Sitara Khanna, a twenty eight year old librarian, is an acid attack survivor. With a half burnt face but a heart full of determination and calibers to survive in the world, she missed a certain element in her life. Love.
Yash Chaudhary, a twenty ni...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Dev, my best friend, talked me into going out tonight. He initially wanted to go out to a bar, but I had an idea how that would end—I'm not interested in hitting on any girls who aren't Sitara Khanna. So we compromised on a local café- The Hardrock café. Dev grumbled about how a cafe was not a fun place to have a night out, but I don't see anything wrong with a plan that does not involve alcohol and girls.
At this moment, Hardrock is all I want. They have sandwiches. They have coffee. And they have donuts. Really, they've got it all.
I explain that to Dev as we're waiting in line to order, because he won't stop bitching about it. "They don't have beer," he points out.
"So we can't have a good time without beer?"
"God! Ya know, I'm not even sure who you are anymore, Chaudhary." I shrug.
The truth is, drinking alcohol has become less and less appealing to me lately. It's hard enough to get from Point A to Point B without falling even without alcohol in my system.
Now that my vision is dulled, I want all my other senses to be as sharp as possible. Namely, my sense of balance.
I let Dev order first. I hear him getting some kind of egg/bagel concoction. When he's done ordering, I hear the cashier say, "And what would he like?"
She means me. I'm "he." It will never stop pissing me off that people act like I'm not capable of answering for myself. It's a reminder of how much the whole world sees me as fundamentally different and maybe even less of a person than everyone else, thanks to my disability.
Usually, it would have pissed the hell out of me. It would have sent me in a tailspin of feeling sorry for myself. I might have snapped at the cashier. Okay, I probably would have snapped at the cashier.
But today I just lean forward and say, "I'll have a bagel with chicken salad on it with a small black coffee."
Dev helps me find an empty table and I sit down while he waits for our food. I leave my tinted glasses on because I don't want any snide jokes from Dev about how it looks like I'm staring, but I collapse my cane and stuff it in my bag.
I didn't realize how hungry I was until Dev gives me my bagel. I accidentally skipped lunch today because I was so busy practicing reading the children's book Sitara gave me. I'm reading to the kids tomorrow. I'm wicked nervous.
"The bagels at Hardrock's are the best," I say as I take a bite of my sandwich.
"You're a fucking idiot," Dev says.
"What? They're good."
"It's just..." I hear Dev chewing.
"Last time we went out, you were pissing and moaning about every little thing. Now you're acting like this café is the best thing in the world and you're smiling like a dumbass. So, just wondering... is it a girl or what?"
