I don't like you Neil D'Silva

*13*

"SO Alex, tell me a little about yourself," Farah starts as she sips her water. Alex grins at her, "are you interviewing me?" He asks and she smiles sheepishly, "I'm sorry I just haven't been on a date in a long time," she chuckles awkwardly, twisting the ring on her finger nervously. "I'm just playing," he says, "well what can I say, I'm twenty nine years old, I'm Goan, haven't been in Goa for a while now though, and well I'm a chef," he says,

"oh which restaurant?" Farah asks and just as he was about to say something, the waiter comes over with the food and places it on the table. They both thank the waiter and start serving themselves, "god this smells delicious," Farah says as she takes in the aroma of the food in front of her, "trust me you'll have food like this everyday when you're with me," he says as he take a bite of his chicken, "this is just our first date, how do you know there'll be an everyday?" Farah asks, "well I'll try to impress you enough to have an everyday with you," he says charmingly. Farah being impressed gives him a genuine smile.

"So what do you do?" Alex asks, "I'm an interior
designer," she says, "oh wow I wouldn't have to hire anyone to design our house then," he says. Farah raises her eyebrow and tilts her head, "our house? Well aren't you a little confident huh?" She says,

"well I'm trying to leave an impression here," he says with a wink and she shakes her head as she smiles.
After talking for what seemed like and hour or two, they finally ask for the bill, which the waiter comes back with pretty soon. Farah removes her purse to get her credit card but Alex stops her by placing a hand on hers, "let me please, I wouldn't want the lady to pay on our first date," he says,

"how chivalrous of you Alex but I can pay for it, don't worry," Farah says,

"I insist Farah, it's our first date, let me pay for this one and you could pay for our second date, which I really am hoping we'd have," Farah smiles and gives in. Alex pays for the dinner and the both of them leave the restaurant. "well we didn't have dessert, so how about Baskin Robins?" Farah suggests and Alex's face lights up. "I already like you Farah Fernandez," "well there's more to see Alex D'Souza," she gives him a flirty smile and walks towards his car. Alex drives to Baskin Robins on Sheikh Zayed Road and parks before they enter.

"I'll have a choco chips ice cream on the cone please," Farah says while Alex says, "a mint chocolate on a cone,". Alex reaches out for his wallet when, "how about I pay for this?" Says Farah. Alex looks at her with amusement and nods with a smile. Farah pays and they get their ice-cream before taking a seat. Farah seemed to really like Alex, he was everything she could look for in a guy. But something didn't make her feel right. She kept thinking of what Neil would say if he saw her with Alex. She shakes the thought out of her head and focuses on the handsome man sitting in front of her.

She grins when she sees a smidge of ice cream on the corner of his mouth. She reaches out and wipes it with her thumb. His cheeks turned red and he awkwardly scratches the back of his neck, which reminded her of Neil because it was one of Neil's habits. They finish their ice cream and leave Baskin Robins, Farah hissing in pain as they walk towards his car, "what's wrong?" Alex looks at her with concern, "nothing it's just these heels, should've just worn something less painful," she says as she sucks in through her teeth. What Alex does next surprises her. He picks her up bridal style, Farah's arms wrapping around his neck at an instant. "oh god Alex you didn't have to I can manage," she says as her cheeks turn pink. "there was no way I would've let you walk in pain," he says and she looks at him in awe.

They stop outside her apartment door and turn to look at each other, "Thank you so much for tonight, I had a great time," Farah says, "I'm glad you did because I did too. I don't remember when was the last time I had a great time with someone," he says and moves closer to her. Her breath hitches. She wouldn't mind if he kisses her, but she wouldn't know how to react either. "so, would you like to go on another date?" Alex asks, hope clouding his eyes as he waits for her answer. She smiles, "I would love to," she pulls him into a hug and kisses his cheek, his cheeks turning red, "for this I would take you on a thousand dates," he says and winks at he before giving her a kiss on her cheek and leaving.

She enters her house and takes a long warm shower thinking about today. She smiles as she thinks of Alex picking her up all of a sudden and lightly giggles as she remembers how he enjoyed his ice cream like a kid. Her smile fades away as Alex's face was replaced by Neil's. Why was she thinking about Neil instead, she thought. Neil and Farah have nothing going on right now, they're an old chapter, so why did she feel a hint of guilt for going out with Alex. She shook the thought as quickly as possible. Alex is a great guy and Farah would do anything but hurt him, so thinking about Neil when Alex was into the picture was completely unacceptable. She gets out of the washroom and slips into a tank top and shorts. Her phone pings and she looks at it to see a message from Alex;

A: I'm already planning our second date ;)
She smiles at the text and replies with;

F: Well it better be great because I've got high standards sir :P
She lays on her bed as another text pops up;

A: Don't worry my lady, it will most definitely surpass your standards

F: I'm looking forward to it

A: you better :D, Farah couldn't stop herself from smiling as she looked at her phone.

******
Sending love your way
HappyWatermelonKid•~•