Chapter 1

BellaRosa

@MochaQueen

This story was written for the Christmas Prompts contest. The prompts in the story have been highlighted in blue. Enjoy! :) Please please leave me a comment after reading, even if it's one line. They feed my motivation to keep writing!

Oh and thanks to Viswasruti for helping me with the editing

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THE LOVE ALGORITHM

Three Months Ago:

September 2021

It all began when my sister rushed into my room to tell me she had fallen in love. "Suhani, guess what!" She didn't even wait for me to guess before continuing, and she didn't even take a breath. “I’m in love!”

“Woah… Seriously? Who is the lucky guy?” 

Seeing the way she used to run away from men and marriage, and had no relationship or boyfriend for the past five years while I had already had three breakups, I had started to believe she was either mentally unstable or homosexual.

“His name is Ansh. We met in April at the spring fair and got along straight away. And guess what Suhani! Today he proposed to me for marriage!” She flashed her emerald ring in front of my eyes. 

“YOU ACCEPTED IT!” I squealed in excitement as she nodded.

I was really so happy for her as I never imagined this day to ever come when my sister would actually fall in love and be ready to get married. We held hands and danced together. 

“I can’t wait to meet him!” I told her.

We began planning her wedding even though we had no idea when it will take place. We were just so excited.

“Hey Suhani, wouldn’t it be amazing if you had someone special in your life too? We could go out together on double dates and get married together too! So much fun!”

She had a point, considering that I hadn’t dated anyone for the past year after my last relationship ended so badly. I had lost trust in all men after I had caught my ex cheating on me. I really needed to forget about it and move on with my life.

So as soon as Riya was out of my room, I sat down at my computer and registered on a dating site. I had never tried blind dating before, but I was always open to new adventures.

***~~***

Two Months Ago:

October 2021 

I had found many potential guys in the past month,  but I'd only kept my interest in one till now, and I'd let the others go. One of the reasons this man, in particular, piqued my interest was because he was the polar opposite of me. He was a mathematician, while I majored in science. The irony was that our usernames opposed one another: mine was WaterLily and his was MisterFire.

We were immediately at ease with each other and had spent the entire month speaking with one another. We even stayed up late a few times.

I still didn’t know his name, nor did he know mine. We still hadn’t seen each other. He had suggested keeping this element of mystery until we both came face to face. 

He told me that he wanted to see if we would recognize each other or not, so I agreed. We mutually decided to carry on this way until we were ready to meet up. It was fun and I loved adventures!

One Month Ago:

November 2021

WaterLily: Look, this is not working out…

MisterFire. Don’t do this. We haven’t even seen each other yet.

WaterLily: I am sorry...It's not you, but me... I have done everything I could to move on, but I believe I still require more time to heal. I'm not in the mood for another relationship right now.

MisterFire: Listen. Let’s talk this out.

I shut my computer screen without replying. I had no idea why I just did that. Everything was going smoothly until he proposed going on a date–and I suddenly had a panic attack. It was at that moment when I realized that I still wasn’t ready for a relationship. I felt bad about how I had treated him. I knew it was wrong, but there was nothing else I could do. Leading him on further would be even more wrong on my part.

I turned the computer screen back on to type the last message before deleting my account.

WaterLily: If we’re meant to meet again, then we’ll meet again. But for now, it’s goodbye.

***~~***

Present

December 2021

I look down at the card I’m holding in my hand. It’s an invitation to a Christmas party which was just handed to me a few minutes ago by Riya, who is now sitting on my bed and talking.

“Come on Su! It’s been a month since you have been sulking and mourning like this in your room. You really need some cheer in your life! Maybe you will meet someone new at the party!”

My mind drifts back to the last conversation I had with him. We had only talked for two months, but we had developed such a strong bond that I have thought about that last conversation every day since. I did try to go back and look for him a few days later, after I came to my senses and regretted my decision. However, he appeared to have vanished immediately after I left.

I realize now that what’s done is done, and I can’t change it. I must accept the fact that I lost a good chance with him because of my own stupidity–and as Riya suggests, I should go ahead and find someone new. Who knows what this Christmas has in store for me?

***~~***

The Christmas Party

“Su, come here! Ansh wants to introduce you to his friend!” Riya calls out amid the loud music and chatter.

So I finally got to meet Riya’s soon-to-be husband, but not only that, he has also brought a date for me. Seems like a lot of planning has been going on behind the scenes. Why the heck not? Always ready for a new adventure, I grin and prod along to meet–who I figure to be–my date for today. 

As I walk towards Ansh, I see a tall handsome man standing next to him. The first thing I notice is his intense brown eyes looking right back at me. The world stops for a moment.

“Hi! Pleased to meet you Suhani. I’m Ranveer.”

Ranveer. Such a heroic name to add even more charm to his handsomeness. And the way he says my name is so melodious. Suhani. I wish I could just keep hearing it on those moving lips!

Oh, those red lips! The second thing I notice about him after I come out of his eye lock. As I get even closer to him and shake his hand, I can smell his manly scent. So tantalizing. So dreamy.

“He was lonely and needed a date so Ansh brought him along. We thought both of you would get along. Isn’t he hot?” Riya whispers in my ear as I blush.

Ansh and Riya walk hand-in-hand to the dance floor, leaving me alone with my new date, whom I only met a few minutes ago. As I notice his lips moving, I stand in awkward silence, lost in my own thoughts.

“Hello?” He waves his hand in front of my eyes, as I jolt out of my reverie, blushing even more than I was a while ago. “Sorry, I–”

“Do you want to dance?” he asks me.

“Sure.” I take his hand and he leads me to the dance floor.

“I’m not a good dancer,” I tell him.

“I’m not so great either,” he laughs. “I think we can manage.”

We start waltzing along with the music. It takes a while, but I slowly start getting comfortable around him as he keeps conversing with me and cracking jokes. He has a good sense of humour.

We go and sit at the table, feeling exhausted. 

I can't believe I've been here for 3 hours already. I didn't even notice how quickly time passed because I was so focused on Ranveer. Ansh and Riya join us at the table as well.

“Should I order something?” Ansh asks. 

"It's getting quite late. I think we should go," Riya yawns, her hand on her mouth.

I also get up to leave with Riya.

“It was really nice meeting you Ranveer. I hope we do meet again soon,” I say genuinely and forward my hand. I really did have a good time with him today.

He takes my hand in a tight grip, and then he says something which I will never forget!

“Well, if we’re meant to meet again, then we’ll meet again. That’s what someone special said to me.”

***~~***

New Year’s Eve

Six days have passed since that fateful night. Since then, I've been plagued by a slew of questions.

I am confident that MisterFire is Ranveer. He was also aware of who I was. I could tell by his expression as he said the final line before I left. So why didn't he speak up? Why did he just let me go after revealing his true identity? What exactly is going on? Is he no longer interested in me? But his actions and body language that night told a different story.

I wonder if I should get his contact details from Ansh and contact him myself, but then I’m afraid that he’s not interested in me anymore. The irony of this whole situation is that the man I ditched turned out to be the friend of my sister’s fiance. Should I get help from Riya? But how exactly am I supposed to find out how Ranveer feels about me?

There’s a knock on my bedroom window. When I go to check, I see Ranveer standing atop a ladder. He just climbed a ladder to reach my bedroom!

I'm experiencing a wide range of emotions at the same time. Relief, perplexity, and anxiety. What brings him here?

I open the window and invite him in. It's the right time for me to obtain my answers as well.

“Well, we finally meet again, Ranveer. Or should I say MisterFire?”

“Hi.” He just smiles. Is that all he has to say?

“What do you want?” I ask angrily.

“Sirf tum (only you),” he replies nonchalantly.

“Oh really? Then why did you hide your identity from me?”

“How does it feel to be left hanging, Suhani?” He answers my question with another question, but that question gives me my answer. “So you were taking revenge from me?”

He shrugs. “I realized who you were as soon as Riya told me about your situation before the Christmas Party and asked me to meet you. I still haven’t told her that I’m that person. I didn’t tell anyone. I wanted to see if you would recognize me, but you didn’t, so I had to reveal myself to you before you left. I couldn’t just let you go without knowing the truth.”

“So what took you so many days to come here? Why didn’t you come before?” I punch his chest angrily.

“I thought you would contact me after knowing the truth, but you didn’t. I finally gave up and came here to explain myself. There’s no pressure on you, Suhani. I just wanted to tell you everything as it is, now I’ll take my leave.” He starts walking towards the window from where he entered the room.

“You’re not going anywhere!”

I walk closer to him, standing inches away from his body, and he turns around. His fragrance fills my nostrils with his sweet aroma because he is so close.

“I am in love with you. I apologize for the blunt delivery, but as problematic as this fact maybe, I am in love. With you. And I'm not feeling this because you're leaving, and not because it feels good to feel this way - which by the way, it does. I can't figure out the mathematics of this, I just know I love you. Can't believe how many times I'm saying it. I finally know what I want, and that in itself is a miracle. And what I want is you.”

“I wasn't expecting 'I Love You. Can you not look at me like that? I'm trying to find the right thing to say.”

I take him into a tight hug. This is going to be the best New Year of my life. I just know it.

“Suhani…,” He whispers in my ear while I’m in his embrace.

“Mm….” I say dreamily, my name on his lips sounds just as melodious as it sounded the first time.

“You were right, you’re not a good dancer at all.”

“I know…”

“Shhh… Let me finish what I'm saying first... You are not a good dancer, you are a brilliant dancer!  We can create the greatest algo-"rhythms" of love if we work together. Will you be my lifelong dance partner?"

“Was that your way of proposing to me?” I giggle. “I better start figuring out the mathematics of our equation then. Will you be my lifelong teacher?”

--THE END--