Hlo darlings
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The following images might be helpful to you all while reading the chapter.
Gulmohar Tree
Guava Tree
Plumeria tree
Peach tree
Plum tree
Daffodils
Ice plant
Dahlias
Grandiflora Partulaka
Rangoon creeper/ Chinese Honeysuckle
Bougainvillea
The pond
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A dream remains a dream unless you decide to hold the brush in your hands and paint it on the canvas of your life. You decide the brush, the canvas, the paints and the painting. Your earnest efforts bring you to the making of the masterpiece of your life.
The day was ending but not Anika's tiny adventures that Shivaay had planned for her. Here she was, roaming around the cottage that Shivaay was showing her, and avoiding her question about its owner.
It was not the usual luxurious place she would have expected when the Shivaay Singh Oberoi’s was concerned, it was a simple, cozy place one would want to come to when all the luxury would exhaust them.
Now, she followed Shivaay through the same door leading to the backyard, with nothing to see in the darkness but only the sweet, mixed smell of several flowers.
"Now this is the spot that you must see. I'm holding my breathe because I'm scared if you'd like it or not."
Anika looked at his dimly lit face with only his hazel eyes twinkling like gemstones.
"Why are you scared about me liking this particular place ?"
Shivaay shook his head at her question.
"No. That's a question for me to answer, but not immidiately."
Before she could retaliate he left from there and returned almost immidiately. But she was too dumbstruck to see him. She was looking at the piece of heaven dropped on the earth.
The wall with the door through which they had come was covered with bougainvillea creeper with its magenta flowers enhancing the beauty of the grey painted door.
The backyard was huge, but not over large at the same time, divided into two parts by a pebble strewn path in the middle. The path leading to a small wooden door of middle height in the center of the wall that declared the boundary of the backyard. The wall looked like a fence made of popsicle sticks. The fence was tall enough to conceal what was there behind it.
The two sides of the backyard were two lawns, with the grassy center and flower beds on the three sides and the fourth side left open to enter the lawns. The flowerbeds, full of Ice flowers, Dahlias, Roses and Daffodils, looked like a colour palate filled with whites, yellows, and pinks, and reds.
It was not a place designed with an eye for perfection. The place was beautiful with its imperfections. The flowers were planted haphazardly but they looked lovely enough for anyone to fall in love with their imperfections.
The lawn they were standing in, was almost shaded by the huge gulmohar tree, bearing tiny red flowers. Even in the dim light it looked beautiful, with mere red flowers and almost unable to be seen green leaves among the bloom.
Packed between two huge gulmohars was a small plumeria tree, flowering as beautifully as the gulmohar. The fragrance of the tiny, white and yellow flowers made her nose twitch in pleasure.
Not only that, the star Led's hanging from the trees and a crescent moon hanging in the middle was a universe in itself, a very small, beautiful universe.
Under one of the gulmohars, ware two single seating swings and under the other, was a double seating swing surrounded by pots of colourful partulaka grandiflora also known as dopehar kihidi in hindi.
"Why these single seating swings and also the double swing too ?"
Anika asked.
"Later."
The other lawn too had trees, not flowering ones but fruiting ones. A big Mango tree near the pebble path, a plum tree of middle height on its left, followed by a peach tree and then a Guava tree of the same height and a Jamun tree after that. The place between the gaps of the trees were flower beds, with the same flowers as in the other lawn.
"This- it's all so- whose cottage is this, Shivaay ?"
Anika asked breathlessly, running ahead of him, back towards the other lawn across the pebble path and sitting on one of the single seating swings, making Shivaay smile widely.
"I told you, I'll tell you later, about the owner. For now just tell me how is it."
Said Shivaay while pushing the swing slowly to get it started as Anika held the iron chains supporting it and closed her eyes to feel the wind hitting her face as the speed increased.
"I will also tell later."
Shivaay stopped pushing the swing, frowning at her reply.
"That's not fair, Anika."
"That is fair. And why did you stop pushing ?"
"Because we have more to see. Get up. Lazy rabbit !"
Pulling her out of the swing, he marched towards the pebble path, then through the door that opened toa fairy pond. It was not a well planned pond with expensive artifical waterfalls and imported plants and stones, it was imperfect like the lawns and the flowerbeds.
The high brick walls were almost hidden by the Rangoon creeper, also known as Chinese Honeysuckle. It's tiny red and white flowers hanging in bunches and a few fallen on the ground.
But the center of attraction was the pond, almost circular in shape, not too big or not too small, with granite stones stacked in an untidy pile on the other side of it and trees and shrubs beyond.
The pond was two feet down from the ground level, filled with water lilies and a few granite steps leading to the water surface.
A tree stump laid just two or three steps away from the pond, in an untidy heap so it seemed like a tree had fallen and the stump remained. It was a better seating arrangement than those modern iron chairs or love seats.
Anika tugged at Shivaay's shirt sleeve above his elbow and skipped happily towards the pond, despite Shivaay's warnings to be careful.
"It looks- like a fairy pond, Shivaay. It's exactly the same like I had seen in my storybooks when I was a little girl."
Anika turned a happy face, and twinkling with excitement eyes to him, expecting him to speak.
"You were a little girl ? You still are a little girl."
Shivaay chuckled at the way she curled her lower lip and then ignored him, turning her face back towards the pond, and this time, her eyes fell on something that was moving in the water, making Anika jump in his arms.
"Th- there's some- soemthing in the water."
Anika peeked into the water without leaving his shirt's collars and hugged him back when the movement didn't stop.
"See. You're a little girl, scared of a few, tiny fishes."
Shivaay laughed and caressed her hair at the same time. The scared face that had hidden itself in the crook of his neck, lit up like a fairy light, and she looked at the pond, without any fear this time.
Indeed, there were fishes in the water, playing peek-a-boo with the lilies. Anika stepped onto the steps leading below and tried to touch them but they swam away, in the depth of the water making Anika jump in fear and run in Shivaay's arms once again.
"Keep doing this, I love it."
Anika felt the arms around her tighten their grip as he spoke above her head and she could bet Om's hair that he was grinning from one ear to the other.
She wriggled to free herself and he let her go because she wanted to. He would never even embrace her without her consent.
He walked behind her as she made her way back to the lawns and sat on the double seating swing this time.
"Now tell me whose cottage it is."
Anika sat there, swinging her legs impatiently. But hearing no word from him, turned to look for him and found him picking up the plumeria flowers and keeping them in his jacket, his beautifully tailored, expensive jacket that he was using as if it was a ragged bedsheet.
"Raat ko phool nahi todte."
"Whose the founder of the theory ?"
Shivaay chuckled as he asked and gestured her to stay where she was before she could get up.
"I don't know. It's just- raat ko ped-paudhe so jaate hain. Aap unhe jaga rahe hain. Aur phool todna vaise bhi buri baat hai."
"Fine meri Miss goody good rabbit, but I'm not plucking flowers. I'm picking up those that had already fallen on the leaves."
Saying that he climbed down the stone he was standing on, and came towards her. Keeping the jacket on the bench, he stood behind the swing and when she wanted to turn her head and look at him, he stopped her by placing his palms on her cheeks and steadying her head.
"Don't move your head like a spinner. Stay still."
Anika took in an indignant gasp and sat silently, her hands across her chest.
"Abb chamcham ki tarah muh kyun phulaya hai."
"I have not. And it's not like chamcham, it's called like a rasgulla."
"Par mujhe chamcham hi pasand hai."
Shivaay's warm breath near her ear and then his lips on her cheek rendered her speechless. She was scared to look at him but she did, tilting her head a little sideways and met his a shade darker than usual blue eyes.
It was difficult to move her gaze but the sudden snap sound disturbed her, and she noticed a gentle tug at the right side of her head and placed her hand there to feel what it was.
Something soft and satiny. The flowers.
She turned a widely smiling face to him, looking like little girl to him, and again touched the flowers with a gentle hand but then the smile made way for a frown, a confused one.
"I want to see how do I look."
"Meri aankhon mein se dekh lo."
His cheesy words were annoying but she blushed, making his eyes dance in amusement. But when she looked at him with a serious face, he chucked his phone out of his pocket and clicked a picture of her head from the back. And then came and sat infront the swing on his knees, clicking her pictures.
He was just doing that even after fifteen minutes, and getting fed up of waiting, Anika pulled the phone from his hand and looked at the current photograph that was showing the flowers due to her side profile.
"Where did you find those pins ? I don't use any hair pins ever, and today I definitely didn't use one."
Anika asked as she stared at the picture, the flowers he had arranged closely in a bunch with the help of hair pins.
"I bought these."
Anika looked at him, open mouthed in astonishment. The man infront her, she knew him well enough to know that he could buy shares of companies, expensive cars, buildings and jewelleries and dresses even, but hair pins ?
"You- you bought- you bought-"
"I bought hairpins. What's so difficult in uttering this sentence ?"
Shivaay was enjoying himself very much. This speechless, astonished and happy Anika was a dream doll.
"But why ?"
"Because when I had seen these flowers for the first time, I had imagined these in your hair. And I knew you don't use hair pins, so I bought these today."
Anika stared at him, her astonishment and admiration written all over her face, and the blush never leaving her cheeks. His gaze was doing the honours.
"You didn't tell me whose cottage is this. And I clearly remember you didn't show me that room on the second floor, that window is in that room, right ?"
Anika asked as she made him sit beside her on the swing and pointed at a window on the first floor, visible from the lawns.
"Did you like this garden ?"
"Please, that's the last question I'm asking, after that I'll answer all your queries."
Shivaay said seeing her getting annoyed and she agreed.
"It's heaven."
Anika closed her eyes and leaned her head against his shoulder, her arms encircled around his forearm.
"You love gardening, right ?"
"Yes. I love it when a seed becomes a seedling, and then that grows into a plant and blooms. How did you know about it ?"
"I've seen you cherishing those few pots in Gauri's house, on the terrace. How you water them, rake their soil so delicately, prune them and then moving them from their place for better shade and sunlight. How could I not notice, when you don't see anything else while you're with those greeny things, not even your soiled clothes or cheeks or that, someone is watching you."
Anika smiled silently, he was so observant she never knew.
"And how did you find this haphazardly planted things ?"
Shivaay asked, his one hand wrapped around her shoulders and the other hand on her hands that she and encircled with his forearm.
"Haphazardly these may be planted, but there's a beauty in their imperfections. It doesn't look like someone has given heaps of money to a contractor to get it done, it looks like someone has invested his time and hard work into it."
"It feels like-"
Anika stopped abruptly, and looked up to face him who was already staring at her, so lovingly and tenderly that she felt her heart would stop the next minute.
"You- you've done all this yourself ?"
A question it might sound, but she knew it was a statement. She couldn't be wrong in judging that half smile on his lips.
"Yes. But not everything, only those flowers, I wanted to plant the trees on my own too, but those would have taken years to grow to their present height. So I got them planted by a contractor. They just brought the already grown trees that I asked for and planted them where I ordered."
Anika was dumbfounded. How could someone bring such big, almost overgrown trees and plant them as if they are seedlings ?
"I know what you're thinking, but to answer your unasked question, yes, they do this. People who want an already prim and proper garden in their houses, they ask for the company to do this. They bring the grown plants with the help of machines and plant them where they're wanted."
Anika nodded her head, still not being able to digest this information.
"That pond ?"
I found that storybook in your room, that childish scrawl near the picture of the pond- 'Dream pond' you had written."
"Jasoos Singh Oberoi ! And when did you get the time to do all this ?"
"That's my magic, Sweebit, I can't share my secret. Copyright issues."
"Fine. I'm not interested in your 'magical secret'."
"But it was seriously hard work. I did get all those plants ready somehow, with the help of Google and encyclopaedias but I still can't remember their names, except roses and those fruit trees. These flower names fly above my head. Or I remember the names but not the flowers the name is related to."
He said, making a grumpy face and making her giggle. As far as she knows him, he loves to be informed about everything, to know every possible thing he does and that was why he was irritated.
"It's okay, billu ji, I'll help you learn everything."
Anika spoke seriously but spoiled it by giggling at the end.
"Don't call me that."
"What ?"
"That."
"What ?"
"Th- That word- Bi-"
Anika started laughing at his hesitation to say the word billu.
"You can call me Rabbit and what was that- Sweebit, but I can't call you billu ji ?"
"And I don't even know what that Sweebit thing means."
"The nickname 'Sweebit' for Miss Anika, given by Mr. Shivaay Singh Oberoi, had been derived from two words- sweet +Rabbit. Thus, the name Sweebit, which means sweet rabbit."
Shivaay spoke like reading a definition from an academic book and recieved a hard hit on his arm and a chuckle. He could bet Om's hair that she was blushing.
"Now, the owner of this cottage ?"
Anika demanded, and he sighed dramatically.
"You won't leave that, will you"
"No."
"It's mine. But not for a very long time. I'll sell it soon."
Anika pushed him away and looked at him, throwing metaphorical daggers at him from her eyes.
"You've worked so hard to sell all this ?"
"Yes. That is my purpose. It belongs to someone who deserves this more than me. She deserves this. I'll keep this until she can buy it."
Selling the cottage was another thing, but selling it to another girl was another, and that later one was unbearable.
"You can't sell it. Aur voh bhi kisi airi-gairi larki ko toh bilkul nahi."
Anika said with finality in her voice but Shivaay pulled her back in the side hug.
"Don't you dare say something like that about her. She's very special."
Anika tried to wriggle and punch and push him but he was way stronger than her.
"Leave me. Go to that daayan."
Uncontrollably a sob escaped her mouth and he was alert at once, already sorry for going that far with his stupid prank.
"I'm sorry Anika I was just joking."
"You're very bad. Very very very very bad billu Oberoi. I hate you. I hate you. I hate you. I hate you for making me love you so much."
Anika showered his chest with punches and slaps until he stopped her and locked her hands behind her back, pulling her closer enough to not leave any gap between them.
"I was not entirely joking actually. I will have to sell it."
Anika looked at him angrily, that he ignored and continued.
"When you'll start your art studio and become a big, famous artist, you'll buy this cottage."
He wasn't expecting an immidiate response, so he looked at her surprised face for only a few seconds before continuing.
"You'll buy this and bring me and out kids here for weekends."
The blush was there, but more than that there was soemthing else. Admiration. Love. Happiness. And a new sparkle of hope in her eyes.
"Your fate had snatched all the chances from you, right ? To fulfil your dreams, to get what you loved ? But the same fate is now sorry on her own actions. She wants you to start again, and paint all those dreams you had always seen."
"And those single seating swings- our kids will use those and we'll have this double one exclusively for us, to keep us close."
Shivaay caressed a teary cheek, and she leaned forward, flinging her arms around him she reduced the remaining distance between them.
She had no hesitations, or second thoughts about the moment, and the happenings. Their entangled lips bore the testimony of their inseparable souls. The distances had disappeared. The swing was the throne of their love, the garden their heaven and the falling drizzle a gentle blessing from almighty above.
They had already, successfully painted one of their dreams.
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I hope this was upto the mark and worth the long waiting period.
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