Next day, Naivedhi was out of hostel as she badly wanted fresh air after the letter she got. As Tara had told her, she didn’t want to get attached to this guy named Aakesh as it can all be a prank. She was roaming around and was going towards the hostel but then a bike stopped near her gaining her attention. She creased her eyebrows looking at the biker from top to bottom, his face was hidden with the helmet. She began to walk away feeling awkward. She heard click of fingers behind her.

“Naivedhi!”

She widened her eyes and gasped turning towards him. The biker was the one to be clicking fingers at her and calling her gesturing by his finger.

“Naivedhi? Naivedhi?”

She froze on the spot, he rode the bike past her, she looked on and took a step back. He was carrying a bouquet of roses which he gave to her and waved. She looked at him feeling confused and then read the tag on the bouquet, to her shock, it was written To Naivedhi from Aakesh.

She looked at him, he started the bike and rode off. She ran after him waving her hand.

N~aeyy! Aeyy ruko! Ruko! Aakesh! Ye tum he ho na! Ruko!

He slightly turned back and waved giving her a flying kiss and fled in wind speed, she stopped as she missed meeting him and confronting him.

N~ye ho kya raha hai? Kal mujhe pata chala isay sab pata hai jo class mein hota hai, aur aaj ye biker…

She sighed and walked towards the hostel and entered inside and went directly to her dorm. She was baffled, even Tara wasn’t there. She lied on the bed smelling the roses , naturally a smile appeared on her lips, these were her favorite flowers. She read the quotation on the tag.

N~Gardens and flowers have a way of bringing people together drawing from their homes. Par aaj wo shakal dikha deta na, toh ye curiosity na rehti, saamne aa gaya aur shakal tak nahi dikhaai is ne. Kaun hai ye? Is baar letter ke baad seedha anonymous meeting?

Her phone began to ring, she picked it seeing it’s a private number.

Aa~phool pasand aye?

She sat up with a jerk.

N~haan…

Aa~oh wow, seedha haan?

N~haan, matlab, kya tha ye? Tum mere saamne thay, mujhe flowers diye, aur phir bhaag gaye

Aa~hmmm, I smell something fishy

N~kya?

Aa~letters bhejta tha aur calls karta tha bas sirf, lekin aise kaise pata laga ke wo banda main tha? Door rehte huay tum meri khushbu kaise pehchaan gayi?

Naivedhi blushed.

N~aisi baat nahi hai, maine wo… tag parha

Aa~tag parha? Pakka? Na, main nahi maanta, mujh se pyaar ho gaya hai tumhe toh, nahi ye na sachay aashiqo’n ki khaslat hoti hai, ke wo khushbu se he apne pyaar ko pehchaan letay hain

N~kab se jaante ho mujhe? Nahi, maine toh ek imaginary name bataya tha, yahan sach ka Aakesh aa gaya, u r claiming tum mujhe jaante ho, mujhe nahi yaad ho tum,aur ye aashiq kya hota hai? Maine kabhi dekha nahi tumhe… who are you? Tumhe batana ho ga, aaj jo tum ne kiya, jo tum aaye aur gaye, is se shak gehra ho gaya, kal jo tum ne letter bheja wo bhi kya tha, how do you know meri class mein kya hota hai?

Aa~tumhe mujh se milne ki itni bechaini? Aaj bhi dekha tum kaise bhaag rahi thi mere peechhe, (he laughed) aray aaj shakal dikhana possible nahi tha, warna aaj he dikha deta aur bike pe ride bhi kara deta, I knew you were dying to sit behind me for a long, breezy, romantic ride with me

She looked down and closed her eyes growing silent and once again a smile spread on her lips.

N~aisa nahi hai, main bas tumhari shakal dekhna chahti thi, isliye aise bhaagi. Aur ye… main koi se nahi pehchaani, tum ne apni aawaz nikaali thi, you called me when I walked away

Aa~oops, ye toh blunder ho gaya, hai na? Achha chalo, ab ki baar seedha mulakaat ho gi, aur wo main nahi, wo tum decide karo gi, kiun ke jahan calls aur letters meri marzi thi, us se pehle tumhe khud ek Aakesh naam ka banda apni life mein chahiye tha. Aur ye flower wali meeting bhi mera decision raha. Toh theek hai ab next meeting tum decide karo gi, hmm? Main jab next call karoon ga na, toh yahi poochhne ke liye karoon ga, tab tak ke liye bye, see ya, and yes, take care of my gift of roses given to you. Meri yaad aye toh usay soongh lena.

She chuckled by mistake and palmed her mouth.

Aa~hasso mat, serious hoon main, bye. Byeeee, bolo na bye

N~bye

Call disconnected. Tara entered the room with a bouquet of flowers.

T~kya ho raha hai haan? Bara hass rahi hai, ohhh, tujhe bhi flowers milay, mujhe bhi flowers milay, par ek minute, mujhe toh Deep se flowers milay, tujhe kis se flowers milay?

N~kis se milay hongay, soch?

T~Aakesh? Umm, room mein thay kya?

N~nahi, main hostel se bahar thi, ek biker ne diye, us ne apni aawaz bhi nikaali, pehchaan’ne mein der kar di

Tara laughed.

T~full filmy life ho gayi hai teri toh, kiun? (Naivedhi giggled) achha ye sab chhor. Main bahar notice board se announcement parhti hui aa rahi hoon, likha hai ke college mein dance program hai, mera partner toh Deep ho ga, tera partner kaun banay ga?

N~Aakesh… haan wohi banay ga mera partner

T~okay, par wo toh…

N~us ne kaha hai Tara, ke agli meeting main decide karoon, toh yahi ho gi humari meeting

T~let’s hope for the best, bas tera dil na toote. Pray kar aur khayaal kar

Naivedhi nodded thoughtfully.