Chapter 15

There was a small clearing amongst the mammoth trees that surrounded Aman and Priya.  Aman opened the car door and stepped out.  He walked around the car and held open Priya’s door.  Priya was too preoccupied with the sight before her to notice Aman standing there waiting for her to exit the car.

“Priya.” Aman said, trying to get her attention.

“What? Sorry. It’s just so beautiful.” Priya replied.

Lights adorned the surrounding trees.  Lanterns, flowers, and decorations were strewn about adding webs of color to the area.  The clearing seemed unreal, almost magical.  Situated in the back was a small table, draped with a dark, velvet table cloth and a small but fancy candelabrum that sat in the center.

“Are we having dinner here?” asked Priya once her eyes fell on the table.

“Yes we are. Don’t worry. I didn’t cook.  The chef made dinner, so it’s safe to eat.” Aman said with a grin.

“I honestly thought you were going to take me out to some fancy restaurant.” Priya admitted.

“Oh come on, Priya! That’s so impersonal.  A first date should mean something special.” Aman replied.

“This really is special, Aman.  When did you find the time to do all this?” Priya asked.

They started walking deeper into the clearing, making their way to the back where the little table was.

“I wasn’t really at work all this time. I was doing this.  Well, I didn’t really do all of this myself, but I oversaw the project.” Aman said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

Priya figured that Aman hadn’t really done all of this himself, but she thought he’d sent people to decorate while he stayed at his office and worked.  It was good to know that he actually took time out of his busy schedule even if it was just to ‘oversee the project’ as he put it.  Priya sat down at the table.  Aman brought out a bottle of champagne.  He poured two glasses and handed on to Priya.

“I don’t drink.” Priya declared, eyeing the glass suspiciously.

“It’s just champagne.” Aman chucked.  “We need to toast.”

“Toast what?” asked Priya.

“Our first date!  To us,” Aman said, raising his glass, “for making it through these first few weeks of marriage relatively unscathed with minimal arguments.”

Aman and Priya toasted.  Aman immediately gulped down his champagne.  Priya took a small sip, wrinkling her nose at the taste.  She set it aside and waited for Aman to serve the food.  He stood up and fiddled with the dishes before placing a plate in front of Priya.

“Dinner is served.” He announced.  Bowing slightly, imitating a waiter.

Priya giggled.

“Indian food?” she said, surprised.

“Obviously.  It’s probably not as good as yours though. Don’t tell the chef I said that.  We have aloo paratha, lamb biryani, chicken curry, aloo gobi, kheer, and mango sherbet.  One hundred percent Indian.” Aman said.

“So much food…we can’t finish all of this.” Priya said.

“We can sure try.  Let’s eat!” Aman exclaimed.

“That is the most food I’ve ever eaten.” Priya declared after finishing the last bit of kheer.

“You’ve barely had anything.” Aman retorted, stuffing some biryani in his mouth.

“Seriously?  Aman, I ate all of this.”Priya said, gesturing to her once full plate.

“Whatever you say.” Aman replied with a smirk.  “Come on.” He grabbed Priya’s hand and pulled her up from her seat.  He started to lead her back towards his car.

“Where are we going? What about the food?” Priya asked.

“Just leave the food.  I’ll have someone clean all of this up later.” Aman said, still pulling Priya along.

“Where are we going?” Priya asked again.

“It’s a surprise.” Aman said grinning.

“Another surpise…great.” Priya said dismally.

Aman opened the passenger door and motioned for Priya to sit inside.

“Please tell me where we’re going.” Pleaded Priya as Aman buckled up in the driver’s seat.

“If I tell you, it’ll ruin the surprise.” Aman said, gazing at Priya.  He turned back to the road and focused on driving.  The commute wasn’t long.  Only a few minutes had passed, and Aman was already slowing down the car.  They were in some sort of open field near the forest area where they had eaten dinner.

“What in the world?” Priya said upon viewing the field.  There was a large screen set up in the center of the field.  Spread out in front of the screen were several blankets. “A film?” Priya guessed.

Aman said nothing in response.  Instead, he quickly opened Priya’s door and pulled her towards the blankets.

“Just sit and watch.” He commanded.  He whistled really loudly and gave a thumbs up to some unknown person who wasn’t visible to Priya.

“Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayega! I love Shahrukh Khan! This is my favorite film! How did you know?” Priya exclaimed as the opening credits rolled.

“Everyone loves DDLJ and everyone loves Shahrukh Khan.  It wasn’t that difficult.” Aman chuckled at Priya’s excitement.

Priya settled herself on the blankets and got comfortable.  Aman sat cross legged beside her but maintained some distance.  He couldn’t help but stealing at glances at Priya throughout the movie.  He couldn’t help but notice the dreamy expression she would get every time a very young Shahrukh Khan graced the screen with his presence.  She would laugh at every comedic moment as if she were watching it for the first time, even though she must have seen the film at least a dozen times.  Aman continued to watch Priya.  He watched her more than he watched the movie.

Finally, the movie came to the part Aman had been waiting for.

“Tujhe dekha to yeh jaana sanam,” the song started.

“Pyaar hota hai deewana sanam.” Aman joined in the chorus.

Priya looked at him with a slightly amused but otherwise incredulous expression.  He continued to sing along with the song.  He stood up and held out his hand.  Priya looked at him suspiciously.  Surely he wasn’t asking her to dance with him. He was doing just that.  Aman gently took Priya’s hand and helped her up.  He placed her arms on his shoulders and placed his own on her waist.   They started off in a slow side to side motion, but Aman eventually ended up twirling Priya gracefully around the field as the song concluded.

“Did that really just happen?” Priya asked in disbelief.

“It did.” Aman replied, grinning.

“This is the best date ever.” Admitted Priya.

“I’m glad you think so.” Replied Aman.

The film concluded an hour or so later.  Aman and Priya hadn’t realized how late it had gotten.  Priya started to worry about Payal being alone so late at night.  They rushed to get back home.

“Payal,” Priya called as they entered the mansion.

“She’s probably asleep.” Aman said.

“I’ll go upstairs and check on her.” Priya said before scurrying up the stairs.  Aman slowly followed her.

“Hi Didi!” Payal exclaimed as soon as Priya reached the top of the stairs.  She dragged Priya into Aman’s room.  Aman, slightly amused, followed behind the two girls.

“Tell me everything!” demanded Payal.  She plopped down on Aman’s bed.

Priya gave Aman an apologetic look.  Aman simply smiled in response.

“I think Priya really enjoyed herself.” Aman interjected.

“Really? Did you, Didi? What did you two do?” Payal asked, her eyes bulging with excitement.

“Just dinner and a movie.” Aman spoke up.

Priya smiled at Aman’s understatement of the night’s activities.  Dinner and a movie couldn’t even begin to explain the magical evening Priya had with Aman.

“That’s it? Boring!” Payal chastised.

“Payal.” Priya warned.

“No no Priya. She’s right. I’ll just have to do better next time.” Aman said with a wink, which caused Priya to blush.

“Yeah! Jija-ji will just have to do better.  Didi, you deserve it.” Payal said.

“Payal, that’s enough. Go to sleep. It’s late.” Priya reprimanded.

“Okay okay.  I’m going.” Payal stood up to leave but paused in the doorway, “Didi, should I sleep downstairs?” she asked.

“Why would you do that?” Priya asked.

“Well, it seems like there might be a honeymoon part two in the making tonight.” Payal said quickly, running out of the room and down the hall.

Priya gasped and then blushed profusely.  She was completely stunned and severely embarrassed.  Aman tried to stifle a chuckle.  A slight blush crept up his neck.  Payal actually thought they had a romantic evening out and wanted to continue the romance tonight.

“So,” Aman started, attempting to dissolve the awkwardness of the situation.

Priya said nothing. She’d turned away from him in an attempt to hide her embarrassment.

“Where should we go on our honeymoon?” Aman asked.

Holy cow! Honeymoon! ;)

College is SO hard! I can’t seem to make any friends and there’s no air conditioning in the dorms.  Classes haven’t started yet, and I’m already really busy. I’m going to try to update every week.  I say that now (lemme remind you that classes haven’t started), but I don’t know. Let’s see if I can actually stick to my word….

Listen to the song from DDLJ on the side.

Did you like Aman and Priya’s date?  What was your favorite part? Comment and vote!!!