Free When a Lawyer Falls in Love by Amrita Suresh

Thrilled was a rather long word for Jaishree’s normally monosyllabic speech and probably even she realised it. It was Jaishree’s turn to blush.
     
    ‘I mean, it was so well written…I was touched,’ Jaishree spoke, entangling herself further.
     
    The twelve-line poem, had worked its magic. Jaishree was actually fumbling for words, just like Souvik had been doing for the past four years.
     
    ‘Thank you so much…but I really meant all that I wrote,’ Souvik modestly shrugged though his heart was brimming with immodest pride. Just why hadn’t he thought of writing a poem for her in the first year itself?
     
    ‘Jaishree, I was just wondering…,’ Souvik asked wondering if he could try his luck further. But Jaishree was not wondering. She apparently knew what was coming. She decided to make things easier and complete Souvik’s meandering sentence.
     
    ‘We can have pani puri tomorrow…but not in the canteen.’ Jaishree said. Souvik didn’t know which part of his anatomy would deceive him, but he felt his head vigorously nodding.
     
    ‘Tomorrow is Sunday. I’ll come to pick you up in the morning,’ Souvik said, all in one breath.
     
    ‘No,’ Jaishree mildly protested, ‘In the morning I’ll be in the library, let’s go around four in the evening.’
     
    ‘Absolutely! Whatever is convenient!’ Souvik eagerly replied. The sun had begun to shine brightly on Souvik’s love life, and he was willing to brave even prickly heat and tanned skin as long as he could go on a date with Jaishree.
     
    ‘See you tomorrow, then,’ Jaishree said softly and took leave. And with her, Souvik’s whole night’s sleep took leave of him.
     
    Souvik Bose was technically not very good-looking. In fact his colour was that of a chocolate brown cookie that had been forgotten in the oven. Yet he was a true son of the soil, as the only reason he had taken up law was to be able to serve his country. Souvik ought to have been a barrister during the time of Gandhiji and Nehru, except that his romantic soul would have been so taken in with the freedom struggle that he would have run the risk of breaking into a jingoistic song in the middle of the courtroom.
     
    Then, of course, there were his dimples. There was something very endearing about the way Souvik smiled— something that made people trust him instantly. He exuded a certain air of reassurance that even Vyas’s lanky frame or Ankur’s podgy presence couldn’t match. So when Souvik and Jaishree stood together next to Radhe Shyam Chat Bhandar , they looked like a cute couple.
     
    ‘This is spicy!’ said Jaishree making happy sounds, when she was served another round of pani puris.
     
    Jaishree was looking unusually beautiful that evening. Her slim female form could only be measured in superlatives. She had just washed her hair and it was carelessly tied with a hanky.
     
    Her rather small mouth with baby pink lips were concentrating on taking an entire pani puri in, her flawless skin marred only by a splash of jal jeera on one smooth cheek. Souvik could have stood by the roadside, admiring her forever. His masculine mouth had given him the advantage of finishing a pani puri at a much faster rate than her, leaving him with ample time to watch the class beauty struggle with a spicy puri.
     
    ‘That was really amazing,’ Souvik said after a marathon session of gulping pani puris. ‘I need water,’ Jaishree gasped, her lips pursed. A dainty hand with light pink nail polish was fanning the air in front of her mouth. Involuntarily, Jaishree was fanning Souvik’s emotions. Souvik was actually embarrassed.
     
    ‘We can go to that ice cream parlour there,’ he suggested pointing across the road. The two classmates had strolled out of the campus to the chat bhandar just outside. Now Fate was devising ways of extending their date.
     
    ‘Water…one watermelon cream ice cream and one…’
     
    ‘I like strawberry,’ Jaishree joined in as they were placing