Tiny little word.

She was nursing her broken heart. She sniveled, snorted and wiped her tears off. She could not care about the mess her tears is making on her mascara or the about the stares she is getting. It is a beautiful restaurant and she could not care anymore! Her love is getting married to another woman! Her world is falling apart. 

Beside this teary woman, sat a man fidgeting his mobile.

It has been 2 hours since he had picked her from her apartment. She has not stopped crying since. Being seated in a restaurant does not seem to bother her too. He smiled at people who were getting concerned about her tears. No dude! I did not do anything to her. She is crying about her Ex. 

He was not surprised by her situation. She should have seen this heartbreak coming. She should have known that he is not gonna stay.

BUT, He did not expect that she can cry for this long though. His stomach growled. The waiter had kept the food on the table, and left promptly without serving, seeing her cry. He heard her sniff again and he handed over the napkin which came along with the food they have ordered.

He tried to be patient, but the food is getting cold.

"Girl, you have seen worse and you are a tough woman", he tried to comfort her. 

"But why does it always happen to me?", She squeaked and started crying fresh tears. 

The names of men who were heartbroken by her flashed in his mind and he rolled his eyes. He scratched his head. He is out of words now. So he reached out and held her hands. She hissed.

"All men are the same!" she muttered.

He understood that it is a lost cause, and started to serve food to his plate. He placed some in her plate too. She pried in between her sobs and asked him to stop when he had served enough.

That made him smile and he shook his head. All that crying would have made her hungry! She was sitting with her feet on the chair and had bundled herself on the chair. It was a garden restaurant and no one seemed to be bothered about it.

He looked at her amused. "You know what? You look cute when you cry like this". He quipped with the smile.

That startled her and she stared back blankly.

When he finally served the dinner She pulled herself back to the table and they had their dinner in peace. Her cries have softened and she was not complaining anymore.

After the meal, they walked around the restaurants' park. It was a nice evening and her mood lightened. She spoke about her tiring job, and he spoke about his boring life. Then she spoke vividly about her dreams, her wishes, and all the plans she had chalked out after her marriage. Impressive! he thought.

It was getting late and people had started to leave the restaurant. It is time for him to drop her home.

He walked her to the car, and opened the door for her. She got in without looking away from his face. She was gauging him. Will he ask for a kiss? He could not help by smile at the fierce little thing she is. He handed over the cable and let her choose the songs to be played. With pride, she showcased her collection of music and hummed along. There was traffic. It did not bother him today. He can smell her faint perfume. He drove slow. She was talking... talking mostly to herself. He found her beautiful now, an amber soul, fiery, warm and beautiful. Her eyes did not tear up any more and in those eyes he had started to see his home.

She unplugged her phone when they reached the compound of her flat and told him that she enjoyed the evening. For that, He asked her to stop thinking too much and to sleep peacefully. Her heart whispered. He is a gentleman.

She did not want to go home just yet. She opened the door to get out, paused and looked back at him.

"Umm?"

"Did you really think that I was cute?" She blurted.

"Yes". He said that tiny little word with a chuckle.

　

　

　

　

　

Something changed.

He was driving, and I was counting the passing street lights. There is nothing new. Nothing fancy! It was just two souls comfortable in their silence whiling away their loathsome time. We know each other for years. There is nothing new to talk, and I can guess what he is going to say even before he thinks about it. We drove around in the night, safe in our elements.

 It never occurred to me before, but somehow a thought had stemmed that nothing can go wrong between us. I will not hesitate if he calls me in the middle of the night to walk till the end of the world. He can never hurt me. I smiled at that thought and looked at him. I saw the faintest smile when the beams from the other cars flashed on his face. He is happy.

 

“Baby pooh”

Alerted he looked at me, “What?!!”

“I called you baby pooh”, I said with a straight face.

“Ewww gross! Why you would call me such a thing?” He squirmed.

“That’s cute”. I remarked giggling seeing him getting uncomfortable.

“It is not cute. Gawd”

“It is.”

“I am a bad person”

“…and a jerk, and an asshole, and a pervert” I quipped with the widest of the grin.

He ended the conversation with a stare.

 I was not intimidated. I still had that grin. With apparent failure to control the situation, He went back to concentrating on driving. I did not have any pressing thing to do then and was staring at him. He is taller even while sitting, he was wearing a white shirt which is thoroughly ironed. Did he do that? Not an impressive job though. My OCD kicked in and I tried to stretch the folded cloth over his arms.

 

He was not expecting my touch. He jerked making the car take a sudden move to the left and almost hitting another car. He took the control of the car in another 10 seconds and once the fright faded from me, I started laughing. He was embarrassed. I poked him to make him see that I am still laughing. He was not going to look at me.

 

“A 30-year-old man, and still cannot handle a woman’s touch”, I laughed.

No response yet. I poked him again.

“Oye! can’t you even handle a small touch from a woman?” I grinned.

He breathed now. “I can handle a woman’s touch. I cannot handle YOURS”. He looked straight at me now, and It was my turn to be dumb folded.

 

It took a while for it to sink in. Then we drove in silence, and him being the gentleman dropped me back to my home instructing me to be safe. I smiled. Something has changed. I walked in closing the gate behind and still the shattering of the friend-zone was ringing in my ears.