Bad Chinese Food + A Rubik’s Cube

= My Best Date Ever

Everyone has a first date story that digs its heels in and refuses to be predictable. Here’s mine.

Till today, I’ve only ever dated one person.

This was, in part, thanks to an all-girls high school education and a conservative college. It also helped that I was unadventurous and preferred staying at home with a book to going out and meeting people.

But that changed when I was almost twenty. (Otherwise this story would be really boring.)

I met someone when I was studying engineering. He was a designer, smart, funny, good-looking and older than me. We talked a lot about books and movies (I like reading, he was a movie buff), but I didn’t know him much on a personal level and I was hesitant to initiate anything else.

He was interested in grabbing a coffee though and after a few months, he point-blank asked me if I was okay with that. So a few weeks before my birthday, I screwed up my courage, put on my big girl pants and asked him out for lunch.

I then proceeded to completely freak out.

I called a friend and made her promise to drop in if she could (she didn’t turn up). I obsessed over imaginary scenarios. I spent an hour picking out the same pair of jeans and a black t-shirt that usually takes me two minutes to grab and wear.

Then, like a complete newbie, I turned up early.

I didn’t know what the heck to do. I walked into a costume jewellery shop nearby and nervously browsed through their entire collection without buying a single thing. When he finally called and told me he was close, I walked up to the restaurant and sat at a table by the window, twiddling my thumbs and studiously avoiding eye contact with the waiters.

The date hadn’t even begun and I was already maxing out the awkwardness card. He arrived a few minutes later, looking the opposite of what I was feeling. He was calm, didn’t talk much and listened while I spoke in intermittent bursts.

I tried to break the ice by asking him what he wanted to eat. He said anything was okay and then cautiously told me that he preferred meat to vegetables. The Chinese restaurant I’d picked was purely vegetarian. My stomach dropped another couple of inches. Feeling like an idiot, I ordered something. More awkwardness ensued.

But then, he took something out of a small bag. His Rubik’s cube skills had come up in casual conversation a couple of days ago and I joked about seeing him in action. So out of the blue, he unwrapped a new Rubik’s cube and started teaching me a few basic moves. Intrigued, I grabbed it, messed it up thoroughly and gave it back to him. He solved it in a few seconds flat.

I remember being dismayed and thinking, ‘Oh my god. He’s so smart’.

My nervousness doubled because earlier in the conversation I’d said dumb things. (And of course, I was impressed. Geeks are sexy.)

He let me solve an easy one next which was a smooth move. I had never solved a Rubik’s cube in my life before, and I was so surprised I forgot I was nervous.

After my spontaneous guffaw of victory, the ice finally thawed and we spoke amicably over bland onion rings (yes, onion rings), Gobi Manchurian (cauliflower deep fried in batter) and fried rice.

The food sucked but I wasn’t self-conscious anymore.

In fact, I had never been more comfortable and excited around a guy than I was in the last half hour of that date. Just when I was starting to really enjoy myself, the waiter brought us the bill.

After a small tussle, I agreed to let him pay as long as I could pay the next time, hoping that he wouldn't look away or say something noncommittal. He didn't. He actually perked up and said okay. Then he gave me the Rubik’s cube. Another little tussle and I took it.

I lost that Rubik’s cube years ago.

But three years later, I married the man. (*Air punch*)

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P. S: All the awesome illustrations in this post were drawn for our wedding invite by a friend who recently graduated from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. Thanks, Maran!