Chapter 320

“I was wondering if you are free tonight. I am in the neighborhood and maybe we can grab a bite?” Akshar asked. Diya said, “Actually, I do have plans tonight and I was wondering if you would like to join me. What time can you come over to my house?” Akshar said, “That fine with me. I think I can be there around 4.00. Is that okay? May I know where we are going?” Diya said “Sure. Four is fine. We are going to a wedding reception. As long as you are not in your jeans I guess it would be fine” and she laughed. He said, “I guess that won’t be a problem as I pretty decently dressed. I will be missing a tie and a coat.” “That would be just fine. Okay I will see you at four then” she hung up. She was very delighted as she had struck a bonus. It is not just that she doesn’t have to go alone to the event; she was going to go with Akshar as an added bonus. She couldn’t have asked for more. What was the chance on earth that the guy she was thinking about called her and asked her if she was free for dinner? No one could make a better company when you have to be behind the wheel during peak hour on a Friday to New York City. She looked at the time and got went into her room to get ready. She had picked out a custom made black and beige embroidery Silk lehenga choli with an exquisite heavily worked dupatta. The dupion silk lehenga had antique, sequins, stones and cut work which beautifully matched his dupatta. The embroidered choli was neither too long nor too short, but ended perfectly at her waist. The custom made lehnga was in the kaalidar style with a very stylish open back with noodle straps adorning them made her look even more attractive from the back. She wore her hair as a bun just leaving a single strand on the right forming a curl just below her eye. She wore a double shaded beige and pink lipstick by shading them delicately with a fine brush. She applied two different shades of brown eye shadows with a slight glitter on them. She wore brown eyeliner and black-brown extender mascara. For the final touch she had a perfect Bindi with gold, black, and beige with a pretty stone on the top with three dangling pearls in the bottom. The choker style necklace that had a pendent with a circle in the middle that extended into a long strand of pearls. She had the matching earrings and bracelet to go with it. By the time she was all ready to go it was almost four on the clock.

She looked at herself in the mirror and something occurred to her. She immediately walked over to her brother’s room and picked out something for Akshar. It was a long comfortable garment, worn with a set of Pajamas, generally accompanied by embroidery. An informal way of dressing in India, but this particular one was a bit formal depending because of its design and a perfect fit for a that evening. It was a maroon silk kurta pajama with hand embroidery on the neck, front, and shoulders. It was a very elegant piece with a matching off white pajama offsetting the dark maroon kurta. The embroidery was elaborate with stones embedded within extending all the way from the neck to the end of the kurta. The copper and gold colors near the shoulder and the wrist added sophistication to the ensemble. She looked at it and thought for a moment; with Akshar’s blue eyes the outfit would be so perfect on him. Just then she heard a knock on the door and she hurried out and opened the door. It was Akshar in a sophisticated Alfani brown flat front black tonal stripe pant that had a subtle style with a comfortable feel. He had paired it with a city long sleeve woven shirt that was great for going out but nice enough for the office too. The button-downs had a modish feel without being trendy. When she opened the door his reaction made her blush. His eyes widened revealing how big they were and how blue they were; he starred at her in surprise and astonishment and paused for a minute and said, “Wow!” Her cheek turned red and she pushed her curl that touched her cheek back and invited him in. She said, “Hi. Come on in“and she closed the door behind him. He said, “Wow!” with widened eyebrows and starred at her. She looked at him and asked, “Hey! Why are you starring at me? “He said,”Well anybody would. I just want to kiss you right now, but I guess that has to wait. I know I am late and maybe we should get going. She smiled and said, “Maybe you should try this on and gave him the outfit to try on. He walked over to the room se pointed towards looking at the outfit she gave and in five minutes he was out dressed looking like a supermodel. And now it was her turn to stare at him and with a smile her pulled her gently by her arm and gave a peck on her cheek. She grabbed her purse and both left locking the door behind them.

Chapter 319

The week was almost over and as usual it was just another week with usual work. Diya's remainder from her phone beeped. She picked it up and remembered that she has a reception to go to that evening. That's when she realized it was Friday already and she had completely forgotten about and had not asked Lisa to accompany her. She looked into her closet to see what she has to wear for the evening; she had a couple of options. She can either go in a traditional Indian outfit which would actually be more appropriate for the occasion and will also help her blend in the crowd or were something more American. She decided to go with the first option and decided to leave early from work that day to get ready and decide on all other accessories. She wrote a gift check and placed it in an envelope and left it near her dressing table so that she won't forget. In a few minutes she was in her car on her way to work and everything seemed quiet normal, the usual rush and the same traffic jam near the school signal as everyone has to wait for the kids to cross the roads and for the parents to get into the school. When she reached her office her phone buzzed and the Bluetooth picked it up and it was Lisa. "Good Morning Diya. How are you? At work?" she said. Diya replied, "Yes. Just got here. Is anything important?" Lisa said,” I don't think I will be able to come in today. I am having car trouble. Some stupid guy bumped onto my rear and I bumped onto the car in front of me. It is a ripple effect involving 4 cars. I am not sure about the damages in my car; I believe it has to be towed. I am waiting for the cop to show up. The good thing is we don't have anything urgent going on at work today and I can afford to not show up." Diya was concerned, "Are you okay? Get yourself checked just in case." Lisa said, "Thanks. I am fine but a bit shaken up. I will see you Monday. I think the cop is here. I have to go." Diya could hear the sounds in the background. She disconnected relieved that Lisa was doing fine.

She didn't have much to do so by lunch time she was almost done with the things on her to do list. There were a couple of things left to do that were personal on her list. One of them was to pick up a gift for the wedding reception that evening, second to check the directions and find out how long it will take for her to get there and leave accordingly. She reached for the invitation and looked for the address. She was shocked to see the address as it was some temple in Philadelphia. Then she looked again, and was a bit relieved as the wedding ceremony was in the temple and the reception was in the New York Hiltons at Avenue of the Americas. She knew very well on a Friday evening how busy Manhattan would be. So she estimated a couple of hours for travel to get there. The event started at 6.00 PM. She planned to get there at least by 7.00 PM in the evening. But driving alone and going there alone, the thought of it was too boring. She looked at the time and it was 1.15 PM. She decided to pick up a gift and head back home. She knew she need to wear something a little traditional as she definitely didn't want to be the odd one out, which would take her more time to get ready. So she planned that if she left home by 4.30 PM, hopefully she would get there before 7.00 PM. She got into the car and stopped by the mall to pick up a gift. She looked at a couple of items and it was not very difficult to decide what to get as the digital display frames in crystal seemed to be good choice. But for some reason there was only one customer service lane open and there was quiet a line and by the time she got home it was close to three. As she had already grabbed something to eat when she was at the mall, she decided to just relax for a few minutes and check the weather and traffic and then get ready to leave. She kicked off her shoes and stockings and kicked back and relaxed on the couch and tucked a small pillow behind her neck for support and turned the TV on with a single click on the remote. She wondered if she should call Akshar as find out if he was free that evening, but as it was too late to even invite him she decided against it. Before she could decide what to watch, her phone rang. Reluctantly she reached for the phone, undecided weather to pick it up or not. The name on the caller ID brought an enthusiasm in her voice and she picked up and said, "Hi." She was about to say I was just thinking about you, but instead said, "What a surprise Akshar!"