Got quite a lot of comments telling me to update faster, so here's the 16th part! Hehehe, read and enjoyyyy!
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{ ~ }
1 year later...
Radhika smiled as her friends yelled a happy birthday and smeared cake all over her cheeks. It had been one year since that incident. On that night.
She did not know what Krish was doing, what he had done, where he even was. The next time she tried to call him, he had changed his number and she couldn't even contact him.
The movie they had acted in came out around six months back and he had not even showed up to the premiere.
She reached out to Advitya, Krish's brother, whom she affectionately called as Dau, and Radhika could still recall that conversation.
"Do you know where he is, Dau?"
"I'm as lost as you, Radhika. He barely visits us, and has left ma quite worried."
"What do you mean? He doesn't see you anymore?"
"Yes...I try to call him but he rarely answers. I don't even know if he signed for any movies."
"Do you have his number? If yes, then...can you please give it to me?"
"I will...but I don't know myself when he might change it."
"It's okay, just give it to me, Dau!"
"Alright, here is the number..."
She still had the number. Radhika had attempted to call him only once, and she had to give herself many pep talks for that one time.
And, like she had expected, he did not answer the call. Radhika had placed her phone down with frustration.
Does he even have my number at this point? She had thought.
"Hey? Radhika?" A voice said, and someone tapped her on her shoulder, pulling her out of the thoughts swirling around in her mind.
Radhika blinked to see Harsh staring at her, a worried expression on his face. "Yes? What happened?" She asked him.
"Nothing, you seemed worried, that's why..."
"Don't worry about me, Harsh," she reassured him, trying her best to give an calm smile. "I'm fine."
"Okay then..." he said with a sigh. "Just taking care of my girlfriend."
It had been four months since Radhika and Harsh had started dating. He confessed to her that he loved her since their college days and she accepted his confession.
Radhika always thought that she had some sort of love for Harsh. She could not deny the fact that she had, at the very least, a crush on him when they were in college together.
But why does everything feel like a mistake?
Radhika shook her head. She needed to stop dwelling on these things and concentrate on the present.
But even then she couldn't stop herself from wondering, in her mind, if Krish even remembered that it was her birthday today...
{ ~ }
Krish knew very well that it was her birthday today. And it wasn't just because of the amount of tweets and posts he got that were addressed as a happy birthday message to Radhika, along with him tagged in it.
When he was younger, he had memorized her birthday date so he could surprise her. When Radhika was younger, she loved lotuses. Most girls wished for roses, but she didn't like them as much as she liked those flowers.
So, Krish, in an attempt to make her smile, would search for lotuses and tie them up together (with the help of his mom) and give it to her. He would give the lotuses according to her age, and he had started this tradition when he was eleven years old.
"What is this, Krish?" A surprised Radhika asked, holding a 'bouquet' of lotuses.
"Lotuses." He simply replied.
"How did you know that they were my favorite?" She asked him yet again.
"When do I not know what your favorites are?"
Krish smiled at the fond memory he had of them. Then he frowned. All of that is gone now, he grimaced.
He wondered if he had made a mistake by leaving her that night. He pondered on his decision, like he always did. This was definitely not the first time he thought about this.
No, he reassured himself. You had to do that. It wasn't a mistake.
He sighed as he walked down a street. His phone chimed with probably the hundredth post tagging him in a 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RADHIKA!' post.
Krish was looking at his shoes when he stopped and saw a nearby cart filled with flowers. And, he was surprised to see lotuses amongst the varieties of flowers. A crazy thought popped into his head but he thought this was the least he could do.
He walked to the vendor. "How much are those lotuses for?" He asked.
"One lotus is for five rupees, sir," the vendor replied.
Krish stopped for a second. She turns twenty four today...is it stupid to ask for 24 lotuses? he questioned himself in his mind. Then he took a quick glance at the lotuses lying in the car. There must be around thirty lotuses in there, he decided. Well, if the vendor thinks I'm going crazy, let him think that.
"I would like twenty four lotuses, please," he said. Then he did the calculation in his head. Twenty four lotuses costs...120 rupees!
He smirked, wishing his fifth grade teacher was here now to see how good he was at math.
The vendor gaped at him. "T-twenty four lotuses?" He mumbled.
"Twenty four lotuses," Krish repeated.
The vendor picked out the lotuses and plopped them in a bag. He handed them to Krish. "That will be..."
"120 rupees," Krish finished, handing the money over to the vendor. He took the lotuses and smiled at the vendor. "Thank you!"
Then he walked off, found a thread and carefully tied the lotuses together. He got a piece of paper and wrote down, Happy birthday, trying to make his handwriting different from what it usually looked like.
He did not know if these would reach her by mail, so he decided to leave it at her apartment. Walking back there gave him a weird sense of deja vu, one that he wasn't very happy about. Krish then left the parcel of lotuses at her door, not knowing if she was there, and left.
Happy birthday, Radhe, he thought, as a smile sneaked the way up his face without his permission.
{ ~ }
"It was really sweet of you to organize that party, Harsh," she told him, with a smile. "Thanks a lot."
"Anything for you, Radhika," he replied, grinning. She let out a yawn and he frowned. "Exhausted?"
Radhika nodded.
"Well, it's been a long day," he muttered. "I'll drop you at your apartment?" He asked.
"If that would be fine then yes."
It was currently 11:45 and Harsh agreed to drop her. As they drove, Radhika popped in her social media accounts and thanked everyone for the wishes. She also noticed that in most of them, Krish had been tagged.
Soon, they reached Radhika's apartment and it was now 11:55.
Radhika smiled at Harsh. "Well, I should go now," she said as she slowly opened the car door.
Harsh nodded and kissed her cheek. "Good night, Radhika," he said.
She gave another polite smile, waved at him, and made her way up to her home. As she walked to the door, she noticed a parcel. She wondered who had left it there, picked it up and entered her house.
As she sat down, exhaustion taking over her, the clock turned 11:59. Radhika glanced at the parcel then slowly opened it.
She was surprised at the fact that she found lotuses. She frowned and hesitantly counted them.
"Exactly 24," she mumbled. "I'm 24 today, on my birthday..."
Not many people know that my favorite flower is a lotus. And...only one person used to send me lotuses according to my age on my birthday.
Radhika gasped, as she clutched the bouquet even harder.
Krish Agarwal.
{ ~ }
Hope y'all are happy!
Uhm, so how was the chapter? Did you like it?
Also, YES I UPDATED QUITE FAST and I'll try to update fast next time too!
Till thennn, see you!
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