I suddenly feel very aware of how embarrassing that sounds for a twenty two year old. I shrug awkwardly. “I mean… it’s not like I wasn’t interested.”
I stare very intently at the ground. “Initially I was.”
The evening breeze lifts a few strands of my hair and pushes them across my cheek. “But no one was particularly interested in me, apparently,” I continue with a small laugh that doesn’t feel very convincing.
“And then Papa died.” The words fall quietly between us. “And everything changed.” I force myself to keep talking before the silence becomes too heavy. “I got busy with the shop, and Neel was still very young.” Aditya hasn’t said anything yet. He’s just watching me. Listening.
“I didn’t want to bring random people into his life,” I continue slowly. “Kids get attached easily.” I swallow. “And I didn’t want him getting used to temporary people.” My fingers twist nervously together. “So I decided if someone was going to be in my life… they had to be serious about it.” The streetlight hums softly above us. “I told myself I would wait for someone who walked into my life and said, ‘Okay, we’re doing this properly.’” I shrug lightly. “Because I didn’t have the energy to go searching for that person.” The words hang in the air for a moment. Then I finally look up.
Aditya’s expression has changed. The teasing softness is gone. Now there’s something else there. Something gentler. Warmer. His eyes soften in a way that makes my chest feel strangely tight. I realize I like that expression on him. Too much.
“Hey,” he says quietly. He steps a little closer. “I didn’t mean to make you feel bad about that.”
My eyes widen. “No, no, you didn't.”
He studies my face carefully. Then a small smile returns to his lips. “I was just surprised.” He hesitates for a moment. Thenhe says something that completely derails my brain. “You’re so beautiful, it doesn't make sense somehow.”
The words land softly. But the effect is anything but soft. My heart stumbles. My entire body suddenly feels warmer. Aditya straightens slightly then, his expression shifting into exaggerated seriousness. “This is very important information.”
I blink. “What?”
He folds his arms dramatically. “I promise,” he says solemnly, “that I will make you experience the best dates ever.”
My eyes widen again. It seems like I keep doing that around him.
He grins. “Don’t fight it.”
And somehow—every protest I had prepared completely disappears.
We start walking again, though I’m not sure when exactly we begin moving.
One moment we’re standing there in the middle of the street with his ridiculous promise hanging in the air between us, and the next we’re drifting toward the small ice cream parlor at the corner like it was always the destination. The shop is barely more than a narrow room with a glowing freezer in the front and three metal tables pushed against the wall, but tonight the soft yellow lights inside make it look oddly inviting.
Aditya steps forward and holds the glass door open for me with exaggerated politeness.
“After you,” he says.
I narrow my eyes at him but walk in anyway.
The air inside is cooler, carrying the faint sweet smell of sugar and waffle cones. A fan hums lazily overhead while the boy behind the counter scrolls through his phone with complete disinterest in our arrival.
Aditya leans slightly closer to the freezer glass, studying the rows of brightly colored tubs like this is a serious culinary decision.
“What does someone order on their first date?” he murmurs thoughtfully.
“This is not a first date,” I say quickly.
He glances sideways at me.
“Right,” he says with obvious skepticism. “This is an ice cream mission approved by a seven-year-old committee.”
Despite myself, I laugh. He orders two cones after asking me again and when I couldn't decide he took matters to himself—chocolate for me, something ridiculous with chocolate chips and caramel for himself—and a minute later we’re sitting at the small metal table near the window.
For a few moments we just eat quietly.
It should feel awkward.
Two people who barely knew each other a week ago, now sitting together under buzzing fluorescent lights eating melting ice cream because my brother demanded photographic proof of marital happiness.
