One Shot Series ❤️

Coffee mudhal Kadhal varai -1

Shriya rubbed her eyes and woke up from her comfy bed. As far as she remembers, she had gone to sleep in the other bed room the previous night, after a huge fight. But she didn't even have a single clue that he had brought her here after she had slept. Ofcourse she was a sound sleeper. She went inside the washroom to get ready for her day. As she had her appointments only in the afternoon, she wore a pyjamas and tshirt.

She headed out of her room and found a cup of coffee, which was boiling hot waiting for her at the dining table. Looking around, she spotted him cooking something inside the kitchen, with his earpods plugged in.

Smiling wide, Shriya walked towards him and hugged him from behind. Just then she realised that he was on a call and he wasn't listening to music.

"I'll call you back in sometime." He said to the other person on call.

She tried to move back, but he turned his face towards her.

"Sorry" Nikhil mumbled softly, placing a kiss on her head.

"It's okay! I forgive you." Shriya pinched his nose and kissed his right cheek.

"Did you have your coffee?" He asked her.

"It's very hot.. that's why I came to you first."

"I can wait, but your coffee can't." Nikhil replied and dragged her out to the dining hall.

Shriya took her seat and Nikhil dragged his beanbag and sat next to her. He laid his head on her lap and she caressed his hair while having her coffee.

"I forgot to tell you, amma called me last night." Shriya informed him.

"For what?" He asked back curiously.

"She asked me to come home this weekend... It's been three months since I visited them na, so she called me home. What do you say?"

"Hmm that's true.. and even I have to go to Bangalore for a meeting this weekend. So use this time and visit your parents.. on my way back I'll pick you up from there." Nikhil replied thoughtfully.

Shriya remained silent for a while and he lifted up his face to look at her. She was looking at him curiously and Nikhil looked away quickly knowing that she had caught him.

"So it was your plan huh?" She asked holding his ear.

Nikhil smiled sheepishly holding his ear.

"I was doubtful since the beginning, wondering why mom called me home all of a sudden and that to only me. Now I understand that you were the one who gave her the plan! And you made her call me before you inform me of your meeting, so that I won't feel lonely! Team work!! I feel jealous that you're as close as me to my parents." Shriya narrated his plan word by word and he wasn't surprised even a bit. Because he knew that eventually she would know that it was all his plan.

"This is the first time after marriage I am leaving you alone and going out. If I asked you to go there, i surely know that you would prefer to stay here. That's the main reason why I asked athai to call you before me. And don't talk as if you are not close to my parents!!" He told her and pulled her into a hug.

"Just two days. Not more than that." She told him sternly.

"I promise!" He said and kissed her forehead.

"What do you want for breakfast and lunch?" She asked him.

"You don't have to leave early today?"

"No.. I have to go only in the afternoon."

"Oh okay! I've boiled the potatoes and chopped few onions. Let's make aloo Paratha for breakfast and you make the lunch of your choice." Nikhil told her.

"Yeah that's a good idea. I'll bring your lunch when I leave for work." Shriya replied and started cooking for them while Nikhil got ready.

They both had their breakfast together and he left home for work. Shriya called her mother in law and filled her in about their weekend plan and gossiped about a few random stuffs.

Shriya then cooked their lunch and got ready in a sky blue salwar suit. She thought of having lunch with Nikhil but decided otherwise as she wasn't sure whether he would be free by the time she reaches there. So she planned to drop in and give him his lunch and leave from there.

After a fifteen minutes drive, she parked her scooty in front of a coffee shop and walked inside with a smile. Her eyes roamed around it and she smiled happily seeing the crowd even in the afternoon. But to her luck, the farthest table was still empty. She walked there and placed her bags on her side chair and sat down.

Shriya took out her mobile and texted Nikhil that she has arrived. He replied that he will come to her in five minutes.

Shriya took a deep breath, thinking how she met the same man, at this same place, two years ago...

•••••••••••

Cursing her friend Tanya, who ruined her plan at the last moment , Shriya walked inside the coffee shop. She spotted a guy sitting in the last table alone, while all other tables were filled with either couples or a gang of friends.

That guy was looking at everyone or rather observing them. He is the one I have been searching for! Shriya thought and walked towards him with a small smile.

"Hi!" Shriya said with a smile.

"Hello" he replied.

"Is this seat taken? Can I sit here?" Shriya asked him hesitantly and he nodded his head confused.

Thinking that she needed privacy, he stood up from his seat.

"Please sit... I need to talk to you." Shriya told him making him shocked.

"Do i know you?" He asked her confused out of his wits.

"No.." Shriya said and thought about the ways on how to break it to him .

"Erm.. I'm Shriya. I am doing my final year undergraduate course in  psychology ." She said and he nodded his head.

"Me and my friend Tanya have been assigned a project in our college. I need your help for that." She told him in a single breath.

"What kind of help? I don't understand..."

"We are researching about introverts and their mindsets."

"So?"

"I know that introverts like you won't like people having their full attention on you. But you have to help me in this .. by the way, what's your name sir?"

"I'm Nikhil. And it's not what you think Ms Shriya... I'm not an introvert..." He tried to say but she stopped in the middle.

"I can understand that it hurts when someone points you out that you're an introvert. That's why you have taken the farthest seat in the cafe and sat here alone. I saw you observing everyone here ..." Shriya started stating her reasons and Nikhil started laughing.

"What would you like to order ma'am?" A waitress approached her but she was busy in gaping at Nikhil who was laughing at her.

"Just give her a glass of water first." Nikhil said and the waitress brought a glass of water. He forwarded it to her and she started drinking it.

"Ms Shriya, you have mistaken. I'm an introvert but not like you think. And this is my coffee shop, and I always sit here to see whether my customers are happy with their orders." Nikhil explained and she choked the water.

To Be Continued.