Keep the relationship strong, even if the roots of life are cut, the relationship will not allow it to fall...
*****
Too much interest sometimes makes life uninteresting, At the same time, we cannot live a life without interest.
Sharma : Shree... say Namaste to aunty and uncle.
Ananya greeted the people who had come, without denying her father's words. She had never seen them before. Although she was curious as to who they would be, but Ananya waited for her father to introduce them.
Sharma : Shree... meet my colleague Madhav, and his son Aarav. Aarav met you outside somewhere and he likes you a lot and wants to marry you.
"OHH" Ananya now understands what is happening around her.
"Dad if you don't mind, can I talk with Aarav for a minute... alone?" Ananya is really straightforward this time.
"There is no need Ananya, after engagement you two are going to talk everyday." Sharma tried to stop Ananya by threatening her with his eyes.
"It's not a big deal Sharma" - Madhav
"Don't worry dad I won't take long... Aarav this side" Aarav followed Ananya.
Sharma's heart beat increased and he looked very nervous, Because he knows what will happen after this. As he expected, Aarav came out of the room after 10 minutes and gestured to his parents. They said they will tell their decision over the phone and left. Sharma knew they would never call him after this. Because this is not the first time, people who said like this, then never even showed their faces.
Sharma stared at his daughter who was crossing her legs and eating the almonds as nothing had happened.
"Shree..."
"Please Papa... I am tired of listening to your advice. Whatever you say, this is my decision. If he can't accept even my one and only conditions then how can he keep me happy throughout life." Her eyes were still fixed on the television.
"Shree, you cannot judge someone's character at first glance"
"That's what I am saying, how he decided to marry me the first time he saw me, Don't tell me it's love at first sight." After a break she continued, "Did you know? I hate him so much because of you... It's because of him that you haven't even wished me on my birthday yet" There was a hint of fire in her words.
Sharma let out a sigh and went to his daughter and sat down near her. He patted her on the head and said, "Whenever you're angry, you remind me of your mother."
His words put a smile on Ananya's face. "If mother had been with me, surely she would have fought with you for me" Ananya curled up in her father's arms like a little child longing for a mother.
*****
"Thank God... I was afraid that you would marry him and leave. If you get married before me, who will tell about my love in my house and put my love together?" Shanvi's face showed a look of relief.
"Don't worry, I'm not going to marry anyone... At the same time you have to worry. Because I'm not going to do anything for your love. If I get a chance to break your love I will be the first person to do so" Ananya laughed at Shanvi who was staring at her.
"You are not allowed to do anything like that" Shanvi says as she helps Ananya unpack her things.
Just then Shanvi finds a beautiful gift box. Shanvi was never a third person in Ananya's life, So she never hesitated to take Ananya's things. So she opened the box curiously to know what was inside it.
Unfortunately a small punching hand hit her in the nose. "AAAHHHH" She screamed rubbing her nose in pain.
"Who is that idiot, did this kind of work?"
"OMG... I kept the gift box unopened thinking that he would have done something like this... But I never expected him to do like this... Well done David bro" Ananya rolls over on her bed and laughs, unable to stop laughing at Shanvi's reddened nose.
"Tell him not to caught in my eyes... and if I see him I am definitely not responsible for his condition" Shanvi curled her fingers tightly.
After that, Ananya kept talking to Shanvi about David to annoy her. But luckily Shanvi gets a call from her boyfriend and she escapes from Ananya's annoying speech.
It was only after Shanvi left that Ananya remembered Anand's gift. She quickly took the gift in her hands,
"To my Anu..." She read this single line on the gift box over and over again.
She gently shook it to see what was inside, and as she felt something moving inside, she slowly began to pull it apart.
****
I agree, It was a gift from her crush, but the most embarrassing thing was that she took half an hour to unwrap it. I think these people go crazy when they fall in love.... why she keeps that gift paper so safe?
****
That gift box contained more than she expected. Anand collected each of her favorite things and kept them in that box. Every object before her eyes at the moment was so delightful that it made her jump to heaven and earth. The greeting cards in the box along with the gifts and the poems he had written for her made her fall for him more and more. What is even more remarkable is that at one point he referred to her as his "Penguin".
Now All of David's words made sense for Ananya. Now she understood who belongs to Anand's love. Tears of joy welled up in her eyes as she thought that she had the love of a man whom all the women in the world longed for...
She took the Mickey Mouse which Anand had gifted her.
"Did you know micky? I thought he would probably never know that I like him. Because he is like the moon and I'm like one of the 15 billion eyes looking at him. I have longed for days to see him in person at least once in my life. I pick words from his vocabulary and use them throughout the day. Because at least in language we're one. Is there a chance for two poles from two different corners of this world to meet? But that miracle happened in my life. Strangers become personal diaries... He makes every month of my year February. I told everyone I wasn't ready for a relationship yet. But I was secretly waiting for him to propose. Do you know how many proposals I turned down for him? Seeing him with Dhanushree is so painful. But It's just my imagination... What a big fool I am...? He was the hardest lesson I ever had to learn. I gave him my days and nights and every second in between. When I was finally fall asleep, I let him rule my dreams. Anand... I need you so much right now, and a big and tight hug. No... no... if you give me a long hug i might start crying..."
As Ananya was saying all this, her mobile started ringing. She knew it was him so she swiped it without looking at the screen.
"It's almost 12 o'clock and finally I want to wish you a happy birthday one last time" There was an exultation in his words.
"Last time?"
"Nowadays people even forget who said the first wish but they never forget the one who said it last" A hint of sarcasm peeked through his words.
"I may even forget the first greeting and the last greeting but how can I forget the person who gave me a box full of gifts?"- Ananya.
"If so, it means that you have already seen all the gifts... I think you will have discovered my secret gift too" He puzzled her.
"Secret gift? I didn't find anything like that" Ananya looks at the gifts.
"It just means I have one more chance to surprise you, if you haven't really figured it out, i can help you with that... but If you do a video call I will tell you what the gift is" Anand's main motive is face to face conversation with her. So he mostly prepare video calls. But Ananya always avoids it due to her circumstances but today she has no choice.
"I made a video call as you said, tell me where is my gift?"
"It is in your beautiful hands" He showed no emotion on his face, neither laughter nor sarcasm.
"Stop kidding me... it's just a little micky..." Ananya's face shriveled like a withered flower.
"Hey... I'm not joking Anu. Just undress the Mickey to see your gift." We can see the trace of love in his blooming face.
"You're too messy, that you hid your gift inside his dress?" Ananya slowly unzipped the Mickey. There was something....
"Is this your gift?" Ananya stared at him.
"You have no patience at all. Connect it with your mobile and put on your headphones, most importantly don't forget to close your eyes" Anand knew that her patience was not even a size of ant.
Surprisingly She follows his instructions without any arguments, because There are some love commandments we can't break, right? She surrenders herself to his voice, which passing through the headphones and that reaches her mind to control her.
"So... How is it?" Anand often adjusts his positions to comfort himself.
"USHHHH... Let me listen one more time." Anand keep himself quiet until Ananya finishes listening to the song two or three more times.
"My music is new and I want you to hear it today... I want to receive your greetings today... All these things you piled up all over your bed, you think they are my birthday presents but this is the real birthday present... I don't know if you remember, One day you told me that you should be the first person to hear all the songs I write and compose... Today, in this last moment of your birthday, I make a promise to you... Until the end of my life, every musical feast I create will be a drop of honey for your ears... I promise... My music that cannot be heard by you... cannot be heard by anyone in this world" Anand's eyes shone with the brightness of a thousand suns while saying this.
"But why?" The tears of joy welling up in Ananya's eyes made her eyes shine like diamonds.
"Because... Because... There are billions of animals in this world but God made me to be with this one. My fate... Oh my god... look at your nose, it's red with anger" He pressed Ananya's nose through the mobile screen.
In fact, Ananya was in no mood to fight with him. Her face wasn't reddened with anger at all, it was reddened with blush. While she had already guessed that Anand was in love with her, his speech today seemed to confirm it. If Anand was in front of her now she would have hugged him and expressed her feelings for him without any hesitation. But Anand's sarcastic speech awakened the demon inside Ananya a little.
"When are you going to release this song?" She questioned him.
"Friday evening... It's a very big music launch party and you should definitely come and i expect your arrival" Anand was indeed in a very good mood.
"Impossible... How can I come? The next morning, I have an engagement."
"Oh i see... HEY WAIT, WHAT? Engagement? Who is getting engaged?" Anand's heart stopped beating for a second.
"My dad"
"Wow... This is a good decision, My best wishes to uncle." Anand thinks she is teasing him.
"Anand... I'm serious... Me and Aarav are going to get engaged on Saturday morning." Ananya said with her pity face as always.
"What the hell are you talking about? Who is that Aarav? Why didn't you tell me anything about this? And..." Words refused to come out of his mouth, he couldn't tell if it was anger or sadness.
"I only know this today. Aarav is the son of my father's colleague. Aarav's family was the first to start talking about marriage and my father was also keen on it. Wait a minute I will send you his photo" Ananya shared Aarav's picture with Anand.
"Bloody hell, I think you need thicker glasses more than him... How did you agree to marry him? He does not seem to be suitable for you in any way. How could you agree?" There is a trace of jealousy in his words.
"No one can decide what kind of person he is by looking at his face... And my dad likes him too. What other reason do I have to refuse this marriage?" Ananya was stoking the jealous fire burning inside him.
" Okey... It's fine if your father likes him, but what about you? How can you marry a stranger? What do you know about him? You deserve more Anu" Anand tries to change her mind by giving all the reasons he knows.
"Would my father have taken this decision without thinking? I have faith in my father's decision." Ananya was getting more and more interested to see Anand jealous.
"But Anu... No matter what reason you give, he is not a perfect match for you. And I will never allow you to marry that donkey."
Ananya thought that, if she make him jealous, Anand would confess his love to stop her marriage. But there was no response from Anand. He hung up after his last sentence.
"Okey enough... If you give me a valid reason, I will definitely stop this marriage, i swear." She texted him.
There was no reply from Anand, he was not online for a long time and he did not pick Ananya's call too. This made Ananya so tired that she felt that it was wrong to play with Anand's feelings and she thought that she should tell the truth. But at that moment she got a reply from him.
"If so wait till I come and tell you the valid reason in person... I want to look into your eyes and tell you that reason..."
Ananya was proud to think that the lies she had told were believable. She couldn't stop laughing at the mischief she had done. It seemed to her that it was not wrong for someone who had made her suffer for so many days to suffer for a few days.
On other hand, Ananya's eyes were longing for the days to see Anand. "Will he confess his love when he sees me? Anand... Will you run and hug me when you see me? Will he be angry with me for making him suffer? Will you hold my hand tightly and tell me that you belong only to me?" With a thousand questions like this, our angel started spreading her wings in the sky of love with her loved one.
******
To be continued...
