Hey Dad! Meet My Mom (8 page)

It was the first time ever that I had entered any gift shop. People very correctly say that love makes you do things, you’ve never done before. I was in love and I was loving it.

The shop was pretty small but had a pretty large variety of gifts in it. It seemed to be impossible to take a look at each article inside. Rishi felt amused to see toys and fell in love with a teddy bear of his own size. I decided to buy it for him. But what was I to buy for Myra? I had no idea! I took 3 rounds of the shop to choose the best gift for the occasion before my eyes fell on it.
Yes, that would be perfect.

Maya was astonished to see my new avatar. She couldn’t believe her eyes when she saw me like that.

“You look so handsome today, Puneet. If you don’t mind, can I propose to you dear?” She gave a sheepish smile and patted my shoulder before going to another customer. I took my favorite seat and stared on the glass to see my reflection. I literally blushed. My concentration was disturbed when I saw my future child sitting on the next table and his smile was knocking on my sixth sense, telling me that he was reading my thoughts.
Nothing could be more cruel than a child who could read your mind and that too if that child were your own son.

I gave him the fatherly angry looks for doing that and he signaled in assurance that he would not do it again. I took another glance at my watch. There were still 15 minutes to go. Maya sensed something and came to my table.

“You are on a date, right?” She asked.

“Maybe or maybe not.” I said with a tremble in my voice.

“You ditched our singleness. How cruel are you?” I said nothing, so she continued, “What’s her name? Is she pretty?”

“Her name is Myra and you have already met her. I had met her for the first time here itself.” I was still blushing.
God! I am loving this feeling.

“Okay, that bitch.... She...” I cut her short.

“MAYA.... Please...” I didn’t like her calling Myra that.

“Okay.... So you love her. I was just checking on you. Hope she deserves you.” She stood up and was about to leave but before that she said, “I am very happy for you, darling. Everyone needs a partner; this life is too long to spend alone.” Her eyes said everything her words couldn’t. She had meant what she said.
Maya always smiled through her miseries. She was not the lady she tried to show herself to be.

I was totally lost in my thoughts when I felt a sudden pleasant breeze hitting me. I felt that the breeze had been blown just for me by God so as to let me know that this time was not to sit and cry over the past but to welcome the pleasant present standing at the door of the café.

That must have been the brightest evening I had seen so far. Behind her head, the sun was ready to set for the day. The surroundings seemed to be quieter than before, my heart beats seemed to be faster and louder than before. For the first time, I sensed that time had stopped. The clock was ready to grant me few more seconds to cherish the moment. It was all divine.

She took her first step towards me; I stood up from my chair in order to greet her but hit the corner of the table and hurt myself. She took her second step; I struggled with the adjacent chair. She took another step; I threw the spoon in the air with which I was previously trying to kill time. She was just a few steps away from me when I decided to say something but words escaped me. My eyes fell on Rishi and I saw him beating his hand over his forehead.
I am a fucking idiot!

“Good morning.” I said to her and instantly she smiled.

“Well in my country it’s evening right now.” She said sarcastically.
Another one!

This time I had nothing to cover my flaw so automatically my eyes started searching Rishi, the savior.

“You look so charming that I got confused. You have entered as morning in my life. You are my sun and I don’t want my sun to set; so no good evening, there will be only morning from now in my life.” I repeated as Rishi said. I had no idea what I was saying; I just behaved like a puppet. I was blindly following him today because I had no other option. I was just hoping that Rishi understood the seriousness of the day’s occasion and wouldn’t let me mess up as I had before.

“Wow! You are such a flirt.” She was amused to hear my words. “Tell me one thing, does this flirting come to you naturally or have you taken some classes for it. Tell me your secret.”

“If I tell you my secret, you’ll never believe me. So for now you can assume that I am receiving tuitions for it.” I smiled. That was the only thing that came naturally to me.

Just then Maya came to take our order. She behaved very sweetly and while the taking the order she also signaled to me that she liked Myra too. I blushed.

I was wondering what to talk to her the moment Maya left our table but thankfully Myra herself initiated the topic.

“You know I have heard or maybe read somewhere that boys think that flirting with girls seems to be cool and girls like that but frankly speaking most girls don’t like this flirty nature of boys.” I instantly felt that she had stabbed me directly in my heart. “But you don’t worry because I said ‘most girls’, not ‘every girl’; I like flirting. It makes me feel special........ ” and then she continued with her everlasting talks over various topics which I couldn’t even imagine having with any girl in my life. Rishi felt relaxed and bored because he had nothing to contribute as my role was to just listen and I was loving it.

I loved her voice. I thanked my ears for making me able to hear her. I loved her sweet face. I thanked my eyes for making me able to see her. I loved her habit of touching my hand every time she had something interesting to say. I loved her perfume, I loved her dress, I loved her lips, I loved her eyes, I loved everything about her. While watching her, a sudden urge to touch her, was building up within me. I could feel the erection under my pants. This felt disgusting.

“Now would you please stop staring at me?
Itni bhi sunder nahi hoon main.”
She mimicked Kareena Kapoor from ‘Jab We Met’. She laughed her heart out at her own joke. Everyone in the cafe started to stare at her but nothing could stop her. She sensed the uneasiness within me. I was feeling a bit awkward in that situation. She stopped laughing and leaned a bit on the table to come closer to me. I too leaned forward.

“Don’t be afraid of them. They are just a part of the robotic generation.
Don’t follow the crowd, follow your heart because the crowd may lead you to your destination but your heart will surely lead you to happiness.”

I could feel her breath and she could feel mine. Everything around us was now making no sense to me; there was nothing in this world except her eyes. Something was sparkling in the depths of her eyes. We were both diving deeper into each other’s eyes. I could sense her lips shivering; her pink lips were waiting to be explored by me. I tried to lean further; she too responded in the same manner and just then Maya arrived with the coffee and we were forced to return to reality.

We silently sipped our coffee. I was feeling aroused at that moment and was cursing myself and she too was somehow trying to change the topic.

“So is this for me?” She said while pointing towards the gift lying on the table.

“Yes, this is for you. I totally forgot to give it to you.”

“Can I open it right now?”

“As you wish!” She took the gift in her hand and with a curious air, she started to unwrap it.

“You know what, I love gifts. All my friends know that I love gifts so they keep on....... ” She continued while tearing open the gift wrap.

“What’s this? A doll?” She said smiling.

“Actually it’s a ‘Laughing Buddha’.”

She looked at me with an expression that clearly said ‘I-Have- No-Idea-What-You-Are-Trying-To-Say’.

“You seriously don’t know anything about ‘Laughing Buddhas’?” She rounded her lips and mimed a ‘No’. “Laughing Buddha is a Feng Shui article. It’s the indicator of good luck or good charm. And there’s a saying that, if you wish for something while touching the stomach of this idol, your wish will get fulfilled soon.” I touched the idol and secretly made a wish.

“What did you wish for just now?” She instantly caught me.

“Nothing.” I lied.

“No.... no, no, no, you are lying. I saw you murmur something while touching the idol. Tell me, tell me
na
please.” She pleaded like a child. Even Rishi didn’t do these kinds of things.

“Okay wait. Let’s make a deal. I’ll tell you about it the day it will get fulfilled; okay, deal?”

“Deal.” She paused and continued, “By the way, thanks for this lovely gift and sorry.”

“Sorry?”

“I forgot to bring you a gift!” She rolled her upper lip to touch the tip of her nose.

“Now, you are lying. See there’s my gift.” I pointed at the window next to us. She could see her reflection on it. She blushed.

“Good job dad!” Rishi said from behind.

“I think I should leave now.” She said while looking at her watch. I too looked at my wrist watch; it showed 6:30.

She got up and started to leave. Rishi and I followed her. We exchanged our mobile numbers and then she noticed something.

“Why aren’t you wearing your new wrist watch? This one looks old. Next time wear the new one.” And then she left.

Rishi gave her an angry look that seemed pretty serious.
There was something wrong with him.

Chapter 10

I feel that angelic touch often around
Like a magician leaving the milieu spell bound.
I feel her presence not too far.
Yet she is unreachable like a shimmering star.

2
4 hours. I had never thought that a single day consisted of 24 hours to live, to breathe and to remember. Well, of course I had read about the concept of 24 hours in my preliminary classes but learning is one thing and believing is another. I was in love and I was purely loving this feeling of loving someone. I was now enjoying my life more. My life had meaning now and that meaning was Myra. Myra was everywhere in my life. All the hours of my days were now categorized according to her.

I woke up early in the morning looking at her sweet name on my phone. Her morning message was a delight for my eyes. Each day I first fell in love with her name, then with her habit of using an extra smiley at the start of the message and a compulsory heart at the end of it and finally with the people who were behind the invention of these beautiful things called ‘WhatsApp’, ‘Facebook’, etc. They made the world look more lovable. Well, earlier these things had made me sick, I was slow to pick up the trend of these crazy sounding things but people say that ‘Love changes everything’ and I was letting myself change for her. I accepted the change within me with open arms and frankly speaking, I loved the changes too. It was better to change than to remain stubborn and stale.

Extensive messaging was a kind of a daily routine for us. My fingers could type words in a stimuli action. Every time my phone beeped, I felt a strange energy filling up within me. I forgot everything: my life, my bank, my carrier, my future, everything just vanished as if they had never been important to me; the only thing that happened was a quick, instant reaction of my hand to grab the phone and send a response to her message.

Everything started bringing a smile to my face. It was as if the smile had gotten attached to my face permanently. I believed that, no matter what happened to me; as long as she remained by my side, my happiness and this smile couldn’t possibly fade. She was my strength. My soul was dancing and she was my song.
Myra, my lovely Myra.

As the afternoon approached, my eyes and ears got pinned to the clock in my cabin at the bank. 1:25 pm......
Tick Tock, Tick Tock,....
My heart would start beating in the same rhythm. It continued for another 5 minutes and then my phone would ring. Coincidently her lunch time and my lunch time coincided. Maybe God was in our favor too. Her voice was magical.