Two Birds One Arrow (Completed)

Chapter 10

"So, did you enjoy the movie?" He asked me as soon as we stepped out of the theatre.

"Yeah, I sure did." I reply back. It was a lame attempt at trying to recover at least a little bit of my dignity that I lost when he caught me staring.

"Okay Neha, I am taking you out for lunch but before that I need you to meet a few people." He informed me.

"Who are they?" I asked him, curious to know the answer as to whom I have not met yet. Suddenly, my mind shifts to a ridiculous possibility. It could be his ex or the worst one yet, it could be the girl he actually loves who is actually not me.

"Uh, you will know." He told me, not giving away the answer. This indeed adds to my fear whether my imagination is actually true. If that is the situation, I am not ready yet. Maybe this is not love-love yet but that doesn't mean that I am willing to give him away to someone else. Maybe the look on my face scared him because he immediately gives up and tells me the truth. "We are actually going to meet my friends."

"Oh." I reply back really happy that it was actually not who I expected it to be but then the fear whether they would not approve off me kicks in. "Oh." This time I tell with my voice seething with fear.

"Hey relax, they are not that bad, atleast I hope so." He tells me and we cross the road to get to our car with him holding my hand and me dancing in la la land.

Just when we are about to get into the car, a lady selling flowers stops us persuading us to get jasmine from her. Gautham gives in too easily, way too easily, when she tells him that we both look good together and he should get me flowers. The idiot does not see through her marketing tactics and gets the flowers from her after paying her.

"Neha, turn." He asks me to turn.

"Hey no problem, I will keep it." I tell him, not wanting to delay this meeting even though it is just a matter of few seconds.

"Why, do you want me to give it to you and miss a romantic moment between us? I will pass." He tells and I turn, not because I am obeying him, but because I did not want him to notice my blush. I guess he did a terrible job at pinning the flowers because I felt some parts of hair going out of place after he was done.

We get into the car and he begins driving, humming to the song playing in the FM.

"Uh Gautham?" I called out his name to get his attention which was solely fixed on the road.

"Yes, Neha." He replies back still having his attention on the road.

"Did you have any girlfriends before?" I ask him the question which has been in my mind for quite some time now.

"To be honest with you, yeah I did." He tells me and this kind of makes me sad. It made me sad because I wanted to have all of my firsts to be with the guy I get married too, however all of his firsts will not be with me. "Oh." I reply back dejected.

"Hey, but it is all in the past now. I do not even know where she is now and I did not even try to talk to her even though I had a lot of chances." He tells me, changing the song playing on the radio.

"Why did you guys break up?" I ask him.

"Hey, can I answer you later? I just do not want to talk about it right now. Stuffs from the past, still make me uncomfortable and insecure. You are my present now and the one I want my future to actually be with. I only want my thoughts to be about you, not about anyone else. Trust me. It is not like I do not want to tell you or something. It is just that I need some time. I will definitely tell you all about it but please just give me some time. " He tells me, sounding exasperated.

"Okay, fine." I decide to drop the subject. I actually wanted to know more about it but I left him without pressing him for answers. I just had this feeling that it would lead to an argument in one way or another between us and I was definitely not ready to have a fight with him at this moment.

Anyways I did not want my insecurities to bring both of our happiness down. So I decide to change the subject in order to cheer the both of us up.

It's not nice of me to pester him... He needs time and I am willing to give him that. 

But before I could come up with any topic, Gautham, himself speaks up.

"God, this is exactly why I hate coming outside." He yells, honking in vain at the traffic.

"Gautham," I draw out his name.

"Hmm?" He asks me, looking at my eyes for the first time since we got into the car.

"Do not travel much in cars. Bikes have their own advantages. Like you can drive in all the short routes and it is also comparatively easy to escape the traffic when we compare it to a car." I tell him, looking at all the vehicles begins us through the wing mirror of the car.

"No Neha, I actually would have brought my bike but since you were coming, I thought that car would be more appropriate." He tells me, being ignorant like the nutjob he is.

"Gautham, do you know why lovers travel in bike?" I ask him, cutting straight to the chase without beating around the bush.

I could hear all the warning bells go off in my head and asking me to immediately shut up. I did not even know where this sudden outburst of confidence was coming up.

"So, is that an invitation, Neha?" He asks me chuckling.

"Maybe." I reply back, shrugging my shoulders at him.

He ruffles my hair and I swat away his hands because he had already possibly ruined my entire hairstyle. I was beginning to like how this felt. It did not feel awkward or out of place anymore. It just seemed to fit in with our relationship perfectly. 

We finally reach the hotel, the destination for both our meeting as well as lunch.

As soon as he got out of the car, I held his hands, fearing whether his friends would not like me or the possibility of me not meeting their expectations and the criteria they have set for the potential wife of Gautham.

"Gautham, I have a feeling that I am going to ruin this. Are you sure this is going to be okay?" I pull him to a stop and ask him. If Ananya didnt like Gautham it would have been a huge deal breaker for me.

"See, you have already met a couple of them in our engagement. You do not have to worry. My friends will not eat your soul away with their pointless behaviour. They are much more considerate than that." Gautham assures me.

"Okay, but if did end up ruining it, it's on you." I tell him and we both walk hand in hand inside the restaurant. As soon as we stepped in, I could easily spot all of the friends of Gautham because they were the loudest in the entire restaurant and looked like they were having the time of their lives. As soon as we reached them, they all stood up and smiled at me and started cursing at Gautham who looked flustered and embarrassed. 

"So Neha, this is Varun, Prashanth, Raghav..."