When Dimple Met Rishi(59)

Dimple looked genuinely impressed. "That's really great!"

The elevator doors pinged open, and the group of obnoxious guys stepped in.

"Wait for the next one?" Rishi murmured, and Dimple nodded gratefully. One of the guys held his hand out so the door wouldn't close, but Rishi smiled brightly. "Oh no, you go ahead," he said jovially. "Our brains need a break from all the unchecked, casual misogyny."

The guy immediately smiled and waved in response, but as the doors closed, they heard him say, "Wait, what'd he say?"

Rishi looked at Dimple, and she burst out laughing. He thought he could maybe listen to that music all of his life. "You always surprise me," she said, shaking her head.

"In a good way?" he asked, smiling too, not wanting to show her how much he cared.

"In a really good way," she said, holding his gaze just a moment longer than she had to before turning to push the down button again. "So, you think Ashish is going to come stay with you?"

"Probably. To be honest, I think he's mostly just interested in ogling college girls rather than checking out the merits of the campus." Rishi rolled his eyes.

"Oh, like that thought never occurred to you when you were coming here," Dimple said.

The doors opened to an empty elevator, and both of them stepped in. Rishi turned to her as the doors closed. "It didn't," he said seriously. "I was only thinking of you." 





CHAPTER 31




Without thinking, Dimple leaned in closer just as Rishi inclined his head toward hers. Some faint, still coherent voice inside her intoned that this was already feeling a lot like a date and absolutely nothing like a non-date. Before they could kiss, Dimple's phone began to play "Ride of the Valkyries." Perfect.

She jerked back and pushed her glasses up on her nose, registering the way Rishi's face fell as he backed away too. Dimple knew how he felt; the ringtone had doused stomach acid on the butterflies fluttering pleasantly in her stomach. "Sorry." She rummaged in her bag, noting with alarm that she was mostly disappointed, and only a very little bit relieved, that the mood in the elevator now lay shattered in a thousand pieces at her feet. Seriously. She needed to get a grip on this thing, whatever it was, before it got out of control. Sliding the screen to silence the noise, Dimple took a deep breath and said, "Mamma. Can I call you back?"

"What's so important that you can't speak to your own mother? I have to tell you what that Ritu auntie did to Seema. You know she wanted to see that Hrithik Roshan film, na? Vishal was about to take Seema for a date night, and then Ritu decided she was going to go with them! At the last minute! Can you believe it? I told her, Ritu, give the kids some private time-"

Dimple rolled her eyes. Rishi was biting the inside of his cheek to keep from smiling. Of course he could hear Mamma, Our Lady of the Voice Like a Dentist's Drill. "Mein friend keh saath hoon , Mamma. So I'll call you later, okay?"

"Friend? Who's this friend?"

She sighed and looked at Rishi. He raised his eyebrows, like, Well, now you have to say it . Dimple wished she were a better liar under pressure, but she knew if she lied now, with no preparation, Mamma would instantly be able to tell, and then she'd just get even more unbearable. Better to get it out of the way. "Okay, it's Rishi Patel. But please don't get any ideas-"

"Rishi Patel! Kartik aur Sunita ka beta? "

Dimple flushed, sweat prickling at her hairline. God, she couldn't even bear to look at Rishi now. "Mamma, please. It's not a big deal," she mumbled, squeezing the phone in her sweaty hand. Why had she even answered her phone? Seriously, what had she been thinking?

"Where are you going? Akele uske kamre mein math jaana , Dimple-"

"God , Mamma, I have to go. And of course I won't." She hung up, feeling a stab of guilt at cutting off Mamma's well-intentioned advice. But jeez. Don't go to his room alone? Like she hadn't embarrassed Dimple enough in front of Rishi already. She was probably on the verge of talking about Dimple's sacred virginity.

Slipping her phone back into her bag, Dimple forced herself to meet Rishi's eye. He was still chewing on the inside of his cheek. "What?" she said, a little more savagely than she'd meant to.

He raised his hands. "I didn't say anything." Then he began humming under his breath.

Dimple recognized the song just as the elevator doors slid open on the first floor. Hum tum, ek kamre mein bandh ho, aur chaavi kho jaaye. . . . It was a popular old Hindi song, about a couple who're shut away in a room when the keys go missing. Dimple slapped Rishi on his upper arm as they walked toward the doors. "Very funny."