The Big Swap - Part 28

~TWENTY EIGHT~

"Remind me why we're here again?"

Vedant smiled, as he sensed Meera circle her hand over his arm most conventionally. He stood taller instantly, loving this subtle gesture of Meera's that seemed to be so normal to her and followed the Manager towards their reserved table.

"Why to get even, of course." His voice was teasing, and Meera glared warningly at him.

"You could not have forgotten our first date at Barbeque Grill with your first stipend, my love." Vedant continued, gently placing his hand under her chin most affectionately. Meera cringed, and he stifled a laugh, knowing fully well how much she hated to have her chin touched liked that.

Oh it tickles me Vedant! He recalled her yelling once. He'd been confused, for he couldn't possibly think of a gentler way of ensuring her lips would find their way to his, what with their height difference.

I don't know! She'd snapped, upon hearing his thoughts on the same. Find another way to kiss me but this annoys the crap out of me.

And so he had, found another way to kiss her that is. He would simply have to gaze into her eyes, with no filters and no fears, his unadulterated love for her out there for her to see, and within a matter of seconds, she'd melt into his arms.

The Manager halted before a table for two and swiftly enough removed the 'reserved' placard from the table before giving a short bow and disappearing.

"That was my first stipend. And I was technically asking you out." Meera started, after they were comfortably seated. "You cannot have your first salary now and there's no further degree of proposal you can place before m-" and then, as if realizing her mistake, she stopped short with a little cough and sipped at the glass of water.

Why so sour about the idea of marriage, Meera?

"I've wanted to take you on a proper date since that day at Barbeque Grill." He shrugged for response, "Mumbai never let us have that. You had your curfew and I had my own, oblivious parents. So I thought, why not utilize this time we're getting away from our families to the fullest?"

He knew he hadn't meant for his last statement to mean anything but its literal sense, but Meera seemed to blush anyway. Or it's probably just the blush she's wearing today. She's looking quite pretty today.

As though on cue of that thought, his eyes took in the figure-hugging peach dress she donned and found himself unable to look away. How had he not noticed how stunning she was looking when she'd stepped out of the house with him?

Some usual habits of being with someone for long. He found Meera pretty enough in every bit of her natural self. Which is why whether he saw her in pyjamas or fancy dresses seemed to slip his notice.

Way to go Vedant! He still chastised himself.

"Your gaze is invasive." She pointed out after a couple of moments.

Vedant grinned coyly, "Really?"

Meera blushed, "Not my fault that you decided to spend the one night we got alone in a fancy restaurant."

He gaped at her wide eyed, shocked at witnessing a side of Meera he was sure he'd never seen before.

"Did you really just say that to me Meera?"

He heard her melodious laugh for response.

"I may have."

"We've still not ordered anything, you know. Let's head home."

Meera rolled her eyes defensively, "Shut up."

He grinned, giving a light squeeze to her palm from across the table. "Kidding. Should we order now?"

She nodded, "I'll be back from the ladies' room okay?"

"Fancy choice of words." He teased. Meera stuck her tongue out playfully before disappearing towards the washroom.

He waited for her to arrive and skimmed through the menu till the time being. It was only when the table vibrated however, that his gaze fell on Meera's phone that she'd forgotten to take with herself.

He didn't like the idea of her going anywhere without her phone, and made a mental note of pointing that out to her.

For that instant however, his worry was her constantly beeping phone. It kept vibrating with less than a second's interval, and if not for his quick reflexes would have landed on the floor with a severe thud.

Now he knew he wasn't the kind of a man who would snoop around his girlfriend's personal belongings, until,

8:18 PM Kanan Gandhi: It's not my fault that you'd never told anybody about Vedant, Meera.

8:18 PM Kanan Gandhi: PLEASE don't do this to me.

8:19 PM Kanan Gandhi: Don't do this to us.

Did he just say US?!

8:22 PM Kanan Gandhi: I can't believe you're ending things like this. I thought we were friends.

Vedant gulped, as he watched her lockscreen flash message, after message, after message on her chat messenger.

8:23 PM Kanan Gandhi: Okay FINE. I said yes, and I should've asked you before. But I don't regret it Meera, okay? I don't regret admitting to have feelings for you. You could not have been completely oblivious as to my feelings for you through ALL these years.

The irony of it all made him want to laugh. On a lockscreen wallpaper with a picture of him and Meera flashing their teeth at the camera with unadulterated joy, a happy couple, flashed these frantic texts from someone who could only have been as much in love with Meera as he knew he himself was. This was something he had avoided admitting to himself from the first moment he'd heard Rishi mention Meera to Kanan.

Back then, he'd assumed Kanan simply liked her and that he'd get over it over the years. But clearly from these agitated messages he sent that instant, he hadn't.

And knowing Meera, she probably was clueless about the intensity of his feelings too.

Now this is what you call messed up!

8:23 PM Kanan Gandhi: PLEASE reply. Just...just talk to me once. I promise I'll fix everything.

"The password isn't that difficult to crack you know?"

He looked up at once, his eyes meeting Meera's. She pulled the chair for herself, and without dashing at the phone in his palms, served herself some of the complimentary salad that the waiter had placed on the table and nibbled at it with surprising stillness.

"Zero-one-zero-four. The day we made things official." He mumbled, and when she looked shocked at his knowledge of her password he shrugged, "What made you think I'd want to snoop around your phone?"

"Well then, I suppose you have a logical explanation for why you're reading my texts."

What a perfect way to ruin a perfect date Kanan Gandhi!

Vedant gave a sarcastic laugh, "It was at the edge of the table on the verge of falling. And I cannot believe you actually needed me to explain myself."

At this, her features softened with guilt.

Vedant didn't utter a word on the subject thereafter, silently placing the phone on her side of the table. "Take your phone with you to the washroom too please. I don't like the idea of not being able to contact you."

The waiter arrived next, and Vedant gazed at her with question.

"You choose." She shrugged like she normally did, and let him take over the department that he was good at.

Meera knew what was going to happen next. He was going to enter his shell, and never bring up this discussion ever again. He was going to give her the silent treatment on this subject, the exact way he was best at.

And that was the last thing she wanted that moment. She wanted him to confront her, to be angry with her, to at least say something.

Who am I kidding?

"Can we please not go through the usual loop again Vedant?"

"What do you mean? What loop?"

Meera rolled her eyes dismissively, "The loop where you get distant! Until one of us breaks down and we are forced to address the elephant in the room!"

Vedant smirked, "If I pry for details, I'm a nosy boyfriend. If I don't corner you with questions, I'm distant. Darling, I think it's about time you decide what you want from me."

She gulped, more than certain that there was something more than just this incident with the phone that could get him this sarcastic with her. Instinctively, she picked up her phone from the table, and looked at the messages that could've possibly caught his eye.

Meera froze.

11 messages. All from Kanan.

The room suddenly started feeling too small for her, the walls closing in on her and the temperature skyrocketing. Vedant was never supposed to know about her family fiasco. Not because there was something to hide from him, but simply because Kanan had never been anything but her past. She was going to say no.

But Vedant would never understand her take on this.

"How much did you read?" she whispered.

By now, he too had started nibbling at the salad. The salad was proving to be a good distraction from the tension in the air.

"Why is that important? The fact is I know. And for some reason, you never thought it was necessary you tell me about it."

Meera fidgeted with her fingers nervously, "I...it was a long time ago Vedant. Kanan and I...we were just kids-"

"-wait. What are you talking about?"

Now, Meera was visibly confused.

"You said you know. What do you know?"

Vedant shook his head with disbelief. "You mean there's more?"

"I....I don't know what's going on in your mind Vedant-"

"-you don't want me to get distant right?"

Now, she felt frightened. And yet, gave a feeble nod for response.

"Then you tell me. Everything. Forget what I know and what I don't."

Meera bit her lip anxiously, afraid of an outburst in the restaurant. "Here?"

"For the love of God Meera, the more you defer this conversation, the more caustic things will get!"

"Okay. Just...just calm down first please."

Oh no. She'd never seen Vedant this furious. And what sucked was she knew why. He was quite possibly the most accommodating man she'd ever had the honour of knowing so closely, but he was also a man, who could just not accept lies.

And that's what she'd done. She'd kept a secret from him.

"You know I've dated someone before you, right?"

"Yes."

"But I never told you and you never asked me who it was....it was Kanan."

Vedant blinked at her for seconds altogether, but when he said nothing for a response she found herself lean in and from across the table, place her hand on his,

"Say something Vedant."

"When was this?"

She waved a hand dismissively, "Long back. I was sixteen or seventeen I guess. He was in college."

"So your family wants you to marry your ex. Quite picture perfect I see."

Meera's eyes widened at him with surprise, "How do you know all this? Only Kanan knows apart from my family. And you don't know either one of them personally."

When Vedant sighed in response, she questioned suspiciously, "You don't know either one of them personally. Right?"

"I...I've been hanging out with Rishi for a while. Like...we play football together on Sundays an-"

"-define 'for a while' to me please."

He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, and Meera instantly knew her answer. "I can't believe I was feeling guilty of lying to you."

"Come on Meera. It isn't that big of a deal!"

"Not a big deal? To me it is Vedant! It matters to me that when I ask something of you, you listen to me. You know my equation with Rishi."

Vedant sighed. "I'm sorry."

"There's something bothering you isn't it?"

When he shrugged for response but didn't meet her eyes, she knew the answer to her question.

"What is it, Vedant? I used to think of all the reasons out there, a lack of communication would never be the reason for a rough patch in our relationship."

He straightened in his seat, and looked into her eyes with turmoil. And then, after a deep sigh,

"Okay then. Please enlighten me as to why you're so ashamed of the idea of your family knowing about us. So what if I know your brother personally? Enlighten me as to why even the thought of marrying me is so repulsive to you. Enlighten me as to why you felt the need to select a B school that was specifically not in Mumbai when I needed your presence most!"

Her mouth hung open, and she looked like she wanted to say something. She'd thought she was ready for hearing his grievances. But boy was she wrong.

Each and every one of his exasperated questions felt like needles piercing through her heart, bit, by, bit.

She'd ran after her dreams with her head held high through all these years knowing, that the one person whose opinion mattered to her trusted her decisions and understood her like no other. But today, Vedant was questioning every resolve, every decision she'd made.

He was practically questioning her whole existence. And suddenly, it all felt like a lie. They felt like a lie.

In the longest time that she could recall, she felt her eyes moisten and a desire to be left all by herself.

And so, she gulped, her gaze dropping down.

"I'm going home."

A/N:

The longest chapter I've written for this series so far.

Do you guys happen to prefer multiple short chapters or individual long chapters? I like multiple short chapters better. 

Please comment and let me know.

... continued The Big Swap - Part 29