Sheetal’s eyes fell on her watch again. She was nervous. Blind dates were not her thing. Yet, here she was, sitting by the window at a café, wondering about the same thing over and over again. Why did he agree to meet me?
The last time she was this nervous was when she met her former husband, Vivek for the first time, six years ago. He was everything she had hoped for. He was kind and confident. They got married and shared a blissful journey until an unfortunate accident took Vivek away from her.
They say time heals all wounds. Sheetal, on the other hand, had learned to live with hers that kept bringing the painful memories back every now and then. Nina, her sister-in-law, had convinced her to meet her colleague Dev.
While Sheetal was battling with her thoughts, Dev walked in.
“Hello,” he said. “I hope I am not late?”
“Hi. I reached a little early,” Sheetal responded.
“Oh!” he smiled. “So, how are you?”
“I am good. Thank you,” she replied.
For a minute, they sat awkwardly, unsure of how to proceed.
“Listen, I don’t want to sound impolite, but why did you agree to meet me? You know I am a widow, right?” she finally asked.
“I do,” Dev answered politely. “I agreed because we have something in common. I lost a loved one too.”
Sheetal was surprised. “Oh, I am so sorry!”
Dev continued. “We were engaged but she passed away before we could get married.”
“Nina didn’t tell me about this,” Sheetal said.
“She doesn’t know. I am sorry, I should have told her,” he apologised. “I can understand if you want to leave.”
“No. I am glad we got this out of the way,” she said. “Let’s start over. I am Sheetal.”
“I am Dev. It’s nice to meet you!” he smiled.