Intimate Encounters | ✓

three

"I haven't found a good hostel yet that doesn't look suspicious in some way. And I can't find simple small 1 BHK flats on Airbnb. I don't need a fucking bungalow for 2 days when I'm just going to write."

Dread filled Ananya, as she thought about possible next steps. She didn't need to be writing 24/7 while she was here, but where would she stay? She couldn't possibly impose on Amol any longer either.

She couldn't find him in the kitchen so she tiptoed to the bedroom only to find that he was in the small balcony attached to the bedroom. She couldn't hear what he was saying. His back was to her, his sky blue and white striped shirt doing his body wonders. She took a deep breath, gave the butterflies in her stomach a pep talk, and turned away from the view in front of her, to go back to the living room.

He joined her in the living room a few minutes later and settled down on the sofa beside her. It had been a fun few hours but she didn't feel cool with being any more of a bother to him, so she just smiled at him and got up from her seat, "Thanks so much for lunch and it was indeed great catching up with you. I hope we meet again soon---"

"Yes, it was definitely great catching up with you. Uh, did you find a place to stay?" He asked.

She couldn't really bring herself to lie either. "No, I was just going to roam around the Camp area until I find a place. It must be decorated because of Christmas, I'm assuming?" He didn't reply immediately.

She found herself walking around the coffee table towards her travel bag and her now charged phone, when she heard him say something. She turned around to see him with his hands in his pockets and a concerned look on his face. He repeated, "Uh, I didn't suggest this before because I just didn't know if you'd be comfortable with it but, you are always welcome to crash at my place. I have an extra mattress."

"I wouldn't want to impose, but thanks for the offer."

"Seriously, it's not a big deal. I don't really mean to imply anything by this offer, I'm sorry if that's what you thought. Many of my friends who don't live in Pune have crashed at my place, multiple times." He looked embarrassed at how it could have come across to her, but she just smiled.

"Wait, you're going to Camp, right?" His eyes suddenly lit up with a smile. "Yes."

"I have an errand that requires me to go to Camp. Can I come with you?"

Ananya was slightly confused, but she just shrugged, "Okay, cool."

She used a locker facility nearby to keep her travel bag, so she only had to carry her tote around with her. Amol drove an Activa, so at least they didn't have to use cramped public transport. They reached East Street faster than she had anticipated, but that might have had something to do with Amol's somewhat over-the-speed-limit driving.

Their first stop was a cute café with bright yellow chairs that half-blocked the pavement. Most people were sitting inside because it was cold out. Ananya made sure to get a photo of the name of the cafe and the cute entrance with the yellow chairs.

Amol laughed at her as he went inside first, "Do you have to take a photo of every cute thing?" Ananya held the door open as she stepped inside, the heat of the collective mass of humans inside warming her up, putting her hand to her heart in mock hurt, "You're a photographer. Shouldn't you be the last person mocking me for it?"

Amol chuckled, shaking his head and reading the menu on the wall above the counter. Ananya went to stand beside him as she looked up at the menu. After giving their orders - a caffé mocha for him, a brownie for her - they settled down at a small table with tall chairs facing the walls of the cafe. The walls were adorned with small polaroids of the head chef with quite a few celebrities who had visited it. Ananya didn't recognize any of them but they probably were up and coming fashionistas, lifestyle and travel bloggers, socialites, donators, and indie actors.

Amol nudged Ananya's shoulder with his, asking, "You been here before?"

Ananya shook her head as she took in the interior design of the café, "It's very...photogenic. Instagrammable."

Amol chuckled, "The menu is good too. And reasonable prices. It's a win-win. It's a great place for dates, actually. Not too sophisticated and uptight, not too casual and nonchalant. A perfect in-between."

Ananya's heart squeezed but she managed to grin at him, "You sound like you've brought a lot of your dates here."

"Nah. Not really." He just waved his hand in a non-committal way, as he stared at the salt and pepper containers in the middle of the table. "I mean, I wish I had." His laugh was infectious and definitely something that made her insides melt.

Their orders were delicious although Ananya definitely liked the brownies more - which the café had served along with vanilla ice cream on top of it. It tasted like Christmas and woolen socks and fireplaces. She frowned as she realized she didn't have a fireplace.

A guy passed by the window of the café, his t-shirt adorned with a silly sex joke. That reminded Amol of something and he grinned and said, "I have this friend who is doing his Bachelor's in Sex Health, in London. When he was in town last month, he took me to this sex conference and I swear, I have never seen so many Indian people at the same place discussing sex in such a fun and positive manner."

"Sex Health Bachelor's in London?" Ananya gasped. "Pandey, you've got some rich ass friends." She laughed and shook her head. "And it must have some name, do you remember what the name was?"

Amol's eyebrows furrowed as he tried to remember, but finally just said, "Nah. I'll have to later go through photos in my gallery to see."

"It must have been fun though. It's about time the Indian education system includes sex-positive sex education in the curriculum. All I got in school was like an hour-long talk about menstruation. My mother had given me that talk at least a year before. Thank God for that otherwise I would have been as horrified as some of the other students who were hearing it for the first time." Ananya brushed her jeans to get rid of any brownie crumbs that might have fallen. Amol handed her her tote bag after she was done with it as they walked towards the exit. "Thanks."

Amol had his hands in his pockets as they walked on the pavement towards an unknown destination, "I mean, I get it. I agree. I picked up the courage to ask my mother about menstruation because I was so fucking confused and horrified. She was pretty cool about it. I guess it's also important to have parents who sit their children down and explain it to them because this curriculum change is going to take a shit ton of time."

Ananya nodded, "Definitely." They walked in silence on the long stretch of pavement for a while, but then Ananya asked, "Where to next? Didn't you have some work in this area?"

"Yes, it's just a few blocks from here. You cool with walking, right? It's only about 5-7 minutes."

"Sure." The rest of the walk was spent in silence too, though Ananya enjoyed it. The air between them was comfortable, they didn't need to necessarily make conversation to spend time with each other. They soon arrived at a stone building, 2 stories high, which looked like an old, built-in-the-20th-century bungalow. "A colleague of mine lives here, I just have to give her a hard disk containing some of our this week's work. You can come too if you want? It'll only be a few minutes."

Ananya shook her head, "It's okay, I'll just wait outside." In the meantime, she scrolled through her Instagram dm's, clicking on the one from one of her roommates. Her roommate had sent one of Amol's Instagram pictures, followed by question marks: ??????

Amol was a photographer who often put some of his photographs on his Instagram; it only made sense that his profile was public. Ananya just rolled her eyes and typed back a quick Yes, not wanting Amol to see it in case he was done with his work and came out of the gate unexpectedly. She pocketed her phone, just in time, as Amol came out of the gate, "Let's go?"

Ananya smiled and nodded, "Yep."

******