Love is an Adventure : Part – 9

Previous part of this story are here –  Part-1, part-2, Part-3, Part-4, Part-5, Part-6, Part-7 and Part-8.

Will you meet me today?  For coffee?  Keya read it as first thing in morning when she was still in bed and had just opened her eyes from deep sleep.

She smiled and instantly replied…..Yes.

And the second moment, that custom notification was there. She turned the phone on silent mode as Nimit was still sleeping beside her and she did not want him to wake up so early. Keya looked at the message –

Love you Keya. Will see you @6 pm sharp, at Rock café, on M G Road. I will miss seeing you at school today as Revati is going to be there today.

And suddenly Keya felt upset. She was so looking forward to have a glimpse of Ankur @school. She responded,

Will miss you too @school.

Ankur : You will be there @cafe, right?

Keya : Will try. Not sure

Suddenly her mood changed. That instant yes altered to “will try”.

Ankur : I will wait for you. Have a good day 🙂

Keya : you too…have a good day.

She literally threw the phone on pillow and got out of bed. Somehow, she did not like the fact that she will not be able to see Ankur @school. Keya tried to focus on kitchen work but today was different. She felt irritated but controlled herself and kept sailing through morning routine of Vihan’s school, breakfast with Nimit and wrapping up kitchen. After shower, she got ready and when she looked herself in mirror, she took a deep breath.

Ankur is not going to be @school. For whom I should get ready? She thought to herself.

She clipped long, silky hair behind face and did not care to put on earrings. By now, she had checked phone for 50 times but there was no message from Ankur. She was so so expecting Ankur to send his selfie but he seemed too busy today.

Not sure, what he is busy with? Can’t he send a message? Now, that irritation level was rising.

She kept looking at clock and finally @2 pm, she left with heavy heart and absolutely no expectation. At school, she was still waiting for Vihan to come out when she heard that husky voice again…

Hi Keya…Ankur  said, with a smile.

Her heart missed a beat. Within a second, all anger and upset feeling disappeared. She felt like she wanted to hug him tight. But she had to control knowing the surrounding. Although she could not hide that big and happy smile on her face, she tried her best to control her body language.

How come are you here? You were not going to be…..Keya left it incomplete.

And you are happy to see me, right? …Surprise for you … Ankur looked into her eyes and said straight.

She could not take it anymore. She looked down, which covered her face with her hair and just nodded.

Suddenly she could feel a breath nearer and before she could look up, she heard in confident but lower tone….I love you, my life.

She felt blood rushing into her cheeks. Her eyes were widened and mouth remained open, the way Ankur said it in public. Before she could react, Vihan was there. She had to control herself again. She saw Ankur’s smiling face and suddenly she decided to respond.

While Ankur was still staring at her, she bent down and kissed Vihan on his right cheek and looked at Ankur with a smile. Ankur literally jumped and yes, all this happened in public. Love birds, as they say, do not care about anything or anyone when they are crazy :-).

Keya left immediately with Vihan and at home she kept thinking about evening meeting.  Finally once VIhan woke up after nap, she asked him to get ready for his drawing classes and she too started getting ready. She had chosen bottle green shirt with blue jeans and a light brown jacket. She did not want to send any wrong signal by putting on something specific.

After dropping Vihan at class, she rushed to café. Ankur was already waiting for her. After formal greeting, they settled on corner table. Some uncomfortable silence took over when Ankur kept staring her. Finally, she had to speak

So? Did you wanted to talk about anything specific?

Umm….no.  Just wanted to meet you beyond school ground, Ankur responded.

But why? She tried to hide the discomfort. Keya never knew that meeting Ankur would be this much uncomfortable.

Not sure Keya. Can we have something? Ankur tried to change track.

They both agreed upon Irish coffee and started talking. Within few minutes, both of them were talking like old friends and Keya was laughing on Ankur’s jokes.

Coffee helped in breaking ice and the first step of any “love story” – to be great friends, was in progress. After an hour, when Keya stood up to leave, Ankur stood up and held her hand.

Keya, I Love you. Please never foster any misunderstanding about my intentions. I am really in love and believe me, I never felt this feeling with anyone else.

Keya nodded, not knowing how to respond and left with smile.

But before she could get into car, she heard that special notification tone. Even though she was getting late to pick Vihan, she could not resist the temptation of looking at the message.

Thanks for coming Keya. You have helped in giving me confidence that together, we have something in future.

Keya smiled wryly (knowing the reality) and drove to Vihan’s class. She was happy and chirpy. After years, she had found herself humming on Hollywood number and smiling at same time. At night, when she checked phone, Ankur’s messages were waiting.

Hi love, hope your evening is going well.

Have been missing you so much.

Any special plan for weekend?

She responded…..yes, will be watching new movie tomorrow evening and will be attending a family function on Sunday morning.

Within a second, she saw that Ankur had read her response. She kept waiting for his message but it did not. With some worry and lots of thoughts, she dozed off.

But the next morning, which was supposed to be happy weekend morning, turned up a painful one for her.

Want to know, how?

Stay tuned 🙂