"Alok saar loves me!Yippee!I hoped for years to live the very moment!" thought Nisha, twirling and walking on the fifth-floor corridor. She stopped near the glassed window thrown open halfway. Her eyes went over the four pillars of street lights planted at the four corners of the podium housing a fountain of medium height spitting volumes of lake water all around and enough to prevent the surface from growing dry. She blushed at the white and bright vision thrown to pierce through her dilating pupils. She smiled, wondering, "Everything sounds like an old dawn's dream yet!"
Scenes of herself proposing to Dr.Alok, back in college and his words of response: "I'm sorry. Actually, I'm not interested in all these things", followed by an entire minute of silence wherein he exposed his light brown meek and hesitant eyes, flashed in front of her eyes through the fountain's streams. She sighed. She wiped the drop of tears rolling down her left cheek. She massaged the big glass recollecting how Alok caught her hand and bet his chest, confessing in the summit that afternoon, "I love you, Nisha medam."
She blushed, thinking, "Time flies. The man of my life finally accepted me although it took years for D-day to knock our lives. What matters is love, in the end. Even if it thrives for a second, a minute, an hour, a day, a week, a month, a year, or throughout one's life; Alok saar is Alok saar, my love, my sweetheart." She nodded and joined her hands at the dark sky having shades of violet hither and thither. "Thenxx great heavens, for gifting me with Alok's love which I had been longing throughout my life." She closed her eyes and leaned on the window to sob her heart out.
A couple of minutes later, she blushed and hopped towards the last flat beside the stairs. She twirled, blushing and looking down at the Tulip block's park. She rang the doorbell behind. After a minute of only hearing the crickets chirp, she tried to open the door. "What! Why haven't they locked our main door?!", she wondered, stepping in. She looked around to spot none. It was pitch dark inside. She massaged her neck which began sweating a bit. "Where are mom and Alok beta?"
"Congrats!", cheered Sandhya, Raftaar, and junior Alok, in chorus, as they surrounded Nisha. The lights went on. Nisha chuckled at her flat being decorated with balloons and colorful ribbons on doors including the balcony's door! She smiled at the white cake with traces of dark brown choco chips mounted on its surface and sides hither and thither. She hurried towards the small rectangular boxes wrapped with glittering red gift wrappers on the teapoy. She closed her mouth with her left hand as soon as she spotted the poster having the recent photo of Alok and Nisha both dressed in suits at the summit. "Alok loves Nisha!!!", announced it, in dark yellow font with red hearts collaged around the couple's names.
"Aww, that's so sweet of you! It's so damn beautiful!", she exclaimed, hugging her son and elderly mother. She kissed them both on their foreheads. Sandhya, with tears in her eyes, rested her daughter's head on her chest. She patted her head, conveying, "We could hear your excitement as soon as you exclaimed to Alok beta over the phone that your man accepted you. It was the first time I saw you happy after years. I badly wanted to do something to add colors to my daughter's love life." Nisha hugged her mother firmly and blushed widely. "Surprise!", exclaimed Alok beta, looking around and clapping at Nisha.
"Your surprise sounds as if it's someone's birthday party today!", commented Nisha, patting her son. "Of course!", reacted Sandhya. She pulled Nisha's cheeks, justifying, "It's my Nishoo's birthday today." She grabbed a bowl of dahi-shakkar from the dining table. She fed her daughter a spoon followed by another to her grandson. "Birthday is the day you start living happily. Nishoo got her love today." She nodded at Nisha and Alok beta, concluding, "My daughter finally has someone to look after and love her. I can peacefully die anytime now..."
"Mom!", shouted Nisha, placing her finger on Sandhya's lips. Nisha shook her head. Tears accumulated in her eyes as she warned, "Stop it, mom! I have already told you..."She turned at Alok beta and completed, "And Alok too to never get sentimental. You both had always been my universe. Now, at last, after ups and downs, Dr.Alok is entering my real universe from my heart where he had always resided so far." Sandhya blessed Nisha who fell to her feet. "Nishoo, invite your Alok saar to visit us sometime. I wish you the happiest life, filled with love forever, Alok saar and Nisha medam."
May it be a second, a minute, an hour, a day, a week, a month, a year, a couple of years, or even throughout one's life, relishing the most beautiful feeling on Earth-the love, it still matters.
While most couples are almost near the silver jubilee of their wedding anniversary, Alok and Nisha are just about to begin their love life!
Love at any age is love. Why not a middle-aged love story?!
As the two ladies hugged, Alok pointed toward the cake. He put his hands around Nisha's shoulder and escorted her. "Enough of sentiments. Time to celebrate, mom", said he. "Alok Saar and Nisha Medam's Day!", said the cake in red color and embedded in a big red heart, on its white-com-brown background. Raftaar offered the green plastic knife to Nisha. "Thank you!", said she, nodding and smiling at him who gestured a heart shape with his hands and pointed at the cake. While she slowly partitioned her edible surprise, Raftaar whispered in her ears, "Oh Nisha Ji! Great! I offered to help you yet you managed to win Dr.Alok's heart without any help. That's the spirit, girl!"
Nisha chuckled at him as she took a small piece and pushed it into her son's mouth. She fed her mom another piece. While she offered the third piece to her friend, she explained, "No, Raftaar. I didn't manage it all on my own. Your better half helped me." He coughed a bit of the cake in his hand. He bulged his eyes and shrugged. She laughed, revealing, "Ishitha helped me."
"Oh, Nisha Ji! Okay...Why did you just call her my girlfriend?", he questioned, blushing a little. Nisha raised her eyebrows and smiled. She dashed his left shoulder. "Someone told me that he met a client around a month ago and that she was just like him. She too never fell in love all these years! Who was it, dude?", she teased him. She gestured for him to wait. "He also told me yesterday during our tea time that he doesn't know what's happening to himself since he met this particular client. He has been feeling soulmates with this girl. That's what he said!", she concluded.
Raftaar looked away and chuckled. He clarified, "Look.."
"Yes, I'm looking!", Nisha nodded rapidly at which Raftaar smiled. He clarified, "Nisha Ji, I am not sure what's running in my mind. I just shared how I began feeling weird quite some days ago...Don't breathe a word to your bestie..." Nisha again nodded rapidly and the two shook hands.
"Mamma!", called Alok beta, standing behind Nisha. No sooner did she turn back than her face was soaked in choco cream. "Hey!No!", she exclaimed and ran towards the couch. As the two others continued hogging their pieces of cake, they chased Nisha who jumped upon the sofa. She ran from one corner to the other as her son laughed aloud, chasing her. "Alok beta, aren't you a good boy? Don't do this!", said Nisha, smiling at him. "Mamma! I am not a ten-year-old schoolboy anymore! I am a third-year Engineering student now, for your kind information", argued he, in his soft tone, just like Dr.Alok
"Fine!Apply!", said Nisha, giving up and sitting on the couch. She closed her eyes and brought her face towards him. Alok beta hit the entire piece on Nisha's face and spread the cream. Nisha opened her eyes and chuckled at her son's crazy happiness. She called him to sit beside her. "Are you indeed happy about my decision to accept Dr.Alok?"
Alok beta smiled and nodded readily. He rested his head on his mom's lap. He looked up, answering, "Yes, mom. I had always wanted Dr.Alok and you to be together at least this time when he returned to our lives after years. I am very happy for both of you. All the best! Anyways, I know things will go well between both of you." Nisha massaged his head, highlighting, "You are twenty. Is it hard for you to see your forty-eight-year-old mom, although foster, loving the man whose love she always wanted? Are you comfortable?..."
"What!", Alok beta exclaimed, sitting erect and shrugging at her. "Mamma! No way! You are overthinking. I have no issues. Why do you think your son will be the vulture shooing the love birds mating on the windowsill?", he asked. He hugged her and guaranteed, "If the need comes, I will vote for love and never oppose. Don't you dare call yourself my foster mother again." His eyes were soaked, as he concluded, "You are my only mother. How can the lady who raised me to be addressed foster while my own biological mother had dumped me?"
They nodded at each other. "Anyway, I get a father as a complimentary gift when you get married to Dr.Alok. I have never felt a father's love in my entire life although your love never missed even a trivial thing", concluded Alok beta, sighing and grinning at Nisha. "I am sure my Alok saar will accept you", guaranteed Nisha, patting her son's cheeks. "We will be the best parents ever", promised Nisha, at which Alok beta nodded again. "I will call you just beta and him just saar when we all start living together in his house after our wedding!", she shared. She placed both hands on her face and blushed secretly. "Mamma is in love! Oooo!", Alok beta exclaimed, whistling aloud. Sandhya and Raftaar too chuckled at Nisha.
"Let's party, guys!", declared Sandhya. Alok beta turned on the speakers beside their LCD TV. Nisha pulled her mother who wore a pair of cooling glasses. Nisha turned her round and round. They also swirled together. "Nishoo! I may faint!", screamed Sandhya, yet she continued to dance with her daughter. "Oho! The entire Verma family has gone mad today. Hahaha!", commented Raftaar.
"Yes, I'm mad in love for Alok saar!", yelled Nisha. She pulled Raftaar and forced him to twirl her through the fingers. Her hair kept hitting his face at which he closed his eyes. He sneezed twice, warning, "Nisha Ji, oho! If your dear Alok saar sees this, both of us are gone. He is already jealous of me." As Sandhya continued dancing alone like a lady dance queen in cooling glasses by just shaking her hips or hopping from one tile to another, Alok beta emerged outside the kitchen with a tray of glasses of wine.
Raftaar took one and escaped from Nisha towards the couch. Nisha grabbed one and thanked her son who bowed with a wide giggle. Sandhya was about to snatch one when Nisha caught her hand. Nisha shook her head and offered her a glass of lemonade from the refrigerator. Sandhya shrank her eyes and twisted her lips. "Rules even during your happy moment? Not fair, Nishoo. I thought we were celebrating!", grumbled she, taking the glass and sitting beside Raftaar. Nisha smiled and chuckled at her mother's childishness.
"Alok beta is very considerate like Dr.Alok! What a strange similarity!", thought Nisha. "He understands my pain despite our generation gap", she wondered, smiling at her son, extending his right hand with closed fists up, as he sipped his drink. "The victory of Nishoo mamma's love!", he cheered, displaying his grin of a formal style. Nisha's eyes went over her buzzing smartphone. She saw the clock striking eleven that night.
"Who is calling me at this hour?... That too on my personal mobile? None have ever called me...", Nisha hesitated, walking towards her mobile singing from the couch near the shoe shelf at the entrance.
Who is bothering Nisha now?
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