This guy is impossible. He knew that I was tired today after doing all the rounds around the hospital. He knows how hard to be an assistance pediatrician doctor. Then why the hell is he texting me at 12:00 at night. Jerk!
Heer turned on the lamp on her side table. She was really irritated by him. She snatched the phone that was resting on the side table and looked at the time. It was just 11:59 pm. The screen blinked "1 text message."
Heer groaned at the phone and selected to read the message.
"I know you r grumpy right now. But chill. Tom is Saturday! You can sleep as much as u want tom. But right now I have to wish my best friend. By the time you read all this, I bet that it will already be 12:00. So I have to wish you now. HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHIPKALI! Wish you many many many happy returns of the day. And this year I have a special surprise for you. Hope you like it!"
By the time she finished reading this, she could feel the warm tears, joyous tears trail down her cheek. He remembered. Even she herself forgot that it was her birthday today. And as usual, her Prem was the first for all to wish her. With a smile tickling her lips, Heer lay back down on the bed. She hugged her pillow close to her heart and closed the light. Keeping her phone close to her heart, she whispered slowly with her eyes closed.
Thank you so much. But all I want every birthday is you. I know it's impossible because you are working hard in law school. But I can't stop myself from loving you. I love you Prem. I love you.
Wishing this, sleep once again took over her as her tired body was in extreme need of rest. But in her sleep, she was remembering only him. Their unbreakable friendship was the most perfect relationship in the world and she would do anything to secure this friendship.
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She was just 6 years old when she met him the first time. Her Pappaji and Lalit chachu were best friends since birth. But Lalit chachu had, moved to Canada after he got married. But they always remained in touch. They called each other once a week and talked about everything, literally everything.
But after 8 long years, they had returned to Indian from Canada. Lalit chachu's business was going on great. He had become one of the richest personas in Canada. But for him, his friend and his motherland was everything. Heer was thankful to him. Without him, she would have never met Prem, the guy she had fallen in love with at the age of six.
He was just a year and a half older then Heer. But since the first day she saw him, he had been the most innocent, most respectful, and the most caring person she had ever seen. Heer and Prem instantly became friends. The six months that the family had spent at the Mann's house had been the best times of Heer's life.
Several times, she had played pranks on him. But not once had he gotten mad at her or taken anything seriously. She still remembers the day when she had filled up a huge bucket of water early in the morning and had it splashed on his face, when he was sleeping. He had woken up with a shocked and angry look on his face. But the second he had seen little Heer standing there giggling, he had erased the angry look on his face. He, himself, laughed at his funny condition.
Not once had he played a prank on her. He never took revenge from her. In fact, he would end up doing the sweetest things for her. He would bring her all his chocolates and they would both share eating them together, on the swings behind the Mann's huge mansion.
Mostly all their likes and dislikes were the same. They both hated eating spinach. They both loved eating chocolate. They both loved going to the temple because of the quiet atmosphere. They absolutely loved playing tennis. They hated going to boring parties with their parents. But the thing that connected the two of them the most was the fact that they both absolutely loved the rain. Whenever it would rain, they would run outside to the yard and just dance away.
It had been this rain that had connected the two all these years. It had been the bond that had strengthened their friendship.
When it was time for Prem to go back to Canada after six months, Heer had turned awfully sad. In such a short span of time, Prem had become something really important for Heer. But even though the distance had separated them, there was still a natural force that had bonded them together. It was the rain. Both of them would remember each other whenever it would rain. They would talk to the rain; they would share their feelings with the rain. They would try to communicate to each other in the rain and through some magical call; they would feel each other's presence in the rain.
As the years passed, Heer's love for Prem and Prem's love for Heer grew from just a friendship love. A feeling of genuine love filled their hearts. They would always talk to each other once a week just like their parents would. This was the only way they stayed in touch. No e-mails, no letters. Prem was really busy in finishing his law school. Heer had to concentrate on her medical career. But even though they were busy, they would ALWAYS find time to talk to each other no matter what. This was their bond and it was a bond that was bonded by friendship, love, trust, faith, honesty, respect, patience, and most importantly, the rain.
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Heer threw aside the cover of her blanket and slowly got up. Her bright smile was making her face glow in happiness. Finally, she was 21 years old. But this happiness on his face was only the reflection of her eagerness to know what Prem would gift. He would always send her the cutest thing on her birthday. Each and everything he had given her was placed safely into a cupboard by Heer. When Heer would really miss Prem, she would look through all his gifts to her and feel his presence.
She rushed to the bathroom and took a nice warm shower. It was monsoon season here in Mumbai so it was quite chilly. After a few minutes, she came out of the shower, wearing a cute lime green colored churidar. She stood in front of her dresser and started to comb her long, silky hair. After combing it, she placed the brush down and picked up two diamond studs and put them on. As she looked at her own reflection in the mirror, she admired the tiny pendant that was resting around her neck. It was an 'Om' symbol pendant that Prem had given to her, the day he had left for Canada, 15 years ago. She had never taken it off and she knew that she never would.
A light jolt of thunder erupted catching Heer's attention. She went up to her window and watched the glittering drops fall from the sky and kiss the land. Heer expected this to happen. Deep down, she knew that whenever it rained, it was God's indication to her that Prem was thinking about her. After taking in the beautiful imagery outside, she went downstairs to talk the blessing of her parents.
She was greeted with a warm hug from her dad first.
"Bless you beta." Her Dad said and Heer took his ashirwaad.
She turned around to her mom, only to find a huge ladoo being forced into her mouth.
"Happy Birthday baby." Her mom wished her with a kiss on her forehead. She took her ashirwaad as well.
Taking the pooja thali from her, Heer did the morning aarti. It was always a tradition in her family. Whenever it was anyone's birthday, Heer would go to the temple to get ashirwaad and donate some money into the orphanage near her house .But today, the weather was pretty bad. Even though her mom refused several times, Heer was able to convince her with the help of her dad. Heer left to go to the mandir in a taxi.
After completing all her chores, she headed home. But she was surprised to see the lock on the door. Heer asked Shiv, the security guard outside her house. From him, she found out that her parents had gotten a call from her dad's friend's wife. She had informed them that her husband had gotten awfully sick overnight and because of that, they had left to see him.
She walked towards the entrance to go inside. She was about to open the door when a little, yellow note sticking on the door knob, caught her attention. She took the note in her hand and read it carefully.
"Go to the storeroom."
She smiled at the note. Now what was going on? She thought. She opened the door and went to the storeroom inside the house. She slowly opened the door. Her gaze fell on something shiny on the floor. It was a tiny box, wrapped in pink wrapping paper. She gently picked up the little box, shaped gift.
This is for your 1st birthday!-it said.
After opening it she found a beautiful pair of diamond earrings. Heer was really surprised to see this gift. She knew that this wasn't from her parents. This morning, her dad had just gifted her with a pair of diamond jhumkas as well as given her a 45% share in his business. The handwriting wasn't even his. Then who was this from?
Her gaze fell on the tiny chit inside the earring box. She opened the chit and read it.
"Go to the dining room and open the second cabinet."
She did just that and in the cabinet, she found another box. But this one was a little bigger then the earring box.
This is for your 2nd birthday!- it said.
She unwrapped it and found a beautiful gold plated bracelet inside. It was beautiful. But she had no idea about who was doing all this. She once again spotted another chit inside the box.
"Go look on the third chair on the dinning table."
She signed and did as the chit said.
She found a medium size water globe. Inside the globe was a small boy holding a small girl's hand.
On the top, a tiny note said- This is for your 3rd birthday.
This chit reading, gift finding continued for another 17 times. It took her over an hour to find all these gifts. She was gifted a box full of chocolates (4th birthday), a soft teddy bear (5th birthday), a cute friend's cap (6th birthday), her favorite perfume (7th birthday), a diamond watch (8th birthday), a beautiful anarkali dress (9th birthday), beautiful silver bangles (10th birthday), silver plated payals (11th birthday), a digital photo frame with all of her pictures (12th birthday), her favorite book (13th birthday), a tiny murti of Ganesh ji (14th birthday), a beautifully decorated ice cream cake which she found in the fridge (15th birthday), a painting of her made by someone (16th birthday), a DVD set of he favorite movie (17th birthday), a pack of scented candles (18th birthday), a small birthstone ring (19th birthday), and lastly a soft, red scarf (20th birthday).
Heer was extremely amazed by all these gifts. She loved each and everything that was there but she didn't have any idea about who had gotten this. But out of all the gifts, her last gift caught her attention. She instantly recognized the red scarf. This was the same scarf that she had given her Prem.
As she examined the scarf, she found another tiny chit that was sticking to the scarf.
She picked up the chit and read it slowly.
"I know you must be tired by now by getting all these gifts. But it's your 21st birthday so there has to be one more gift. I told you that I will give you a surprise today. Let's just see if you remember anything about me. I know that scarf must have reminded you of me. But what's the only thing that reminds you mist about me? The answer to this will get you your birthday gift for today."
By now, Heer knew very well who this someone was. And she knew exactly where to find this special someone. Without wasting another moment, she ran to her back yard. Her heart was thumping hard against her chest and she didn't know what was happening to her.
She ran out straight to the yard where the rain was drizzling. As she got wet in the rain, she looked around for her certain someone who had stolen her heart. She looked almost everywhere but she couldn't find anyone.
She smiled to herself. This must be another prank from Meher, her best friend. She always came up with the weirdest ideas and pranks to annoy her.
She stood there still with her eyes closed, enjoying the wind and taking in the pleasure of the quietness. But her concentration was broken when she found two warm hands encircling her waist from behind. Her eyes jerked opened. It was the same touch, the same feeling that she felt 15 years ago. She felt the warm breath of the person behind her.
"Happy Birthday Chipkali'" said a strong, but husky voice.
Heer yanked herself around and saw the guy she loved the most in front of her. The same caramel colored eyes. His eyes still made her want to drown in them. The same innocence. The same honesty.
"Maine kaha than na keh surprise dunga. Lo, mai aagaya." Prem opened up his arms and without wasting another moment, she embraced her life tightly as if to never let go. She had finally teared up because she had gotten the best birthday present ever. Prem smiled at her cuteness and held her tenderly.
"So it finally worked. Ms. Mann has now realized that she's in love." Prem said.
"If you say one more word, I'll kill you!" She said hugging him as tight as possible. Prem smirked at her and hugged her back.
The rain once again, joined two hearts into one. It strengthened the friendship, a friendship between two bodies but resides in only one soul.
Here's another rainy oneshot for Premeer. Hope you guy's like it! Do leave any and all of your comments! Take care and Love ya!
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