Who's Who?

"I am a vegan." Boom!

"I love rainy season." Boom! Boom!

"And I love Taylor Swift." Boom! Boom! Boom!

The person sitting by me in the café is telling me about her likes and dislikes. And I'm already getting a feeling that it is not going to work.

How can it work when she is exactly the opposite of me? I am a “meatatarian”. I cannot have a single meal without a few pieces of chicken. I hate rainy season. The water drip-drop-drip-drap all over the road. I cannot ride the bike properly due to muddy roads and water-filled puddles. I would be half-drenched when I reach office, half-wet throughout the day - the clothes sticking by my skin leaving me cold. How can one even love those troublemaker rainy days?

And I can't stand Swiftie! Always singing about her exe's and stabbing them after break-up. Come on! Grow up!! Who cares whom she dated anyway? I wonder why people do not get weary of her songs. The same you-belong-with-me lovestory, trouble, shake it off, we’re-never-getting-back-together-cycle gets me bored to death.

So, you see, my first blind date is getting me nowhere. Therefore, I need to end it real quick. A whole Saturday got wasted. I could have stayed home and watched some of my favorite horror series.

We met on an online dating site. And I asked her out right away. I thought it might be a bit too late to wait for some days. But thinking back now, I guess, it’s a bit too early; I should have waited at least for a week.

"So what are your loves' and hates'?" She asked me sipping the tea I had ordered.

Who on the earth says hates' and loves'? I’ve never heard it before. Why can't you simply say likes and dislikes? Ugggh!!! The drama with vocabulary. Waste! A total waste of a once-in-seven-days precious Saturday!

I tried to smile. I couldn't. So I faked one.

"I cannot work properly in rainy days. So, I hate rain." I am taking a peek at her while saying this and I’m kind of expecting change in her expressions - stitching together her finely plucked eyebrows, twitching her lips or simply change in the size of her eyes – a big 'O' or a small 'e'.

"I am not fond of Taylor Swift. I can't stand her songs. Don't ask me the reason. I simply don't like her." I am watching a couple walking on the pavement holding hands while I'm saying this.

I take a peek at her face again. Did she slightly bit her lower lip? Did she join her brows together?

"And I cannot have a meal without meat. For me – no meat, no meal." I gave a grinning smile, all the while, watching her face.

Her face, still the same. No signs of repulsion or irritation. And that is making me angry. How can a girl not fire back when all her loves' are hates' of the person she is on a date with? Not to forget that the guy was the particular one who asked her on a date in the first place. May be she is going to burst after a while, accumulating all the feels of repulsion she can muster. Probably she’ll cuss me. And then she'll leave. I'm eagerly waiting for that moment. But, she stays there. Calm. Quiet.

The slow wind is blowing her black shoulder-length hair. The mild smell of her jasmine perfume hits my nostrils. She sips her tea again and places the cup on the table. I see the cup is empty now.

"Thank God! Finally I met a guy who doesn't say that he likes rainy season just because I say I do. I was growing sick of all the boys who said what I wanted to hear." She takes a long breath and is all smiles. I cannot stop smiling along. She looks pretty when she smiles. I realized that just now.

(to be continued…)