The 60% red flag

5. The markings

Previously -

We decided to meet the next day. I sent her my address and guided her through the call. Somewhere around 11 in the morning, my doorbell rang.

Continued -

With a shy smile on her face and her gaze focused on the ground, she was standing at my door. She probably never went to somebody's place like this before.
Her constant play with her fingers and purse was evident in her nervousness.

"How long are you going to wait outside?" I asked with a smile.

"May I?" she asked politely.

Her behavior was totally different from what I observed on chat. She was shy, hesitant, and, for some odd reason, very polite. Even her dressing was different today. She was wearing a red sleeveless kurta and cream-colored leggings with a matching bindi on her face. The bold girl that I observed on chat was no longer to be seen; instead, a cute, delicate flower was standing right in front of me.

"May I come in?" Her question brought me back to my senses.

"Obviously, this is not a classroom." You don't need formal permission to enter my house." I welcomed her.

"Pretty house!" She said this while observing every corner of my house.
Maybe it was her way of avoiding direct eye contact with me.

"It was just an ordinary house five minutes ago. Your arrival changed it." I replied while sitting beside her.

"Water..." She startled.

"Oh sorry..Where are my manners?" I quickly went inside the kitchen and bought a glass of water for her.

I took a chair from my room and kept it just in front of the sofa where she was sitting. She had a confusing look on her face.

"You were uncomfortable, right? When I sat beside you, I could sense nervousness in the air." I tried to answer the question, but she didn't even speak out.

"No..not uncomfortable. It's just that all of this is new to me." She justified her behavior.

"Understandable. Should I make tea or coffee for you?" I asked in an attempt to make the atmosphere light.

"No. I had a heavy breakfast in the morning." She replied.

"Okay. What did you want to discuss?" 
I asked her while taking the empty glass back from her.

"I will be direct. Were you really interested in Priti? You asked her about her crush, her boyfriend, and even her fantasies." She sounded serious.

"You already know that I love to tease everyone. I was just having fun. I was twisting my conversation with her intentionally to get the answers out of her." I spoke while looking at her.

"But then why have you not shown such interest in me?" I could sense anger in her eyes, or was it jealousy?

You see.. jealousy is the dawn of extreme emotions. When you are jealous about something, you feel sorrow,denial, anger, and inferiority. The problem is that if you are an overthinker, these extreme feelings keep appearing in cycles and make you feel vulnerable.

Once I was confirmed about the problem, the solution was in sight.

I took her hand from her lap and held it firmly in my hand. With my other hand, I raised her face up. When her eyes fixed on mine, I said, "It's not Priti with whom I talked with a smile on my face. It's not Priti, whom I met in person, even with my busy schedule. It's not Priti, for whom I bought the necklace. It's not Priti whose request about that shirtless snap I fulfilled. You are way more important to me than her. And hence, when I got to know how you felt about me talking with her, the first thing that I did was to remove her from my snap."