The Soulless Souls

100-97

The next day, Aryan went to work earlier than usual. Around eleven, I got ready for our 'date'.

My first date.

Just eating together during his lunch break didn't really sound like a date to me, like it totally didn't, but I was a coward by heart and soul and I just couldn't say no. And to be honest, I was scared. Very scared that this would have been my only chance to experience something normal in a youthful life. And I was curious. I really wanted to know what a date felt like.

I wore long, wide pants and a loose button up shirt when I arrived at the lawyer's office where Aryan worked as a secretary.

'Adler's lawyer office', it read on the marble shield in front of the building. 'located in the USA since 1975'.

I wasn't sure if I should just go in, so I waited instead in front of the door, feeling like an awkward stalker. The surrounding area and the people that walked in and out of the buildings looked posh and well-dressed. I knew immediately that I was a misfit and I wondered how Aryan felt about this. Does he have problems connecting with his colleagues? Does he have friends? Friends who look as posh as the people around here?

But then I realised that he blackmailed me into marrying him. He probably doesn't have friends.

A few minutes later that felt like an eternity, Aryan finally emerged through the black doors. He wore beige slacks that were slightly too loose on him and a white dress shirt with the first and last three buttons undone. And of course, he wore his signature piece: his orange-tinted sunglasses.

That's what he looks like when he works as a secretary?, I thought, my eyes slightly widened.

"You came", he said to me and I noticed how his shoulders sunk in relief. "Did you wait long?"

"I just arrived."

"That's good." His eyes traveled from my face down my body. "You look great, Edith."

"Thank you... Shall we go? Before your lunch break is over, I mean."

As if he just remembered why we met in the first place, his eyes went back to my face. "Yes, this way please."

He brought me to a small café a few minutes away from his office. The seats were red and blue, the tables small and round. Behind a glass counter were sandwiches and halves of cakes, labeled by small chalk boards.

"Do you know what to order?", Ari asked and I almost flinched from hearing his voice so close to my ear. He stood next to me, leaning down and waiting for my response.

"I'm not sure... cherry soda, I think?"

He chuckled. "Of course, that's a given. But what else? To eat, I mean."

"I will take the same as you."

He gave me a gentle smile and my breathing hitched. Aryan looked really pretty when he smiled. So pretty that I wanted to take a picture of him. I didn't know how to explain this, but his smile made me feel safe. As if everything would be alright.

Is he aware of how mesmerizing he looked when he smiled? Should I tell him?

Aryan straightened his back to give our orders and I just stood there, still mesmerized by how one single smile of him could make such a difference to me. I wrapped my arms around myself, almost spooked.

That's weird. Why am I feeling like this?

Later, we sat at a table next to a window, me slurping my cherry soda through a white and red striped straw. Aryan drunk, unsurprisingly, black coffee.