*A FairyTale Ending* - SaJan Story - Page 6

Aah! That day had come again.. I didnt feel like waking up today. It was my birthday and I had never spent any of my birthdays without dad. He was always there when I opened my eyes ready with a huge surprise. I used to love my birthday. But today, my room was empty and I was just lying on the bed staring at the wall. How would I survive this day.. The day began as mom took me into her wide arms and kissed me. She showed me my birthday present. It was a beautiful stoned dress which she said she had been working on for a long time now. It was not too jazzy, but simple with neat pleats and lovely work. I hugged my mother tightly for that and promised I would wear it to some party. I was in no mood to celebrate my birthday this year. I sat in my car and drove off for college. It was all going well until my mind let in all the thoughts about my last birthday. It made me very nostalgic. Dad had thrown me a huge surprise party, that too in the morning at 6. I had woken up to look at a completely crowded room and all my college friends, here to wish me. It was embarrassing but a very unique idea. Not many people had a birthday party at 6 in the morning. Only my dad could have thought of that. This year was obviously different. He wasn't there to make this day special and I was missing him, Alot. Yet, I took a deep breathe and drove on. Obviously it wasn't easy to live without a person whom you loved the most in your life. Samrat also knew that very well, his parents were in US and he would only meet them twice a year. Once when they would come over for 2 or 3 weeks and once when he would go there. His grandfather was very ill for the past 3-4 years and his parents couldn't leave his grandfather there all alone so they were compelled to stay away from their son who refused to leave Mumbai. Samrat was a nice person and he knew exactly how I felt, he was the only one who knew..

I took a deep breathe and entered college all ready to forget about my sorrow and depression, like always. I knew Samrat too well, he would have planned something! But well, nothing really happened so I moved on thinking maybe he wanted to keep it simple this year. But I was wrong. Many people started coming towards me. "Happy Birthday Gunjan" they all said giving me one red rose each. Okay, ALL of them had red roses in their hands, as far as I could see every student in college had a rose in his or her hand. It wasn't even Rose day! Soon there was a huge crowd around me with red roses and everyone gave me just one red rose. Soon there was no space in my hand to hold them as the red roses kept on increasing. "Need a hand, Birthday girl?" Dia said coming to my rescue. She was the closest friend I had since 5^th Standard. Obviously now Samrat was there, but she was no less. I hugged her tight and then she helped me hold some flowers. Phew.

Finally it was done. Everyone was done with the flower business. "Where's my birthday gift?" I demanded as we sat down in the Canteen which had now almost become a garden, packed with roses. There are about 200 students in our college and I could almost bet all of them had wished me. This had to be Samrat's work. He always knew how to cheer me up! "Here.." Dia handed me a present. "What is this?" I asked opening it. She waited patiently for me to open it. It was a French Dictionary cum translator. "Thank-you" I said confused about the randomly picked gift. "Gunjan! Come on your not so stupid!" she said. And then I understood. "FRANCE?" I asked. She nodded eagerly. "This summer. You and me. It will be fun!" she said excited. I jumped up and hugged her tightly. "I Love youu Dia..!" I said. I really needed a holiday and with Dia I was sure I would have a blast. We were so similar in our choices and in our way of living. It was as if we were twins and plus I always wanted to go to France. "Happy Budday!" Benji said sliding down the canteen floor offering a red rose. "You tooo?" I said. He gave me the flower and then took out another gift. "Yaay! I love gifts." I said thrilled to open it. We sat down again and I ripped the packing paper off the gift. It was a huge poster of Cinderella & her prince charming. The only change was that my face had been put as Cinderella and it was written in bold "Happily Ever After.." "Aww.. Benji. This is so adorable!" I said. "You better be satisfied with a poster because I really doubt you'll meet any one like the one you describe!" he said. "ENOUGH Benji. Its her birthday today.. don't bug the little girl.." Samrat said taking his seat near me and giving me a bouquet of red roses. "You STILL have roses left?" I asked astonished. How many had he bought. He smirked and said, "You knew it was my idea?" "Obviously, it couldn't be a co-incidence that everyone had a red rose, nor could anyone else do so much for me.." I admitted. "Thank Youu.." I said. I knew why he had done this and he knew why I said thank you. And then I decided on not being depressed today and actually giving Samrat a return gift. "But this wasn't my birthday gift, was it?" I asked being greedy now. "What else do you WANT!" he asked giving me a look as if telling me I was crazy! "Okay. Okay. Fine." I said trying to make him relax. But well, I knew I was right the first time! "Okay fine.. there is ONE more surprise for youu!" he said with a smile. He tied a red cloth around my eyes and held my hand and led me out of the canteen. I stumbled quite a number of times but his hold was firm. I could hear many people mumbling among themselves and then suddenly another hand caught me and kind of shoved Samrat's hand off. Claire. I was so sure. She is so insecure. She pulled me forward and then suddenly made me stop. She untied the cloth so I could see again. And as usual, I was right. Claire stood there smiling at me. She hugged me like I was her best friend saying, "Happy Birthday Gunjan" in her weird accent. Oh yes, I forgot to mention she was from Dubai only, but her parents were British. She was pretty fair with a slight tan which did make her look beautiful. She had dark coloured hair and the only thing I loved about her was her dressing sense. Amazing. But for Samrat, she was still not good enough. He deserved someone who would be honest with him and not her... I wanted to tell him about his 'girlfriend' but I was just not sure if I should.

A huge cake lay in front of me and the whole college gathered around to see me cut the cake. Dia, benji & Samrat were right by my side. That moment was so overwhelming that while blowing the candles all I could pray for was to have them as my best friends forever. I was so lucky to have them as my friends. I cut my cake as everyone sang along. The cake was bigger than anyone would have expected. Samrat always did more than necessary. I cut a small piece and fed it to him first and then to Dia & benji & as a matter of formality even to Claire. Samrat also made me eat cake, rather he took a huge slice and stuffed it into my mouth. He smiled at me and then it was time to get to class. Everyone said their goodbye's and I too turned around to grab my things when he held my hand again.. I turned around to see his smile widen and his fingers smoothly struck the chords of the guitar slung over his shoulders.

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VbODnX0dVs[/YOUTUBE]

(^ Song - I'll Be There For Youu <3 <3)

He sang as he matched the tune,

"So no one told you life was going to be this way.
Your edu's a joke, you're broke, you're love life's DOA.
It's like you're always stuck in second gear,
Well, it hasn't been your day, your week, your month, or even your year."

I smiled looking at him. My life was actually THAT bad..

Dia and Benji joined in on the chorus ofcourse.. everyone knew the lyrics but I could see how much they meant each word!

"But, I'll be there for you, when the rain starts to pour.
I'll be there for you, like I've been there before.
I'll be there for you, cause you're there for me too. "

Samrat sang the next verse again.. benji and dia probably didnt know the lyrics of my favourite song I guess..

"You're still in bed at ten, the work began at eight.
You've burned your breakfast, so far, things are going great.
Your mother warned you there'd be days like these,
But she didn't tell you when the world has brought you down to your knees."

I laughed a little hearing the song as Samrat sang it. I could see how much he meant this stuff!
" I'll be there for you, when the rain starts to pour.
I'll be there for you, like I've been there before.
I'll be there for you, cause you're there for me too."

Aah! The best birthday ever. I just shut my eyes as I felt elated at how much these people cared about mee..

Oh this was finally my paragraph. I suck at singing but I didnt care that moment. Samrat nudged me and I just sang,

"No one could ever know me, no one could ever see me.
Seems like you're the only one who knows what it's like to be me.
Someone to face the day with, make it through all the rest with,
Someone I'll always laugh with, even at my worst, I'm best with you."

The three picked it up from where I left it.. This was my favourite song from Friends.. :)

"It's like you're always stuck in second gear,
Well, it hasn't been your day, your week, your month, or even your year.

But, I'll be there for you, when the rain starts to pour.
I'll be there for you, like I've been there before.
I'll be there for you, cause you're there for me too."

Hmm.. and that was the end.. I seriously felt like a queen today. They sure knew how to make me feel on top of the world!

I had tears in my eyes by the end of the song and I could see Claire's face burn with jealousy or maybe anger. But more than anything I could just see my three best friends in front of me and I hugged all three of them as tight as I could. It was perfect. At that point, I didn't think about my prince charming or dad as a matter of fact. Those three were just enough. The BEST! Samrat saw the tears in my eyes and hugged me again reminding me about his comment last night.. I couldn't even say thank you.. "Happy Birthdaay!" a bold voice came as we broke our hug. "I am so sorry Gunjan, I forgot. I have been sitting in the library for two hours already. Dia had told me to be here on time..!" Mayank spoke. He even passes a sorry to Dia. Dia looked angry for sometime but didn't mind.. "Its ok Mayank! Thank Youu!" I said as he hugged me. Dia smiled at her "Boyfriend" and was glad he could make it. Mayank was a total nerd and it was all thanks to him that any of us could pass our examinations. He was extra tensed about his and made notes for all of us. He was a great friend when it came to doing my assignments and he literally tutored us since we had no idea what was going on in class. Either we were busy ragging the teacher or we were sleeping. Usually, we werent attending class. But, I have become very serious as its my last year. The first 2 years I did no 'Mehnat' and only 'Masti' but to reach my goals I knew I had to do really well in this last year. Ofcourse, topping was just not my cup of tea, well, Mayank was there for that and being his girlfriend, Dia usually came second. Mayank would sit with her for hours on their date and teach her economics. It was funny sometimes seeing them as a couple. But when you'll hear the story behind that you won't feel sad.. But Samrat and benji would never learn. They were least concerned about their studies.. Sigh. And like I couldn't stand claire Samrat couldn't stand Mayank. Samrat and Mayank never got along because Mayank always stopped Samrat from flirting with other girls and acting like a jerk in public.. Well, Samrat hates it when someone tried to teach him how to behave, so yeah, that's the story behind those two..

Well, I had just had another outstanding birthday until Samrat came to me and pulled me to a corner. "Gunjan, I have to show you something!" he said almost in a whisper. Another surprise? I thought. Wow. "what?" I asked. He took out a small box from his pocket and opened it. It was a ring. A beautiful, elegant ring studded with diamonds. And then I suddenly realised what it meant. "WHAAAT?" I shrieked. This couldn't be happening? Samrat couldn't think I was interested in... in.. marrying HIM? He was my best friend, but marriage? "Are you CRAZY?" I shrieked again and he put his hand against my mouth to shut me up. He had seriously lost it. This couldn't be happening. I didn't love Samrat. He knew me! I had no answer for him.. I had NEVER thought that he feels THAT way about ME!

Hope you guys liked the Second Update :) Do leave your comments behind :D

Note - All those who are waiting for Make Me Fall In Love or SaJan Love Saga, I am so sorry to make you wait so long. I will update SLS on Wednesday & Mmfil I will start in this week itself.. Just have a little bit to write :)

Love Youu.

Manjari :)