Chapter 07

Jane smiled to herself, remembering all of their kind words as she entered her room. After coming to the city, she had met so many kind people. She felt that it was a misconception that the people living in a big city had small hearts. Until now, she hadn't met anyone like that. 

Though she was not a person to be intimidated easily, it was their kind behavior towards her that made her feel something.

Throughout her 21 years of life, she had hardly met anyone kind and genuine to her. But her new friends, Uncle, Aunt Mary, Aunt Kathy's whole family, they had all been so good!

Now, thinking about her family, she felt a little bit uncomfortable seeing her grumpy son. The way he had constantly looked at her as if he would throw her out of his house if he had gotten the chance. 

The food was so good, but she couldn't even have her breakfast peacefully. His constant gaze had made her nervous. No wonder when he complimented her dish, she was surprised at first. Maybe he had said it out of formality.

She knew that he had accidentally touched her feet, but it had been so sudden she couldn't help being choked on her food.

Her thinking got halted as her phone started ringing.

"Hey, where were you? I called you twice before, but you didn't even receive it," Isabella almost shouted from the other side of the phone.

"Sorry Bella, I wasn't in my room. I just got back here." Jane said apologetically.

"It's okay. So when are you coming?" Isabella asked, curiosity dripping out of her voice.

"Where?" Jane frowned.

"Don't tell me you don't remember that today we made a plan. We were supposed to go shopping!" 

"Shit!" Jane cursed herself in her mind. Of course, she remembered, but within the last few hours, she had totally forgotten.

"Yeah! I remember." She replied to her friend.

"We are going to have a lot of fun for the whole damn day." Isabella giggled from the other side of the phone.

"But..." Jane tried to say something.

"No buts Jane. Come on. I know a Chinese restaurant. Trust me, the taste of food is heavenly. We have to go there, girl!" Isabella said with conviction.

"Okay, we will go. Now bye. I'll be late. See you." Jane said in a hurry.

Putting the phone down, she rushed towards the bathroom.

.........

"How far is it, Isabella? I was really tired. And it was almost evening," Jane asked.

"Oh, it wasn't that far. Trust me, you would have thanked me after having the food. Now come on," Isabella dragged Jane along with her.

Jane went with her reluctantly. She didn't feel like going outside without any proper reason. All she wanted at that time was to go to her room and engulf her bed with love. But after seeing her friend's enthusiasm, she couldn't say no. She was in good company, though.

Taking a cab, they went towards their destination.

.......

"Addy, aren't you smiling too much today? So what's the reason behind your happiness?" Samuel asked Adrian, suspiciously.

"What do you mean? Can't I even feel happy without any proper reason? And what's with you, always spying on me and questioning me now and then? Fuck off!" 

Adrian gave an annoying look to his friend.

Samuel chuckled lightly, listening to him.

"Okay, okay. Then tell me when are we leaving for the club? It's Sunday, remember?"

"I am not in the mood to go to the club. Remember the time when we used to go to that restaurant sometimes? Let's go there."

"You mean one of your family restaurants? Which one?" Samuel asked, trying to understand the one his friend was talking about.

"No, no. Not those lavish ones. The one where we used to go sometimes back in the old days, the Chinese restaurant one," Adrian said, running his fingers through his jet black hair.

"Ohoho! How many surprises I am yet to get on a single day from you, Addy? You and that restaurant? Are you sure? I mean whenever we, moreover, like I dragged you there, you hardly ate anything. So what's it with you today?"

Samuel couldn't stop feeling surprised.

 Adrian had been dropping bombs since morning, one after another. And his best friend's behavior had become too much for him to digest.

"You know that I am health-conscious. That's the only reason I wasn't very fond of eating those unhealthy foods. But today I freed myself from all my restrictions. So if you don't want to come, it's okay. I'll go all alone." Adrian left, taking the car key without even waiting for his friend's reply.

"Hey, wait! I'll go too. I can never say no to food." Samuel rushed after him too.

While his friend was driving, Adrian was lost in his own world. He didn't know why he felt like suddenly going there. But since morning, he had been in an all-happy mood and wanted to break all of his own restrictions. So the first thing that came to his mind was going to that particular restaurant.

He had tried a few dishes there two to three times in the past because Samuel forced him. He hated to admit at that time that it was really good! Now talking about the food, his mind again went to that one girl.

While leaving his house, his eyes fell on her apartment itself. But to his disappointment, her room was dark. Yes, he had come to know what her room was. And it was in the exact opposite direction of his own room! 

The girl, making him feel so restless, was so close to him all the time, but he had no idea!

That sweet dish made by a sweeter girl and...damn! was it tasty!

He could only imagine how the cook would taste! He chuckled at his own dark thoughts.

His friend saw it all but decided against saying anything about it.

"We are here," Samuel exclaimed. Adrian snapped out of his daze, listening to his friend.

"Let's go, bro! What are we waiting for?"

While his friend was ordering their food, Addy stood outside, looking at the surroundings. It had been a while since he had come to this part of the city. It was always either his own apartment or house or office, on weekends at any nightclub, and on vacations to any European country.

It was always the same and revolved in a monotonous cycle. It's not that he was complaining. His life was colorful. Just perfect. He had everything anybody could ever wish for.

While his eyes roamed around, they fell on two girls coming in his direction, one all chirpy, enthusiastic, the other one a little bit reluctant. He was about to look away until he saw a particular girl he knew all too well!

What was she doing here?

Was she here for him?

But how did she know that he was here?

As the distance started reducing between them, he felt his heartbeat rise once again. His mind calculated all types of possibilities for her to be here. But bursting all of his predictions, they went inside the restaurant directly.

Her friend hurriedly, and she behind her, taking time. As she crossed his side, a smell of lavender hit his nose. Shutting his eyes, he took a deep breath to consume the smell as much as possible. As if he wanted to embed it into his brain and mind.

And just like that, the smell was gone. Opening his eyes, he couldn't see her anymore. A certain wave of disappointment hit him when he remembered how she didn't even acknowledge his presence, as if she didn't even notice him!

Maybe she didn't, but still, he was angry with himself for how his prediction went wrong that she was here to meet him.

Of course, she was there to have food with her friend. But wasn't it amazing how on the exact same day he decided to come here after so many years, she showed up too?

Was it just an amazing rare coincidence or a sign of the universe?

"Okay! So Adrian Alan Johnson now started believing in these shitty boring things too ! Like the universe and all, huh?" his subconscious mind taunted him again.

Jerking his head, he went inside the restaurant.

Entering inside, Adrian could feel a lot of eyes on him. As if people like him weren't expected into a place like that.

"Makes sense!" he thought, smirking.

But currently, he was searching for only one person. But instead of one, he saw three figures talking to each other, two of them were his closest, the second one didn't even know that. Without wasting time, he went to join them.

"So you are saying that you came here for the very first time? What a beautiful coincidence! We came here after years too! The food is really good here," Adrian heard his best friend talking with his object of interest and her friend.

"See, I told you too," Isabella said, a hint of pride in her voice as she proved correct.

Adrian saw her friend was quick to take the credit for bringing her here, which she definitely deserved, at least from him. He least expected her to show up here, especially at the same time as him.

But Jane seemed to focus on a specific word.

'We? You mean you didn't come alone?' she asked, frowning a little.

"No, he didn't. I was here too," Jane heard a deep husky voice from behind.

"Hey, Adrian, look who's here! What a pleasant surprise, no?" Samuel joined in, trying to tease him more.

But Adrian seemed to focus on a different thing. He didn't miss how she suddenly became conscious of her surroundings. Until then, she had been all smiles and talking with Sameer, but as soon as he joined in, her friendly behavior disappeared.

He also didn't like how his friend tried to take charge of reintroducing them, as if he was the third person there! What was it with her that she seemed comfortable around his friend but not with him?

They had just met today, at least officially, but it seemed like she already didn't like him. An unknown bitter feeling started spreading throughout his chest.

"Surprise? Indeed!" Adrian replied back to Samuel's previous comment when he realized that they all were waiting for him to say something.

But the situation became more awkward with his reply.

"Umm, can we order food? I am really hungry!" Isabella seemed to take charge to make the situation lighter.

"Yeah yeah, me too. Let's go," Samuel joined in.

Soon they all took their seats. Shortly after they ordered their food, silence engulfed the place again.

"So how did you know each other?" Adrian asked the girls seated in front of them.

"Actually, we are in the same class, preparing for the MCAT. Do you know the famous one near Park Avenue? That one. We..."

Before Isabella could keep blabbing on, Jane pinched her lightly. Isabella realized that her friend wasn't very comfortable sharing personal information, so she stopped, smiling awkwardly.

Adrian understood the whole scenario but said nothing. He wanted to know more about her, but it seemed like she was in no mood to let her friend do that. But at least he got to know where she studied.

Shortly after the food arrived, they started eating. Jane could again feel his heated gaze on her, but she didn't say anything. This time she decided that she wouldn't let him intimidate her.

Maybe she was overthinking and he had nothing against her?  They just met this morning, right? So what could she possibly do for him to get angry with her? 

She surely was exaggerating. Without thinking much, she tried to concentrate on her food.

After they were done, the men were insisting on paying the bill, but she was very strict, saying that they could pay for themselves. They weren't even close, so it definitely didn't seem right to let them pay for themselves too.

"Ok. So we will leave now. Nice meeting you again. Bye."

Smiling lightly, Samuel waved them back.

Taking her friend's hand, she was about to leave the place, but suddenly felt her wrist caught in a strong grip by someone, and her step halted. Looking back, she came face to face with a familiar person. She was puzzled by this type of behavior from him.

Giving her a questioning look even before she could ask him about his action, his deep voice spoke out,

"SORRY."