Karthik’s POV.
I glanced at my watch one more time. I did so again and again and again. I am growing more and more and more impatient as every minute is passing by.

Just as I am about to call Naira, my eyes land on a figure walking towards me. My lips curve into a perfect smile as I spot Naira walking from a distance . She smiles back at me.

Once she reaches, I pull her in a warm hug. “You look beautiful.” I whisper in her ears sending shivers down her spine. She pulls back. Her cheeks are rosy as she blushes at the compliment.

“Shall we ?!!” I asked putting my hand out. She links her hand with mine and we start walking down the street.

As we walk towards our destination,Naira looks at me lovingly. It’s making me feel more and more conscious, even though I like it when her eyes are on me.

“What ?!!” I ask Naira.
She shrugs. “Nothing.just.thank you.” She says.

“For what ?!!” I ask being totally confused.

“For coming into my life. For not leaving one chance to prove how much we love each other. For forgiving my big mistakes which I always regret. For accepting me the way I’m and for giving me so much respect. I love you.” Naira says with tears threatening to roll down her eyes.

I broke into a smile and wiped them off before they could roll down. “I should be the one, thanking you. You’re my jaan, Naira. You’re all I ever wanted. Whenever you’re here, by my side, holding my hand I feel like there’s nothing I have to achieve now. I just want you to know that I love you more than anything else in the world. We’ll be together, yeah ?!! Forever and always.” I explained my thoughts to her.

“Always.” She repeats my word as I pull her closer in a hug. We walked to the nearest mall to her house. Basically Naira had been complaining about how she missed london and she had to stay in India because of me. When I had asked her what did she miss the most. She had answered ‘snow’. Well here we were at the snow world. Afterall every wish of hers was my command.

“Are you sure you can skate ?!!” I asked Naira for a thousandth time. She noded her head vigorously, again. I am really scared of this whole ice-skating idea.

“Tie those laces, mendhak.” Naira said.I nod and tie the laces of my black skates.

“Are you ready ?!!” Naira asked excitedly. I am unsure, yet manage a slight nod.

“Don’t worry. You’re gonna be fine. well, unless the ice breaks and you fall in the freezing water. I hope you can swim being a mendhak.” Naira jokes. But unfortunately, it turns out to be very serious statement as I look on terrified.

“Can this happen ?!!” I ask. I am mortified at the moment. My eyes ready to pop out of their sockets. I just want to run away from the place. Naira laughs and shakes her head at my cute expression.

“No. That never happens. I was just pulling your leg.” She laughs. I roll my eyes and poke her shoulder. She can see the nervousness on my face. Clearly, I dont want to do this.

“Okay, just take a deep breath, alright ?!! Breath in. Breath out.” She comforts me first. I do as I am told.

“Okay. Good now. Rule number one. keep your legs steady. Do not change your direction unless you’re at the end or someone is coming between you.” Naira instructs. I nod.

“Rule number two.Pull all your weight on your feet. Just your feet.” She adds. I nod again.

“Good and don’t let go off my hand.” She says finally. I nod again and catch a hold of her hand. Naira smiles and gives my hand a little squeeze.

I put my left foot on the ice platform first and fumble then and there itself. Naira holds me uptight. With great courage I land my right foot too. Now I am just standing on the hard ice with my skates on.
“Okay. Good now. Try to walk first.” Naira says.

“Walk ?!! I thought you’ve to skate.” I say.

“Baby steps, remember ?!! Now try to walk. It’s slippery, I know. But you’ll be fine.” Naira assures. I walk slowly, like a penguin. I am very cautious as my grip around Naira’s hand tightens.

“Great now try to skate.” She says. And finally, after a lot of attempts I am able to skate like a pro. Naira releases her hand from mine.
“See ?!! How am I doing ?!!” I ask hopefully.

“Perfect !!” Naira beams. But before she can complete her sentence my leg slips and I am on the icy floor, hitting my bottom. Naira bursts into fits of laughter and skates towards me.

I nervously run a hand over my head. “It’s okay. It happens. C’mon.” Naira puts her hand out for me to grab on. I get back on my feet, while she continuously laughs.

“Stop laughing. It wasn’t that funny.” I huff.But she laughs harder.

“Stop it Naira. It really hurt my bum !!” I complain. Naira pulls my cheeks hard, finding me too adorable at the moment. “You’re too cute.” She exclaims.

“So are you.” I finally give in and pull Naira in my arms. She locks her arms around my neck while I do the same by putting my arms around her waist. I plant my cold and soft lips on hers making her shiver. It’s cold outside. But in her arms, I feel the warmth of her love.
Karthik’s POV.
6 months later.
“Come on. You are already 10 mins late” Naira screamed at me !!
“I just need to see off the clients. If I wouldn’t then it would seem really un professional.” I argued. We were standing outside my cabin. The clients who had signed the deal waited for me to see them off.
“5 mins. That’s it !!” Naira ordered.
I walked inside the office and shook hands with the clients. I escorted them to the office gate and went inside my cabin again to grab my cell phone. As I was walking out of my cabin,I stared at Naira who is visible through the glass window of my cabin, my nose pressed against the glass. My breath fogging it, like a little kid outside a toy shop.
Naira pumps her fist in the air and she is doing a little victory dance. My office staff is looking at her but she looks too happy to get affected. I know what all this is about !! Its our six month anniversary today. Actually it should be three years and six months since we were together before as well. But then who keeps the count of maths when you are in love.
So coming back to the point. Naira wanted to celebrate this anniversary inspite of my saying no to her. But then miss stubborn had gone all out and made arrangements for us. I so wanted to kill this girl at times !!
I got out of my cabin and as soon as she spots me,she stands straight, smiling, lady like.
“Let’s go ?!! ” I asked her.
“Yup” She replies.
She walks ahead of me. When we get to the car, she aks me for the keys as she wants to drive. I let her have it as she is very much happy today and I don’t want to spoil it. She drives us to a nearby cafe.
She ordered a Blueberry Pastry for us and cut it while singing ‘ Happy Birthday to you’ since she knew no songs about anniversary celebration. People in the cafe looked at us and I had blushed profusely.
“You are such a brat !!” I said.
“Its not my fault that my boyfriend spoils me so much ” she replied.
” Why shouldn’t I ?!! For me you are the best thing in the world. My life sucks without you. I have even experienced it. I panic everytime I leave you. I wonder if it would happen again, if you would meet me again, if you would still smile after seeing me, if you would still laugh at my jokes. ” I shared all my feelings about her.
“Awww…. See this celebrating the anniversary idea was not so bad. You have said the sweetest thing to me right now.” she said.
” Not only that I have had half a mind to kidnap you, take you to my house and chain you there to make sure you never leave !!” I added.
” You know you are a little crazy in your head. But I like you for that !!” She laughed off.

Naira’s POV.
It had been a tiring day as my dance academy was to be set up in the next couple of weeks. I had been busy the whole day with the officials. I rarely got time to eat something. After yesterday’s anniversary celebration today was quite a dull day. I entered my room and got surprised by what I saw !!
Who writes letter these days ?!! I thought as I looked at the pink colored paper lying on my bed along with a rose. I knew who was behind this, it had to be Karthik !! He was always this kind of guy but I found it cute.

‘Hi Jaan, I know you must be disappointed that we didn’t get to talk properly yesterday, but I promise I’ll make it up to you this evening. Wondering what’s so special today ?!! I won’t tell you, it’s a surprise. So be ready by 6:30 p.m. sharp, Ill be there to pick you up. I love you.’

I turned like a red tomato as I read that letter. He had a surprise planned for me !! All the tiredness, had disappeared. Tonight is going to be something special.

6:30 and the doorbell rang. Karthik was exactly on time. I looked at myself in the mirror one last time. The pink flowy dress that Karthik had got for me, fit me perfectly. And my hair,well I couldn’t do much with that. So I just let them free.

Grabbing my phone and purse, I headed downstairs. I walked downstairs and watched him stand alone. He wore a tuxedo. I wondered what was so special. Also, a feeling of backwardness emerged inside me. He looked amazing in the tux and I looked nothing compared to him.

“You look beautiful.” He said not taking his eyes off my dress.

“Thank you !! You don’t look bad either.” I said. His compliment suddenly made me feel good about myself.

“Shall we ?!!”He asked and stretched his hand forward. I giggled stupidly, and held his hand.

“We shall.” I said as we left my house.

We walked outside, towards the car. I was about to open the door for myself, but Karthik stopped me from doing so.
“Allow me, jaan.” He said with a smile.
I wondered why is he acting like a gentleman all of a sudden. But I didn’t ask him. I was enjoying every bit of the evening which had just begun.

“Where are we going ?!!” I asked even though I knew he wouldn’t tell me.
“What’s the surprise if I tell you ?!!” He smirked. I shook my head and looked out of the window.

Half an hour he was driving, and I was dying to see my surprise.Finally the car came to a halt. It was pitch dark outside.i could only see border of the trees. The only light which was there, was starlight. The dark sky was lit up with infinite stars.

“Where are we ?!!” I asked as Karthik opened the door for me.

“Have patience ma’am.” He said and chuckled.
He held my hand as we walked ahead straight, God knows where. Suddenly, he stopped and left my hand.

“Stay here, aright ?!! I’ll be back.” He said and before I could say anything he had left my side,leaving me all alone in the dark.
Being the very impatient person I’m, I started counting numbers in my head. One.two.three.four.five. and before I could say six, the lights were lit up. I could see the floating lamps in the air. I looked at my surroundings but I knew nothing about such a place in Udaipur.Maybe we were not in the city. I thought. By now, there were hundreds of floating lamps flying in the air. It was like a fairy tale.

Just as I was about to go and look back for Karthik , I heard someone behind me.

“Naira.” The voice said. That comforting voice.it was him. I smiled and turned around, I could clearly see him, since it wasn’t dark anymore.
“Mendhak,you did this ?!!” I asked.

“I did. Naira, I wanted to say something. I’ve been waiting for what seems like a long time .” He said. I nodded and told him to go on.

He held my hand, which was cold due to the cold weather outside. His hands were still warm enough. Our fingers locked and he pulled me a little closer.

“Naira, we were best friends first. Honestly, I never even had a thought that you’ll ever be my girlfriend… my love, my life and my everything. But then, when we started spending most our time together, I started falling for you. At first, I thought this was only infatuation, but my feelings grew towards you as time passed and I realized I was in love with you.” He said. My heart was beating louder but I didn’t want it to stop.

“When you said that you also had the same feelings I felt like the happiest person alive. We did everything together. You don’t know, also I’ve not really told you this before, but today, whatever I’m, is all because of you. You kept me strong and told me never to give up in life. Everything was perfect in life until that accident.” He said those last two words almost in a whisper.
I still felt extremely bad when I thought about everything. But then, he quickly continued as he saw my expression change.

“You left, and I felt like somebody had taken away my heart from my body. Everyday, I tried to hate you, but everytime I failed. It was impossible to hate you. I knew somewhere in my heart that you’ll come back and you came. But you weren’t alone and again that broke me. Didn’t matter how much I tried to avoid you, something always got us together.” He continued and I ran out of words.

“When you broke up with Rithvik I felt bad for you, but also I knew I had a chance. When you said, you were going to leave, all I wanted to do was spend the remaining time with you. And then came the happiest moment of my life, that night was the best night of my existence.” I smiled as he said that.

“Honestly, I was pretty much pissed off, when you told me the reason for your leaving. I didnt know what to say, but I knew somewhere deep inside, that you won’t leave me like that. You’ll stay.but,again, we fought, you left.” He said.

“As I had almost lost my last hope, I saw you. You hadn’t left. I’d forgiven you the moment I saw you standing in front of me.” He said.

I wondered if he could hear my heart beating like a drum. And the next thing I saw, was Karthik. He went down on his knee and pulled out something from his pocket.

I knew what it would be. I just couldn’t react. I was frozen and my face was blank. “What are you –” I managed to say but he cut me off.

“I’m doing what I’ve been dying to do since a long time.” He said and he opened the little velvet, red colored box he had in his hand. The ring in the box was a crown shaped ring studded with diamonds. It wasn’t extravagant infact it was just sweet and simple. Like our relationship.

“Naira singhania, you make me complete. Without you, I’m nothing.And today I’m not afraid to tell you that I want to grow old with you. I want to wake up next to you everyday. I want to have lots of babies with you.” He said and I noticed him going crimson red at the last part. Karthik Goenka can blush !! I thought, but even I was in the same state.

“Most importantly, I want you by my side always. I promise to support you, protect you, and love you till my last breath.” He said as I felt heat rushing up my cheeks.

“Will you, Naira singhania, do the honour of being Mrs. Naira Karthik Goenka ?!!” He asked and my hands automatically went upto my face.

“Marry me Naira !!” He said and finished his great proposal.

I couldn’t say anything but nod. I stretched out my left hand, and he held it gently. He took out the ring from the box and slid it into my ring finger.

“I love you.” He said.

“I love you too.” I said looking into his beautiful eyes.

Without thinking anything I just wrapped my arms around his neck and he grabbed my waist pulling me closer. I connected my lips with his, as we kissed…

Karthik’s POV.

Hand in hand, we walked past the stores, as Naira kept blabbering about what kind of dress she wanted. Seriously, shopping with this woman is a really tough task.
‘How do they manage to go through all the shops and pick only one dress at a time ?!!’ I thought.
We were roaming around in shops since last one hour, and Naira was being too choosy. She couldn’t even pick up one good dress for the occasion.
What was the occasion ?!! A simple dinner party at our house, where only our families were going to be there.
“Naira, are you done ?!! I wanna go home.” I said as she pulled me into another store.
She showed me all kind of dresses, and all I did was, nod at everything. She finally picked up a few dresses, and went inside the changing room.
I sighed and sat on a little chair in front of the changing room. I switched on my phone and started doing random stuff on it. Now, I knew what a guy goes through, when he takes out his girlfriend for shopping.
‘What have I gotten myself into ?!!’ I thought.
But whatever it is,she did look good in all the dresses she tried out. Damn !! She looked beautiful in anything she wore.
Everytime, I looked at her, I felt like I’d fallen in love with her all over again. No matter how much we fought, we always knew how to make up with each other.
MANY PEOPLE SAY THEY FIND A BEST FRIEND IN THEIR SOUL MATE. BUT FOR ME, IT WAS DIFFERENT. I FOUND A SOUL MATE IN MY BEST FRIEND.
Suddenly, I was snapped out of my thoughts as Naira came out with all the dresses she just took in. Out of them, she selected the black one.finally.as we moved towards the counter.
I dropped Naira at her place, and drove to mine, where everything was almost set. I entered the house and was greeted by Keerti and Naksh.
“Hey man !! Ssup ?!!” Naksh asked.
“Just dropped Naira off. These girls and their shopping, I tell you.” I said rolling my eyes, when I felt somebody smack my shoulder.
“Shut up !! At least we girls look good in what we wear. Look at you guys,you have like only two pairs of jeans.” Keerti said.
“Anyway, you guys chill. I’ll go and change.” I said and went upstairs to change. The clock showed 8 pm, and Naira was here, along with Akshara aunty and Naitik sir.
The moment she came, I swear, I couldn’t take my eyes off her. Her hair was set free and the dress fit her perfectly.
That’s when I understood that two hours of tiring shopping wasn’t a waste. Everybody was busy talking among themselves. Mom was talking to Naira’s parents,Naira and Keerti were talking about something really boring while I and Naksh were aside talking about life and random stuff.
“Bro, can I ask you something ?!!” Naksh asked. His loud, high-pitched voice was suddenly low, and it was difficult to hear him in all the chaos because trust me, a old family friends get together with lots of food and family is always this fun.

“Anything,Naksh. But a little louder.” I said.

“Yeah. I just wanted to ask you about Rithvik .” He said. Rithvik that name rung bells in my mind.
After that incident at Naira’s house, where she broke up with Rithvik and I ended up punching his face, I’ve not been in touch with him. Neither has Naira,not that I expect her to.

“Lets hear it.” I said trying to sound normal. I was actually not even a bit interested in talking about somebody from my past and ruining my evening.

“Well, I met him yesterday.” Naksh said, while I kept looking at him as if it didn’t really matter to me. To be honest, it didn’t. But the thought of Rithvik back in my life,or Naira’s life didn’t seem good.

“So he was like asking about you and Naira, and I told him that you guys are happy and all.” Naksh continued.

“And he said that he was really happy that you guys are back together. He just wants to meet you guys and apologize, I mean, that’s what he said.” He spit out.

Apologize ?!! For what ?!! Hitting my girlfriend ?!!

But before I could say anything, I felt Naira’s arms wrapped around me.
“What’s up ?!!” She asked placing her lips on my cheeks.
“Jaan, not here.” I said pushing her away gently, as I realised we weren’t alone. She pouted and moved away. I smiled and looked at Naksh, who was talking to Keerti.

Now, even though Rithvik’s topic was closed, I couldn’t stop thinking about him. He was back in Udaipur. He was back to meet Naira, to apologise to her. No, I was glad that he had realized his fault, but then something inside me was constantly bugging me.

‘ I should give him a chance.’ I thought. But I was not sure about it. I was still upset with him, I didn’t know about Naira, but I was. It seemed really difficult to trust him again !!

“Mendhak !! What’s on your mind ?!! C’mon !!” Naira’s voice rang in my mind, snapping me put of my thoughts.
She was no longer next to me. She stood in front of me with a confused expression and behind her I could see everyone else on the table, ready for dinner.
“Yeah, sorry, come.” I said getting up and walking towards everyone. We sat down with everybody, Naira across me.
She was constantly smiling, and I couldn’t help but admire her beautiful smile. It made me forget about every freaking problem in the world.
“Naira, beta we’ve already decided the date for the engagement, which is exactly three weeks from now. I hope its okay with you ?!!” Mom asked.
“That’s okay. I already told you guys to plan everything. I’m okay with anything you decide.” Naira said.
With that my mom was overjoyed. So were Naira’s parents. From across the table, I could see Naira smiling and then, she winked at me.
She gestured me something with her hands, something like look down or something.
I didn’t get it, so I just gave her a blank look. Soon, she got a little irritated as I didn’t understand what she was trying to say. I was about to ask her, when I felt a light kick on my left foot. What’s going on ?!!
Confused enough, I looked under the table, but there was nothing. ‘Who kicked me ?!!’ I wondered, and looked back at Naira.
An evil smile played on her lips,it didn’t take much time for me to realize who just kicked me. Ofcourse, it was her. I smiled and shook my head, trying to concentrate on what others were saying. But she wasn’t going to let go so easily.
The next thing I felt was, her soft skin brushing against mine. Her feet were near mine, and she kept on kicking them continuously. I couldn’t feel much because of the shoes I wore, but I decided to play along.
This was getting quite fun.I removed a shoe, as our feet touched. We kept playing like that, kicking each other, with those mischievous looks on our faces. Forget the dinner, I was more interested in this little under-the-table romance of ours.

After the dinner, I got up to wash my hands.Naira was done, so was everyone else. It was just me, who was eating like a turtle.

As I was walking towards the washroom, I felt something weird. I was wearing only one shoe !! I looked down at the weird sight, and realized that everyone else was laughing behind my back.

“Hey Karthik, where’s your other shoe ?!!” Keerti asked, as everyone laughed. I looked at Naira, who was laughing along.
What am I a joker ?!! I gave her an I’ll-deal-with-you-later look, and walked away, not wanting to get more embarrassed.

Naira left with her family after having the dinner. While everyone was busy saying goodbyes, Naksh walked upto me.

“Chal then, see you. Had fun.” He said, engulfing me in a bro-hug.
“Yeah, thanks for coming.” I said.

He smiled and then added hesitantly “Look don’t think about Rithvik too much. That chapter is over now. Just forget him.” He looked really concerned this time. He was always this goofy, fun-to-be-around -with guy, but when it came to giving advice, he was the best.

“Yeah yeah. Don’t worry, I won’t. Just don’t tell Naira about this.” I said.

“Yup..” Naksh said with a little laugh and bid a goodbye one last time, before going out with Keerti.

Mom was still talking to Akshara aunty, while Naitik sir went out to get the car, I guess. Out of nowhere, Naira appeared in front of me.
“Hi.” I said.
“Hi nahi bye.” She said. I rolled my eyes as she wrapped her arms around me. I held her so close and tight, inhaling her scent. It felt so right, everytime I held her in my arms.
“Bye Jaan.” I said planting a kiss on the tip of her nose.
“Bye good night. Have sweet dreams about me !!” She said waving from a distance and left along with her mom and dad.

Sometimes you can’t stop thinking about how everything is perfect in your life. You’ve got a perfect family, perfect job, perfect friends and a perfect girlfriend. That’s what was happening, I was feeling complete…finally and I hoped for this feeling to never end…..

Precap : A horror movie. A food fight !!