First Date to Forever...

A Night to Remember

    "Wow, you have such a beautiful house Shruti ! " Shonali exclaimed.

"Thank you Shonali , I am glad you like it ! When this dufus texted me you both are coming here , it made me so happy. My flatmate who is also my business partner is out of town for the week so I was kind of feeling lonely ... " Shruti said while setting up a tray.

When Shonali turned around towards Shruti she saw a nicely layed out tray with cups and snacks . She suddenly realised Sujay was missing from the past 15 mins .

"Where is Sujay ? " She asked

"Oh he promised you the best Chai in the world so he is getting that for you ! " Shruti replied teasingly. "Come we will sit in the balcony while he brings it.."

Shonali blushed at her comment and followed her to the balcony which was nicely decorated with flowers , plants and fairy lights. A small tea table with four chairs was kept on one side of the balcony where they both settled down .

Soon enough Sujay entered the balcony with a Tea pot in his hand .
"Well here is the chai I promised you Shonali ! " He smiled and poured 4 cups .

"Four cups ? " Shonali asked and on cue the doorbell rang .

"Hi Shonali nice to meet you again ! " Jeet said with a huge smile while entering the balcony.

"Hi Jeet ! " Shonali was surprised to see Jeet here.

"Well midnight tea session on the 28th floor balcony , I couldn't miss it . I am sorry Shonali I am crashing your date and invited myself over when Sujay told me his plan ! " He exclaimed.

When did Sujay talk to Shruti and Jeet ? Shonali wondered .

    "I am glad you are here . I have never had a night out with friends , this is my first and I am glad I am spending it with you all !" Shonali smiled .

"Shonali by the way this is the best chai in the world , prepared by the Master Chef Sujay ! Please try it " Sujay announced while handing a cup of tea to Shonali.

"Yes a MasterChef who only knows how to make tea and boil eggs ! " Shruti snickered.

Jeet laughed out loud at this and hi-fived Shruti while Sujay made a pouting face !

The view from the balcony was mesmerizing, plus the february winters made it so much more calming . Shonali took a sip of her tea and indeed it was the best she ever had.

She looked up at Sujay and gave an impressed smile "Wow Sujay , this is really amazing! This is indeed the best cup of tea I ever had !!  "

"Thank you !! " Sujay smiled .

    All four of them sat in the balcony for good 2-3 hours laughing and sharing stories about their lives. It was around 2:30 am when Shruti went to sleep and Jeet too called dibs on the guest room and left Shonali and Sujay alone in the balcony.

   "Thank you so much Sujay .." Shonali said breaking the silence between them.

"Why are you thanking me ? I had promised you the best tea so I had to complete the promise ! " Sujay replied

"No no not for the Tea , I mean yes for the best tea ever too but also for being so thoughtful.." she said.

"Thoughtful about what ? " Sujay gave a confused look to her.

"I mean for bringing me here ... I took the night out without even thinking where will we go , and I even put you on the spot . Thank you for being so considerate and also for the best time of my life till now ! " Shonali smiled .

"I should be the one thanking you Shonali for trusting me . And ofcourse I was not going to roam around the city at night with you , it's not safe. I knew it would not be right if I had taken you to a hotel and going back my place was not an option because of my parents... " He said giving her a small smile.

They both sat there in silence for some time just enjoying the cool breeze and just being there with each other was enough for them. Shruti had switched off all the lights while leaving so they were sitting there in darkness with slight moonlight reflecting over them...

"I am going to miss you Shonali .." Sujay sighed not being able to keep his emotions to himself any longer ...
"I cannot keep it to myself anymore , I am sorry ! It had to be said... These four months are going to be tough for me.." he said his voice full of emotions.

"Sujay.." Shonali sighed dejectedly with an intention to stop Sujay from saying anything further .
It was going to be tough for her too. This is what she was afraid of from the start and she tried to stop herself from falling in this situation but here they are ...

   "No Shonali , please let me say this otherwise I am going to regret this my entire life..." Sujay said looking into her eyes.
They both were seated at the opposite sides of the Tea table and suddenly the distance felt too much for Sujay. He got up and moved his chair next to Shonali removing the distance between them.

Shonali's heartbeat was increasing rapidly with every word Sujay was saying.

Sujay very gently took Shonali's hand in his hands , looked at her and continued his outpour of emotions.

"Honestly Shonali I had a crush on you since the first day of college but the past few weeks spent with you has just turned my life upside down. I regret not getting to know you earlier, I regret not making a move earlier Shonali. I know this is so unfair to you , to us that we met each other at a time where we have this distance coming up but trust me when I say this , I would not want to change anything between us. The fact that I will be leaving after 5 days and that I won't be able to see you for 4 months has made me realize that what I feel for you isn't going to fade away because of this distance. You want to wait for me to come back and see where we stand , I am ready for that Shonali...because you will find me exactly where I am today .. Shonali I love..."

Sujay was about to say those words when Shonali interrupted him ..

  "Sujay don't ! Please don't say that now and make it more difficult than what it already is !" Shonali said her voice heavy with emotions.

"I would be a fool if I say I don't feel anything for you Sujay but nothing is going to change the fact that you are leaving! And this distance has done alot of damage in the past  for me. I don't want to live in fear every single day till you come back . So please let's just be happy that we are here for now with each other and we will talk when you are back ?"

Sujay stared at her in silence for a minute and then let out a huge sigh. He slowly raised one of his hands and slightly grazed her right cheek ...
"I am going to miss you Shonali .." he said huskily.

Shonali shivered at his touch and blushed at the tone of his voice . She gathered some courage and looked up directly in his eyes ...

"I am going to miss you too Sujay ... " she said giving a small smile to him.

They both could hear each other's heartbeats , they both could feel the cool breeze and both of them could sense what is about to happen next...

Sujay slowly leaned towards Shonali , his hand still grazing her right cheek he tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and held her face , his eyes travelled slowly from her eyes to her lips !

   Shonali had goosebumps all over with Sujay being this close to her . She caught  his eye movement, took a huge breath in and unknowingly leaned in towards him.

And finally after what felt like eternity, their lips collided ! Sujay kissed her very softly that she thought it was almost an illusion. She opened her eyes slowly only to meet Sujay's eyes full of emotions !

Shonali felt so shy in that moment that she blushed and lowered her eyes not being able to face the intensity of his gaze making him fall in love even more with her innocence !

He placed his hand below her chin and made her look at him before leaning in for another kiss ... A more passionate one this time !!