Misha shakes her head dubiously, she is not ready, does not know what she is going to say to him.
Sammy narrows her eyes and stomps Misha's trainers with her high-tops converse, a gesture that says go or else.
Misha's heart hurtles, and she closes her eyes. She has to do this he can't ignore her forever right? What is the worst thing that can happen, he will yell at her and call her an antagonist, she can explain right?
She opens her eyes and looks at the incontestable eyes of Sammy who nods in encouragement then flutters her hand towards a surprising candidate that gets up from his seat as fast as a bird does scared for its life. Her horn rimmed glasses senior almost runs to their booth and stops red faced and tall in attention, his eyes diverting between Misha and Sammy and the booth behind Misha.
Idhant freezes as if a vulture shot at him when Sammy turns to him with narrowed eyes and says, "Can you look at the tables for me?"
He blushes from head to toe, nodding his head so fervently that it looked like as if Sammy was complimenting him and asking him on a date instead of serving tables.
Sammy turns to Misha satisfied and unsmiling, "Now go shoo." She leans half her body on the table and sends different dimensions of caveats with her eyes, "I am listening and supporting you from here, go get your guy." In other words, Sammy is saying, I am listening and you better not make a fool of yourself.
Misha's eyes widen, Sammy is clearly getting it wrong. It's not about go get your guy simple. It's about, I have hurt him to such an extent that I somehow forgot about him when he kept waiting for me for years, and then he meets me unexpectedly one day, and he doesn't complain, he just comes forward and introduces himself, and he asks me one simple thing, do you remember me? And I said no, when I should have jumped at him and said yes. It's about him pretending to not know me because he maybe doesn't wanna even talk to me right now.
But even then Misha doesn't know how to talk to him, because any image of him before the college entrance exam is not present except in Sammy's hand and the page hidden in the depths of her bag that she did not touch, she doesn't know how she will tell him that, maybe he will think she is lying, again. She couldn't even explain to herself how she did not remember him, how instead of the entire story from her grandmother, she could not remember Aakash even if she tried.
Her Gem was shocked that Misha remembered anything about Aakash the next day of Christmas. If that wasn't weird Misha wasn't sure what else was, How she was going to explain all of this to Aakash?
Before she goes mad with her thoughts, she finds the courage to get up from her seat and not look at the photograph in Sammy's hand.
Idhant gives her a thumps up and steps aside for her to go to the booth behind her, the last thing she hears before she turns away with her heart beating in her ears is Sammy steamrolling to Idhant, "Go see the tables, what are you waiting for?"
And she walks off to her perdition.
******
The first thing that comes to Misha's mind when she gets to Aakash's booth is several expletives at herself and the question she should have asked herself before stepping out of her dorm room in oversized wrinkled sweater and sweatpants that said, keep your hands on your haunches and shout hoopla, why did she like wearing sweatpants with profanities, she just did. Misha wasn't usually the one to fuss over her clothes and compare it with other girls, she was actually quite fine on the self-confidence department, until now, she realised.
The way she was standing in front of their booth with her hands held straight in a marching position, her fingers clammy and twitching on her sweatpants like a total wannabe, made her want to hiss at herself for being the up & coming statue of idiocy.
He was smiling at something the girl said, it made his eyes crinkle at the corners, and a pit of dimple make an appearance over his face, it made him look like he was sitting under a sunlight instead of the neon yellow light of the cafe.
Someone cleared their throat from the other booth; it was obviously Sammy, prodding from her eyes for Misha to go ahead.
Misha took one step ahead, and his head finally turned in her direction, his eyes met hers and Misha felt her synapses shift thunderously in response, it was as vivid black and gold as she remembered it to be. Her steps faltered and her breath became short, it was as if the world slowed down to the beat in her heart to the colour in his eyes, goosebumps erupted on her skin.
Attraction doesn't feel like this, it wasn't just attraction that she felt when she looked at him, she have felt attracted to several others before. She was attracted to Darshit but with Aakash it was like he was calling her without words, and she wanted to listen, her heart wanted to listen even when her head didn't understand[ro1] .
He kept looking at her and Misha couldn't look away, her mouth opened several times, but nothing came out. Her cheeks heated in response, and her blood boiled inside her.
He was looking at her as if he was trying to solve a puzzle he didn't understand. She understood. She could solve it. But she didn't know at the moment what to say to the person you have been trying to find for a year, and maybe unconsciously, years?
Someone cleared their throat.
She didn't care.
"Excuse me?" a grating voice made Misha break the eye contact with Aakash, she immediately wanted to revert back to his eyes again, to tell him how sorry and pathetic she felt.
But her eyes met with the source of that voice, which was, the brown leather jacket girl, Ishani, as she eavesdropped Aakash calling before. Her face was so perfect, Misha thought, she could easily have been a model for a magazine.
"Do you have any problem?" the girl asked with her brows up in a surprisingly neutral tone.
Misha steered herself straight and poised, her chin involuntary jutted out, her back straight, she wasn't the debate captain for her school team without any reason, two years in boarding school made sure, that she knew how to stand up for herself, even if she was in a wrinkly sweater and old sweatpants that said, keep your hands on your haunches and shout hoopla.
"Yes," she says, not heading the girl anymore attention and turning towards Aakash, "I would like to talk to you." Her eyes pleaded with him, please, please talk to me.
She does not expect the answer that comes in response, "Sure," He says, tilting his head so that the messy brown curls of his bounces, and a strand of hair falls on his eyes.
Misha's breath hitches, she can't believe herself, she almost smiles.
"No," The girl interjects.
Aakash turns his head toward the brown leather jacket girl and gives her a thoughtful look, she blushes in response, and bleats, flapping her hands "I.... I mean, we were busy, but of course...if you want to, I mean...." She says pointing to Aakash with flustered discomfiture.
"Thank you" Aakash says, in a honeyed deep voice that exuded authority even if he was smiling at the girl.
Misha's gut is not allowed to churn at the image, he doesn't owe her anything, but it does, and she finds herself to be unnaturally jealous for the first time in her life. She was not even jealous when she was in relationship with Darshit and he went to the summer camp in Goa and posted a picture of him kissing a girl friend on his cheek, and here she was.
Aakash shifts in the red booth seat, tapping at the space beside him drinking his iced coffee with the pink and white paper straw.
Misha's eyes widen and her eyes turn to Sammy for a moment, who is watching the drama with a dog hound's eyes, looking enthralled, her fingers twitches on her sweatpants, and she looks at him looking all cool and nonchalant, sipping his coffee, eyeing her as if her presence was just making him a tad bit amused, just a simple inconvenience that he would solve, and then go back to talking with the girl in brown leather jacket.
If he wants to make a fool of her, she thinks with her gut turning cold, she doesn't want it to be in front of so many people.
"I....I want to talk to you alone." She says with gusto that she didn't know she quite had in the situation.
His eyes meet her, for quite a long time, a queer silence takes over the two booths.
Misha's heart beats with apprehension. He is going to say yes. Of course he is going to say yes.
"I am sorry." He says, considering, staring.
A bucket of cold water spills on Misha's heart.
Then, "I can't do that. I am here with a friend," he says in an agile dismissive tone, dismissing her with one stroke and detracts himself towards the complacent smiling leather jacket girl.
Her heart isn't ready for the humiliation, even if she knows she deserves it. She hears Sammy growl from the other table and meets her eyes shaking her head, she has to do this alone.
Sammy gives her an unbelievable look.
"Aakash," she turns to him, her voice pleading, throat stinging, she can't help it.
It somehow works because his head snaps towards her suddenly, his black gold eyes dilate, and he frowns at her, the first reaction of any disapproval he has given her since they met.
Somehow a lamp of hope brightens in her chest. Angry she can handle.
"How do you know my name?" His voice is confused, a frown edging between his brows and the corner of his lips.
Misha's heart thuds, how does she know his name? Was he playing with her?