Chapter 1 - The First Time I Met Him

It had been a depressing Ramzan. The recent death of my sister coupled with a terrible relationship with my boyfriend and a sad domestic life had left barely any signs of happiness in me.

When I got the Facebook message from a recently found friend of an iftaar party, I was less than excited to attend it.

I viewed the guest list over and over and finally spotted a few familiar names. I hadn't met these guys in a long time, refusing their invitations of movie hangouts and meet ups. This would be an ideal situation to meet all of them at once and get the social responsibility out of the way. Also, it would be a change in my dreary routine.

I dressed in a gray dress and tights and wore a black shawl over it before I got in a rickshaw towards my destination. I didn't need to fix my hair thanks to the rebonding treatment I had gotten done recently. My hair fell perfectly into place without any effort.

As I entered the restaurant, I quickly scanned where the party was sitting and made my way across to them. After greeting them with overflowing enthusiasm, I settled down on a chair next to a friend.

I was meeting many of these people for the first time but I knew most of them from one social media network or the other.

That's when I first laid eyes on him. He was... radiant. That's how I would describe him. There was a brightness that seemed to emit from his personality that made me instantly like him. Even now, when I look at his face, I'm immediately drawn by his power.

I didn't really pay much notice to him after deciding mentally that he was the prettiest of the lot, after all, much conversation had to be made, much social obligation had to be fulfilled, before the evening would be over.

It wasn't until we all decided to head towards Cafe Clifton for tea after the Iftaar that I got a chance to talk to him.

Since I had come in a rickshaw, I needed a ride to the Cafe and coincidentally, I sat in his car for the short ride.

I was immediately overcome by the smell of fish. This amazingly cute guy. His car. Smelled. Like. Fish.

He noticed my expressions and his face broke into a smile. That's when he explained that he was a businessman. He worked as a seafood exporter, hence the smell of fish in his car.

During that ten minute drive, he told me about his work, his education and a funny story about how him and his group of friends had been stopped by the police once while on their way to the beach.

And that, is the day I met the love of my life. At that point I only knew I liked him. I didn't know if we would be friends or not. I only knew that I had decided I really liked this guy.