April 2015 A to Z Blogging Challenge- Chapter 6-Fly off the handle

I’ll Be There Beside You

Chapter 6

Today’s Idiom – Fly off the handle

Meaning- If someone flies off the handle, they get very angry.

Rashmi, Lalitha’s cousin, and my sister, Shilpa, returned with a silly grin on their face.

“Have you finished talking or do you want some more time?” Rashmi teased. Lalitha smiled before leading us down to the hall where our parents were eagerly looking at our expressions, trying to gauge if we liked each other or not. Lalitha had composed herself after her sudden outburst and she went inside another room along with her cousin. I was still trying to figure out why I felt this urge to explain to Lalitha that I was not being patronizing to her.

As expected when I requested to meet Lalitha at the coffee shop, so that we could understand each other better and judge if we were compatible, Bala uncle looked ready to fly off the handle. I wondered if Lalitha felt stifled by so many restrictions and rules in her house. I mean after all, she was intelligent, she was gorgeous and from our last conversation, I knew that she had an independent streak. How could she bow down to her father’s diktats so meekly?

Asha Shastri, Lalitha’s mother, had to mediate again. “Well, let me ask Lalitha about it. If she likes Sudhir and she is ready to meet him again, then we have no objections. Of course Rashmi can accompany her to the meeting”.

As Bala uncle sat morosely, glaring at me, I felt that the whole episode hadn’t gone as expected. When mom informed me of this boy-meets-girl session couple of days back, I’d decided to keep an open mind. To meet the girl, talk to her, get to know her and decide if she would be the right life partner for me. But here I was sweating it out, thinking what if Lalitha didn’t want to see me again. What if she rejected me outright?

A few minutes later Asha aunty returned to inform us that Lalitha indeed would like to speak to me again. So it was decided that I’d meet Lalitha at the Cosmo coffee shop tomorrow at 11 in the morning. Rashmi readily agreed to accompany Lalitha but she sneakily winked at me and I had a hard time controlling my grin.

As my family and I bid goodbye to the Shastri household and rode away in our Hyundai Santro car, I looked forward to meet Lalitha again. Had I developed a tiny crush on her? Maybe I thought, as I smiled to myself.

You can read the previous chapters here-
Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5