Mismatched Magic

First impressions

Ananya was a little panicky and irritable on Friday morning. She walked into the kitchen saying, "Amma, coffee kudu maa seekirama." Her mom looked at her and said, "yen di ivvalo kadu kadu nu irukke. Mappillai ya paaka poroma nu tension aa?" Ananya rolled her eyes,"tch Adhukulla Mappillai nu ellam yen ma sollare? Adhu naan decide pannanum." Just then her Dad entered the kitchen. Ananya pointed at both of them saying, "Adhu paarunga, indha oru meeting vachu ellam ennala decide panna mudiyadhu solitten. Adhaavudhu set aagadhu naa innike therinjudum but adhukaaga yes num artham illai okva? Enakku time venum. Che naan enna ellam karpanai paneerndhen. Arrange marriage panikaravangala paathu kevalama sirichirukken. Ippo en nelamai ippidi ayiduche. Che tch." Her mom frowned at her, "Porum di unnoda drama. Ennamo Unna jailukku anupara maadiri thaan. Ennanga Iva seri pattu vara maata. Ellam Neenga kudukara edam thaan. Eiii ozhunga poi pesu di avar kitta. Puriyudha? Un thimiru pechu ellam ingeye erakki vachuttu po. Indha coffee. Idli ku kaara chutney venuma illai thenga chutney venuma nu soleetu kulikka po. Aparam inge vandhu thala thakka nu gudhikkadhe. Un annana paaru, podi vachu kooda saaptu poiduvaan. Nee thaan adanga pidari." Ananya glared at her mom, "yen ma summa enna thitteende irukke? Naan kalyanam aagi pogum podhu thaan unakku en aruma theriyum. Adhukku aparam andha erumaiya vachu kondaadu. Seri kaara chutney ye pannu" and she went off to have a shower.

As soon as Ananya left, her Dad asked his wife, "Yen di avala thiteende irukke? Oru pakkam avalukku pidichadha kettu kettu senju kudukkare innoru pakkam avala thittare. Unakku enna thaan prachanai." Mom's face saddened, "illainga namma rendu perum avala konjikitte irundha ava thaan Pugundha veetla kashta paduva. Oruthar aavudhu konjam strict aa irukanum illiya. Enakku enna aasaiya kozhandhaiya thitta um nu. Naane ava valadhuttale kalyanam agi poiduvaale nu nenachu vedhana padaren. Namma veede ennamo maadiri irukkum. Adhellam nenacha manasu kashtama irukku. Naan ippidi sonnen nu andha kutty pisaasu kitta solladhenga."

As the day went by Ananya was getting more and more anxious. She wasn't sure what to wear. She did not want to overdress and let him think that she was too excited to see him but at the same time she also did not want him to think that she was disinterested. She finally picked a floral, high waist palazzo pant with a red crop top. She set her hair in a high pony tail. Ananya wasn't someone who wore a lot of make up so she used kajal and liner that enhanced her already beautiful doe eyes. She wore a mild pink lipstick with her favourite lipgloss and she was done. Lafayette was about 30 mins from her house but she decided to leave a bit early to beat traffic.

She grabbed her helmet and her sling bag. She put on her coolers since it was still a little sunny out there and she did a little prayer before heading out. She reached the restaurant about 15 mins early. She decided to go in and get a nice private table for two. The restaurant had an outside shaded area which Ananya picked. The natural breeze in the evening would be soothing and refreshing. She got comfortable and pulled out her phone. That's when she noticed that Sanjay had messaged her 20 mins ago saying, "Just leaving. See you soon." She smiled and nodded. Not bad, she thought. He likes to keep her informed and she appreciated that. She glanced at the time. 5 mins to 7. Hmmm....now she wondered if he will be there on time. Just then she saw a tall, handsome figure walking towards her. He was slimmer than she thought. He seemed to be fixing his hair while walking towards her. May be, that was just his nervous habit. He looked breathtaking in a white polo tucked in dark brown, nicely ironed, dockers and nice brown shoes. He wore coolers too. He smiled and raised his hand as soon as he saw her. He had a charming smile and a cute dimple on the left cheek. She stood up as he approached her. He noticed her gorgeous, warm and spontaneous smile. She was petite but her body language showed confidence. She had the figure of a dancer.

They shook hands and said "hi" at the same time. For starters, both liked that they were punctual people. He quickly took off his glasses and placed them on the table and she pushed hers to her head. Now they could look directly at each other's eyes. Ananya felt her cheeks flushing naturally when their eye contact happened and she looked away. Her eyes. He couldn't stop looking at those gorgeous, extremely expressive eyes. In that one moment he realized that her eyes spoke more that her words ever would. He had to quickly look away. He cleared his throat and said, "Romba neram wait panna vachutena. I am sorry." She immediately nodded saying, "Illai illai. Naan five minutes munnadi thaan vandhen. Neenga Edhukku sorry sollanum. You were on time. No problem." The waiter walked in with water and asked for their order. Both of them ordered something light and dismissed the man.

Now they had to talk and Ananya started, " idhu ellam konjam pudusu. I don't know where to start." Sanjay picked up the cup of water and, in his base voice, said, "Ungala pathi therinjukka aasa padaren. Sollungalen" and he started sipping the water.

Brinda Subramanian