evening.
“Oh, no this is my Uncle’s shop. He has his own shop of sweets in the next lane. He gave it to me, the source for my pocket money.” She beamed.
“Don’t your parents give you pocket money?”
She paused and looked down, “they are dead Aaryan. They died in an accident.”
Aaryan felt like stabbing himself. Great, the evening just brightened up, fool, he cursed himself.
Before he could say anything more, she averted the disaster, “but I’m glad they are with god now. My uncle is a very kind man and takes good care of me.” She continued wrapping the gift with her head bent down.
“Nice,” his words were stuck and refused to come out. Say something to cheer her up. “You know I feel like a birthday boy every day. You gift wrap the CD and don’t even charge for the wrapping. Why is that?”
“It’s because I like to see you happy.” She blushed and turned away.
“Hey, Neha I was thinking of spending a nice evening by the lake, I would be more than happy if you joined me, just a casual evening.” He rolled the ball in her court.
“Yes I would love to,” she said gladly.
They looked into each other’s eyes and the time stopped, it sat there looking at the two love doves lost in each other. Suddenly, his phone buzzed. It was his mom calling.
“Mom, I’m on my way.” He said and hung up.
“Neha, I’m late. See you tomorrow. Bye.” He left.
“Bye.” She watched him leave. It felt as if he had left his soul in the room and she stood there absorbing in the essence. Is this love? She wondered.
The lake was surrounded by coniferous trees and the sky reflected upon the surface of the calm water. Aaryan sat by its bank and waited for the love of his life, Neha. The birds were merrily chirruping around and a cool breeze kissed his pale, dry face. He stared at the lake wondering about its depth when he heard the sweetest voice of all.
“Hi. Sorry I’m late.” Neha was standing behind him, dressed in a casual attire, jeans and a pink top.
He turned and held her hand. She sat beside him.
“It’s a beautiful lake. I rarely come here,” she said admiring the beauty of the place.
“It’s the serenity that attracts me,” he said.
“So, what do you do Aaryan?”
“Well-well I-I study at home,” he blurted.
“Oh, but why so, why don’t you go to school?”
He was terrified by her questions. His brain working at Cheetah’s pace to come up with an answer.
“I’m very poor, Neha. My parents can’t afford it,” he lied. You are the king of fools, he cursed himself.
“Hmm,” her gaze was fixed upon the lake, “I had to change school when my parents died. My uncle couldn’t afford a private school so I joined a government school nearby. I don’t complain, it’s for my own good I guess.”
Aaryan turned to her, “you inspire me to stay happy. I want to tell you something.”
She looked into his tired eyes, “then say it, Aaryan. I want to hear it.” Her heart was pounding hard and she suppressed the emotions overflowing inside her.
“It’s that-” he suddenly paused and looked away. He couldn’t tell her. He zipped his lips as the words tried to escape. I can’t do this to her. “it’s nothing.”
Her smile faded and she bent her head down in dismay.
The darkness soon covered them in its sheer. The ink like sky was now filled with twinkling stars watching the two teenagers walking back home with gloomy faces.
They reached a fork and Neha turned to him.
“It was a great evening Aaryan. Thank you.” She turned to leave when he suddenly touched her shoulder. She stopped, her heart started racing.
“Neha, you have given me something that I will cherish till the end.”
She maintained her posture and gasped as he held her hand and kissed it gently. She closed her eyes and when she turned around he was gone. Taking a deep breath she walked back home.
That was the last time she had seen him. A week passed by but there was no sign of him. Every evening she would be ready at six and stare at the door hoping it would open and Aaryan would walk in with that nervous grin. She had a feeling that he was watching her, smiling at her. The waiting was getting tougher and she finally decided to pay him a visit.
She remembered, He had once told her, “I love the Lord of the Rings trilogy.” She took out the CDs and wrapped them in a sparkling wrapping paper.
She had his address.
She knocked on the door and waited impatiently to see his face. Sunita opened the door.
“Hello, I am Neha. I am here to see Aaryan.”
Sunita froze and tears rolled down her face. She wiped her eyes, took a deep breath and composed herself, recalling the promise she had made to him, “I will never cry, I promise.” She had said to him.
“Neha, Aaryan is no more. He died four days back.”
The words hit her like bullets and she was literally taken aback. With wide eyes and open mouth she stared at Sunita.
“Aaryan had Osteosarcoma, a cancer of bones. He knew he was going to die soon so he asked me to give you something. He told me you would come searching for him,” she pursed her trembling lips, “please come in.” She went inside.
Neha couldn’t move and stood like a pillar. Her face was flushed of any expression and she was still gulping down the truth.
Sunita returned with a book and an origami.
“He told me you loved origami. He made this one for you, and this book will be of help.”
Neha glanced at them and held the book tightly to her chest. She gave the gift wrapped CDs to Sunita, “It was for him.”
She walked away with her gift.
Sunita opened the gift wrap and found the CDs, amongst them was a note. She read,
Dear Aaryan,
You have been avoiding me for a week now. I can’t bear your absence for even a day. I know you love me. I love you too. You never told me about your feelings. However I saw it in your eyes, your love for me. I knew it was you when you first came to my shop but I wanted to fall in love again. I knew you were the same guy I liked in school. Still, I wanted us to fall in love like strangers. I will wait for you by the lake.
Neha.
Neha sat by the lake tears running down like a river. She didn’t want to wipe them, she wanted to cry, wanted to weep her eyes out. She took out the origami as the evening was turning into night. The last rays of the day slanted on her.
As she turned the origami upside down she saw something written. She opened the folds of the origami and was surprised to find a message written.
Dear Neha,
I can’t tell you how much I love you. I never told it to you but I always loved you. There was never a day when I didn’t miss you. I would be dead by the time you read this message, I want you to promise me that you will never cry for me and will always love me. I am always there beside you, smiling at you.”
Aaryan.
She wiped her eyes and glanced at the lake for one last time, then rose and kissed the piece of paper. She smiled and turned to leave.
THE END
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Anuraag is an Indian author who believes that stories are meant to provide entertainment. He wants his stories to be enjoyed internationally and considers it his motto to make his readers happy.
He can be reached at:
https://plus.google.com/+AnuraagBhaskarbhatta/
Thank you for reading books on BookFrom.Net Share this book with friends