Surprise or shock

"Riya's Point of View,"

I'd just walked out of the office building. My office was about 30 minutes away from my home.

As I lifted my hand to halt the auto-rickshaw, the horn of a car approaching from behind drew my attention; "Oh, Is this Harsh?"

"What exactly is he doing here?" I moved over to Harsh's car, drew back my raised hand to stop the auto-rickshaw, and stared at it, bewildered.

I often tell Harsh that he should come outside my office and pick me up, but he never has enough time to stand outside and wait for me.

Although seeing Harsh's smiling face makes my day's exhaustion go away, I am surprised to find him in front of me like this.

I should be glad to see him, but I'm not sure why I don't like it when he comes today.

"What are you doing here?"

As I stood outside the car, I inquired.

He peered out the window of his car. As he opened the car door, he looked at me affectionately and said, "I pick you up."

"If you had called and told me, I would have come out early," I grumbled.

He would be the one to start the car. "How long have you been here?" I inquired as I fastened my seatbelt.

He said, looking at his watch, "for half an hour."

I realized I'd left the workplace exactly half an hour earlier.

Harsh would not have had to wait as long for me if I hadn't gotten Rachit in the lift.

"I'm very sorry," I whispered as I took his hand in one of mine.

"I've been waiting for your yes for four years in college." He added affectionately, "This is nothing compared to that time."

"Really?" I responded, grasping his palm.

"Yes," he said, keeping one eye on the road and one hand on the steering wheel.

He turned around and drove away, without taking the route that led to the house.

"Are we not going home?" I wondered.

"No," he replied.

"Then where are we going?" I shifted my gaze and asked another question.

"We're going to have dinner outside," he said sternly, "and we will accomplish the plan that I canceled yesterday today."

"Why?" I inquired.

"Because I know since how many days you want to have dinner outside," he said, his voice stern.

And after listening to him, my attitude toward him was like, "How do you know because I didn't tell you?"

"Riya, who loves with a pure heart, always knows everything there is to know about their lover without having to tell them."

As he responded while parking the car, I stared into his eyes.

I was ashamed of what I had done only minutes ago. But, after exiting the car and smiling at him, we both entered the restaurant, and he handed me the menu card as we sat in a chair facing each other.

When prompted to place an order, I chose my favorite Pav Bhaji, while Harsh requested two cold coffees while ordering his favorite noodles.

I stared at him, perplexed, and asked "why?"

He had referenced our previous dinner date. "You were sitting there insisting on drinking cold coffee, so I assured you. You could drink it after your cold was gone."

"Do you even remember this thing?" I asked, looking at him again, shocked. "Everything you express, what you say, and what you don't say," he said. "I remember: what did you wear last night?"

I nervously rolled my eyes as he replied in a playful tone.

"Do you want something else?" the waiter asked as he stood in front of the ordered items on a plate, placing the order on the table.

We exchanged a shaky nod, and I instantly turned into my regular office gossip with him, which he enjoyed. Because I used to tell everything about it, it well acquainted me with Harsh with everyone in my office.

He was familiar with every member of my team to where he could recognize them even if they passed in front of him, thanks in part to my extensive description of my workplace. He had informed me frequently that it related him to people, although he had met none of them.

He asked about Rachit hurriedly. "Did Rachit not come to work today?"

My face changed color as if my thievery was to discover and it had caught me. Maintaining my composure, I responded to his question.

"Y... yes... yes, he was coming."

"So, why aren't you providing me with any new information about Rachit these days?

What exactly went wrong?"

When he noticed my worried appearance, he inquired, "Is everything okay?"

"Yes, completely everything is in working order," I responded in a hushed tone."Rachit is now preoccupied with his work and cannot converse effectively at this moment."

Then I reminded him, "Hey, I forgot to tell you it's important," to redirect his focus away from Rachit once more.

As the glow on my face returned, he queried.

"What?"

"The most recent breaking news In a cinematic tone, I added, "foremost, with Riya's fastest reporter."

Harsh was well-versed in the material from my monologues. He recognized I was a happy-go-lucky person who needed to maintain that state of mind in the long run. We've been together for the past seven years, so he'd be familiar with the situation.

"Are you going to tell me now or will you keep me guessing?" he inquired.

"Just after the break," I got up from my chair in the same dramatic manner as before to use the restroom.

"I'll be there in five minutes." I left the table to use the restroom, and Harsh called the waiter, paid the bill, and then waited for me to return.

As soon as I returned, Harsh rose from his chair and inquired when we could return home.

I nodded, picked up my handbag from the table, and walked out of the restaurant with a smile on my face.