The doorbell rang, and Hasini's heart started racing. "Let's go. They're here." Vidhi guided Hasini down the stairs into the living room. Her family was greeting the visitors. Without moving her head, Hasini's eyes searched for him. She couldn't see him anywhere. "I think he's talking to Uncle." Hinted Vidhi.

Her uncle's tall body was towering over him as they were shaking hands. After a few seconds everyone realized Hasini was there. Everyone looked at her. Her uncle turned around and the one she was dying to see came into view. But she just had a glimpse of him before, someone started talking to her.

"Hello Hasini. I'm Ishaan's mother." She pointed to her husband and daughter and said, "This is Mr. Aron, and this is my daughter, Anita."

Hasini smiled, "Hello."

"And this…" She waved her son over to her side. He came with a gorgeous grin on his face, and his eyes shining. "… is my son Ishaan. Ishaan, this is Hasini."

Hasini looked up to meet his eyes, and she went blank on what to say. "Hi." Her whisper was barely audible.

"Hey!" Ishaan smiled gallantly. Hasini wondered if he could sense her heart beating at the rate of a running train.

Everyone sat down and Mrs. Maitreya and Anita passed out the refreshments. They all started talking to each other, while Hasini sat there pretending to be talking to her sister so that she doesn't look so lonely.

"When do you think we will be able to talk privately?"

"Soon, my sister. You must be patient. It's only been 10 minutes since they arrived." Vidhi assured her.

After a half-hour of just talking, Mr. Maitreya said, "Hasini, why don't you show Ishaan around the neighborhood? Our community is very scenic Ishaan. You must see it." Seeing that Hasini wouldn't move even with his approval, he added, "Go on Hasini."

Hasini's heart skipped a beat as she stood and guided Ishaan gracefully to the front door. The breeze ran past them, as they were strolling toward the park. For a while, they just walked side by side silently, each thinking about what they should say first. The only sound was Hasini's bangles hitting each other making a melodious sound.

Hasini decided to make the first leap. "Did it take long to drive all the way to Philadelphia?"

"Not—" his voice sounded coarse, as if it's been a long time since he used it. He adjusted it, and continued, "Not really. It only took 2 hours to drive up here. Besides, it didn't seem like a long drive at all; I like long distance rides."

"Really? I love long drive trips. We used to go on them all the time when I was a little girl. Not so much now, since everyone's busy."

Ishaan just smiled unable to keep up the conversation. Once again there was an awkward long silence between them. Time seemed to go by so slowly today.

Ishaan stopped and turned around to face her. He took a deep breath and said, "Ok… I just can't take this anymore." Hasini was confused, and didn't understand a word he said. " I didn't think, ever in my life that I would be in a situation as awkward as this. My mind is blank and I have no clue on how to talk to you."

Hasini was quiet for a moment, and then replied, "But you just did start talking."

"But I don't know what to talk about."

Hasini abruptly asked, "Have you ever been on a date?"

Ishaan was startled for a second, then said, "Uh.. yeah. A couple, but trust me, it didn't go farther than a hug. What about you?"

Hasini laughed her melodious laugh, and shook her head sideways, "Me? None."

Ishaan was startled once again by her answer. "You've never been on a date before? Seriously? How? I mean, it can't be like no one ever asked you out, because, clearly you are very charming."

Hasini smirked trying not to blush at the compliment, "Thank you. And, well, yes, I've been asked out several times, but I rejected them all."

"Why?"

"It's hard to explain. It's not like I didn't like the guys, one of them even happened to be a former crush. But, I sort made this vow to myself that I wouldn't—that my first relationship would be my only.

"But a cute little date isn't impure."

"To society's eyes it isn't but to mine it is. I probably sound very crazy to you right now, but it's not really as fanatical as I make it sound."

"No.. no.. It doesn't sound crazy at all. That's very sweet actually. I never thought I would meet a girl like that in this century. Now I feel like a jerk, with my dating history. I feel so unworthy."

"Oh no. You are definitely not unworthy." Hasini laughed.

"Ok, we're sort of getting nowhere, so why don't you start talking about yourself."

"Hmm… well, the first two things that my friends would say to describe me would be quiet, and a book worm. I should warn you now, that I don't really talk a lot. I just don't know how to keep up conversations. But I'm a great listener. And I am a book freak. I love to read books. That's all I do if I have time."

"Really? I seem to be the exact opposite. I talk a lot. I can talk forever if someone doesn't say shut up, although, I'm running out of words right now. But hey, now I found someone who would listen to me chat on and on. Books and I don't really get along. I can't go past the first page if I pick one up. That's why I had my friends summarize them in detail for me when I had to take tests on them."

"Oh… wow!" She paused before continuing, "What do you talk about most?"

"Not really any specific topic. I talk about all sorts of things. Whatever comes to mind."

"Cool. I usually just start the topic and people carry the conversation away as I listen." They both talked like that, occasionally the awkward silence interrupts, but they almost reached the park when Hasisni's cell phone buzzed.

Texting her was Vidhi, "You've been out for 2 hours already! We're kinda starting to worry. Get back her NOW!" Shoot! Two hours?! It felt like 15 minutes. Aunt Sandhya was right, it didn't feel like 2 hours at all. She looked at her watch to make sure Vidhi wasn't exaggerating. 12:05 p.m.

"Um.. I think we should head back now. It's lunch time." She said.

"Oh.. yeah. " They turned around and headed toward Hasini's house. It took 2 hours to get to the park before since they were walking as slow as a turtle. Now, it just took 15 minutes to get home. Before they entered the house, Ishaan stopped short.

"Wait! Um.. can you give me your number, cuz…"

"Yeah sure. 908-467-2495."

Ishaan stored her number in his phone and started walking in. Just as they entered the house, Hasini realized she forgot to ask his number. How foolish! It would be weird asking in front of everyone so she just kept quiet.

The rest of the day went well. Seeing that Ishaan and Hasini had no objections to this wedding, the parents started to make plans and dates. At around two o' clock, they left.