The innocent love!

She was sitting on the floor, legs sprawled. There were books around her-on the table and bed and in the bookshelf. She hadn't bathed or did her hair, yet she looked beautiful, like an infant with curious eyes. She held Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice in one hand and a coffee mug in the other. Coffee- her second favorite thing in this world! As her lips moved with every word she read, her face imitated the emotions so very immaculately. Her expressions turned from morose to ecstatic as she ostensibly ascended from sad part of the story to the cheerful climax. This was perhaps the tenth time she was reading that novel but her exhilaration seemed like that of a virgin. As her fingers flipped the last page, her eyes suddenly turned moist and lips parted only to say "wow". The serenity on her face gave the impression of a saint who had just achieved the state of nirvana.
Suddenly, the door of her room parted and her mother appeared, bringing her back from the reverie she never wanted to return from. 

"Piki, get up. Why are you still reading? Go take a bath."

She nodded and unwillingly got up. Parting from her book, she made her way to the bathroom. Meanwhile, her mother combed through the closet and found a lavender churidaar suit. She checked the dresser and found matching earrings and bangles. 

"Perfect!" She chirped with utter excitement. 

She knocked the bathroom door and it opened a few inches. 

"Here beta, wear this suit".

 Piki's hand emerged and she got hold of the kurta and churidaar and shut the door. Soon, she emerged, donning the same. 

But, there was something strange.

Her eyes were red as if she had cried the whole time.

"What happened beta? You cried. Why?" Her mother's concerning voice echoed in the bibliophile's room.

Piki didn't answer. She just stood, stoned.

"Beta, are you crying because they are coming to see you?"

Piki shook her head.

"Then? Is there someone you like?"

To this, she didn't reply and bowed her head, looking at the doormat.

"Please tell me beta. We have never forced you into anything. If you like someone else, tell me."

She struggled to speak, her vocal chords overwhelmed with emotions her head and heart carried.

"Mom, I..I.." Her timid voice came out at last.

"Yes?" Her mother prompted.

"Mom, I love somebody." She said at last.

Her mother was in denial. She had known her daughter too well to expect something so unsolicited coming out from her. She only had a few friends and very rarely did she attend the social gatherings and parties. She was a total introvert and yet after all this time, she was having an affair!

"Who is it?" She asked sternly.

"He is out of my reach, mom. I can't get him however hard I try. I wish I were born long ago."

"Don't tell me he is too old for you! I'll get a heart attack if you do." She roared with frustration.

"No mom. I like nobody around me. They are all fake. All boys drink, flirt and cheat. They don't even respect girls. Do you want me to marry one of those guys? The one who is coming to see me, I am sure is the same."

"What do you want to say, Piki? I don't get you." Her frustration escalated.

"I.. I don't like real guys mother. I like those from books, especially the classics." She paused and used all of her innocent honesty to speak this final line. 

"I am in love with Mr. Darcy and I don't think I will get over him, ever." 

Hearing this, her mother laughed the hardest she ever did in her life and pressed a kiss on her forehead. If only she knew, the seriousness of her daughter's honest words.