LOVE STORY

                                            "WELL KNOWN STRANGERS"

To the Present:

She was on her berth, listening to songs on her Ipad , the song playing on it was the song sung by Sekhar for her

Hum tere bin ab reh nahi sakte
Tere bina kya wajood mera …….

It was their favorite song, Sekhar always use it sing it for her, and on one particular day she recorded the playing for her to listen to it at a later time. From the day he left her to till date she listens to this song every day, his voice gives her solace and peace. And this particular moment she was rewinding this song many times.

Her train reached the destination. She was on platform searching for Sekhar, it was for him, she was scanning the crowd , couldn’t find him anywhere , she started  walking towards the exit , Someone came from back and placed a hand on her shoulder , startled she turned around , to find Sekhar there. Her face glowed up with a smile.

“Hi” he said

“Hi Sekhar” she asked looking at him , she was going crazy on seeing him , she was staring at him , He, too, stood looking at her for a moment–and it seemed to her that it was not a look of greeting after an absence, but the look of someone who had thought of her every day of that year. She could not be certain, it was only an instant, so brief that just as she caught it, he was turning…

“So How are you?” he asked her taking her bag from her

“Yeah fine, you?”

“Yeah am fine too” but both of them knew they were not happy without each other, they were walking towards the parking lot.

“Will you drop me at my friend’s place? I will call you back once I’m ready” Anu asked him

“No Anu, come with me, I’m staying in a flat, you can stay there with me if you wish” he asked her

“But you stay with colleagues, how can I come?”

“No I stay alone now, in my apartment”

“Oh  …”

“So…” he asked her, she nodded her head in acceptance.

They were in his car, going to his flat, “Thanks Sekhar, for meeting me” she slowly said

“I was worried about you Anu; I cannot hurt you once more, which was why I didn’t accept at first”

She smiled skeptically, they reached his place, Anu got freshened, and in the meanwhile, Sekhar prepared breakfast, by the time she came out he arranged toast, egg and coffee.

“Wow, that’s so sweet” Anu exclaimed, He smiled and bowed before “Your breakfast is ready madam”

“Thank you sire” she told him dramatically, they took their places opposite to each other

“Come lets complete and go out, I have planned something else for you” he told her

“Really?” she was surprised, Sekhar was in a dilemma whether to place his hand on hers or not , he bought his hand near her but backed away.

“Yes… These will be my memories for a life time” he smiled and continued “I should make the most of it” she knew what he meant, and silence was her answer.

“So you live alone here?”

“Yeah, I moved here 8 months back, I wanted to be alone so…”

“Why don’t you get married? You seem to have arranged everything here, except a wife” she winked at him

He shot a serious glance at her, “I want only you in my life, No one can erase you from here, UNDERSTAND , Do you think I can move on , maybe I left you because the situations were like that” he said pointing towards his heart very angrily.

“Sekhar, I’ve come to spend time with you, not to fight” she continued “It was your fault not mine” There was an awkward silence between them.

“Sekhar do you have your violin with you?” she asked him to soothe him

“Yeah”

“Will you sing that song again for me please” she asked him

“Not now Anu, I have planned a lot, let’s complete that, I also have a special gift for you, so let’s move”

He took her to Queen’s Island, It’s a Fun world “Hey,” she was surprised. They went on all rides and were enjoying to the fullest, he was pulling her into all rides, she was excited, she was laughing at his humor, at his stupid jokes and they went for a swim, fun rides, ghost rider, and ghost houses, everything that was there! Time was flying without their knowing, their final ride on roller coaster, Anu was totally exhausted .

“Sekhar, enough, let’s go, I fell sick in my stomach”

“What happened?” he asked her worriedly

“Nothing, I feel like vomiting, that’s it, let’s move”

“Ok madam”, he drove her back to his apartment, and the real surprise was awaiting for her. 

“Sekhar I will rest for some time, I’m dead tired” she exclaimed

“Ok, Rest for some time and get freshen up OK?” he told her

“Yeah…” she answered; he led her into the room and showed her the things that are needed by her and left. She didn’t observe well in the morning, his apartment was well kept, she was walking towards the bed observing his room, blue colored walls adorned with photo frames of him from his childhood which she had made it for him, she went near them a nostalgic smile stuck on her face seeing those, as she moved to the other side, she found laughing Buddha hanging from the ceiling which she has given him , she walked back towards the bed , on one side of the bed she found the photo frame  adorned with their picture with a quote saying “Ever since the day you came in my life, I know that you are the one I’ll truly love till the end. You’re special to me in every way, Thanks for being with me!” which was given by her to him. She moved to the other side of the bed to find a medium sized pencil sketch of hers neatly framed up , she took that frame into her hand , touched it lovingly she placed it back it in its position , and turned around to see his neatly packed up table , there was a blind cloth on the wall facing the table , she went near it and removed the cloth it was maze like photo frame , ‘why did he cover it with cloth’ she thought and was about to place it back , when she accidently tapped her fingers on a switch like thing on the wall , and suddenly the maze started to move and after a few seconds , she realized that was her picture , and he made that into like this. She was spell bounded and was staring at it.

She sat back on the bed totally amazed, she knew he loved her, but not to this extent, his room was adorned with every single memory they had. He is living with her memories. She was mentally and physically exhausted, she lay back on bed and closed her eyes, and she never knew when she slept.

“Anu…” he called her melodiously, she thought it was her dream, he called her once again she opened her eyes and found Sekhar staring at her; instantaneously a smile has dawned on her face.

“Sekhar…” she said groggily

“Go Get ready” he told her hurriedly

“What’s so hurry?”

“Get up dear plz” he asked her pleadingly

“Yup, give me 20 min I will be back”

As told she was out in 20 min, now it’s time for him to get shocked, she wore a cream color saree which was given by him on her birthday, the watch he has given and on the other hand the bracelet he has given her. She pulled her saree up and showed him the anklets she wore. He came near her , knelt down , took her feet and placed it on his knee , and asked her for her hand , planted a kiss on her hand and on the anklet , it sent shivers through her.

“Gorgeous” was the only word he told, he held her hand took her into the living room, the total living room has been changed, all the sofas that adorned the room have been vanished, a very big bowl of water with roses, in it has been is placed in the centre, and a bed besides it just like in a Raj Durbar!! Soft music was being played in the background and there was a table beside it with all the food neatly placed on it. Sekhar went in and bought two glasses, one with beer and the other was mazaa. And on the bed was lying his piano.

“Sekhar” She exclaimed, it was her dream to have a drink with him like that “It’s my dream” she shrieked

“No Our Dream!” he said smiling, he bought the rest of the beer and mazaa and they both sat down, music was at its best.

She sipped into her glass, she didn’t like it, “Yuck” she spatted out, “It’s not good” she said

“Yes, I have told you that” he added “Try one more sip if you’re not ok then have mazaa”

She tried but she couldn’t, so she also settled down with mazaa. And the song number changed to “Tum hi ho” he stood and asked her hand, they both started to tap with the music , First it was just a simple ball dance tossing and turning around , later it turned out to be very intimate dance with song number changing to a melody as well as an duet , they were getting more aggressive in dance , and at the end , he was holding her from waist , she was bending her back on to one side in his hand , gazing into his big bulbous eyes , her heart was beating very rapidly, she could hear the beat of her heart , afraid that he might also hear her heart beat , she came back to her position and sat back on the cot , he came near her , sat beside her silently and handed her the leftover drink. She took the glass from him and looked at him.

PUBLISHED BY-OURHELLO.COM