The Wrong Number

56

Alankrita smoothed the front of her green salwar, which she'd wrinkled by twisting it in her nervous hands as she glanced repeatedly at the clock. She was, to say the least, nervous. She turned to look at the lavishly decorated dinner table, with elaborately folded napkins-courtesy of Anu who seemed to be an expert at the art of Japanese napkin folding- and little handmade menu card- also courtesy of Anu- which read out the menu-paneer tikkas with green chutney and vegetable pulao accompanied by a spicy raita. And in the oven, a large strawberry soufflé, which was probably the only thing Alankrita felt confident about.

She had spent a majority of the day fretting about the food and the setup and what she would wear that her family and Anu decided to take things into their own hands. Thus while her mother and father were testing their culinary expertise in the kitchen, Anu had taken Alankrita out to the local Lakme salon for a little spa day.

It's not that her parents weren't great cooks- they were brilliant, and they knew it too. It was just that this was the first time- well, officially- that she was bringing Ruhan home as her boyfriend. It was pretty stupid to worry since he'd been there countless times before and he'd even met her parents too, but it gnawed at the back of her head like a teething baby. When she'd told Ruhan about her mother knowing that he'd spent the night at her house, he was as freaked out as she was. Especially over the fact that she didn't get into trouble. She had also told him to be on his best behaviour when he came over, because his parents were going to be judging him like Simon Cowell.

She glanced up at the large grandfather clock in the lounge, which read ten past six. Ruhan was supposed to be there ten minutes ago. "RRRRGGGHHHH" Alankrita growled through clenched teeth, and balled up her fists.

"Calm down, kanna," her mother said, walking up behind her and placing both arms on her shoulders, "He's probably stuck in traffic. You know how Old Airport Road is at this time."

"I knew we should have sent Benny to pick him up," her father said from the living room, not taking his eyes off the T.V. Her mother rolled her eyes. "If we'd sent Benny to pick him up, our car would be halfway to Delhi by now," she said, referring to the utter incompetence of the driver's navigation skills.

Just then, there was a brisk knock on the door, jolting Alankrita into action. She pushed her mother into the dining room, vigorously brushing the non-existent strands of hair off her face, opened the door. There, clad in a black coat over a white t shirt and some black pants, was Ruhan. Alankrita grinned widely, and he held up a single red rose. "Sorry I'm late," he said, as Alankrita led him into the house, "I couldn't decide on the cologne."

"Wow," Alankrita remarked, feeling instantly dizzy as the strong smell assaulted her nose, "uh, what did you decide on wearing?"
"I didn't. I just, uh, put on everything I owned."

Alankrita couldn't help giggling. "Yeah, I should've guessed," she laughed, her eyes stinging.

Ruhan gave her an embarrassed smile, and leaned down to kiss her. Their lips met, but Alankrita smiled through the kiss. "I'm sorry," she whispered, when she pulled away, "My mum is in the next room."
Ruhan's eyes widened and he looked around frantically, blushing furiously.

"It's okay, I didn't see anything," her mother said sarcastically, standing with her arms crossed at the entrance to the dining room. Alankrita giggled as Ruhan politely said, "Good evening aunty", and was pulled into one of her mother's rib-bruising hugs.

Right now she stared at him shake her father's hand and she could have sworn he winced at her father's firm grip. "So," her mother said, "shall we have dinner or should we have a bit of conversation first?" Ruhan's stomach rumbled audibly and everyone laughed, making him blush. "That's a question answered!" her mother laughed, and ushered them all into the dining room. Ruhan saw the spread of food on the table and grinned. "Wow," he said, amazed, "Aunty did you make this?"