"Tea or coffee ma'am?" A cute woman dressed up in a white skirt and red blouse, in her mid 20s asked me. The flight had just taken off and I was reading the latest edition of a bollywood magazine, only to be disturbed by one of the air hostesses.
"No, I'm good." I smiled as genuinely as I could, and resumed to the magazine.
One hour. Just an hour, and I would be in Goa. I accept, it was no less than a nightmare for me when Parth asked me not to book tickets for Goa myself. I was shocked. Really shocked. Was this man for real? On one hand he said he loved me and on the other hand he indicated that he couldn't be physically present with me on my birthday !!?
It was then that Parth added that he had actually booked flight tickets for me to Goa already. Since it was my birthday..he didn't want me to pay for anything at all. In his words he wanted everything to be just perfect. My friends had, in return organised a birthday party for me yesterday with a beach theme. They didn't know about me going to Goa.
Parth had left for Goa early morning, and my flight was supposed to take off at 10 am. In this way, we wouldn't be spotted together. He had to go before me for his event at BITS, and some other surprise preparations for me too. I was actually a little tired of this hiding game, but I believed that he wasn't as ready to reveal anything to the world yet , and keeping us as a mystery was the best.
Excitement would be an understatement. I actually couldn't wait for us to meet and spend time together. I was dressed in denims and my red colored top to go along with it. Of course, I carried my cap and sunglasses with me, to avoid being spotted anywhere... Especially with him ! My phone was switched off since the morning, because I didn't want anyone to track me down.
Two days back, I gave an interview where I had mentioned about not going to Goa for my birthday due to shoot. Silly me. We had an off today. I should have given a better reason ! All I could do was hope and pray for this mystery to stay intact.
Unknowingly my thoughts wandered off to my favourite topic of pondering over , us ! What was he going to do for me today ? What was so special that he was planning ? I was super excited !! I mean, I knew he had that event throughout the day, and I wasn't supposed to go there, not that I was interested, but he had reserved a room for the day for me, and I was supposed to go and stay there till the evening.
I didn't want to think about last year. But actually I did. It came to me naturally and I couldn't do anything to stop thinking about the fateful day last year when almost all my co-stars had abandoned me. All my co-stars except him. He was physically present during my birthday celebration on sets, despite thousands of threats from his ex-girlfriend. He probably didn't care, and still attended the small party the crew had thrown for me. I was a little happy because of this, but otherwise it wasn't a good day to cherish , despite it being my birthday.
Things had come this far between us ?!! It almost seemed like a bollywood film.. Pehle you've hatred and then it develops into love ! Just like it worked for us.
The announcement of the pilot brought me out of my deep thinking. Goa was here already? So soon ? Whatever it was, it was time to kickstart this day and get prepared for some really nice surprises from his side !
Parth:
The familiar ringtone of my phone made me receive the call at once. I had assigned a specific ringtone to her name so that I could never miss her call on purpose.
"I reached." Her voice was the sweetest melody I had heard.
"Great. Airport ke bahar you'll see someone holding a sign board with your name on it. Go with him. Don't worry he's trustworthy. He will drop you at a hotel, waha jao..I have reserved a room under your name. " I instructed.
"Fine. But what am I going to do there ?? As far as I know your event will go upto five or six na...tab tak I'll be all alone ! What am I going to do Parth?" She asked.
"Sleep ! Because tonight I'm not going to let you sleep." I replied in a flirty tone. She giggled from the other end.
"Are you serious about making me stay alone on my birthday ? Seriously?"
Okay I thought she would be fine with the idea. I couldn't express how badly I wanted to be with her, yet I couldn't because of this event now and with her birthday preparations.
"Niti, have some alone time na.. I will meet you in the evening. Around six. I promise." I tried convincing her.
"Fine bye." She sounded irritated and hung up .
I had managed to piss her off. On her birthday ! But I couldn't help it. Ek toh I had accepted this event because I wanted to be with her in Goa on her birthday. How was I to be even blamed if I had work ? All I could do was promise her that tonight would be a night to cherish and that I would never let her forget it.
My phone beeped again. It was the same familiar tune. Niti calling !
"This person is taking me to the church in the afternoon !! And then to an orphanage. He asked me to have lunch and that we would go after that."
I smirked. Yeah, that's what I had planned for her.
"You told me once that you go to the orphanage every year on your birthday..So I thought you shouldn't skip that this year either.. That's why. Take some sweets for the kids there !" I told her.
"Yeah I will ! This is so cool ! I thought I wouldn't be able to make it to the orphanage today, but thanks to you now I can ! Thank you so much ! Its much much better than sleeping."
She really thought I was going to ask her to sleep the entire afternoon ?
"Don't say thanks Niti. Its a very sweet tradition by the way. I'm impressed ! You have managed to impress me ! " I teased her.
"Really now?" Came a mocking reply from her side. "Consider yourself to be lucky ki I came to Goa because you asked me to !"
"You wanted to come here yourself !! I just fulfilled your wish in a better manner."
"Okay, whatever...bye now !" She started fumbling with her words and hung up on me. I hadn't wished her happy birthday either, and neither did she ask me to..I was waiting for the right opportunity.
After about half an hour, she called me up again. I was on my way to a place where I had work.
"This is SO cool ! I love it !!" Her excitement knew no bounds. Had she seen my surprise ? I had thought and thought of what I could gift her and this one seemed simple and sober. Just like her. She didn't like fancy stuff, so I tried my best to attach sentiments to every gift that I had got for her.
The mobile cover that I had gifted was something I was confident would make her elated. It had a picture of the ferrari logo. I like Ferrari ! And she does too. She mentioned this to me long back.
"You like it ??" Duh question ! It was obvious.
"Of course ! I love it. I will use it soonish !"
There was a note kept next to the mobile cover. I doubted if she had read it.
"Uhmm umm.." She cleared her throat. "This mobile cover is to remind you of me, each time you click a selfie with other people, each time you use your phone to surf the internet, each time you miss me ! -Love, you know who it is !"
I was a little embarrassed. It didn't feel this embarrassing even while writing the note.. but this sounded so cheesy. I wanted it to be on the border though.
"Heart shaped note ? Red color and written with white ? Your handwriting is really good, have you been told ?"
"Yes, just a few thousand times..by you !"
She laughed. How I wished to be there with her, watching her laugh !
"Let's make it a thousand and one times then !! I just did !"
"Of course you did Niti. Did you have lunch ??" I asked. I looked at my watch. It was 12.30 already.
"No not yet. I will in sometime. Itni kya jaldi hai tumhe ! Anyway, Im going to have it all alone !"
"You wish !! Just open the door of your room !!" Time for another surprise. Sometimes, I'm just too good.
"Open for what ?" Silly girl. She didn't understand.
"You didn't want to have lunch alone na. Isliye."
I heard her footsteps, the amplitude of which was growing each second. The knob of the door turned from inside and she pushed the room's door slightly to take a look at who it was.
The way her expressions changed from a little bit of sadness of having her birthday lunch all alone to when she saw me standing right in front of her is undescribable. She applied minimal make up, but her face glowed. Her luscious lips had a faint smile playing on them.
She walked towards me and started caressing my arm.
"Are you really here ? Or am I dreaming ?"
Well, did she ever hallucinate of me ? She hadn't mentioned it before.
"I am here. For real." I affirmed. Her smile turned into a wide one while she flashed her white pearls.
"But....Your event ?"
"Starts at 2.30. I have quite a lot of time with you."
Her face was glowing more than before. She nodded and asked me to come in. I had purposely arranged for her stay at a hotel near the college. It was pre decided that I would be joining her for lunch. She didn't know about it of course, but I really wanted her special day to be even more special.
"Pizza ! We are going to eat pizza !!"
She looked at me in dismay.
"It's so fattening. I can't eat it !"
"Birthday is a cheat day Niti ! You can eat anything you want to. " I ignored her face which was begging to me for taking that pizza box away so that she wouldn't put on extra calories but hey whom are we kidding ? I was equally hungry and I DON'T COMPROMISE WITH FOOD. Not for anyone.
I tried not to look at her. She would make those cute faces and then I would have to bring something healthy for her. I didn't want her to have anything healthy on her birthday. She was already too much of a diet control freak.
"Fine." She gave up and sat back on the bed. "I'll have it."
Don't lie to me Niti. I knew she wanted to eat it, and yeah she had to eat something junk once in a while. I couldn't see her eating healthy stuff on her birthday. Nope. Not at all. It made me cringe.
She gave me a wry smile, trying to pretend that having pizza for lunch was something that she had least expected.
I knelt on my knees in front of her so that my eyes were in level with hers. Quickly, I took the pizza box to myself and took out a slice of pan pizza and fed it to her. She inhaled the smell of it, before she could eat it and then obediently opened her mouth.
"Pizza hut ! Okay, I love this. It's been so long since I had something from there. " Her face was beaming with joy as if she was a toddler who had been just gifted her favorite toy.
"That's why I said, cheating allowed hai ! Now you know why I said that." I winked at her.
She ignored my reply and took the pizza slice from my hand and tried feeding it to me. It was little difficult for her, since I have a very bad habit of biting really huge slices at one go. Her expression while she was trying to make me eat the slice was worth watching !
"Eat properly na ..take small bites!!! I can't make you do it." She spoke after 10 seconds of a futile attempt.
"No, you can do it Niti. Try again." I teased her.
She pursed her lips in agony and instead thrust the entire slice of pizza onto me forcefully. The toppings fell all over me, the sauce making certain corners of my face go red , jalapeños ,tomatoes,olives,capsicum sticking onto my face and then falling off. I could bet, I smelled no less than a pizza slice myself, sans the bread of course. There was some cheese stuck at the corner of my lips.
How could she do that ? How could she just waste such awesomeness by putting it all over me ?
"Liked it ?" She smiled sarcastically and took another slice from the box, preparing to feed it to me again.
"You didn't do the right thing. You wasted pizza."
"You didn't do the right thing by teasing me like this either !!"
"I can do it !" I argued. "I always do it and you never say no to me !!"
She pouted. Can I just kiss her lips?
"Not on my birthday at least !!"
"Niti !!!"
"Parth !!"
"See what you've done to me ! How will I go ? I have an event to attend if you have forgotten ?" I pointed towards the sticky parts on my face , and most of all the cheesy part right near my lips. Thanks to her.
Her lips curved into a smile. A faint giggle escaped them while she came closer to me and to my surprise licked the cheese off the corner of my lips alluringly. I felt her tongue fondling the skin next to my lips and her teeth biting onto the minute piece of mozzarella cheese that was stuck there, making me venture into step one of losing control.
My index finger unknowingly pointed towards the other corner of my lips,over which a little ketchup was spread. Though we were just a few centimetres apart, I could sense her lips curving into another of those captivating smiles.
She slowly receded and had a quick glance at me. I really doubted if I was in my senses, owing to the sweet torture I had been subjected to precisely five seconds back. She sighed while the smile faded off her lips and wiped the ketchup stain off the other corner of my lips.
What the hell.
No, seriously ?
Is this allowed? Turning your boyfriend on and then pissing him off like this the next second ?
Whatever. She pissed me off. She will have to pay for it.
"You'll have to pay for it Niti." I mused. The silent giggles that weren't unnoticed by me stopped and she glared at me questioningly. I smirked to myself and within a few seconds scooped her up in my arms and carried her to the washroom.
"Parth !" She exclaimed, much to my satisfaction. "Put me down !!" She frantically started flapping her feet in defence, but to no avail. I quickly opened the door of the washroom and placed her on the platform by the basin.
"Yeh kya kar rahe ho ?" Her cheeks puffed up due to anger. She wasn't liking it, and that's what I wanted.
"Wohi, jo you don't like !"
"PARTH !!!!" She yelled in annoyance as I poured a mug of normal temperature water over her. This was my sweet revenge. Way better than 1000s of her idiotic ones, which by the way included pouring cold water over me, cockblocking me, getting me into the mood and then spoiling it, basically torturing me a lot.
"So this is your revenge ?? Pouring pani over your Ni ??" She spoke as the droplets still trickled down her face, her hair, her top..She was still sitting obediently on the platform and mouthing silent curses at me while I couldn't help but chuckle.
"And you're laughing ! Seriously Parth get over these stupid tactics." She was totally drenched and was searching for a towel, but in vain.
She looked so helpless though ! I quickly went closer to her and enveloped my hands around her petite frame trying to infuse some warmth into her. Her top was a sleeveless one and had become a slightly see through one from the bottom due to water. I caressed her torso mildly and felt her trembling under my touch. My nails started digging into her fragile waist. She was quivering, her hands were conveniently wrapped around my shoulders, and I felt her grip becoming tighter. I dug my face into the crook of her neck and planted a kiss over there. She shrugged, I felt her heartbeats intensifying...her palms traveled up and down on my back, as she responded to my touches, making me feel the intensity of the effect I had on her.
I rubbed my thumb onto the wet area on her nape, trying to separate the droplets of water that had very nicely settled on her soft skin. I felt her nails digging into my shoulders and she started shivering a little.
Towel. Where was it ?
I had a quick glance through the entire washroom. There it is. It was placed high up on a steel rack. A snow white colored towel that was neatly arranged and placed along with two others of similar kind.
I reached out for it and unfolded it, after which I started rubbing the towel over her wet hair. I took care not to be too harsh, just gentle. She sat like a cute kid on the platform, looking at me as if I was an extra terrestrial specie. Her eyes ! Her big eyes were continuously fixed on me, occasionally blinking as per human tendency.
I tucked a few strands of her wet hair, behind her ears, and cleaned her fair face neatly. She looked prettier without make up, to be very honest.
There was a little kajal at the corner of her eye. Probably it had smudged or something. Carefully, I wiped it, trying my best to keep my huge fingers off her delicate eyes.
Next up, were her hands. I slowly, slid the towel to and fro her upper arm, taking care to wipe it completely. I am such a douche, I thought. Pouring water over someone due to revenge !
But, it wasn't even cold water. A voice inside my head said. Moreover, she does worse stuff to you, she poured cold water over you remember !!! And remember how many times has she cockblocked you ?
Okay Mr.Head. Argument won..Now shut up.
"Done. "
She smiled in assurance, and took the towel from me. Slowly, yet steadily, she started cleaning my face with the same towel.
Damn ! I had completely forgotten that she actually made my face smell like a pizza slice.
"Neat, and sparkling clean !" She winked. My thoughts went back to one of the MaNan scenes from season one. Just that, this time it was the other way round.
I chuckled. She laughed back, and we laughed, in unison. And we laughed, and laughed . Don't know what it was, maybe the feeling of being with her , of being the sole reason for her magical smile, of being the privileged one to get an exclusive pass to Niti Taylor's heart..or maybe it was a feeling of tranquility, a different kind of peace that took over me in her presence. She was the one, for me. The first one, whose smile excited me more than anything else did in this entire world did.
I could bet that my lips had a sheepish smile playing on them, while the angel in front of me continued laughing uncontrollably. Suddenly , she started waving her hands in front of me, making me come out of my Niti land.
"Where were you Parth ? I'm right here."
My smile stayed intact on my face. I was forgetting something. What was it ?
What was I forgetting ?
What was it ?
Think Parth, think !
After about a couple of seconds and her passing me those looks, I remembered. But I didn't want to give that to her in the washroom. NO.
I scooped her up in my arms making her squeal in surprise but I shushed her up by placing my lips on hers. I carefully carried her back to the room and placed her on the bed, further kneeling in front of her.
"What're you doing?" She asked, still trying to register my incredulous actions.
Where was it ? I had kept it in my pocket this morning.
Got it ! I fished out a black thread from my jeans pocket.
"Parth yeh.." Niti tried speaking but I asked her to stay quiet. Quickly, I tied the thread around her right ankle. I caressed her milky skin around the area, making sure I hadn't tied it too tightly. Once I was sure of the same, I got up and sat next to her.
She wasn't quite sure of what I was doing..Her face reflected confusion, but here I was ! To clear it all.
"You see this thread ?" I pointed towards the thread I had worn around my neck. "My mom, she gave it to me long back...i never told you about it..but i think its time to reveal the secret behind it."
Niti bobbed her head sideways and I continued my story.
"You know I and Vikas had some problems...we aren't that good friends as of now..I told everything to mom, about how he asked me to quit KY2 and stuff..remember when I went to Goa after my discharge?"
She nodded.
"Toh she gave the thread around my ankle to me then..and the one I wear around my neck was given to me by her in April...According to mom, this is of the sacred kind and it'll protect me from all the evils in this world. So I wear it, and today I want you to wear the same. That's why I got it for you..last time jab I went to Pune I asked aai and she managed to get one upon my insistence from some contact of hers."
Niti took a moment to digest my long speech, and then her head just moved sideways.
"I didn't know you were superstitious. Seriously." Her face was expressionless.
"Well.." I didn't have an explanation to this.
Her eyebrows corrugated, as if she was trying to find out the mystery behind my incoherency. Soon, another of those magical laughters escaped her lips and she ruffled my hair. Her soft hands played with my hair and within a matter of few seconds I had started feeling unclean ONLY due to my messy hair.
"You're so cute at times, I don't know what to say." She pulled my cheeks as tightly as she could making me almost yell in pain but I actually couldn't help but grin. People called me hot, it was only her who called me cute.
"Thanks for this. Umm, if you believe in this, I will too." She smiled.
"Really ? Like really ?"
"Yeah ! If it protects a person who actually protects me from every thing, then there's no harm wearing it !"
"Niti...." I took her palms in mine. "Its not just the mere belief in this thread, I promise I'll always protect you.."
She blushed and nodded. She already was very well aware of this.
"Thanks though. Its a very sweet gesture."
"We still have to have our lunch Niti. Save the remaining sweetness for night !"
"Oh yeah, night se yaad aaya. Raat ka kya plan hai ?"
"It's a surprise baby doll ! Bol diya toh it wont remain a surprise anymore you see ?" Her cheeks turned a deep shade of crimson as I called her baby doll.
"And you want me to come with you in these clothes ?" She pointed towards her top which was soaked towards the bottom area and sighed.
"Do you think I'm going to let you wear this ? No way. Once you come back from the orphanage you'll get a dress to wear. Another gift from my side , along with many others !" Oh yeah, I had it all planned.
Her eyes widened. "More gifts ?"
"Yes. And don't question me on this topic further ! Everything is planned dont spoil it now."
She pursed her lips and gave me a deadly glare. What was wrong ? Everyone likes gifts on their birthday !! Was I behaving like a commanding daddy ? I hope not.
"Now have this." I took another of those humongous pizza slices and fed it to her. She took small bites, still looking at me as if I had asked her to give me both her kidneys. After gobbling up three big slices of pizza, she decided to let me have the privilege of eating it too. I was actually famished. But didn't mention as she loved this flavour and I wanted her to have the best on her birthday.
"Parth, please tell na ! What are we going to do tonight ?" She asked me. It was already 1.15 pm and I had to leave for the event, officially. I was a little late, I was asked to report there at 1pm but I was spending time with Niti and I never compromised with my Niti time for anyone or anything. I was preparing to leave, while Niti was trying to get my surprise out.
"No no no." I spoke strictly. "A surprise is a surprise."
"Fine then." She turned so that now she was standing with her back towards me and prepared to go to the washroom when I stopped her. I held her wrist firmly and despite her constant attempts to free herself from my grip, she failed terribly.
I took slow steps towards her and just when I covered a considerable gap between us, I felt her breath getting heavier.
"Suno.." I whispered into her left ear. Her eyes were closed tightly as if she would open them and lose control over herself entirely.
"Bolo.." Came a soft voice from her end. Almost as if she was struggling to find proper words.
I sided a bunch of her hair from her shoulder and pecked there, as lovingly as I could. She always gets stuck when I am close to her. I turned her towards myself with a jerk and her palms in reflex landed on my shoulder. Her expressions changed from 'how much he affects me' to 'I have to control myself somehow' and she pushed me backwards so that we now had a considerable gap between us.
Not again.
"Wait for tonight !" She winked while her lips curved into a crescent. "Tonight, just you , me, and your surprise ..Its just a matter of few hours.. Control your emotions !"
I was a little embarrassed. She could really test my patience at times !!
"I know, I can test your patience. Now jaldi go ! You'll reach even more late."
"I can stay whole day with you if you want though !"
She blushed and then shook her head in dismay. "Few more hours Parth..just a few more. Now byeeee !!" She waved a goodbye to me and grabbed her spare clothes and ran to the washroom to change her clothes.
This girl, her cute antics. She was driving me absolutely crazy.
PS this was the first part. The second part will be bigger, and probably better :) Also yeah, two things I wanted to mention:
I have an absolutely different theory on the thread thing..i mentioned it.ONLY because its extremely relevant here. PaNi and unke coincidences mein se ek thread wala bhi coincidence hai. So that's why !
If you liked this chapter, please do vote and comment :) next one cant promise, but it'll be updated soon. The second thing..jo bolna tha i forgot so okay bye for now. :P