my house eight years ago. During the training before this job, I met one of my dearest friends Mukta and she taught me how to smoke Marlboro. It felt nice and lively when I puffed cigarette after I had gone through a bad day.” Neha spoke confidently with a strange smile playing on her lips while her brain chanted, “Neha, you need to have some shame”.

Deep down she felt bad for herself but her heart wanted to know if Arjun would also judge her like the likes of Pawan. Arjun smiled at his victory. The girl who had never shared anything about herself was finally speaking about her smoking habit. The girl who feared judgemental stares was finally opening up to him and he was indeed, beyond elated.

“Well! I too had my share of drinking at twenty-one only, I guess, sixteen years ago. It was a wedding anniversary of one of our seniors and we were all young army lads when I fall in love with wine.” Arjun too confessed reminiscing the happy memory.

“I don’t smoke regularly rather, I smoke when I have bad days”, Neha finally told him feeling happy that he was well-mannered enough to not give her judgemental stares even if he was judging her, maybe!

“Neha, I will just say that smoking or drinking occasionally is not something bad. However, smoking or drinking just to uplift your mood is something that should be forbidden because these things make you emotionally vulnerable.” Arjun suggested and Neha nodded in agreement. She was herself trying to get rid of her urge to take a puff whenever her mother called her some hurtful words. She could realize that a behavioural pattern was building up but she was not ready to consult a psychologist, yet.

Neha was certainly glad that neither had Arjun judged her character or talked about the harmful effects of smoking in general. He had acted quite maturely and this was another reason, Neha felt attracted to him. “Yes, sir”, she jibed earning a glare from him.

“Come on, you are seven years older to me. After knowing this, I feel awkward to call you by your name.” Neha jibed playfully an Arjun’s face lost its colour.

“This woman is not ready to call you by your name after knowing that you are elder to her by seven years. How will she accept a relationship with you?” His brain bugged him shattering his heart into a million pieces.

Thankfully, a waiter approached them and both of them opted for Italian cuisine and ordered white pasta sautéed in mushroom sauce. His veins calmed as the alcoholic beverage travelled down his throat in a go and Neha who was just observing him could not understand what was actually wrong with him.