“Arun, Arun wake up, your mobile is ringing.” I was shaking him for the past 5 minutes but he was sleeping as hell.
Arun is my school & my best friend. We know each other for the past 5 years and we live together here also in hostel in Aligarh. He is also from my hometown. I took his mobile and picked up the call. It was from his sister, Aarohi.
I jumped in joy. She was my friend, close friend. But she meant more than friend to me; she was something our generation calls, my CRUSH.
I: O, Hello AK97! (Aarohi kumari born in 1997)
She: you? Hello. How are you?
I was in heaven after her words, but just replied, “All good”.
She: Where is bhaiya?
She never called me ‘bhaiya’, and I thanked god all my life so long for that.
I: sorry, he is sleeping. I could not wake him up.
Her voice was like frenzy for me. As someone was continuously hitting the F5 key of my brain.
I: What’s the matter? You are so cheering today.
She: ya, I found my valentine today. Don’t you remember today is 14th Feb.?
I was shocked! I felt like just threw me down from the Mount Everest into the valley. My heart shouted,” who the hell is he? I am goanna kill him.” But the mouth is a bit closer to the brain, I asked,” who is that lucky man?”
She: someone special. But I have not proposed him till now. I am scared. Please help me. How should I do it? You are my best friend, aren’t you?
I nodded, but she insisted a lot. No one in this whole world can say NO to hers love. I agreed with a heavy heart.
I: ok, fine. Listen to me; I am going to give you an example.
Suppose I am proposing you. Suppose you are somewhere, for instance in a park, walking alone in the green field. A boy, fair, 5’ 10’’, genuine computer engineer, but fortunate enough, he don’t wear specs comes towards you.
She: (laughingly) then??
I: he walked up to you, crosses you from your right, turns to you and said, “I, Aarohi!” you knew him. After some formal conversations, he said, “I want to say something. May I?”
You replied, “I have free time, so start.”
I: are you listening?
She: yes, of course. Continue please.
I: he said, “Since the first time I saw you, my heart isn’t beating for me. The time I heard your voice for the very 1st time, my ears are always demanding for your voice. I am always surrounded by some crowd, but these eyes of mine always search for you.”
He lowered his voice, and in a sea-calm temper said, “Miss Aarohi, will you please be my valentine? Will you marry me and make me the luckiest man on the planet?”
“Aarohi, I love you. Can I keep you for the rest of my life?”
I: so, this is it. Now do as you wish to do. I can’t help you anymore.
I said all this with heart with feelings as I was really proposing her. But I knew she was not mine.
She: I love you too.
I laughed; I knew she said it for someone, but not for me. But I heard her voice again on phone.
She: I really love you, Rahul!
Then I heard her kissing the mobile for the immortal 3 seconds. I was confused, amazed. Was that for me? Really?
But before I could have asked her, she ended the call laughing loudly. My heart was beating 5 times faster than usual. I shouted, “Love happened!”
But, the moment I turned around in my room, Arun was standing behind me. He was in extreme anger. He shouted on me, “Rahul, you bastard. What the f**k were you saying to my sister?”
He slapped me so hard that I fell on the floor. How could I forget that her brother is sleeping just a few meters away from me?
In a mixed emotion of pain and happiness, lying on the floor, I whispered, “shit happened.”