The Girl He Didn't Want

Chapter 17

Mayas POV

After the weekend of the wedding, my normal life was back with the part-time work and painting afterward. Rose moved out and I now had a room available. I had to find someone who could rent the room so I could afford to live there. If I couldn't find someone, I had to find another place. I wasn't so thrilled about the idea of moving out, as I was in love with this apartment and everything was nearby from this place.

The apartment I was in now, had two bedrooms, a living room, a little bathroom with nothing much other than a sink, a toilet, and a bath. It wasn't that big of a place, but it was bearable. The kitchen was nice though. It had space enough for two people to stand and cook food. The kitchen was like a sacred place for me as I loved to cook. I loved to bake bread, muffins, all kinds of cakes. I also really enjoyed making Tamil food. When I did that, Rose would always drool at the sight of the different curries I prepared. She would immediately come out of her room just by the mere tasty smell, floating in the air.

Today was Wednesday and I hadn't heard from James since Sunday when we parted our ways. He hadn't texted me nor called me. I didn't really expect him to either. But I wasn't going to let him go. I had to find some way to make him explore my world.

Later that evening I stood in the kitchen and was making some food for myself, when I suddenly thought of inviting him over to dinner. He had to taste real Sri Lankan food and then decide if he liked it.

I got a little excited just by the thought of him coming over. But then, I stopped in my tracks and remembered that it would be a little bit embarrassing to have him over at my place. He was a lawyer after all. He, therefore, earned a lot more than I did at my part-time job, at the Café. Then I got an idea. Why not make it more casual and invite him to an Indian restaurant? In that way it would be less intimate and more public and casual. Yes, that was a good plan! I pulled my phone out from my back pocket and started tabbing on my phone.

Hey, want to go out and get some Indian food? I'll surprise your taste buds! If you dare of course. - Maya

I pressed the send button and held my breath for a second. Did I just send him a text?

But I mean, it wasn't weird, right? We both exchanged numbers before we said goodbye last Sunday when we made the deal...

But still, the possibility of being rejected by him again was somehow still threatening my heart. I guess, the rejection I felt on our blind date didn't quite disappear after all.

Bling!

I looked down on my phone and saw his name on the screen. I clicked on the message and read it more than 3 times. I had to make sure I saw correctly.

Yeah, let's do it. Where shall we meet and what time?

What happened! James was coming. I couldn't quite comprehend the thought of him wanting to try it! But on the other hand, my tiny little heart inside my chest was dancing and doing moonwalks like Michael Jackson.

Alright little heart. Relax. He isn't doing this for me. He is doing it because of the dare.

I texted him back and told him to meet me at the address I gave him.

I saw what time it was and panicked a bit. I only had an hour to get ready before meeting him at the restaurant. I ran into the bathroom and took a quick shower. My hair was now wet when I got out of the shower, so I put some hair mousse in it to enhance my natural waves.

As the time got even closer now, I walked into my bedroom to change into something nice. I searched through my closet to find something to wear, the only problem was, what was I supposed to wear on such an occasion? I found a pastel green blouse and paired it with some black jeans. I put on my favorite gold earrings on and made sure to put on some high heels when I was about to get out. I needed to get some inches taller if I had to walk beside that mountain of a man.

I looked at myself in the mirror and corrected some of my hair strands and got some lip balm on. I wasn't wearing any makeup other than the lip balm and I wanted to keep it that way. Usually I didn't wear makeup daily. Only when I had to be somewhere. This evening was with a friend so why try and do it now? It wasn't like we were on a date or anything like that.

But how I hoped it was a date! His soft and yet strong hands touching mine. His handsome smile which made my knees become like jelly...

I mentally slapped myself over the irrational thinking and walked away from the mirror. No, this was a dare. This was a way for me to get him to see me and other brown-skinned girls as equal as white people. He needed to experience stuff before making judgments.

I quickly put on my black coat and put my heels on and went out to take the bus. I liked taking the bus sometimes. As I waited for the bus to arrive, I was getting a bit afraid of this whole idea of him and me meeting as friends. Would it work?

* * *

When I got to the restaurant, I saw James standing right outside in front of it. He looked a bit tired. He must have come directly from work. The weather was nice and chilly. Not too hot nor too cold. Just very perfect.

"Hey" I said to him and he then turned around to see me.

"Hey, I was wondering, aren't you from Sri Lanka?

I looked at him with a confused look and answered him yes.

"Then why are we eating at an Indian restaurant?" he looked at me with a serious look. I couldn't quite understand what he meant by that. What did he want?

"I just thought, that Indian food is kind of like the same as Tamil food, so I thought it would be a good idea to try it out for your sake" I smiled at him.

"Okay... so you are saying that there is a difference between Indian and Tamil food?"

"Uhm... Yeah. It's not all the same"

"So why don't you make me food that you usually eat then?" he asked me with curiosity. I completely froze. I never thought about it. And I was shocked to hear him even asking me.

"Well, I could. Of course, it's just that my apartment is not that big. I don't really live in a fancy place here in New York. As you already know I work part-time at a café and then I do my artwork on the side. So..."

He interrupted me; "But can you cook Tamil food?"

I met his blue eyes and nodded.

"Then let's do it at my place then?" he shrugged his shoulders as it meant nothing to him. I was utterly in paralyze. Did he really invite me to his home so I could cook food for him?

I waited for him to burst out in laughter or something in that sense as a sign that he only meant it as a joke. I waited. And I waited. Nope, James was serious. I then caught him almost swallow his own upcoming yawn.

Okay, he must be extremely tired after a long workday. I felt a little bad on his behalf and didn't want to make things more tiring for him, so to my surprise I agreed.

"Good. Did you drive or how did you come?

"I took the bus, it's fine. I can take the bus to your place. You can just give me the address and we'll meet up at your house"

He stopped me and pulled his car keys up. "Why do that when you can come with me?"

I didn't know why I became a little shy at this, but I did. I followed him to the car and got in.

The first day as friends and I was already going to his house. Just the two of us.

Oh, dear Heavens. Please let this go smoothly.

Hey guys! Thanks for following me and reading my story. I am so grateful! I enjoy reading the comments you give and I am so happy that people out there are enjoying this story so far.

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Do you think they will become good friends? ;)