3. “The First Meeting”

3. “The First Meeting”

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The next morning,
both woke up with the same thought…
“What did last night mean?”

Nil kept opening their chat,
reading the last messages again & again.
He had almost confessed…
& so had she.
Something had changed – quietly, but unmistakably.

Niki too felt a sweet restlessness.
She smiled at nothing,
her heart replaying Nil’s words:
“I feel you more than I admit.”

All day long,
they drifted around each other’s thoughts
like gravity had become personal.

By evening,
Niki gathered a little courage
& sent just two words:
“You free?”

Nil didn’t even wait a second.
“For you… always.”

There was a pause,
& then Nil did something he had never dared before.
“Let’s meet.”

Niki froze.
She read it twice, thrice,
as if the letters might disappear.

“Now?” he asked.

“Tomorrow eve.” she replied.

These few letters that hit him harder
than any love poem ever could.

The next day, in the evening,
Nil’s Fiesta was parked
on the road in front of Niki’s house.

Niki didn’t admit it,
but her hands were shaking
as she got ready.
A little perfume,
a soft smile,
a silent prayer –
please let this moment be right.

As soon as Nil called her,
he saw Niki coming from a distance.
She walked slowly toward him
& with every step she took,
Nil’s heartbeat grew faster.

Nil unlocked the door from inside for her.

To get some time to talk,
the Fiesta was moving slowly ahead when suddenly
– pat, pat – a sharp sound started coming.
It was rainy weather, but it wasn’t thunder.

Nil guessed something was wrong with the car itself.
Niki laughed too.
“Looks like there’s a gas leak,” Nil joked…

But his words made Niki’s face turn pale.
Pulling herself together despite Nil’s laughter,
she said, “Stop the car.”

“Are you afraid of dying?” Nil asked with a smile.
Looking straight into his eyes, she replied,
“Not of dying – of this journey ending.”

Nil pulled the car to the side.
“I agree the steering is in my hands,” he said,
“but your dinner is already planned with your friends.
In some matters, all we can do is try, but … ”

Cutting him off, she said,
“Enough now.
Instead of living the moments we’ve been given,
all we do is make excuses for our helplessness
and explain them to each other.”

Both of them fell silent.

When the car reached near Sancheti Hospital,
Nil asked,
“Do you want to eat something,
or should I drop you at Deccan?”

Niki replied,
“Whatever you feel is right.”

Nil said,
“When someone asks a question,
a person expect a clear and simple answer.”

Angrily looking at Nil, Niki said,
“If we can’t meet the other person’s expectations,
what’s the point of asking just for formality?”

Then, on the phone, she said,
“Simmi, I’ll reach in within few minutes.”

When he heard that she had secured a PG seat
and would be living in Mumbai for the next two years,
Nil expressed not the pain of her going away,
but his happiness and pride
that she would have a good career.

Nil stopped the car at Nirala Cafe.
They reached
Nil saw her

Niki stood near the entrance,
nervous,
tucking her hair behind her ear,
looking like a moment
he never wanted to end.

Nil walked up slowly,
but his heartbeat was anything but slow.

When Niki turned & saw him…
something inside her softened.
His eyes had that same calmness,
that same warmth,
that same unspoken pull
she felt every night in their chat.

For a moment,
neither spoke.
They just looked –
really looked.

Nil finally whispered:
“… Niki.”

She smiled.
Soft. Real. Heart-melting.
“… Nil.”

That first “look” carried
all the hidden feelings
they hadn’t confessed yet.

Inside the café,
they talked like they always did –
easy, natural, teasing, playful.
But every laugh,
every glance,
every brush of fingers
was filled with a new electricity.

At one point,
Niki said softly:
“You look different today.”

Nil asked,
“How?”

She lowered her eyes
& whispered:
“More like someone
I didn’t know…
I needed.”

Nil felt that line in his soul.

He wanted to say it back.
He wanted to tell her
everything he had held inside.

But instead, he gently replied:
“Niki… meeting you feels… right.”

She looked up,
and that was it.

Two shy smiles.
Two racing hearts.
One moment destiny had waited for.

They didn’t confess love tonight.
But they built something stronger –
a beginning.

& destiny whispered:
“…The real moment is coming.”