Dinner With Reyesh

So, I’m having dinner with Rey tonight and am extremely excited about it. The day after his brother’s wedding, he called and asked me on our second date. Initially, I didn’t consider him inviting me to his brother’s wedding as a date but after we kissed in the car and then outside of my flat, I changed my mind. When I told Rhia about the kiss, she was thrilled.

“I want to be your maid of honor,” she said, laughing.

“As much as I would love to be Rey’s wife, I don’t think that’s going to happen,” I told her. “We come from two very different cultures.”

“So what. He wouldn’t be the first Indian guy to marry outside of his culture. And when it comes to love, things like race and culture shouldn’t matter.”

“Hold up, Girl. We don’t know if Rey’s in love with me.”

“Well, we’ll know soon enough. In the meantime, have fun. Just concentrate on being with him.”

I told her that he had asked me out to dinner and she promised to drop by and take photos of me in my new dress before Rey picks me up. And here I am standing outside of my building. Rhia is using my cell to take the photos.

“Why the long face?” she asked.

“I’m trying to look sultry.”

“You look sulky. Now, let’s have a smile.”

I smile and she clicks. She took several just in case. “Thanks, Rhia,” I say as I put on my strappy sandals and then take my cell and handbag from her. “Now, I’d better head to the lobby and wait from my date.”

“You look great. I’m sure he will be very impressed. Have fun.”

“Thanks. I’ll call you.” We hug.

“You’d better.” She smiles and walks to her car while I go through the back entrance and make my way to the lobby. Five minutes, I see his car pull up at the front. Smiling broadly, I make my way quickly through the revolving doors just as he steps out of the car and walks around to hold open the passenger-side door for me.

His eyes travel over me and he remarks, “You look lovely.”

“Thanks,” I reply. “You look amazing.”

He doesn’t answer. Instead, he leans over and kisses me on the lips. The kiss lasts for a little while, making my head spin. Then, he draws back and we stare at each other for a few minutes before I climb into the car, my heart thumping like crazy. He closes the door and walks around to the driver’s side. My hands tremble slightly as I fasten my seatbelt.

As he gets behind the wheel, he dons his sunglasses and I notice that he glances down at my bare leg where the slit is before he concentrates on driving out of the compound and on to the street. “I thought we’d have dinner at this Mediterranean restaurant I’ve heard so much about from my co-workers.”

“Sounds good to me.”

“So, how was your day?”

“Busy. I usually do my housecleaning on Saturdays. What about you? How was yours?”

“It was fine. I was looking forward to seeing you.”

I smile. “I was looking forward to seeing you too.”

Smiling, he reaches over and brushes his knuckles against my arm, making my heart skip a beat and my stomach flipflop.

“I had a dream about wizard dueling dilemmas and warty wishes,” I tell him, sounding a little breathless.

He looks at me. “You have the strangest dreams. What was this one about?”

“It was about two wizards dwelling over a beautiful damsel who is actually an ugly, witch covered in warts.”

“How come the wizards didn’t know that it was actually a witch they were fighting over?”

“I wondered the same thing too.”

“So, what happened?”

“They decided that they weren’t going to go through with the duel and the damsel was furious and that’s when she turned back into the witch. When the wizards refused to fight each other, the spell was broken. The two wizards realized that the witch had tried to get them to fight each other to the death. With one less wizard to contend with, she would become more powerful. Perhaps, she would have found a way for the remaining one to be banished. However, once the two wizards realized what she had tried to do, they joined together and cast a spell on her turning her into an ugly tree.”

“Will she ever be able to turn back?”

“No. She will remain an ugly tree forever. That way, she can’t hurt anyone anymore.”

“Was there a real damsel whom the witch masqueraded as?”

“Yes. The witch had cast a spell on her turning her into a lark. After the witch was turned into the tree, the lark flew out of another tree and landed on the shoulder of one of the wizards. He reversed the witch’s spell and the lark turned into the beautiful damsel whom the witch had masqueraded as. She and the wizard whose shoulder she landed on ended up happily ever after.”

“How did he know that it was the damsel?”

“As she was perched on his shoulder, she began to sing the same delicate, musical song which the damsel used to sing whenever he and she were together in the woods. They were in love and then, one day, she told him that the other wizard had dishonored her and that her beloved had to fight him to restore that honor. And that’s why the two wizards met in the woods for the duel. It was a dilemma for them both because they were lifelong friends and had never exchanged a cross word. The other wizard had protested his innocence and at first his friend didn’t believe him but somehow he was persuaded that his friend had not committed the offense of which he had been accused. So, the two wizards remained friends, the wicked witch was never going to trouble them anymore and the damsel was reunited with her beloved.”

“That’s a very interesting dream.”

“I thought so too. I still don’t know why I had it, though.”

“Maybe you read or watched something about wizards or witches.”

“No, but I did read about King Saul who visited the witch of Endor. He asked her to bring up the spirit of the prophet Samuel. Something came up, all right but it wasn’t Samuel. It was something masquerading as him. King Saul didn’t see the apparition but he assumed that it was Samuel based on the witch’s description. God had warned His people never to practice witchcraft, or be a soothsayer, interpret omens, or be a sorcerer or conjure spells, or be a medium or a spiritist or one who calls up the dead. The other nations around them were doing these things but they were commanded not to follow them. King Saul knew this and he had cut off the mediums and the spiritists from the land.”

“If that were the case, why did he go to the witch?”

“The Philistines were gathering together to fight the Israelites and when Saul saw their army, he was afraid. He inquired of the Lord but the Lord did not answer him by dreams or by Urim or by the prophets. So, Saul decided to consult a woman who is a medium, disguising himself.”

“What happened to King Saul?”

“He and his sons died in the battle.”

“What an unhappy end for him. Was he a good king?”

“In the beginning he was but he became corrupt and God regretted making him king. He anointed David as the next king.”

“King David as in the star of David?”

“Yes. Next time I will tell you about him and the giant, Goliath.”

“I’m looking forward to that.”

We change the topic and talk about other things. He mentions that his brother, Neel and his bride are honeymooning in Goa.

“Where’s Goa?” I ask. I have never hear of it before.

“It’s a state situated on the west coast of India. It was Formerly a Portuguese colony. It’s a popular destination because of its beaches.”

“Sounds nice. Have you ever been?”

“No. Maybe you and I can spend a week there some time.”

I stare at him. “Are you serious?”

“Of course, I’m serious.”

Before I have a chance to say anything else, we pull into the parking lot. As we walk towards the entrance of the restaurant, he holds my hand. I beam like a Cheshire cat. When we get there and we’re waiting to be shown to our table, he faces me, his expression very serious. “I meant it when I said that I wanted us to visit Goa.”

“Oh. You know that I would love to go anywhere with you, Rey.”

“We don’t have to go to Goa. We can go somewhere else. Somewhere you have always wanted to go.”

“Well, I’ve always wanted to go to Italy.”

“We can go there in September for two weeks if you can get the time off.”

“I can!”

“Good. We’ll talk more about it.”

Just then, the hostess comes over to us and shows us to our table. My head is whirling with the idea that Rey and I are taking a trip to Italy in a couple of months. I can’t wait to tell Rhia. She will definitely get a kick out of this.

Sources: Times of India; Incredible India; All About Birds