It Started With a Friend Request (7 page)

‘You left me speechless. You really dance well. I think after Punjabis, Bengalis have mastered this art without training. I did feel jealous when the guys around us started staring at you and gossiping about you,’ Akash said.

‘Thanks. I love your dimples when you smile. You look so cute,’ Aleesha replied. It was a clear-cut indication that she liked him too.

‘Let’s dance,’ Akash said taking her hand in his and moving his legs to the tune of the music.

As they both started dancing, they forgot the world around them. They even forgot that they were in a college campus and were dancing passionately and looking continuously into each other’s eyes. In between, they exchanged cute smiles, which echoed the lyrics of their love. This continued for some time until the anchor stopped the DJ. He was about to announce the winner of the Ms Fresher competition chosen by the jury members. Aleesha went backstage to collect her bag from the vanity room.

‘It’s my pleasure to announce our Ms Fresher for this year. This year the crown goes to Ms Priyanka Arya.’

I was disappointed that Aleesha had missed the crown. Akash and I had observed all the other girls present in the party and no one could match Aleesha. She undoubtedly topped the list. The group of guys who were earlier passing comments when Aleesha was on stage screamed Aleesha’s name loudly as the winner.

I could hear one of them say, ‘This girl is not as hot as the one who danced. I remember the anchor announcing her name as Aleesha. She was fucking hot. If I get a chance to be with her for even a few hours, I would bang her real hard. She is irresistible. Oh man, what a figure she had. She is perfect.’

I looked around to see Akash staring at them in anger. Akash was already drunk and these comments made him lose control. He had controlled himself when Aleesha was on stage, but this time he couldn’t. Even I couldn’t stop him. Rather, I didn’t want to stop him. There are few groups of sick guys in every college who have no respect for girls. Moreover, when they are commenting on your ‘would be’ girlfriend, you can’t ignore it. Akash too couldn’t tolerate it and pounced on them like a wild dog. Suddenly the music came to a halt and everyone stood still looking at Akash beating these guys like an action hero. I joined in when I saw a couple of guys holding Akash and trying to hit him. I knew that within a few minutes the organizers would arrive and get hold of us, either throwing us out or pulling Aleesha up for having allowed us wrongful entry. While Akash was still punching the guys left, right, and centre, I called Aleesha, informing her about the incident, and told her to wait outside the college where we had parked our car. My phone thankfully had her number. A while ago,
when Akash was facing network connection issues on his phone, he had called Aleesha up from my number. After informing Aleesha I immediately went to Akash to rescue him from the guys. We ran towards the main gate and within minutes, we were outside the college where Aleesha was waiting for us. I lay flat on the bonnet and heaved a sigh of relief. Akash too was breathing heavily due to the chaos that had occurred in the last few minutes.

‘What happened? Will you guys tell me something? What made you two fight? Akash look at yourself, you are all messed up,’ Aleesha said in a caring tone touching his cheeks with her fingers.

Akash smiled looking at her. Before he could say anything, I interrupted their live romance session.

‘Guys, get inside the car. Let’s move from here first,’ I panicked.

Aleesha opened the back door and got in quickly. Akash did the same. I accelerated the car towards Churchgate station. I looked at both of them from the rear view mirror. We all had panicked and stared at each other through the front mirror. Akash started laughing and we both joined him. It was a hell of the evening and had sent a chill down our spine. I parked the car at the side of the road and looked back.

‘I didn’t realize that in the chaos you both conveniently sat behind. I don’t wanna look like a driver, guys. How mean,’ I said jokingly.

‘Oops,’ Aleesha exclaimed. The next moment Akash got down from the car and came and sat on the front seat. He looked back and winked at Aleesha.

‘Where are we going?’ Aleesha asked.

‘Aditya is going home but we both can stay back. I hope you don’t mind. I’ll drop you to your home. So don’t worry.’ Akash said looking back at her.

‘Yes sure. But Aditya, why are you leaving?’ Aleesha asked me.

‘To give you privacy so that Akash won’t hesitate getting close to you,’ I laughed looking into the mirror. Akash immediately hit me hard.

‘Stop it Aditya. You don’t have to be humorous all the time. Actually, he has some official work which he can’t delay,’ Akash said shifting his eyes from Aleesha to me.

Though we didn’t speak anything, I knew he wanted to take her out alone so that he could execute his plan. He was still firm about proposing to her. Once we reached my apartment, I gave the car keys to Akash so that if they decided to stay together till late at night, he could drop her safely. Aleesha insisted I join them, but I made up an excuse and got down from the car. Akash had planned to take her to Raghuleela Mall, Vashi, so that he could spend more time with her.

Aleesha came and sat on the front seat and Akash took to the wheel. I bid them goodbye and Akash started driving towards Vashi.

‘Sir, have you made all the arrangements?’ Akash asked on the phone when he called the manager of Fame Cinemas at Raghuleela Mall. He was in the car with Aleesha and they
were on their way to the mall. The manager assured that everything was ready.

‘Which arrangements?’ Aleesha asked curiously.

‘Nothing. Some work related to office. We have an important meeting tomorrow,’ he lied. He wanted to surprise Aleesha with his plans.

Akash glanced at Aleesha carefully. Every time he looked at her, he felt like he was falling in love all over again. This was the best phase of his life and if he had not won the passes to the club, he would have never met her. It was on that very day that he fell in love with her. From that day onwards, Akash was a changed man. He never knew he would live to see a better tomorrow. But the day Aleesha came into his life, all his sorrows disappeared. It made him feel like his days of emptiness were over, like she had filled a void in his heart. His days of sadness were a thing of the past now, as he had found his true love at last. She had opened a new window and showed him love like he never knew existed. Akash believed that their love would continue to burn bright.

He thought of holding her hands while driving but dropped the plan and decided to wait for the right moment. They reached Raghuleela Mall. Aleesha still didn’t know what Akash had planned for her. She knew that Akash had decided to take her for a movie but she still couldn’t understand why he had planned to take her to a venue so far when there were better options in South Mumbai. She asked him again.

‘Have patience, dear. I want to make this the best day of your life. I’m keeping my fingers crossed. Hope you like the surprise,’ Akash replied while taking on the escalator.

‘Surprise? What kind of surprise? You said we were going for a movie. What can be surprising in a movie?’ she asked. Her questions were never-ending.

‘Ssssshhh,’ Akash said and kept his finger on her lips to put a full stop to her questions. Her lips were soft, like honey dew. He was so lost in her eyes that he kept staring at her with love without removing his finger from her lips. Finally realizing he had been staring at her for way too long, he quickly looked away. When he saw Aleesha taking her eyes away from him, he kissed the same finger with which he had touched her lips. He felt like he was kissing her for the first time and the divine feeling of their ‘first kiss’ made him go crazy. He wanted to hold her by her waist and dance. He wanted to keep his hand on her lap in the darkness of the cinema hall. But he knew he had to wait a little more.

‘Akash now can you tell me? The movie is about to begin. Don’t test my patience, please,’ Aleesha said trying to convince Akash to reveal the surprise he had planned.

‘Just enjoy the movie, Aleesha. Don’t think about it so much,’ Akash replied.

After an hour into the movie, Akash excused himself and went out of the hall to give a final touch to his plan.

‘I will be back. I need to use the washroom,’ he said to Aleesha and slyly moved out.

Akash went outside, had a talk with the manager for the final time, and confirmed whether he had received the payment. The manager nodded and said everything was ready and that he needn’t worry about anything. Akash watched the clock and asked him the time left before the interval.

‘Fifteen minutes more, sir,’ the manager answered.

He went inside and sat quietly on his seat. He glanced at Aleesha who looked back at him and gave a smile. She seemed curious to know the surprise. She had somehow realized what was coming ahead, but wanted the event to unfold on its own. She was equally nervous since she was expecting something special.

Their eyes were glued to each other and they spoke a thousand words without actually saying anything. Akash understood her expectations and even Aleesha understood that Akash was really going to make it special. For the next few minutes, they kept looking at each other, forgetting all about the movie. Slowly and steadily, they were coming close to each other, with neither of them realizing it. Their foreheads almost touched each other but they still didn’t speak a word. Akash lifted his hand to touch her cheeks. His heart breathed heavily and he could sense the same feelings in Aleesha’s eyes. Their face tilted and they almost kissed each other. Their lips were inches away. His palm was about to touch her cheeks when the lights came on.

Interval

Immediately they moved back to their original position and acted as if nothing had happened. Aleesha started curling a strand of her hair with her fingers while Akash stretched his body pretending to relax. They looked at each other and exchanged innocent smiles.

‘Don’t move. I’ll be back in a few minutes with your surprise,’ Akash said getting up from his seat.

‘What’s it, Akash? Come on. Tell me. Where are you going?’ Aleesha almost pleaded this time. She was losing all her patience. Akash blinked his eyes and asked her to wait for a moment.

Aleesha took out the Bisleri water bottle from her bag. Just as she was about to take a sip, she saw her name flash on the movie screen. She could not believe her eyes.

Is that real? I mean how? Why? What’s next? Is this the surprise Akash was talking about? Did he go outside for this?
Her mind was preoccupied with these thoughts while her eyes looked for Akash. He couldn’t be seen anywhere. She looked back at the screen and didn’t dare to look anywhere else. She felt like her heart had stopped beating.

Aleesha! Aleesha! Aleesha!
The text appeared on the screen.

I don’t know what will be your reaction after watching this short movie. But I am sure you won’t hit me.
The text flashed on the screen one after the other.

I’ve always been someone who is always at a loss for words. But, today I felt like telling you everything to lighten my heart. It’s for the very first time in my life that I am taking this step and have dared to do something like this. I would like to tell you that you have wooed me from the very first meeting. I want to let you know that I am madly in love with you and I promise you that I will do my best in making you feel loved and secure with me. I don’t know what you think of me, but you really are very special for me. According to me, you are the most beautiful girl in this world. Megan Fox is no match for you. The stars lose their shine when I think about your smile
.

I’ve seen dreams of me kissing you and have spent lonely nights thinking of you. If only you could hear my heart’s
voice, you would have known that I will love you like no one else. The days have passed since I feel your love in every song. Now it’s time to say what I have kept hidden for so long. I want you to stay by my side. Aleesha, I love you! I love you so much that I cannot express it enough. I have a small surprise to let you know that you are my life. I have never felt so good
.

A photograph of Akash and Aleesha appeared on the screen with
‘Made for each other and together forever’
written on it.

Akash was standing near the entrance door and observing Aleesha all through the clip. Her happiness knew no bounds. She came down immediately when she saw Akash standing near the screen. She stood in front of him. They looked at each other for a moment. Akash was the first one to break the silence.