Please read it, I know its long but try to reach till the end at least!
Any type of feedback is appreciated but try to make it good cause well I am very very nervous.
So without further ado,
Two years and a month ago...
I worked alone that night on the eve of 4th July in New York, waitressing in the Marley's Cafe which was a comparatively small and comfy cafe compared to the other cafes in Downtown Manhattan.
I used to have shifts from 6 in the evening to 12 midnight as I would be busy in college in the mornings, crushing my brain under the weight of all the medical knowledge it could hold. But that night was different.
The next day was the 4th of July, Independence Day for the US and an off for me so I had to work a little late than midnight since it was all-day all-night cafe. I was ready to end my shift and pass it over to Emily who was late, as usual, but now, I feel so happy that she was late that particular night.
While waiting for her to come, two people came in the cafe suddenly which was weird since we didn't expect people to come in especially on the start of 4th of July, when all the people in New York seemed to vanish and come back only on the 5th, after enjoying the one day with their family and friends to their heart's content. But being the ever-happy and hospitable waitress that I was, I chucked my suspicions and welcomed them both in the most warm way I could.
Both of them seemed to be unknown to one another as I saw them both taking different tables on two different corners of the cafe. One of the guys wore spectacles and a t-shirt reading ' The Julliard School Of Arts" and he definitely looked like an Indian, a guy from my homeland. But the one who caught my attention that day was the guy in a black hoody, who was trying his best to hide his face, "Maybe he is a star" I thought as I looked at him and tried to see his face which was hidden under the hood. I was sure because he gave out a special kind of aura and yes, he had an amazing body.*blush*
I came out of my trance when I heard the Indian boy call out to me, oh he was definitely an Indian.
I moved towards his table, half of my concentration on what he was saying and half on the other guy who was trying his best to hide his face behind the menu card of the cafe.
When the Indian guy saw me engrossed looking towards the other table, he chuckled softly and then called my name, "Nandini, please just take my order." At that moment I was so embarrassed as that guy had caught me ogling at the hooded guy but my name from his mouth sounded so good. "Oh yes sir, what should I get you?" This time I asked with my full concentration towards the guy. I hadn't noticed before but he had a good looking, no, very good looking face. Behind those spectacles of his, was a pair of very beautiful brown coloured eyes and at that time I don't know why but felt that any girl would be lucky to be able to look into those eyes of his and spend her whole life with him.
He ordered for a hot cup of Cafe Latte and I went from his table to get him his order when I heard the hooded guy shouting with the voice of my most favourite Indian actor and I knew that today was the most luckiest day of my life; Shahrukh Khan had made his appearance in the cafe and I so wanted to pounce on him and hug him and take his autograph but then I also looked towards his table where he was still trying to conceal his identity in the best way possible, and so even as it broke my heart, I behaved normally and gave him his ordered cup of hot coffee and a cheeseburger.
I could sense that the Indian guy too had understood who he was as I saw him staring at the man for sometime but then looking away with most probably the same feelings I had. But then, his eyes settled on me.
I guessed he had seen my sad face and understood my pain too and so now his point of attention became my face, and the big fat book of his which he was previously reading, seemed to lay soon forgotten on the table with his cup of coffee.
Soon, Mr. Khan was done and he stood up with the piece of newspaper on which he was playing suduko, for the last half an hour while enjoying his food and left; not before flashing a big smile of appreciation and thankfulness towards me as though thanking me to leave him in peace and not bother him.
That definitely made me feel better as you don't usually have your favourite actors smile and that too especially for you! and I was satisfied.
The other guy was still sipping his coffee in complete silence with a constant gaze on me, which made me feel uncomfortable as I was wearing my uniform which reached way above my knees, flaunting the beautiful white legs that I had but strangely enough, I was also blushing, like a lot. But ignoring him, as I usually did to many other guys, I picked up the plates from Mr. Khan's booth and found a Mont Blanc pen which I was sure he had left behind.
And then, the heart and the mind fight started.
I was a very disciplined girl, although I had no parental guidance in life but yet I knew how to differentiate right from wrong, and so I really didn't want to take the pen which belonged to my favourite actor and keep it with myself as a reminder of this fateful day. But my heart was adamant. It wanted that pen and it would not stop eating me up until I picked it up and kept it. This war was clearly lost by my ever rational brain and I stealthily tried to keep the pen in the pocket of my skirt, which was noticed by the guy who was staring at me for so long, that I wondered how his eyes didn't hurt?
And so he stood up, and stood next to me, chuckling softly as he had seen me struggling with my decision on the pen and also shouting out Aiyyappa for about ten times looking towards the ceiling of the cafe which had amused him so much. I looked back at him with a guilty expression and a soft smile playing on my lips looking at which he slowly bent towards my ear, vaise, did I mention that he was about 6 ft tall?!, so yes he bent down towards my ear, which was like bending a lot, considering I am a 5 ft 4 inch girl; and after breathing in and breathing out some hot air on the skin of my neck, which tingled with excitement, he spoke in a very husky voice sending shivers down my spine, "Nandini, your secret's always going to be safe with me." and kissed me on the cheek before he walked out of the cafe in all of his glory and a victorious smile on his face which was clearly due to the effect he saw he had on me.
I had my eyes closed since the time he was breathing on my nape, and I opened my eyes with a jerk only when I felt Emily shaking my shoulders and then blabbering about some new guy she met at the bar. But the only guy I wanted to hear about was now long gone without even telling me his name.
I left the cafe after indulging in a lot of girl talk with Emily, avoiding the part about the mystery guy and my new found pen.
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Next to Next day...
So the holiday ended with me being stuck in solidarity, something which I really didn't seem to mind as I had been alone since my parents died and I had been stuck in an orphanage from which I had snuck out when I was a mere 16 year old girl and joined the Weill Cornell Medical College through a scholarship examination. But there was something which kept me company that day, his thoughts and the brief meet with Shahrukh Khan.
I entered the cafe at my usual time of 6 o clock in the evening after a tough class of Human Anatomy and Mr. D's lecture on being extraordinary. I had expected this day to go like the rest, with guys flirting about and some sweet old ladies talking to me about their daily activities, but today I also expected that guy to come, deep down, somewhere, I believed that he would come.
But the day passed by and now it was midnight; time for me to handover my duties to Emily.
And so as I waited for her to come, still in my waitress' uniform; I saw a guy, no, a very familiar guy pacing towards the cafe and giving me a big grin.
For a moment I didn't believe my eyes, but then when he opened the door and the bell rung, I knew that he really was there and a small sweet smile unknowingly took its place on my face. He went and sat down at his usual place but I couldn't help but notice that he looked different today.
The saggy t-shirt was gone and on its place was a formal shirt with two of the top buttons open and his hair ruffled up in a weird but sexy way. It was then I realised that this guy had taken the pain to dress-up for me. The shirt he had worn wasn't crumpled and the scent of the perfume he wore was strong, as though it had been applied just before entering the cafe.
I was studying psychiatry by the way, did I tell you? :P
But then I saw Emily rush in too, once again blabbering about how that new guy was an ass and he didn't deserve her and how sorry she was to leave me alone and so giving him one final glance and a grin, I turned to leave and went out, wearing my long overcoat over the short dress.
I did not in my wildest dreams think that I would meet the guy again and that too in the same place and at exactly the same time. With the way he was staring at me I knew that he was interested in me and had come today only for this purpose of his.
The realisation of this warmed my heart but more than that it warmed up my cheeks. I was never attracted to a customer before and this was something new.
As I walked on, I felt a strong hand holding my wrist and then in the blink of an eye, turning me about only to stare into the deep depths of the eyes of a man who had managed to capture my heart unknown to me.
"Nandini, I thought your shift ended at 1. So I came at around 12 so that I could talk to you for at least an hour before you left. But here I get to know that your shift starts at 6 and ends at 12. You could have told me this, right?" Shocked would be an understatement. This guy was talking to me as though I had known him from such a long time and the tone of his voice seemed to be accusing.
"But I don't even know your name?" I heard myself mumble involuntarily in defense to his accusation. He smirked and said, "So okay, Ms. Nandini , my name is Manik, Manik Malhotra, Naam toh suna hi hoga?"*in total Shahrukh Khan style* to which Nandini couldn't help but chuckle and make an 'O' face looking at which she felt Manik's eyes darken, and she knew that this guy has many desires hidden inside him so she instantly made a normal frowning expression which seemed to calm him down, just in time. *Phew!*
"So do I have the privilege to walk you to your home?" and I couldn't have missed the pleading sound in his voice and so a slow yes was whispered by my stupid, stupid mouth!
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And so this continued.
I wasn't open at first, but Manik would never stop talking. He told me all about his family back in Mumbai, his crazy friends, his huge business empire back in India and how he was training to become a rockstar too.
But these walks that we had, every midnight from the cafe to my apartment became the best part of my days. These were the things I used to look forward to.
After about twenty days, from when we had met, I had finally let him in...
It was another one of our midnight walks when suddenly, it started to rain like crazy.
Manik held my hand as I tried to run away from the rain and find some shelter, and he made me stand there under the thundering clouds, with just our silences speaking. And slowly he turned my face with his hands, touching me as gently as though I would break under even the most minimum about of pressure from his hands. It didn't take me long to understand that he wanted to kiss me. He always had wanted to, but today under the rain, his desires had gotten the best of him which were making his pupils turn into the darkest shade of black.
I would be lying, if I would have said that I wasn't attracted to him, and so I touched his trembling hands on my cheeks as if granting him permission, and in the next moment, I felt his lips on mine.
It wasn't hard, it wasn't rough. It was something entirely different. I had been kissed before, but nothing had felt so perfect as it did that day with him kissing me.
I felt myself experiencing things which I hadn't before, and before I knew it, he ended the kiss with the last drops of the rain.
I knew that he knew that this was a big deal for me. He knew that he was the only person with whom I had shared everything, hesitantly though at the first but then it became natural instinct. And today, by letting him kiss me, he knew that finally I had accepted that I trusted him with myself, which was clearly evident on his face which was glowing and beaming with happiness.
The days after the kiss used to be even more jollier. We didn't tag our relationship neither did we feel awkward around each other. And now Manik seemed to believe that he had all rights to kiss me and so I used to be awarded with small pecks and kisses every now and then, but we never crossed our limits.
This period of happiness had to come to an end and it did.
It was on the day of my birthday when Manik told me about him going back to Mumbai. At first I was a bit broken, I knew that I had started to love him and I knew he did too, but the ultimate truth of my life once again came to hurt me: I was meant to be alone, forever.
But I put up my brave face and let him go with a smile.
He told me that he would come back soon and then he would take me away along with him forever. I trusted him more than I trusted myself and so I knew that he would keep his words, but still I detached myself from my feelings since the time he was gone.
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Present...
It had been months, and I hadn't heard from him but I did get to know that the Indian Business Tycoon, Manik Malhotra had become a rockstar and now had fans swooning all over him.
I was happy for him and I was happy that I hadn't taken my feelings all too seriously which made it easier for me to move on in life, with his memories always occupying my mind.
Two years passed away in a jiffy with me trying to cope up with my studies and sometimes my yearning heart and I was finally given my certificate in Psychiatry, giving me all the rights to start working as a qualified psychiatrist.
Today was my last day at Marley's and I knew one thing for sure that I would miss this place a lot. And so, as I waited to handover my duties to Emily for the last time ever, I noticed a guy wearing a black hoody, much alike in the same way as that of two years ago and I got the sudden Deja-vu feeling surround me.
But I stopped myself from thinking about him and his unfulfilled promise and went to this hooded guy, who sat at the same place where Mr. Khan was seated, coincidently.
He ordered the same coffee Manik had that day, and sat there not ready to reveal his face.
After he was done, he left, taking along with him all of my residual hopes of him being Manik, but then a small blue box on the table kept along with a note caught my attention and I found myself walking towards it with untamed curiousity.
I knew that the hooded guy had left it and a smile had made its way onto my face after a long long time.
I opened the note first and what I read broke the reservoir which was had held my emotions for so long, and they came out as big tear drops of happiness.
"Dear Nandu,
I know I'm such a bad person for not talking to you for two long years, but trust me these were the toughest years of my life. A day without you used to make me cranky and emotional, imagine how much two years away from you must have felt?! But I had to do this, for you, for me and for us. I wanted to prove myself in front of the world, become deserving enough for you before I could claim you as mine. And now that this is done, I don't want to waste a moment in marrying you.
So will you please give this jerk the chance to love the most prettiest girl on this world for the rest of his life? Please Nandu, please?
Now open the box, as I know what your answer is already, and if you don't I swear I will force you to marry me right now without your permission and you know I can do that, so open the box and accept your fate Mrs. Soon-to-be Malhotra."
And so I opened the box wiping my tears and chuckling softly, but the sight infront of me, froze me on my place.
It was a platinum ring, with a big diamond solitaire in the middle shining with all of its glory and I stood there standing with an awestruck expression on my face, which was soon changed into a crimson blush, as I felt Manik breathing on my neck, saying in his deep husky voice the words which had indeed connected us, "Nandu, what are you waiting for? Don't worry take it and I promise I won't tell anyone as your secret's safe with me." and with that, he sat on his knee and put the ring on my finger all the time smirking at my shocked and awestruck expressions with the deep crimson blush that had settled over my face.
The guy didn't even wait for me to respond and straight away, took my lips into his, kissing it with all of his passion and love, which had been stored for two long years, with me just standing there surrendered to the man with whom I was hopelessly in love with.
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So congratulations to anybody who has read the whole OS! (LOL)
Please leave a feedback, and tell me how it was.
For the grammatical mistakes you find, blame my teachers and not me!
Readers of my other works,
Please continue reading my stories!
Lots of Love,
Smriti😳
