I didn't know how long I had been sleeping so deeply. My body had been so exhausted since that the sleep had grown heavier. My eyes were still closed when I started hearing a faint whisper near my ears, saying, "Wake up!.... Listen Miss…wake up....Right!" Slowly, I opened my eyes and saw Krishna sitting cross-legged on the floor near my head. His hands were resting against his cheeks as if he had been waiting for me to wake up all this while. Seeing him with my sleepy eyes brought an involuntary smile to my face. Lazily, I asked, "What time is it?"
"It doesn't matter what time it is," he said, like a playful child. "Right now, it's definitely not your sleeping time!.... Get up quickly!"
I sat up, looking at him, and teasingly asked, "Then whose time is it?"
Pulling my cheek softly and pointing toward the bedroom door, he said, "It's time for some.... go, look! Someone is waiting for you!"
The door to the bedroom was closed, but there were rose petals scattered in a line, starting from the sofa near by feet side and leading into the bed room entrance. Surprised, I looked at him and asked, "What is all this?"
"Well....!!," he said with a mischievous smile, "since you don't let me touch your feet..., I thought at least these flowers should get the honor!" He then tugged at my cheek with a laugh.
I couldn't help but laugh at his cheeky remark. My laughter seemed to amuse him even more. He lightly patted my cheeks on both sides and said, "Ahhhh! ....You're happy with seeing just this much only ? Looks like I worked so hard for no reason....!!!"
"No, no! It's not so easy to impress me!" I teased back and walked toward the bedroom.
When I entered the room, I was stunned. The entire room floor was covered with rose petals. Fairy lights and decorated items decorated the walls, creating a magical ambiance. On the bed, bedtable was there cake, neatly placed on it.
"What is all this?!" I exclaimed, turning to him in astonishment.
"Didn't you like it?" he asked, sitting near the cake table on the bed.
"But why all of a sudden? As I remember... no one's birthday today, ?" I said, sitting on the bed across from him.
"Well, if really cutting a cake requires a birthday!!," he said with a grin, "then for you, I can celebrate my birthday today!" He laughed.
"Wait… but where did the cake come from?!" I asked, leaning closer to inspect it.
"From the K-N-K bakery—! That's me. I baked it all at home!" he said with a dramatic flair.
"And all this decoration?" I asked, gesturing at the lights and flowers.
"Ohhhhh for that!!, your phone helped me. You know those apps that let you order things at home instantly? I thought I'd finally try one out!" he said, pulling my phone out of his pocket.
"And what about the password? The payment?" I asked, taking the phone from him.
"Well, what's yours is mine…and what's mine is also mine! .....So, everything magically worked out in just 4000 rupees!" he said, glancing at the cake proudly.
"4000? Isn't that…a bit much less?" I teased.
"What? Is 4000 rupees worth more than me now?" he asked, pretending to be hurt, his innocent eyes looking at me.
"Cut the cake already, and stop talking nonsense!" I said, blushing, trying to hide how overwhelmed I felt by his efforts.
Before cutting the cake, he stopped and said, "Wait, there's another gift for you!.... In my tradition...., the one whose birthday it is gives a gift to other..... So, here's something for you. But you'll have to give me a gift like this on your own birthday!" He laughed as he handed me a thick piece of paper. On it, he had painted my face while I was asleep, capturing my closed eyes and peaceful expression with vibrant colors.
"What is this?!" I asked, my voice quivering with emotion.
"You don't recognize yourself....? Sorry, I think I accidentally made you a little prettier than you are!" he teased, laughing again.
Tears welled up in my eyes. I held the painting in my hands and looked at him. Softly, I said, "Thank you…"
"Why? Didn't you like it? Why are you crying?" he asked, wiping my tears gently.
"Nobody has ever surprised me like this before," I began, my voice trembling. "All my friends…they've only been with me for a short time. Every time, something would happen, and they'd drift away. I used to think maybe I wasn't a good friend, maybe that's why people didn't like staying close to me or talking with me....May be I am boring .... May be I am... But for the first time, I feel like I'm special to someone…first time I felt what's like to be..." Tears kept streaming down as I wiped them with my sleeve.
"Ohhooo, silly girl,!!!!" he said softly. "Life is like a journey. Think of it like this—like your friends and you meet in school or college. You all travel together on the same bus until you reach the school stop...It's like a temporary stop. Then, from there some get off and board new buses to new stops according to their choices. But a few, despite being on different buses, promise to stay with you because their destination is the same as yours. You can't force someone to join you on your journey. Those who truly want to, ....will stay...No matter what....Even if your destination will be different they will support you. And as for being a good friend, remember—not everyone loves the color red. Some people may love it passionately, while others may not like it at all. But as of now, what I know for sure is…I love the cake I made with my own hands!" He sat by the cake, guiding my hand to hold the knife with his, and together we cut the cake.
He fed me the first bite, then ate the other half himself, smiling cheekily. "Ummmm ... I think suddenly .... The cake became, maybe bit too sweet," he said, laughing as he began cutting the rest of the cake into smaller pieces and storing them in a large box.
I sat there, holding the painting, watching him with a flood of emotions. My heart whispered, Krishna... You are my destination, the one I wish to reach in the end,.....and you are also my companion, the one with whom I wish to journey toward that destination. Tears brimmed in my eyes again as I took another bite of the cake.
"Hey, don't cry while eating, or the cake will turn salty instead of sweet!" he teased. His words made me laugh, and for a moment, the world felt perfect.
As he packed the leftover cake into a container, Krishna began preparing to leave, urging me to get ready as well. When I asked him where we were going and for whom the cake was, he dramatically feigned emotional blackmail, saying, "What...? Don't you trust me ....
Why are you asking so many questions?"
It was already 5 PM. Smiling at his antics, I decided to quietly comply. My body still ached from yoga earlier, but his cake had somewhat lessened the pain. Yet, I was silently thinking that if he kept giving surprises, when would I ever get a chance to do something special for him?...its my turn now to do something for him.... Determined, I resolved to plan something soon. With that thought, I got ready and left with him.
As soon as we stepped outside, he excitedly said, "Let's have golgappas! I want to see if your spicy tongue can handle the spiciest golagappaaa too!"
"But how can you eat them...As you are?" I asked, teasingly.
"With my mouth, obviously!" he retorted, pulling a mock face. "Humans eat with their mouths, don't they?"
"No, I meant—"
"Enough of your 'meant'!" he cut me off and called out to the vendor, "Baba, make two plates of the spiciest golgappas you have!"
We began eating. By the eighth golgappa, his nose had turned bright red, and he started to wince as the spice got to him. "Sii ....sii," he muttered under his breath. I was struggling too, but I didn't let it show in front of him. As we walked further, I couldn't stop laughing at his plight. The water he drank made his situation worse, so we decided to get ice cream. He quickly finished his butterscotch cone because of the earlier spicey, but when I got distracted, he snatched my chocolate cone and devoured it with a laugh.
"Oh my God!!!! Wait ....Now, who do I complain to about you?" I exclaimed, feigning frustration.
"Wow, you can't even share one ice cream with me...., but then you'll go to the temple and ask for a new laptop, huh?"
I rolled my eyes, recalling all the silly things I had asked him for in the past. But now, I had my very own personal ATM by my side—no need to ask anyone else for anything else. Smiling to myself, I followed him as we continued walking.
He led me to a slum area I hadn't visited before. There, he distributed the cake to children, telling them it was for his birthday. Watching him play with the little ones, lifting them in his arms, he looked so pure and joyful. It was as if two children were playing together.
But, of course, he couldn't resist teasing me. He kept calling over stray dogs, knowing I was scared of them. Afterward, we stopped at a supermarket where he picked up his daily essentials. "This city's pollution is ruining my delicate skin," he remarked dramatically as he filled the cart with more creams and lotions than I, a girl, owned. And, of course, I ended up paying the bill.
As if that wasn't enough, Sandy appeared out of nowhere. She began chatting with him, smiling coyly. And he? He wasn't holding back his smiles either. My jealousy flared. Thankfully, he refused her suggestion to move into a new flat, which gave me some relief. But then she dropped the bomb.
Sandy said "Are you looking for a yoga job right now? Our society needs a yoga teacher. You could join part-time in the mornings!"
Krishna replied with a smile "That sounds great! I love waking up early," he said, glancing at me.
I stood there, silently controlling my expressions.
"Give me your number. I'll text you the details for tomorrow's trial class." she said by playing with her hair.
" ohhhhh!!! My old number isn't working; as I lost my phone. I've been using hers for now," he said, gesturing toward me.
"Oh, how unfortunate! Never mind, I'll text her then." she made a face by looking at me.
I was trying my hard to stood there .... But I couldn't bear it anymore... When she asked Krishna to join her for a snack, that moment I made up an excuse about stomach pain and insisted on going home. Thankfully, he didn't stay with her long.
On the way back, I didn't say a word to him. He kept talking, trying to lighten the mood, but I was too annoyed to respond. However, as we neared home, I started feeling guilty. He hadn't done anything wrong, after all...He was just replying her. I resumed talking to him, as usual, putting my jealousy aside.
Back at home, he made me wash my hands and feet and then sat me down for the evening prayers. Later, I decided to make something special for him—a recipe my friend Chiku had shared, one that Dwarkadhish loved. With the help of YouTube, I got started, adding tomatoes just as Chiku had suggested. Krishna insisted on kneading the wheat floor for roti on his own and soon after, he began narrating the story of his devotee, Narsi Mehta jj. He grew emotional while recounting it but quickly hid his tears and ran to the bathroom. Little did he know.... that no matter how tough he pretended to be, he was as soft as butter.
Dinner was ready, and I had made at least ten rotis. Krishna separated the first one for the cow, as was customary, and helped me set the table. When I asked why he was doing the work, he sarcastically smiled and said, "doing work makes the body healthy ....Or else I will be lazy be like you "
After dinner, I snatched his plate and hurried to the kitchen to wash it, wanting to do something for him...As I don't want to see him work more. By the time I returned, he had already gone to the room and was shouting from inside that don't forget to clean this flowers tomorrow. I nodded and went to sofa and fell asleep scrolling through my phone, knowing I had to wake up early for work the next day for my office.
The next morning, I woke up to the sounds of him bustling around. He stepped out of the bathroom, adjusting his tracksuit leading toward the bedroom. Without saying a word, I got up and started tying my hair. When he saw me, he smirked, "Wow, did the sun rise early today.....?"
I didn't reply. My real reason for waking up early was Sandy. She had texted last night that she'd be at the park at 6 AM, and I wasn't about to leave Krishna alone with her.
We set off for the morning walk. Along the way, I plucked a flower and handed it to him blushingly. He tucked it behind his ear, looking so adorable. My two flowers,..... I thought, stealing glances at him. Whenever he caught me staring, I quickly looked away and ran ahead.
At the park, he guided everyone through easy yoga poses,... I don't know why was that heavy special yoga class was for me yesterday??
But Sandy...? She kept making intentional mistakes so he'd come over closer to correct her. My anger simmered. At the end, she handed him a Dairy Milk Silk as a token of thanks and, insisting me leave for work, effectively sent me away. Watching him eat the chocolate with her was infuriating.
Back home, I freshened up, prayed, and made oats for breakfast. As I got ready for work, Krishna returned and asked about breakfast. Sarcastically, I said, "What? Wasn't the chocolate enough for you?" Then I told him where the food was and left for the office, trying to shake off my irritation.
At work, I found it hard to focus. My thoughts kept drifting to him. His new phone was arriving tomorrow ...The notification about that popped up, and I couldn't wait to give him a surprise. Smiling to myself, I finished my tasks and headed home, eager to see him again.
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I Loved seeing his running red rose while eating gollgape ... He looks really too adorable while eating ... His lips becomes more red because of spicy ... He was too stunned to speak while having spicy in his mouth ....The round big golgappa made his mouth looks like big golgappaaaaaaaa📸 .... He is My Mr. golgappuuu....hehe