...Coffee...

"Coffee?" I asked.

"Sure," she replied.

We'd never met. In person, that is. We'd met online two weeks ago. What had started out as a one line email, had turned into chatting on various instant messengers from both office and home, for hours everyday. And then on BBM, of course

"But where?" she asked, after a pause.

"Any place that's convenient for you, I guess."

"Hmmm," she replied, as if thinking aloud. "Ok. Seven thirty?"

"Done," I said. An hour. "Where'll you be?"

"Remember that place I told you about that's right next to the park?"

"Sounds good."

I logged off, and headed for the shower.

We'd both bought new BlackBerrys recently and that had been the thing we'd first started talking about. But we'd soon switched to everything else, like ourselves, our lives, our likes, our dislikes, movies, music, books and even the weather!

As I was getting ready, I thought about what I was going to do. I was a little nervous. After all, I had never done something like this before. It felt quite strange, really.

I chose a simple white-t-shirt and my light blue jeans. Hope it’s alright

Coffee dates are over a decade old concept now, but that didn't take my mind off the fact that I knew I was doing something that I considered just a little... weird. I mean I'd known her for barely two weeks. And, a coffee shop? It just felt a little... different.

I had to park a little way away from the coffee shop. Parking was always a problem there in the evening. I was glad I had decided to leave a few minutes early.

I chose my table, sat down, and waited. It was 7:29 when I got my *PING*. She would be reaching in a few minutes. A few seconds later, she pinged again. She had reached."Hi!" she said.

"Hi," I replied. "Just reached?"

"Yep," she said. "So what are you ordering?"

"A Swiss Hot Chocolate, I think. You?"

"Oh, Espresso with whipped cream. So how's the weather there in Mumbai?"

"It's beautiful. Not too sunny, not too cold. Just right. What about Delhi?"

"Oh, it's pretty good here too. It was a little hot in the morning, but then it rained in the afternoon, and so it's much more comfortable now."

":-)" I replied.