“We should meet up again,” she said as she turned away from him “never” she added quietly, making up a dozen mental scenarios in her head. She thought he was gorgeous with the perfectly hazel eyes, hair, the perfect shade of brown and accent on point. She’d always pictured this moment in her dreamy eyes. But dreams are what they were; unreal. “Sure,” he said as he dropped her back to her room after spending the night together.
They’d met at a Scottish dance party. A friend of a friend had introduced them. She didn’t know what his name was, her poor Indian mind didn’t process the quick American accent as he rushed through his two syllable name. He had a way with words, little did she know. “Your tattoo is amazing” he remarked all of a sudden. Her cheeks flushed for the first time in really long. She stole a glance when he crossed her, not wanting to be caught staring at his face. She looked away soon enough only to be surprised by a strong pair of hands holding her by the waist. It was him again, but this time she looked him in the eye, shared a smile and put her hands on his. They danced around an entire circle at the quick beats of the guitar and the violin playing a Scottish melody. It was a night she was never going to forget.
An after party, a few drinks, a sly exchange of footsies and long walk later, they ended up in his room. “Um, I’ll take the couch…” she said, noticing the slight slur in her own voice. She couldn’t walk back to her room, it was too late. “Uh, sure.” he said, a little hesitant, he was expecting things a little differently. Regardless, he went to help her set the couch, she turned, he stood, she blushed, he leaned and after a moment of absolute slow motion, a frantic wave of desire erupted between them. What had clicked, neither knew.
Apparently, the bed for one easily accommodated two. Maybe because it was cold outside. Soon, his t-shirt was off and so was hers. He’d swooped her off her feet and carried her to the bed like she was a prized possession. “You’re beautiful” he had said. It was the first time she was hearing that. First time from a stranger at least. She wanted to just lie there, in his arms as their bare chests warmed each other. She just wanted to hug him, and wanted the night to never end. Maybe it was her fairytale. A fairytale that never comes true. His hands began trying to open her Pandora’s box. She could only faintly sense what was happening. She was drunk after all. She wanted him to just stop. She didn’t want to him to ruin what they were having right now. But how could she say no? What would he think of her? How would he react? Would he ask her to leave? But it was a risk worth taking. Her honour was in question of course.
“Don’t” she said firmly. “Excuse me?” he questioned. “You heard it right, don’t go there. I’m not having sex with you” “Are you sure? I thought we had a thing going on here.” “Maybe we do. I’m just not going to do it with you. I’ve just met you.” “You’re kidding me, right? Isn’t this enough?” “This is not how it works back in India” “Who cares? You aren’t in India” “Don’t try so hard, this can’t happen, I think I should leave” Saying this, she got up to wear her t-shirt again and to leave. “Don’t” he said. “I’m sorry, I should have asked” he continued. “Just please spend the night with me. I promise you it won’t happen again.” She was turned away from him, which is probably why she smiled. She wanted this all along. “Just please get into bed” he insisted. And she did. She did get back in his arms, they hugged each other, kissed each other till their mouths gave up and signalled fatigue. As they drifted off to sleep, “Best night” she muttered.
She woke up to him playing with her hair and staring right at her face. “What?” she asked “You’re beautiful” he said. She smiled, a genuine smile. Her eyes shone as bright as the morning sun. Maybe this isn’t going end so bad after all, she pondered. “I better get going now, I’ll be late for the 9am class otherwise.” “Haha, now you wouldn’t want to miss that old man’s class, would you? I’ll drop you back to your room babe, come on!” As they walked with her bicycle between the both of them, she tried to steal a glance at his face. She wanted to memorise each and every detail of his face. She never wanted to forget him. “Can I take a picture of the both of us?” She offered, fishing out her phone from her pocket.
She thought she saw him hesitate, but she ignored it as a case of over thinking. He smiled a half smile in the selfie she clicked. As she was about to post it on her Facebook, he stopped her. “Now, you wouldn’t want any one to know about us, would you?” He asked with the most innocent face ever. Something cracked inside of her. Something she thought was going to last for a while. “Sure” she fumbled, plastering an upturned frown, something that could possibly pass as a half smile. That’s when she decided she wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of having dominated it all along. That’s when she put up a sweet smile and said “We should meet up again."
