Date with arranged match

 This story is about Anushree and Manan. 

Pov : - Anushree

So it's an arranged match. 

And he wants to take me on a date. 

So being a nice guy, he asked my papa's permission to take me on a date next day. 

And my papa allows it, obviously it's arranged marriage.

So my papa tells me that Manan(my fiance) wants to take me on date next day, so I should be ready by 7 am. 

I am already excited about this date, because it was a miracle for a girl who was never been in relationship and who had always been told that you have really high standard for life partner and then I got him. He has proved that he doesn't only match the standards  I had expected but exceeds it. 

So the next day at sharp 7 o'clock our doorbell rang. As I was getting ready my papa welcomed him inside. My parents and he, were chit chatting as usual, when I stepped out of my room wearing my favorite blue anarkali kurti.   The sound of my jhumka caught his attention, and his gaze followed, our eyes locked and love he has for me was clearly visible in his eyes. His gaze never wavered . As I reached there, papa was trying to ask him something but realized he was lost and papa chuckled getting , where he was lost. I had to signal him that he's being too much obvious in front of my parents and mentally noted that I have to tell him that he should behave when around my parents, not that my parents have any problem but it's lil embarrassing and I'm shy. I know I'll get teased by him after saying this out loud but atleast it'll save me from embarrassing myself in front of my parents. 

We left after seeking blessings from my parents and he took me to my favorite temple. By this time I'm not surprised that he drove me there first because it's our thing now. We always go to that temple first whenever we meet, we call it our go to place, silly . 

After spending some time at temple, he took me to a new place for breakfast. I was lil hesitant about it, he likes to explore new places and food, total opposite than me. But we trust his intuition and his ability to dig out information .

After breakfast, we head out and he took me to a bookstore. I was totally shocked, I mean he doesn't read much.

 He was more than happy seeing my reaction, like he had won the world, which is really cute.

 I challenged him that he'll regret taking me here because once he spoils me like this, then there is no going back. He answered simply " Darling, this can't be called spoiling. You'll get to know what overindulgence is. " My cheeks were crimson by now and I countered " You don't know I can buy 30 to 40 books in one go. " Waiting for him to go in shock but he replied smugly " I don't expect anything less from my would be wife. " I was lil too shy , so I ran into bookstore started bookhunt. He followed carrying a basket. As I sensed his presence, I started picking random books up and piling them up in basket as I was still not over with the recent episode of shyness. By the time I was done looking around the store, we had almost 30 to 35 books in basket. We reached the counter and he told me to wait for few mins as he went back to book racks. He brought 8 to 10 more books and stacked all the books on counter. I was looking at him astonished, he was like " What? Aren't these books from top 20 on your TBR? " I gasped , fascinated by the fact that he even remembered the top 20 books  from my TBR. Red hue again crept up on my cheeks. He chuckled lilking the reactions he was getting for his efforts. 

We had our lunch in authentic  Kathiyawadi restaurant. His choice of course. And I must accept he is good at it. 

After lunch we again hit the road, now this was something new, because the road we are headed for takes us away from my home. Surprised I asked, " Where are we going? " " Patience, my darling patience. "He replied. And I was looking  away instantly. I kept my eyes carefully focused on the scenery through window, though my mind is still stuck doing lil giddy dance over word 'darling'. He calls me darling often now, but I'm still not used to it. After a while I gathered some courage and asked him, "Don't you think papa will not like it if we'll get late? " He got the hint that I'm indirectly asking same question but he behaved oblivious and replied " I don't think so. Your dad is cool. " 

" Yeah that's right. My papa is cool, understanding, loving and caring. " And I started telling him, how my papa takes care of everyone at home. And I almost talked for 1 hour and he listened patiently .

" We reached" He said with low chuckle. And here we go, he tricked me again. He knows if he'll mention my papa I'll be easily distracted. I was sitting there with puffed up cheeks lil angry that he tricked me. He got out of the car, opened my side of door and waited for me to get out. 

Him : " Hey, come on, lil angry bird, I wanted this to be a surprise. "  

Me: " Still you tricked me "

Him: " I'm sorry, darling. You know I can't lie to you , so I had to find a way to keep you distracted. "

Me: hmph

Him: Hehe! I hope I'm forgiven. 

Me: that depends!! 

Him: on what? 

Me: Your surprise silly. 

Him: Ohh, then I'm forgiven for sure. 

Me: Oh so much confidence. 

Him: Now will you please honour me by holding my hand. 

Me : Overdramatic!!!

Him: Not fair. You love it when characters from your fiction novel do that. 

Me: Hehe. My bad. I giggled.

Him: Now now enough of this. Close your eyes. 

I protested . 

Him: I knew it. Why don't you just close your eyes or you need my help. 

He winked at me .I didn't wait any longer and closed my eyes.I knew my face had already given away my emotions. So I didn't fight it and let him take the credit for making me blush. He holded my hand and lead the way through a trail. We walked for 5 long minutes and came to a abrupt stop. 

His voice warning me, " There are steps ahead . "

As we climbed steps, he handed me a small box. 

Him: open your eyes now. 

I was wonderstruck with the sight in front of me because this house is exactly like I had described once. Overwhelmed with emotions,  tears found its way down my cheeks. And he froze, even though he knew those were happy tears. He held my hand so gently once again and squeezed it with so much tenderness. I turned towards him and he engulfed me into a tight hug.