I arrived at the café to join Vivaan for a coffee after an exhausting day at the office. I had texted him earlier to let him know I would be late; I had some problems at work that I had to fix before I left for the day.
Vivaan was waiting for me at the counter. I saw him through the window and drank in the sight of him as I walked to the entrance. He was wearing a black business suit, set off nicely by a bright blue tie.
I rushed in with an apologetic look. 'I am so sorry I'm late.'
'It's okay. How was your day?' Vivaan said with a smile.
I groaned. 'I am completely tired and stressed out today,' I said as I flopped down in the chair next to him.
He looked sympathetic and stroked my arm before he broke into a smile. 'Well ... I was thinking about you,' he began.
I grinned. 'You were?'
He nodded. 'I got you a couple things. I wanted to surprise you. It won't fix your terrible day, but it might make it a little better,' Vivaan said in a hopeful tone.
I blushed and smiled widely. 'You really got me a surprise?' I asked.
'Of course I did. I wanted something to put a smile back on your face,' Vivaan said, passing me a bouquet of flowers and two brown paper packages that were wrapped and tied with a bow.
I took the flowers and buried my nose in the petals, breathing in deeply. 'The flowers would have been enough for me to smile,' I pointed out.
'No, the flowers were just the beauty that I saw on the way here. The real gifts are in the packages. The flowers will soon wilt, but what is in these packages will always be with you.'
I was curious; I immediately set the flowers down and reached for the first package. I untied it to find an autographed copy of a book.
'This book is the one the author was discussing when we first met in this café. No matter where life takes us, I decided we should cherish that moment. It was the starting point to us becoming so close in friendship.'
Tears of happiness welled up in my eyes as I thought back to that night. 'Oh my, I am at loss for words,' I said, opening the cover to see what the author had written.
To my fellow author,
I hope I inspire you to be able to venture out on your journey as a writer. Your friend told me a lot about you and I cannot wait to be in a café some day, listening to you speak, as you did for me.
Remember that a great writer doesn't just put his heart into his book but his reader's heart too.
Best of luck,
Arjun Mehra
I threw my arms around Vivaan impulsively, hugging him. 'Wow, Vivaan! You really didn't have to do that! I don't even know what to say. I am so touched. So happy,' I said, my voice muffled in his shoulder.
'Oh no,' he said, settling me back on my chair. 'You can't say that yet. You have to open the other gift before you can say that.' Vivaan motioned to the other package that was still wrapped.
I quickly untied the second package to find a thick, sturdy book with a cloth cover. It had my name stamped on it. Confused, I opened the book.
'This book is to represent the fact that some day you will finish your novel and be the writer you want to be. I got you a blank one; and it is up to you to fill these pages with your story.'
I held the book to my chest, squeezing it as tightly as I had hugged Vivaan. 'Even if I write only my name in this, I want you to be the first person to read it,' I said. 'But, what is the occasion for such beautiful gifts?' I asked.
He shook his head and smiled. 'Nothing. Do we need occasions to celebrate life?'
I hugged him again. 'Thank you so very much for such thoughtful gifts!' I said as tears of happiness formed in my eyes.
It was hard to believe it wasn't that long ago we were complete strangers. He was yet a mystery and I was just a person attending authors' meets. We had come far in our daily conversations. We shared our views on life and relationships.
Every day, our friendship grew stronger. I could no longer imagine a time when Vivaan would not be sitting at the café, waiting to drink coffee with me, discussing the values of life and our thoughts about the world around us.
I wanted to dedicate my story to him. His gift would be a perfect place to write it in.