The Brawl at the Mall

Their meeting ran late, and it was almost 7:30 p. m. by the time Sid & Ro reached the mall. Ro already knew what they should buy their mother, so he grabbed Sid's credit card and dashed off to get it. Sid, who had left his suit jacket in the car, rolled up his sleeves and loosened his tie, leaving his collar open.

A bottle-green T-shirt caught Sid's eye in the display of a nearby store. He paused, his hand drifting automatically to his scar, and remembered a beautiful face with tears in her eyes saying, "You shouldn't have ripped that shirt. That color suits you, and I liked it." Smiling at the memory, he was about to enter the store when a reflection caught his eye.

She stood outside the store across from him, her hair gleaming beneath the mall lights. She wore a black sleeveless top, a matching mid-length skirt, and slip-on sandals. At perhaps five foot six or five foot seven, she carried herself like a model.

Sid turned toward her and quickly realized he was not the only one looking at her. She was gorgeous, but something about her tugged at him. She was also looking at him and meeting his gaze, neither of them looking away. Her eyes held him.

The look became a contest, neither of them willing to lower their gaze. Shoppers passed between them, but neither seemed to notice. She carried herself with an ease that told Sid that she was not someone who could be easily rattled.

A small, sensuous smile touched her lips; she was enjoying the game! Neither of them seemed willing to surrender. After a few more seconds, Sid finally relented. He broke eye contact, glanced upward, and murmured, "Sala kya cheez hai tu (dam, what kind of a thing are you)?"

A second later, Sid looked back. Her triumphant smile, as though relishing the victory, had grown radiant as she flicked her hair and walked away. Exactly five steps later, she glanced over her shoulder. Sid smiled at her, and she paused just for a second, looking straight at him, she returned his smile before continuing. In that instant, certainty struck him.

She is the one!

Rhea continued walking, but three stores later, she stopped in front of a display window. She had no interest in anything inside; she simply needed an excuse to glance back at that handsome, rugged hunk.

She had noticed him before he had noticed her, just as the younger man beside him grabbed his credit card and hurried away. The two resembled each other enough that she guessed they might be brothers or cousins. After that, her attention remained fixed on him. He stood nearly six feet tall, with a sharply defined jawline and a neatly connected beard.

There was this twinkle in his eye that just sort of held on to her. She had reacted a second too late when he turned to look at her, but once they made eye contact, she was not about to surrender. Her heart melted when he finally looked away. She took it as a sign of respect, not surrender.

As soon as she had started walking, she had turned to take another look at him, when their eyes met again, she just felt like walking up to him and hugging him... well no, kissing him, if she was being honest to herself.

Returning her attention to the present, Rhea glanced back, but he was gone. Had he entered the store? She quickly scanned the mall, turning first left and then right. At last, after a few more minutes of desperate left and right looks, she spotted him riding the escalator up towards the food court.

Rhea checked her watch. It was almost 8:15 p. m., and she needed to get home. The mall exit lay straight ahead, beneath and just beyond the food court.

She smiled and made her way to the food court escalator. She had to get another look at this dream boat.

"Bhai (Brother)!!", said Ro in an excited whisper. "Wo ladki aap ko taad rahi hai (that girl is checking you out)". Sid did not respond because he already knew it. He had been doing the same thing.

They were sitting at a table; mango shakes and chicken bites in front of them. She was standing at the edge of the food court by the railing, pretending to look for someone, while glancing at him every minute or so.

One of the guys from a group of four sitting nearby, approached her and tried to engage her in conversation. Sid could see her telling him to go away, but he kept nagging her. His fingers had balled into fists. Sid himself was not exactly sure why that was.

Ro had noticed, and looking where Sid was staring at, he quickly assessed what was going on and said "Bhai, aaram se (Brother, relax)".

It happened in a second. The guy had touched the girl, trying to grab her hand to lead her to their table, she had jerked his hand off and was again trying to get him to leave her alone.

She glanced towards Sid for just a second, when the guy's hand again seemed to be going towards her.

Sid jumped up, said "Tu yahan rukh (you stay here)" to Ro and was taking hurried steps towards them, while removing his watch. Ro had seen this movie many times before and almost knew what was going to happen. In an instant he was by his brother's side, trying to slow his gait.

Just as the girl again freed her hand from the guy, Sid grabbed and pulled her toward himself. She came hurtling straight into his chest, her arms flying around his neck. Sid's other hand grabbed the guy heckling her by the neck and pinned him to the railing.

Rhea saw a look of pure rage in his eyes. It was scary!

His friends got up, but Ro stood right in front of them giving them a stare. Sid let go of the guy he was pinning and roughly pushed him back hard towards his friends. He crashed into his friends sending two them toppling down.

He gently let go of Rhea and asked in a polite voice "Aap thik ho (are you alright)?" She nodded meekly. He handed her his watch, with his eyes asking her to hold it and gave her a look which said step aside and stand behind me. She did.

She wanted to stop him, but he had now moved Ro aside and was just staring at these guys. Not a word was said. His fists still clenched tightly, his hands shaking and Rhea could sense he was controlling himself with great difficulty.

Everyone around was looking at them. From the corner of her eyes, Rhea could hear security guards coming towards them. Rhea could sense the hesitation in those four guys now.

It was as if they were shrinking under his glare. Without saying a word, hands still shaking, Sid raised a finger towards them in warning, the security guards arrived and the situation diffused.

Ro was stunned.

He was looking at Sid, then this girl and then at those guys. The Sid of old that he knew would have had these four reeling on the ground, possibly a couple of them with broken bones, within minutes. He knew that even though they were four of them, they were no match for his brother's brute strength and street-fighting ability.

How was his brother suddenly so composed? When had he developed this ability to exhibit restraint?

Rhea, meanwhile, was shaken. They walked back towards the table Ro and Sid were at and Ro offered Rhea his seat and his untouched mango drink and stood behind Sid. Sid was looking at her. She noticed his eyes, the rage seemed to have subsided, and they were almost back to their twinkling self, but with a tinge of worry at the fear her eyes probably still showed.

She handed his watch back to him, hands still shaking slightly, saying "Thank you".

"Aaj bola hai, phir kabhi nahi bolna (you have said it today, but don't ever say it again)" replied Sid, sliding his watch back on his wrist.

She looked confused and looked down. Rhea noticed the politeness in his deep voice but marveled at the command it exhibited.

A smile was now breaking onto Ro's face. He understood! His grin grew wider as he looked at Rhea.

She smiled, feeling a lot calmer now.

"I'm Rhea, Rhea Gupta".

"Siddarth Sharma", said Sid, "but please call me Sid".

He saw Rhea looking at Ro and before he could affect an introduction, Ro, still smiling broadly, piped up and said, "I'm Rohit, but I go by Ro".

"Yes, this is my younger brother Ro", finished Sid in an exasperated voice, seeing his brother's childish behavior. Rhea gave him a radiant smile and he beamed even more.

There was a pregnant pause for a minute or so, in which Sid kept looking at her, her eyes meeting his, then darting down to her hands, then again meeting his. Ro's smile was now almost ear to ear.

"May I please have your phone?" Sid asked Rhea, breaking the silence. She looked up surprised, but took it out from her purse, unlocked it and gave it him. He took it and Rhea saw Ro almost getting ready to jump with joy as he saw what his brother was doing.

"I've put my number in your phone. If you feel like meeting me for a cup of coffee or maybe dinner, please call me. If not, feel free to just delete my number". He handed the phone back to Rhea. She again was dazed at the command in the politeness of his voice. He was still looking at her.

Rhea looked at her phone. She saw the number and then looked at what he had put for a name.

It said "Hone-wala Miya? (to-be husband?)"

She looked at him in shock, looked at his confident face, then a small smile curled onto her lips. She felt herself blushing and looked back down at her knees.

She also felt the respect he had shown her. He could have easily used her phone to dial his number so he could get hers or simply given his phone to her to add her number. He did neither. He wanted her to have the choice of either giving or not giving him her phone number. He had given her the choice to decide if this would be their only contact or if this would go forward.

She also understood that he was not looking for fling or some time pass relationship. He wanted her for life! A tender feeling washed over her.

She looked into his eyes again, but broke eye contact from shyness and stood up.

Nodding at him, she stood up and turned to leave but just at that time her eyes fell again on those four guys.

She looked back at him and noticed he was still looking at her. Without saying a word, he seemed to have understood. He extended his hand back and grabbed Ro's shirt dragging him forward.

"Ro, walk Rhea to her car or drop her all the way to her house if she says so" he said still looking at her.

Ro suddenly looked concerned. He looked at those four guys, then at his brother and then at Rhea. Rhea thought she understood. Ro did not want to leave his brother alone with those four guys still sitting there. Rhea was about to say something, when Sid said, "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine". He was talking to Ro, but his eyes were still fixed on Rhea.

"Bhai", Ro said in a very scared voice. "It's not you I am worried about, it's them", jerking a finger in the direction of those four guys. Sid smiled and just looked at his brother giving him an "its ok" kind of look. Rhea was dumbstruck. She had already sensed that Sid was probably very strong and if he wanted, could have beaten the guys down to a pulp but had likely restrained himself because of her.

But now, it was almost as if she shared Ro's concern. She wondered whether his calm demeanor would last. Once she and Ro left, would he go back and deal with those four guys? It now struck her that in his mind, they had messed with someone who he had mostly already decided, was to be his future wife. The pure rage she has seen in his eyes now made sense to her.

Suddenly, for her second, she wanted him to go and beat the crap out of them.

Very slowly, she started walking away with Ro at her side. As they came down the escalator and made the U-turn towards the exit doors, she looked up again. He was standing with his hands on the railing, just next to where those guys were sitting. His broad muscular chest, strong arms, which showed scars below his folded-up sleeves, he posted a strong impressive image.

His confidence, composure, and utter fearlessness left her bewildered.

He smiled at her and she smiled back. Pausing, she gave him a pleading look that said, "please don't fight". He just nodded at her, as if he had understood her plea. She smiled again and continued walking. Once they were out of view, Sid turned and glared towards the guys for a few seconds. They looked at him but looked away quickly. Sid knew his message had been delivered.

He came back, sat down at his table, and his fingers touched the scar. It was as if a beautiful voice close to his ear said, "Nicely done lover boy". He smiled, closed his eyes and looked towards the heavens. "Whatever happens, happens for the good as per God's wish" came to his mind.

In his mind, Ms. Rhea Gupta had already become Mrs. Rhea Sharma.

It felt good!

At her car, Rhea looked at Ro, who had a kid in a candy shop kind of smile. She gave him her phone and said, "Maybe you should give me your number too" and smiled at him. He took it, punched something at rocket speed and gave it back to her. She looked down and saw that he had put his number and looked away smiling, almost laughing at what he had put for his name.

It said, "???????? Pyara Devar? (loving brother-in-law?)"

She looked up at him; he was beaming with happiness. She tapped him on his forehead and said "Pagal (mad), dono bhai pagal ho (both you brothers are mad)".

He then did something that both stumped her and filled her heart with love.

He gave her a quick respectful hug and bent down and touched her feet. For a moment Rhea was too stunned to react.

He stood back up and opened her car door for her, still beaming with happiness.

She got in, waved at Ro, who waved back as she drove away.

At the first traffic light, she glanced at her phone. She opened the contact Sid had entered.

Hone-wala Miya?

She smiled despite herself. "Pagal," she whispered, shaking her head.

The light turned green, but she didn't move immediately. Her mind was still back at the mall--with his eyes, his voice, the way he had stood between her and those men, and that ridiculous poise and confidence with which he had written his number into her phone.

A couple of impatient honks brought her back.

She finally drove on thinking "This is going to be interesting!"

A smile played on her lips as she felt herself getting turned on.