As I sat there at the bus stand like a 10-year old kid, pondering over the idea of love and relationships, a car pulled over right in front of me and started honking loud enough to deafen someone. Frustrated, I tried to take notice of who the driver was only to find Ishaan sitting in there. I looked again, this time a bit more clearly, to be sure and found him waving at me. He rolled down the window and gestured at me to come over. Clueless, I walked up to the car and popped my head in through the window.
"Hey! Come sit. I'll drop you home.", he said, with a smiling face and twinkling eyes.
"My home is at least an hour away. That if there's no traffic. You don't want to waste your day away.", I answered, secretly wanting him to persuade me a little more.
"I certainly won't mind that.", he said.
"Are you sure?"
"Oh stop it! Okay, how about this? I'll drive you home and you can pay me the bus fare.", he giggled while saying that.
Not wanting to waste another second, I quickly got into his car and sat right next to him. We exchanged a few awkward pleasantries before I got busy opening the Maps on my phone to help us navigate. While scrolling on the phone, my eyes suddenly caught him staring at me like there was something he wanted to say.
"What?", I asked.
He smiled and came a little closer to put the seat belt around me. I tried to avoid looking into his eyes and smiled to make up for the embarrassment I had caused myself. But the gentleman that he was took it upon himself to make me feel as comfortable as he possibly could.
"Where to, ma'am?", he asked with the cutest possible smile on his face.
"I'll guide you there.", I gave him an even wider smile as he started the car.
As we drove across the streets of Delhi, I could feel the wild rush of adrenaline inside me that I had never felt before. My brain refused to function and I just didn't know what to do or how to behave in those moments. Hundreds of cars were passing us by but all I could feel around myself was Ishaan and the intoxicating aroma of his perfume. As eager as I was to make the best use of this time to know him well, words refused to come out of my mouth. Although I was never good at starting or continuing conversations, I had never found myself this dumbstruck before.
A couple of minutes into the drive, Ishaan slowed down the car before hitting the steering wheel out of frustration. And I surely don't blame him for possessing the anger and resentment that every Delhiite seems to have built up owing to the never ending traffic issues here. Popping through his frustrated face came a grin that clearly meant he was about to say something. And so he did.