Ritvesh was sitting in corridor with a strange feeling. All these days passed very smoothly. But Raksha's birthday was impending and it was the very next day. He had decided to call her at around 12 am but was unable to decide whether he should meet her or not. He was confused because of the tug-of-war between his heart and his ego. His ego seemed to have got the edge because last time when he listened to his heart he almost became a beggar. He started to be a little skeptic when it came to his heart.
Egoistic Ritvesh ending up calling Raksha at 12 am and wishing her. Nothing much happened apart from the usual wishes and thank-yous. He slept off after wishing her. He woke up to a cacophonous sound that his mobile started making early in the morning. He disconnected the call without even looking at the name of the caller. The cacophony started again. This time he got frustrated to the core and looked at the caller's name. It was Raksha. He answered the call
"Hey Raksha. Whats so damn wrong that you decided to wake me up so early?"
"Ritvesh, today's my birthday. Firstly you cant be speaking to a birthday girl like that and secondly its 9 am and every chicken in the town is awake except you."
"What? You called me a chicken. How dare you?"
"If you dont change the tone in which you are speaking I am disconnecting the call."
"OK OK. I am sorry. Just that I am not used being awake so soon. Anyways tell me whats the matter?"
"Lets meet for dinner. My treat."
"Why? Whats the occasion?"
"Are you kidding me?"
"No. I am not."
"Ok. Bye"
"Wait wait wait. I was kidding. Your birthday treat right"
"Yes"
She gave him the details as to when and where to meet. He went back to sleep.
Confusion was the buzzword for Ritvesh. He was confused as to what gift he should be giving her. The previous night he had decided that he wouldnt gift her. His reasoning was that she rejected everything when he had proposed to her. But now that he was going to the treat he did not want to go empty hand. He did not want to take anything from the collection that he had. The egoist did not allow him to. He did not want to buy anything new because he did not have any options. Finally he decided to buy some art-piece irrespective of her liking.
He reached the location exactly on time. She was waiting for him. He joined her at the table and started a normal conversation. He saw a good looking girl pass by and his head suddenly turned. After checking her out his head returned to its normal position to find something unusual. Raksha was fuming. The egoist inside Ritvesh started jumping with joy. His heart also started beating faster. Not many times were the egoist and heart happy at the same time. This was one such rare moment. He started off saying
"Anything wrong Raksha. You seemed to be troubled by something."
"Yes. I am leaving. I need to go."
"But we did not have dinner yet."
"I am not hungry. I need to go."
"Atleast give me company then."
"Ask the girl whom you were looking at to give you company. You were drooling over her."
"I think she is cute. Anyways what is your problem if I look at her? You have rejected me."
She remained silent for a moment and replied
"I am leaving. Bye." And she walked off.
Under normal circumstances Ritvesh would have been upset if Raksha had walked off. But sitting there watching her leave made him happy. He was happy when he has seen her fuming. He was ecstatic now. Many thoughts started crossing his mind. And he finally came to a conclusion that "She likes me as much as I like her but she is scared of a commitment right now. I need to give her time and space and in the process make her realise that she indeed loves me."
