A Blind Date

A Romantic Comedy

It was a blind date.

She had interacted with him over the FB and they decided to meet.

As she entered the beach side restaurant on a warm winter afternoon, she stopped for a while to listen to the roar of splashing ocean waves crushing against the rocky shore.

She looked stunning in a white skirt and a full sleeve, grey top. Her shiny black curls danced merrily on her shoulders as she strode confidently with her light blue, high heels.

She could place him instantly. He was more handsome than his online photographs - fair, tall and masculine. But what she was struck by was his miserable condition. He sat there, at a corner table, holding his head between his hands, unshaven, uncombed, in a pair of crumpled jeans and T-shirt, looking sad, disturbed and disappointed.

This certainly did not appeal to her as the correct 'date' stuff but still she strolled towards his table resolutely.

'Hi-I am Shalini,' she extended her hand.

'Aditya,' he muttered in a low tone as he held her hand as if catching a dead fish.

She took her seat opposite him and smiled, revealing her pearly white teeth but he simply looked away as if annoyed by her presence.

A long, awkward silence followed, broken only by the sound of cutlery as people bit into their meals, hurried footsteps as smart waiters rushed past and the banging of car doors in the portico announcing the arrival of fresh visitors.

'Do you live nearby?' she asked gently, trying to break the ice.

'What difference does it make?' he replied peevishly, staring at the table cloth.

She began to feel quite uneasy at his indifference and brashness.

'If he was not interested, then why waste my time like this?' she thought angrily.

Meanwhile, her only companion kept running his long fingers through his thick hair, eyes fixed at something far away in space, completely oblivious to his surroundings and her presence. 

Growing wearisome every minute, she finally decided to call it a day, grabbed her purse and got up.

'Thank you mister for your warm hospitality but I think we are going nowhere. It was really nice meeting you,' she said cuttingly, getting up.

Aditya, shocked at her remarks, finally came out of his stupor. 'Shalini, I...I am sorry...please don't leave like this,' he fumbled, taking hold of her purse.

'What's the point in sitting here like statues?' she said, pulling her purse back, 'Why did you call me here at all?'

'Look,' he again tugged at her purse, ‘something really terrible happened yesterday night and I am not able to get over it.'

He looked straight into her eyes, ‘I called you here because I like you and would love to know more about you but...'

His hazel brown eyes, full of sincerity, entreated her to believe him. She took her purse back and sat down quietly, rubbing her hands impatiently.

'You are still angry.'

'Yes.'

A faint smile crossed Aditya's face for the first time that day. Her heart skipped a beat as she noticed how sexy his smile was.

'Would you like to know the reason behind my misery?'

'Sure, tell me.'

'Actually, it's all about Fresco.'

'Fresco?'

'Ya,' he said lovingly, ‘my pet.'

She could not suppress her smile.

'A dog has made you so gloomy!'

'Don't call him a dog,' he looked hurt,' he is my baby.'

'Oh, sorry' she said, checking her smile.

'He is my best friend, the only one who understands me.'

'How nice! But what happened exactly?'

 

He was quiet for a moment as if mustering courage, then he looked up.

'Your eyes are so beautiful,' she mused.

'You said something?'

'Oh no,' she flushed, 'you were telling me something about Fresco.'

He took a long breath, framing his thoughts.

'I lost my parents early in life in a car accident. An old aunt raised me. Soon, she realized that I was growing up as a lonely boy, introvert and aloof. I missed my parents badly and no one could take their place.'

Unconsciously, he arranged the set of spoons and forks on the table in the shape of a hut. His quivering lips indicated that he was suffering. She felt sympathy for him and something else which she could not fathom.

'One day - it was my birthday -in the morning, I found a beautiful basket laced with red and yellow ribbons, lying on my study table. On the top, a small card, written in my aunt's hand, was pasted carefully. It read - A REAL SURPRISE AWAITS YOU INSIDE.'

Excited, I opened the basket slowly. Inside the folds of a white sheet, a small, cute puppy was sleeping peacefully. It was a Golden Retriever and I fell in love with him instantly.'

His eyes shined like stars as he spoke about Fresco.

'I hope you can love other creatures as well,' she thought with amusement.

'You said something?'

'Oh no,' she flushed again, ‘so what happened thereafter?'

'Fresco turned out to be a large, friendly and loyal pet. Quite smart too with his golden, wavy coat and strong build. In fact, I suspected that...'

He finished off abruptly, blushing.

'Please don't hide anything from me.'

'Actually,' he added, still blushing 'I suspected that most of the bitches in the neighborhood were head over heels in love with him.'

She could not control her laughter this time but in order not to hurt his feelings, she hid her face in her scarf. It seemed that Aditya was willing to ignore her unprovoked outburst as he carried on with his narrative in jest.

'He was an active and fun-loving guy who needed a lot of exercise. So, we would go jogging, swimming or play with tennis balls. It was a pleasure receiving the newspaper from him and he liked waking me up by licking my face.'

She licked her lips with a mischievous smile and winked at him playfully.

'Anything?' he asked in a confused voice.

'Oh, nothing, really. I actually admire your relation with your...I mean...with Fresco.'

'In fact, everyone did. We just became inseparable. All the love that I looked for and never got from the people around me, I got from this guy. And he gave me unconditionally, always.'

His eyes grew mist as he said this and he glanced sideways to hide his tears.

'How sweet!' she pondered, twisting her lips.

'You said something?'

'Oh, no, ‘she stammered, 'so...so what went wrong?'

With guilt written large on his face, he continued, ‘you remember, last month, you had shared some of your photographs with me online?'

'Yeah, so?'

'I liked them so much that I got them developed and framed,' he said, reddening.

'Really!’ she exclaimed, blushing.

'Actually, I...I got in the habit of talking to your photographs.'

'Oh my God!’ she busted forth, rolling her eyes.

'Yes, I would speak to you in the morning, before going to the office and once at night. And that's where the problem started.'

'Problem?'

'Ya, Fresco got jealous.'

'What?'

'Try and understand Shalu, he needs me as much as I do.'

'But who is Shalu?'

'You...you are Shalu,' he lowered his glance, ‘I always call you by that name. Fresco also knows.'

She threw up her hands in the air.

'So, he has changed my name also!’ she reflected.

'You said something?'

'Oh, no, I mean what happened next?'

'I talked it over with Fresco.'

'With Fresco?'

'If I can talk to your photo, can't I talk with Fresco?'

'Yes, yes indeed,' she stressed, amazed at the intelligent comparison.

'But I could see that my arguments made no sense to him. I asked him not to be so envious. I said I speak to Shalu because I...'

'Yes?'

He only stared at her. Unable to speak, he got up, turned his face and gazed out of the window. In that one instance, she understood perfectly why he spoke to her photographs. She walked up to him and fiddled with her fingers.

'Then?'

'I couldn't convince him. I knew he was angry with me. But yesterday night, when I came back from office, I was shocked to find that the whole house was in a terrible mess.'

'How come?'

'In order to assert his independence and show me that he can also enjoy life with others, Fresco invited Helen in the afternoon.'

'Now who is Helen?'

'She is an attractive bitch who lives next door. What makes matters worse is that she is also a Golden Retriever and has a sort of birth right over Fresco.'

She felt like shouting and pulling her hair but satisfied herself with only making faces at him. By now, he had learnt to ignore some of her histrionics.

'Helen entered into the house through the backyard and I believe, they had lot of fun,' he said with a meaningful glance.

'What do you mean?'

'I think, ‘he blushed, ‘they had...sex.'

'What?'

'I could make out from Fresco's indolent walk that he'd done some mischief.'

She again hid her face in her scarf and laughed to her heart's content, beating the nearest wall with her fists but taking care not to make any noise.

'But what I could not tolerate was that he had smashed your photo frames, not only smashed but he went ahead and chewed your photographs.'

'I think he is very possessive.'

'He is but he crossed all limits. I could not bear the sight of your torn photos, lying on the floor and in a fit of rage...'

'Speak!'

'I dragged him out of the house, tossed him inside my car, drove ten miles outside the city and kicked him out into the forest.'

'O my God!'

She sat down on the table and held her head between her hands. He joined her and stared down.

'Tell me something Aditya. You and Fresco were living together for years now. He is so special to you. How could you just throw him out of the house like that?'

He looked up. Along with tears, she saw overflowing in his eyes, an ocean of love. He tried to say something but felt choked with emotions.

In that one moment, she comprehended everything. And now, more than ever, she became aware of what was to be done next.

'Get up,' she got hold of her purse.

'What for?'

'We are going.'

'Where?'

'To that forest where you left Fresco.'

'No. I can't go there. After doing all this, I can't face him.'

'Look at me Aditya.'

He gazed intently into her eyes.

'Do you trust me?'

'Yes I do.'

'Then come with me. Fresco is not a kind of friend who would desert you just because of one incident.'

'Are you sure?'

'Sure as hell, ‘she uttered in a dramatic fashion, ‘Shall we?'

Next, they both rushed out of the restaurant.

 

A red sedan rolled out of the city. She sat next to him in the front seat.

'You know exactly where you dropped him?'

'It was quite dark but I believe it was near a massive banyan tree, hugging the road.'

Just then, they noticed the corpse of a golden brown dog lying on the road side, victim probably of a drunken truck driver.

Beads of perspiration appeared on Aditya's forehead as he slowed down his car and staggered up to the corpse.

'It's not him, ‘he said, letting out a big sigh of relief.

As the car hit the road again, she realized that she was driving on a lonely road with a complete stranger, looking for a dog that hates her terribly.

'What a date!' she whispered to herself.

'You said something?'

'Ya, I mean...it's a beautiful day.'

He looked at her and could not help noticing how much of her exquisite legs popped out of her skirt. She felt his gaze on her and reminded him promptly.

'It would be better if you concentrate on the road.'

Embarrassed, he smiled foolishly and gripped the steering firmly, only to find a SUV coming on to him from the opposite side on the narrow road. He turned quickly on to his left to avoid the collision and in the process, slid off the road and bumped into a tree.

The force of collision threw her off and she landed straight into his lap, her hair covering his face completely. As she extricated herself, she found her lips close, very close to his face. His warm breath ruffled her black curls. They stayed in that position for a while before he broke the silence, beaming sheepishly.

'It's so nice...'

'What?'

'That we had this accident here. It's the same place where I deserted Fresco yesterday,' he said, still smiling awkwardly.

Flushed, she got out of his lap and then out of his car. The bumper had hit into a large banyan tree but not much damage was caused to the vehicle.

'Let's look in this direction,' she pointed to a small track disappearing into the woods.

It was a huge forest, quite dense at places. They have been rambling now for about two hours, shouting 'Fresco, Fresco' after every two minutes but still there was no sign of the missing creature.

Shortly, they emerged into an open area and ran into a young shepherd who was managing a herd of goats with a long stick. He sported a white dress with a red wrap tied around his waist. He eyed the strangers suspiciously.

'Don't be afraid,' Shalini said, plonking on a small rock, panting, 'we are looking for our dog. He got lost in this forest.'

'What kind of dog?’ the shepherd asked in a sharp, feminine voice.

'Golden colored, quite big and cute,' Aditya furnished the details.

'I think I have seen him.'

'Where?' he rushed up to the boy, holding his arm.

'There is a small crater that side. I think he has crashed into it.'

'O God, don't punish him for my sins!'

'Can you take us there?' asked Shalini.

The shepherd, without answering her, started pacing away from his herd of cattle with two strangers on his heels.

Soon, they raced over to the edge of a bowl shaped pit around eight feet deep. A large dog slept peacefully at the bottom.

'Fresco, my baby!' Aditya cried with tears of joy.

The baby on hearing his master's voice, jumped up on his feet and barked excitedly, looking up at his saviors, vigorously shaking his tail.

The master fell down on his knees and with hands clutched to his chest, swayed to and fro like a ravaged tree.

'Forgive me Fresco for being so cruel. I believe the devil got into me. Look, Shalu is also here to ask for your pardon.'

He grabbed her by her arm, dragged her up to the mouth of the pit and whispered, ‘Please say sorry to him.'

'But what have I done?’ she also whispered.

'This is the only way he can be persuaded,' he entreated.

With a stupid, gloomy look, she touched her ears in repentance and said, ‘Though we are meeting for the first time in life, I am sorry Fresco for whatever pain I have caused you.'

With his tongue hanging out and his breath hardly under his control, Fresco closed his mouth and hid his face under his paws.

'He is still angry with you,' said Aditya pensively.

Irritated, she shot back at him, ‘I know but shouldn't we plan to get him out now?'

'I think he fell into the pit at night, ‘said the shepherd thoughtfully, ‘we need a rope to pull him out.'

'But we don't have a rope here, ‘she said.

'Let's innovate then', he chipped in.

After about twenty minutes, Aditya looked proudly at a rope consisting of his jacket, her scarf and the shepherd's stole.

'Listen carefully now - I will get down there with the help of this rope and you both will hold it, right?'

Both shook their heads desperately.

'OK then, here I go. Fresco, my baby, I am coming.'

Blinking his eyes joyfully, he started lowering himself into the pit. The other end of the rope was held by Shalini and the shepherd, who stood huddled together and had a hard time maintaining their grip.

'I can't hold it any longer...your husband is too heavy,' muttered the shepherd under his breath.

'He is not my husband, ‘she shouted.

'So, you are doing all this...,' he wiped off the sweat on his brow, ‘to save a dog whose owner you don’t know?’

'I don't know the dog also, ‘she gasped, trying to clutch the rope firmly.

Meanwhile, Aditya's leg got entangled in the rope and he gave it a sharp tug. As he did so, Shalini and the shepherd, unable to control themselves, rolled over into the pit and fell over him. And as he was hanging half way, with a loud shriek, all three crashed into the soft earth at the bottom with a heavy thud.

The shepherd, his face covered with dust, cried loudly, ‘my father told me not to get involved with strangers and here I am, fooling around with these two.'

Shalini, wiping her face with her sleeves, yelled, ‘what a date God, thank you, what a date!'

Aditya with mud everywhere on his face, managed to open his eyes and hugging his pet, cried, ‘Forgive me Fresco. I know I am an idiot.'

The dog licked his face passionately.

He dusted Shalini's face with his hanky and thrust her in front of the dog.

'Say sorry, Shalu. I am sure he'll forgive you.'

'If I had a gun, I'll shoot both of you, ‘thought Shalini, clenching her teeth.

'You said something?'

'No, nothing,' she turned towards Fresco and said softly, ‘Sorry Fresco, I know how you feel.'

 

Meanwhile, the shepherd continued to cry as if the whole world was coming to an end.

'Will you please shut up? ‘Shalini roared at him menacingly.

The shepherd closed his mouth immediately with both his hands and continued to sob.

'Do you see that stone jutting out near the top?' she pointed to Aditya.

'Right.'

'If this fellow stands on your shoulders, he can get hold of that stone and roll over to the other side.'

'Brilliant,' said Aditya excitedly and hugged her, leaving her highly embarrassed.

 

The shepherd could actually get out of the pit with shaking legs, employing Shalini's method.

'Come, you can also do it,' Aditya gave her hand to Shalini.

'No, I can't.'

'But why?'

'I am wearing a skirt. What if you up look up?'

'Come on Shalu, I am not a pervert.'

She knew that.

'Tell Fresco also.'

'Tell him what.'

'Not to look up.'

'That's too much!'

'You almost treat him like a man, ‘she said timidly.

'OK Fresco, my baby, down with your head, down I say.'

Frustrated with both of them, Fresco hid his face beneath his paws and cooed like a cat.

Shalini also climbed out of the pit employing the same tactics, shouting repeatedly, ‘don’t look up, don't look up.'

She had carried the rope with her and finally Aditya also emerged from the pit, holding Fresco in his lap.

Aditya thanked the shepherd but the young lad simply shot away, vouching never to deal with outsiders again.

Shalini examined Fresco's injured leg.

'We must carry him to my clinic. Nothing serious but he needs dressing.'

'Your clinic?' asked Aditya, surprised.

'Yes, I am a vet.'

'But you never told me so, ‘he said, lifting Fresco in his arms, as they both strolled up to the car.

'Not many people look upon it as an honorable profession. I didn't want to spoil my impression on you.'

They got into the car and drove straight to her clinic. Fresco submitted himself completely to her care as she deftly dressed his wounds.

'I'll give him an injection to mitigate the pain.'

As she finished her treatment, Fresco placed his paws on her shoulders and licked her face happily.

'He has finally forgiven you,' said Aditya solemnly.

'Thank God,' she jibed.

 

Once they reached Aditya's place, Fresco immediately fell asleep under the influence of medicines.

'It's getting late. I must leave now,' said Shalini, picking up her purse.

'You can't leave like this,' frowned Aditya, snatching back her purse, ‘Just give me five minutes, will you?'

As she nodded 'yes’, he disappeared into the bathroom, indicating another wash room to her where she could freshen up.

When she returned to the drawing room after a while, a smart gentleman, clean shaven, sporting a navy blue three piece suit greeted her warmly.

'Oh my God, what a change! I just can't recognize you.'

'When you met me in the morning, we were supposed to proceed on a date. Though it's a bit late now, but date we must.’

 

He drove her back to the same beach restaurant. After having a refreshing drink, he asked her for a dance.

As lights dimmed and a soulful romantic number filled the hall gently, he whispered into her ears, ‘I want to tell you that I like vets very much.'

She raised her eyebrows comically.

'Yes,' he said, tenderly pulling her closer, ‘especially when they are so beautiful.'

She cackled.

'And I want to confess that I threw Fresco out of my house yesterday because...I love you.'

As she heard this, she allowed her head to rest on his broad chest and whispered, ‘I love you too.'

'And I want to thank you for saving Fresco.'

'And I want to thank Fresco for saving our love.'

As the lovers moved into a reverie, gyrating slowly and gracefully on the dance floor, a full moon shone outside in the night sky, illuminating the mysterious rise and fall of the majestic sea waves.

***

An Unusual Love Story

Love at First Sight