Ruby, aka the Other Cece, and Gavin (Part-I)

"It's not like he brought you a marriage proposal. He just wanted to know you better. Why would you chase him away before even trying?"

Cece sat silently with a vacant look. Receiving no response, Mia probed her further. "Did he do something to you? Did he say something, or make you feel uncomfortable in some way?"

"He is not that kind of person," Ravi stated.

"No?"

"No. he has a very neat and clean reputation. He is the kind of guy girls would want to take home and introduce to their parents. Trust me, I know him personally. Beside him, I feel like a fucking pervert."

Mia smirked meaningfully. "That's because you are a fucking pervert." She then looked at Cece, who was lost in her thoughts, shook her gently and said, "Honestly, Gavin reminds me of my ex-boyfriend. Do you remember Will, Lola's older brother? I feel so jealous of these people. They have this thing, you know, a very bright, positive vibe, you can't top yourself but fall for them."

Raci pointed out Cece and laughed, "She managed to stop herself, quite successfully, if you ask me."

"Nobody's asking you," Mia made a face. She turned to Cece. "Look, it's still not so late, we can set you two up."

The words affected Cece a way she didn't expect. Her heart started beating faster. There was a mild tug that started inside her chest and ended at her fingertips. She curled her palms into tight fists to contain the sudden surge of excitement. "What do you mean–set us up?"

"You heard Ravi, he knows Gavin personally. We can just plan a blind date, nobody would suspect two innocent souls setting up their good friends because they think it's a match made in heaven."

"How do you know him?" Cece looked at Ravi suspiciously. Ravi's conquests were legendary in the university. The number of times they had found panties, lipsticks, and different colours of hair in his room, both Cece and Mia had lost count. And then there was the iconic moment when Mia accidentally walked in on Ravi and a cosplayer getting dirty in the living room. Mia still blamed Ravi for giving her PTSD.

"We were in the same study group. Some of the guys would call him God. He was brilliant, polite, friendly and good-looking, all in the same package."

"Sounds perfect," Mia said.

"Hmm…" Cece again fell silent and looked outside.

She was watching the rain.

She always considered herself a pluviophile. The grey hues in the clear blue sky always filled her mind with hope of the arrival of the monsoon, and when the monsoon arrived she felt the kind of ecstasy only plants and certain animals would feel.

Today, however, she felt nothing. Her day was a blank page lacking words, colour and all the mysteries life had to offer. It was technically a great day; she had a healthy and wholesome breakfast consisting of toast and boiled eggs and juice, she completed her long pending project with the help of her classmates, met Aunt Aurelia for lunch, and then everything changed. Her carefully organised and planned day fell apart like an intricate design made by dominos.

She saw Gavin in the restaurant with another woman.

Her face obviously had given away the turmoil in her mind, which made Aunt Aurelia grin at her. "Did you accidentally see a ghost, my dear?"

"No, everything is fine." Cece smiled awkwardly and looked away.

It did not help that the woman chose that exact same time to call her name loudly. "Ruby, isn't that her?"

She saw Gavin facepalm, and looked away.

The woman turned to see her. She flashed a thousand watt smile and waved towards Cece.

"Do you know them?"

Cece made a non-committal sound, which might mean both 'yes' and 'no'.

As if the hints were not enough for her, the woman left her chair and came forward. "Hello, my name is Sandra. This is Gavin. We are Cece's friends."

They did not stay for long. Apparently, Sandra's intention was to just let Cece know their presence. That did not affect Cece too much. What made her sulk for the next two hours was Gavin's reaction. Not for once, he laid his eyes on her face. He greeted and talked to Aunt Aurelia so well, it made her chest warm. Yet, he ignored Cece.

He ignored Cece.

"I can't complain. It was me who didn't want him around. Also, it's really naive to feel any of this towards a man I have met only a couple of times." Cece sighed.

"And what about the times you watched him secretly? And when you looked him up on FB, and scrolled through his gallery on Insta?"

Ravi reminded Mia, "And when she read all of his old tweets and giggled for no reason?"

"We should really use the word 'stalk' really." Mia nodded.

"Everybody does that. Tell me you have never looked up a person online?" Cece tried to defend herself. It was a feeble attempt which she knew wouldn't work. Mia laughed triumphantly and flipped her hair.

"Dude, I am a pro at this. Anyway, I am taking this whole conversation," she hovered her hand in the air, right over Cece's head with a dramatic flair, and continued, "As a 'yes'. Be ready next Friday, because I am setting you up with your man."

Cece blushed. "He's not MY man."

When she left Mia's dorm, the rain had stopped. She chose to walk. The roads were wet. She took each step carefully. The temperature had dropped because of the shower, everything felt different. Cece wrapped the jacket around herself tightly and looked around. There were very few people around.

Her mind kept on wandering, mostly around a handsome face. He might scold Sandra for intruding in her family time. He probably disliked being spotted there. Cece would if the roles were reversed.

It seemed a little hypocritical though. She was the one who chased him away with her cold, aloof behaviour. Not for once she talked to him nicely, replied to him properly, or asked him the reasons behind his weird and questionable actions. As she retrospected his moves, she came to the conclusion that his actions were not all questionable.

She couldn't understand what grabbed her attention towards him. Was it the first meeting? His looks? The way he spoke? Or the way he left? Did he leave because he was not interested?

"He should have worked harder," Cece said out loud.

"Who should have worked hard?"

The sudden invasion in her mind was orchestrated by a deep voice. Cece had never noticed how deep his voice was. She froze in her place, mind blank. Where was she supposed to go?

Gavin stood in front of her. He was close enough for his cologne to permeate her mind. He stared at her face, his eyes searching for something. To dissipate the awkwardness, Cece nodded.

"You smell nice," she said, and bit her tongue. That couldn't have the first sentence to say after a falling out. Kind of falling out, she corrected herself internally.

"Wow, that was the first compliment you've ever paid to me. Do I really?" She pulled his shirt and took a sniff.

"What are you doing here?" Cece asked, with a tiny wish to divert the topic.

"Nothing, actually. I wanted to take a walk and saw you. What are you doing here?"

Cece looked at him, from his hair to his shoes. He was not lying. His hair was not done, the presence of dark brown traces on his face made him look younger. "You can take a walk with me," she offered. A small fear made her restless. He might say no, or he might bring up her past behaviour. Cece said again, "I understand if you want to be alone, that's completely fine."

Gavin did nothing as embarrassing as she feared and maybe expected too. He nodded and started walking by her side. Cece's heart felt overwhelmed. She suppressed a smile and walked with him.

"I am sorry for Sandra's behaviour today. She can be like that sometimes. Overbearing, but with good intentions." Gavin kept his eyes on the road while he spoke.

"Good intention?"

A beautiful smile melted her heart. "She thought I'd done something wrong to you, her primary purpose was to say sorry to you. Then she saw your aunt and changed her plan."

Cece laughed too. It was sweet. "Is she close to you?"

"She's like a sister to me. We grew up together. What about you? I didn't really expect to see you here."

"I came to visit my cousin. Her dorm is nearby." Cece wanted to bring up Ravi's name somehow, to confirm Ravi's words, but at the moment her mind stopped working.

They walked silently. It almost killed Cece not to be able to talk to him. She was just too eager to know what was going on in his mind. She kept glancing at him sideways. It occurred to him all of a sudden that her stealing glances might make him feel uncomfortable. She lowered her eyes again and walked with him.

"Cece," Gavin stopped walking abruptly and said, "I am changing my mind. From now on, I am going to hit on you."