His friend

The next day came quicker than I expected it to and here I was in class, looking towards the door impatiently. Brynise and Gaya were both talking about their dissertations, but I was only listening with one ear.

The door opened and in stepped the one I had been waiting for. I couldn't have been happier. I felt my cheeks become red and my pulse rate increased so much I could even feel my heart thud in my chest.

Dave cast a quick glance around the class until his eyes came to rest on me. He smiled too and for a few seconds it was as if we were completely alone. But the moment was unfortunately broken when someone's phone started ringing loudly.

With a determined step, he walked towards me, but before he could reach me, one of his pals called out to him and asked him to come over to talk about their common presentation. With a look of regret he went past me, mouthing 'later'.

At the beginning I started feeling bad that he hadn't given me more attention, but as class started, it, in fact, added more to the pangs I was feeling. After the fight we had had, I was now getting to miss him and the anticipation of how we would meet later gave me butterflies in my stomach.

As soon as class ended, I bid goodbye to Gaya and Brynise and waited for the others to leave class as well. Dave was the last one and as I peeked in I saw that he was still packing some loose papers in a file. He saw me and beckoned me in.

'I'll be with you in a minute,' he said, but he was done within seconds.

Had he done this deliberately? We were the only ones in class at that time and the door closed behind me. I looked at him walking towards me and a wave of shyness took over me and I tried to divert his attention.

'Have you thought about your dissertation topic? Gaya and Brynise were talking about it. They made me nervous as I haven't decided what to write yet. Did you hear the weather report? They said that it was going to be cold tonight. You tried the new meals at the canteen?'

I knew I was stammering, but I was so nervous that I couldn't stay still or quieten down.

Dave maintained eye contact with me and when I was going to open my mouth and launch another tirade, he planted his lips firmly on mine. He brushed his lips softly against mine and then kissed both my cheeks.

'Good morning Ash.'

Well, that was an effective way to tell me to shut up. I liked it. he then gently pushed me against the wall so that I was trapped between the wall and his arms. Slowly his head descended until he grazed my lips again. Sensing my receptive mood, he deepened the kiss and we only came up for air a minute later. I liked to be greeted like that.

'Shall we go to eat?' Dave then asked, staring deep into my eyes. 'As much as I like eating your lips, I can't take a bite out of it.'

I nodded and together we left to go in the direction of the canteen. At that time, it was full, but we managed to secure a table in a corner, with two chairs. I had already brought my lunch with me, but after leaving his bag, he went to buy something to eat. While he was gone, I looked around and my eyes happened to fall on Vana and it brought me back to a few weeks earlier when I had asked her to text Dave for a game of badminton. It had all started from that moment.

Dave came back and started eating his bread. I liked the way he bent his head slightly to the side when taking a bite of his food. With red tinging my cheeks, I realized that he did the same thing even when he kissed me. He usually bent his head so as to gain easier access to my lips. Sensing my gaze on him, he lifted his eyes and looked at me. It was a good thing that he couldn't read my mind.

At that moment, he received a text message on his phone. After reading it, he said,

'It's from Ani, a friend of mine. We both belong to the same club. We have a common project coming up.'

It was nothing new to have him talk of a friend, but I felt that he was quite attached to her and the green monster was quick to rear its head.

No, Ash, you are not going to be jealous of all his female friends now, I scolded myself. That was so like me, overthinking, trying to find problems where there were none. It was just a friend. I would proably not hear of her soon, so there was no reason for me to worry, but how wrong I was.