"Busted!" that was the word ringing in Ramya's head as she exited another shop in the mall empty-handed as nothing caught her eye. This was supposed to be her day, where she ought to be treated like a queen and have everything she wanted at the snap of a finger. It was her birthday, but as fate would have it, she was currently shopping, well more like fretting over a last minute fashion depeche as she forgot to buy a new dress for her birthday party tonight!
"Soha!" she heard a feminine voice calling out from other side of crowd that gathered at the entrance, and for some reason the voice sounded very familiar to Ramya.
She saw a woman with a man following her closely approaching the baby. On a closer look she realized they were Dev and Sonakshi. As the couple reached the child, Ramya moved a bit away to give the family their space while the crowd was being dispersed by the security guards.
After a bit she noticed Dev and Sonakshi coming near her, "Thank you for looking out for our Soha!" Dev thanked Ramya, "Oh no, you don't need to thank me its okay and she is such a cute kid!" replied Ramya trying to be as graceful as she could, somehow triumphing over the fan-girl inside her that wanted to start jumping with joy, "Why don't you guys join me for a cappuccino?" she offered.
"Are you sure?" enquired Sonakshi. "We don't want to encroach upon your privacy!"She added."No certainly not! Besides, I am the one who is insisting right?" Ramya replied.
After sometime, while returning from the powder room, she overheard Dev and Sonakshi discussing how they still needed to buy some important stuff and wondered how they would manage with little Suhana also with them.
"Sorry! I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I can keep an eye on Soha if you like and you both can go buy your things!" Ramya said.
After a moment of hesitation they agreed and left Soha with her.
Oh what a sweet little angel, Ramya thought as she looked down at the little girl smiling up at her. Ramya ordered a strawberry milkshake for Soha and another cappuccino for herself and returned to the table holding both.
Well, she had never imagined what she was about to see back at the table. Never, had she imagined. Nah, never. Not the chaos. From whatever she'd seen of them on the television, Suhana had always seemed the perfect little, quiet girl. It was then that it struck Ramya that well, she had indeed inherited the best from both her friends.
The entirety of the cafe stared as Soha continued to shriek and scream for her parents! Ramya couldn't comprehend all of her words but from the essence she could sure decipher the trickery of the little tyke.
Hardly had a quarter of an hour passed when she was already past all lures and coaxing- Soha just wouldn't sit still!
At last, mostly under the glares of the rest of the shoppers Ramya was forced to buy Soha a couple of ice-cream bars in exchange for a garb of quietness.
"Thanks for watching her," Sonakshi said, "Let us know if we can do anything for you!" She added smiling.
"Um, actually yes! Can you guys give me an autograph please? It'll make my birthday extra special!" Ramya said nervously.
"It's your birthday? Wow! Happy birthday Ramya!" Dev said, whilst giving Ramya a birthday hug. "An autograph alone doesn't seem enough.. I think this calls for a birthday selfie, right?" Ramya smiled widely and they all stood together and smiled for the camera.
After bidding them goodbye, Ramya returned home with their autographs, the party dress long forgotten. This would forever adorn the wall of the living room, she thought contently. She couldn't stop thinking about the selfie and wanted to keep looking at it forever.while trying to grab her phone from her handbag, her fingers grasped something else.To her surprise,it was soha's cute butterfly hair clip."aww a priceless souvenir for my first day as a baby sitter.Well, I may not have found my party attire, but who cares when I have managed to bag the best gift ever!" Ramya sighed dreamily before heading up to her room to find something to wear for the party this evening.
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