It was chilling winter, and I was sitting in the balcony of a beautiful resort with a cup of hot coffee. A gust of cold wind gave me goosebumps, so I called my husband Ishaan, who was inside the room to handover my sweater. A few minutes later, I felt that Ishaan's muscular body was behind me, giving me the warmth and comfort with his hands on my waist. I leaned back on to his chest, and when I turned back to get a glimpse of his face, I was taken aback.
Avi? You?
I woke up with a jolt with sweat all over my forehead. I looked to my right, and I found Ishaan was sleeping peacefully with his mouth wide open. Heaving a sigh of relief, I exclaimed: "Oh, it was just a dream!"
I softly shut Ishaan's mouth, caressed his hair, planted a kiss on his forehead, and quickly got off my bed.
"Why do I often dream about him? Why do I visualize him getting romantic with me? It is generally said that what goes in your subconscious mind comes into your dream! If that is true, the question is, does he always remain in my subconscious mind? But I have never loved him or missed him in all these years, except few times in a year or for a couple of days after I dreamt of him. Then why does he so frequently come into my dream for so many years?" I wondered, sitting on a sofa chair.
Avi was my best friend, who loved me wholeheartedly for more than a decade, but I never requited his feelings. And after he proposed to me, we never met each other. I even didn't know about his whereabouts. But those dreams compelled me to think that was it because of the guilt in me of not loving him back and hurting him or did I really love him but never accepted it?
"Darling, what is it that you are thinking so deeply?" my husband questioned, coming out of the room.
I, coming out of my thoughts could only manage to say, "Nothing, I was just thinking what should I make for breakfast?" I quickly got up and walked into the kitchen.
After about a month, one evening at around 7:15, I left the office on my scooter. It took me around 15 minutes to reach my house, but suddenly on the mid-way, I felt that scooter's rear wheel was wobbling. I stopped, got off, and was irritated to saw puncture in it.
"Oh No, what do I do now? There is no garage nearby. Ishaan is out of the town too for his business trip". I panicked. I managed to drag it for around 500 m, but then it was beyond my capacity. I planned to park it safely on the side of the road and thought of picking it up in the morning.
I waited for a cab; many cabs went by, but none was vacant, and suddenly, a car stopped by me.
The door opened, and a fair guy around 5'8 in height with a stylish haircut came out of the car. Looking at me with sparkling eyes, he called me, "Ananya?"
"Avi? You here?" I asked with surprise.
"Do you stay here? And what are you doing here at this time?" He asked with curiosity.
"Gesturing towards the scooter, I replied, "Puncture."
A sweet pain passed through my heart seeing him after all these years; I was so happy. After all, he was my best buddy, and I had always cherished him as a friend. He had maintained his physique and was still looking handsome as he used to be in school time. Girls were crazy behind his compassionate personality, and there were several, who liked him, but he never liked or loved anyone except me.
"If you feel comfortable, then can I drop you at your place?" Avi asked sweetly.
Without thinking for a sec, I responded, "yes, please."
He opened the door for me, and we both got into the car. Without wasting a moment, I shot him with tons of questions, "Where are you now? What do you do? And how come you are here? And the most important question, did you marry?" While talking to him, I took a glimpse of his face.
