ankahee si

Asad Khan. There are two types of fear: bheed mein logon ke darr, aur akele mein sunsaan ke darr.

[the-asad-khan]

a comprehensive guide to awkward apologies | asanj

[anjali-malhotra-deactivated2016]

Anjali grinned at him about to reply when the waiter spoke interrupting their conversation. She was about to correct him about this date, but seeing Asad’s smile fall she decided it was best to keep quiet. Instead she took her menu, even though she already knew what she was going to order and flipped through it when she heard Asad’s apology. “Please Asad, you don’t need to apologize. People just tend to assume without thinking rationally. It’s absolutely fine.” 

She looked up and rubbed her chin at his request, slightly amused at the way he looked confused. She made a face at his mention of a business meeting and shook her head. “No thank you, let’s stay away from anything remotely business related.” She closed her own menu and cupped her cheek. “Tell me what you like, asides from pesto. How spicy? Or not spicy? Pizza, or pasta? Because personally I always get their siracha pizza. I know it sounds a bit weird but trust me—if you like spicy food, it’s amazing.” 

[the-asad-khan]

Asad usually trusted his insticts and his instincts definitely did not agree with the idea of sriracha pizza. How did one make an entire pizza from a condiment? He was sure he looked hesitant so he tried to force a smile. "I'm sure we can try that?" he said uneasily, flipping through the menu to find the item on it. The picture looked... edible enough, he decided. He let her give their orders and then cleared his throat, realising that he should most probably speak now in order to tide over the awkward atmosphere.

"I... know you said you were not concerned with it but I would just feel better if I could apologise to you again..." He trailed of wiht a disgruntled sigh b, more at himself than anyth anything. How could he have noticed all the drama going on right under his nose? Had he been so engrossed with his work so as not to even notice? "How are you?" he asked hesitantly, pouring the water in for her. "As in. Generally. We don't need to talk about anything you're not comfortable with." This was really turning out to be an awkward conversation on his part and he almost felt sorry for Anjali, who had to deal with his terribly lacking social skills. 

[the-asad-khan]

a comprehensive guide to awkward apologies | asanj

[anjali-malhotra-deactivated2016]

Anjali was still curious as to how going out to dinner with Asad was going to somehow going to be doing him a favour but it was that same curiosity that had her agreeing to the invitation. She had gotten his text about the details; slightly surprised by his choice of restaurant. A part of her wondered whether he remembered that it was her favourite Italian place in the city, or if he had just picked it because it was close to both their homes. Nevertheless she was glad he had chosen Trattoria because she’d been having a craving for her favourite pizza there for days now. Glancing at her watch she realized she still had a little while left before she needed to get going and so she sat back and flipped through one of the last magazines to cover her photography when the phone beeped again. She fished it out from the couch cousins and scanned at the message. A tiny grin escaped her as she realized how his formal-ness came across even in texts. She quickly replied back that she’d be there as soon as she could and stood up.

Considering it was a Sunday and they were joining the early crowd for dinner, Anjali dressed herself in her favourite jeans and a deep emerald green chiffon blouse. Pulling her hair back completely she tied it in a loose messy bun before deeming her face presentable enough. Once she got into her car and drove off towards the restaurant did the strange feeling creep into her. She was meeting with the brother of the girl who had completely thrown a part of her life off track. She had been honest when she told him that she wasn’t angry because she really wasn’t, but that didn’t mean she found the situation slightly strange. Handing her keys to the valet she stepped into the hotel and went towards the restaurant, once inside she just smiled at the maitre’d who recognized her and promptly escorted towards one of the more secluded tables off to the side by the window. She slid into the seat across Asad and smiled. “Hi, sorry I couldn’t get here any sooner. Aapne kuch order kiya?”

[the-asad-khan]

Asad was taken completely by surprise by her voice and his head snapped up at the sound. "oh, hi, that was-- you were pretty fast actually." He smiled politely at the waiter who passed them their menus. "No ma'am, he was waiting for you to order. A very patient date you have there." Asad's polite smile turned frostily the moment he heard the words and gave an unimpressed look to the waiter. What was with waiters and over interference? "Sorry about that," he apologised quickly,  scratching the back of his head. He had set out to treat her to dinner so that he could apologise to her but here he was, apologising for the oddest things. 

He flipped the menu open, staring blankly at the food. The truth was that he had come here so many times that he had forgotten what to eat anything else except his usual. "Do me a favour?" he asked, staring at the menu in  a confused manner. "Could you order for me? If I get pesto, I'll end up treating this as a business meeting and trust me, you wouldn't want to go through that."

[the-asad-khan]

a comprehensive guide to awkward apologies | asanj

It was an older sibling complex to take all of your younger siblings' problems as thought it's their own and Asad was no stranger to that. Or perhaps it was just his overprotective streak. Asad wasn't sure - it was debatable. Whatever it was, the fact of the matter was that he felt responsible for the state Anjali was in, because one of his siblings had been directly responsible in creating the mess. He checked for the third time to make sure he had sent the details of the dinner to Anjali (he became irrationally nervous when people did not reply to his messages) and then finally set out from the office after wrapping up his last minute work. He felt severely underdressed in his polo shirt and jeans but it was a Sunday and he had no mood to dress up for office on Sunday. He shouldn't even be in the office on Sunday. It was the pending work which he couldn't take off his mind and plus, he needed a distraction after finding out about the mess Yasmin had created. The snaking long queue at Trattoria made him glad that at least he had managed to book a reservation. He hated crowds. Especially the boisterous dinner crowds that talked loudly with their mouth open. Pet peeve of his since childhood - absent dinner etiquettes. 

Asad only realised after sitting at their reserved seat that he had ended up at the place a full half an hour early. He nearly scoffed at himself but controlled it, fishing out his phone to occupy his time. he was going to look absolutely mental if he ended up ordering food alone at a window seat with the view to boot so he sent a quick text to Anjali, hoping he didn't sound like a complete dork. 

[liya-khan]

This is the only day I get off before the exams start…go away— I don’t wanna get up!

[the-asad-khan]

Aloo, come on, you promised me we'll eat breakfast together weeks ago. I even reshuffled an appointment for you, miss.

[the-asad-khan]

TEXT: [I wanted to talk to you.]

TEXT: I'll be back home early today. Or you could pop by for lunch at the office?

[the-asad-khan]

UNSENT TEXT: [Are you still mad at me?] UNSENT TEXT: [I wish at least one of you would say something--] UNSENT TEXT: [No more pity parties, but it would help if you talked--] TEXT: [Hi.]

TEXT: Yasmin. TEXT: What is it?

[isqrisk]

[anjali-malhotra-deactivated2016]

Bade compliments de rahe ho aap. Kyun? 

[the-asad-khan]

Maybe I'm trying to make sure you don't shoot me down in these violent fantasies of yours.

[anjali-malhotra-deactivated2016]

God, could you imagine? Nah, I really wouldn’t be able to pull it off.

[the-asad-khan]

I think it could work. You could just laugh that way and charm all your underlings  without even using a gun.

[anjali-malhotra-deactivated2016]

Thank you

Aur woh nahi bata sakhti main aap ko. What if something mysteriously happens to someone, then you’ll just assume it was me and we can’t have that, can we?

[the-asad-khan]

Arey, from the looks of it, it sounds as though you're turning into the new underworld don. 

[anjali-malhotra-deactivated2016]

You underestimate me Asad. I’d be clever enough to not get caught obviously.

[the-asad-khan]

You cannot be saved, Ms Malhotra. Khuda reham kare aap par. 

Out of curiosity, who are these people you fantasize shooting?

[anjali-malhotra-deactivated2016]

I hardly think that he’d really care about one person choosing to head down the violent route.

[the-asad-khan]

I don't know about Gandhi, but I'm sure Mumbai would regret such a pretty woman as yourself turning into a criminal.

[anjali-malhotra-deactivated2016]

[the-asad-khan]

Do you hear Gandhi turning over in his grave?

[the-asad-khan]

Jet lag makes me want to never fly ever again. And according to my sisters, makes me look like a zombie. If anyone has a solution to this, please do tell.

[gulposh]

Kunal Kapoor