“Please pass the salt.” Jas reached across the table as Aarti passed her the tiny blue and white salt shaker. She poured a little salt into her hand then sprinkled it into her ‘hot and sour soup’.
“Why do you always shake it into your hand, rather than into the soup directly?” Asked Aarti, as she picked up her own spoon and sampled the brown clear broth.
“Because I can control the flow better this way, and plus what if the lid isn’t on properly and all the salt falls in, or what if it was pepper and not salt? There are many reasons hun!”
Jas began sipping her soup and sighed with pleasure.
“You are soooooo OCD!” Aarti laughed. The girls had decided to go out for a nice meal and catchup, “Ming Yang” had always been Aarti favourite restaurant so it seemed like a good choice. “This place is so busy tonight, I’m so happy we got a table.”
“That's not the only thing you’re happy about, is it?” Jas winked. Aarti had been incredibly lively throughout the car journey and had literally been beaming for the last half hour. “Clearly someone’s date went well!”
“It did go well, he’s too cute and I love how he takes charge, Oh Jas I really really like him, but I’m not sure he likes me” Aarti confessed while subconsciously twisting her napkin in her hands.
“Let’s be clear, he likes you. But just to be thorough tell me what makes you question that he likes you? Also not to change the subject but there is a super hot guy across the room that keeps looking at me. He looks foreign, but he has that hot, smouldering thing down to an art.”
Aarti laughed and turned her head “Where?”
“Don’t look so obviously” chastised Jasmin, while holding eye contact with the handsome stranger.
“He wont notice me, he’s too busy noticing you.” Aarti joked. She turned her chair to the side and scanned the direction Jasmin was staring in, until she spotted the guy. “OMG your eye effing Raj, I told you he’s not into me!” Aarti started to panic, she immediately dropped her spoon and it landed with a splash into the soup. "How could he do this? What kind of guy is he? I knew it was too good to be true.”
“He’s not Raj, you need to get your eyes checked. He’s stockier than Raj, but you are right they do look similar. Does Raj have a brother?” Jasmin asked
Aarti stood up, turned around and obviously stared at the guy, ready to walk up to him and give him a piece of her mind… She took three steps toward him and it dawned on her that Jasmin was right, it wasn’t Raj, but this guy looked so much like him… She decided to keep walking, stopping and turning didn’t seem like a good option, and she was up now she may as well, finish the journey. What would she say when she got to the table? Why had she gotten up in the first place? With each step her face was becoming pinker and pinker. The handsome stranger was dining with someone, Se could see the top of a head, she hoped it wasn’t another girl, because that would just make the whole situation a lot worse!
Aarti walked up to the table looked down and felt immediate relief. This guy must be Raj’s brother because his dinner partner, was the one and only Raj! How could she have gotten them muddled up? Raj was so much better looking, although both men had hazel eyes, Raj’s had a fleck of green in them and his hair was slightly shorter and his smile was so blinding. Aarti smiled at Raj and then at his brother.
Raj looked stunned, he looked at Varun accusingly.. “Dude have you been flirting with my girl? Aarti he’s not your type is he?”
Aarti laughed “Well actually he is!” Raj looked visibly upset, while Varun broke eye contact with Jasmin and looked up at the girl standing beside the table. He hadn’t even seen her approaching. “He looks just like you Raj.” She clarified. Aarti stuck out her hand at Varun “Hi I’m Aarti, The girl you’re eye flirting with is my friend Jasmin. Would you and your handsome brother like to join us” She then turned and winked at Raj.
Varun took Aarti’s hand and shook it .“Finally I get to meet the famous Aarti and her hot sidekick, we are brothers, just not the genetic kind. Raj is my best friend, we grew up together. And yes, we would love to join you wouldn’t we Raj?” Varun stood up. He looked at Raj and mouthed “hot” just as Aarti turned her back and began walking back toward her table.
Raj was in shock, the thought of Varun and Aarti, even for a moment, had disturbed him. He stood up and followed Varun wordlessly. He gave himself a mental shake. Varun would never betray him, it had always been them against the world.
Aarti turned around briefly while strolling toward her seat, she raised an eyebrow and asked Varun, “So you think Jasmin's attractive?”
“I have been staring at her for the last ten minutes mouthing ‘You’re so fit!’. So that would be a yes!” Varun responded cheekily.
Jasmin watched as the boys followed Aarti back to the table, she was impressed that Aarti had been so confident. Jasmin tended to be the self assured one while Aarti was the wall flower. Jasmin recognised Raj from the day before, she immediately called over the waiter and asked him to add two place settings.
Aarti returned to the table and took her seat, she gestured to Raj to take the seat beside her, with a gentle tap on the chair. Raj sat down as Varun approached Jasmin, stuck out his hand and said in his smooth British accent “Hi, I’m Varun, you must be Jasmin. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
Jasmin shook his hand “Hi Varun, nice to meet you, I’m at a disadvantage I’ve not heard anything about you. Take a seat and tell me all about yourself.”
Varun lowered himself into the high backed chair without losing eye contact. “What would you like to know?”
“What do you want me to know?” Jasmin smiled, enjoying herself, it had been a while since she’d had a flirtatious conversation with a handsome well spoken gentleman.
“I want you to know that you have beautiful eyes.”
“But thats not about you is it Varun?”
“Actually it is, I’ve just told you that I appreciate beautiful eyes. But if you want to know the boring details I’m happy to fulfil all your requests.” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and continued “I’m 26, live in London and work in a bank.”
“What do you do at the bank?” Jasmin asked “and what do you do for fun?”
“Work is boring” Varun hated talking about his career, he was very aware the women associated traders with money and then saw him as their personal ATM. “On the weekends I get to play golf and cricket and thats where my passions lie. But enough about me what do you do for fun?”
Raj quickly interjected “Well I enjoy long walks along the beach and being included in conversations!”
Varun smiled widely and began teasing his best friend “Thats nice Raj, do you also enjoy candle lit dinners which centre around you?”
“Funny you ask that Varun, because those are my favourite kind of dinners. Although I am starving and the girls do have soup and they seem willing to share!” Raj picked up his spoon and leaned over a smiling Aarti and attacked her soup with gusto.
“Hey Jasmin, would you consider sharing soup with a guy you just met?” Varun asked with puppy dog eyes.
Jasmin glanced at Varun and then at her soup, and then back at Varun “Unlikely… but I’ll order one for you.”
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