Folded

It was my birthday.

He exclaimed, “Oh, it’s your birthday, Lavina.”

I awkwardly chuckled and said yes. I walked into the class. Everyone wished me.

Except him.

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The New Year’s party was buzzing all around me, but I was just daydreaming random stuff.

I was bored. These jokes were not funny.

I sighed and looked around.

There he stood. 

No more proof needed.

Everyone said he had a crush on her. There was one more who liked her. Who wouldn’t like her? She was considered very beautiful by the boys. She even got anonymous flowers at home.

He was talking to her right now. They stood a few meters away, but she was giggling, and he had his hands stuck in his pockets. 

I saw a few boys sneakily clicking photos of them together.

The WhatsApp group pinged, and I laughed, seeing the few pics of these two among the party pics.

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I was suffering from a sore throat. It was a nice evening otherwise, catching up with old friends.

They all were saying random things. Some of us had moved away. A few to America.

I didn’t even know what half of these people here were doing in life.

They were speaking with one guy on a video call when they mentioned him.

He was hooking up with girls and drinking alcohol.

Oh, well, a nice way to kill oneself.

One girl was super curvy. 

And my mind went about imagining them together. 

No, thank you very much.

Their chats moved on to iPhones and dates, and I left for home after a while.

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I was walking home, lost in my thoughts, when I heard my name.

I looked around and then behind me.

“Lavina! Wait.” I spotted him. He was running towards me.

He reached me and breathed the words, “Let’s walk together.”

I was shocked, to say the least. I just nodded and kept walking.

There was something tingling in my chest.

He said something, then I said something. And in a few moments, home arrived.

“Bye.” I said to him, and he walked backwards with a wave. 

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The next time I saw him, he ignored me completely. I pledged to never speak to him or that weird group of friends.

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I was at a wedding… um, at the wedding buffet exactly.

I didn’t care about this wedding because I had met this person just twice in my life, but family can force you well.

So here I was hogging the paneer dish and the naan. Oh, how I loveeee naan! 

Someone said, “Excuse me,” and I looked behind me to see him standing.

It had been five years since I last saw him.

I wanted to look back at the counter, but I couldn’t.

He had grown to be stunning.

His dark brown skin in that dark suit did things to my brain and tummy. 

His eyes were shining. Those black eyes did not move much. They were staring right at me, and I was not able to say anything. I was trying to form some words, but what would I say?

Wow, you look handsome. 

Who are you dating now? 

Who am I? Oh, just someone who kept looking at you all the time.

The thing was I didn’t know anything about him at all.

“You’re… Lavina.” He snapped his fingers and pretended to just remember my name.

I nodded. “Hi, Sylas.” I looked down and then started walking away.

“Lavina, wait.” He said. “It’s nice to see you. It’s been so long since I met someone from school. Do you have some time to chat? Maybe we could have lunch or dinner together?”

He was going to say more, but I cut him off with a quiet “no.”

He raised his eyebrows. I walked away.

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A few days later, I saw him walking home. He was a few feet away in front.

I thought of hiding, not going in front of him.

But then I remembered the way I behaved rudely with him and thought of apologizing. My feelings were not his responsibility. 

He never did anything wrong to me. It was all in my head.

So I ran up to him and quickly blurted out, “Hi, Sylas. Sorry for my “no” at the wedding. It’s nothing personal to you.”

I looked up at him. He was looking wide-eyed at me. And then I noticed the iPods in his ears. I thought that I wouldn’t be able to say that again.

He removed the earpieces and said, “I heard you.” Then, he grinned. “And don’t worry; it’s alright. Just the first time a girl said no to me outright. No damage to my ego at all.” He smiled.

“Sorry…” was all I said.

“Hey, just joking, no need to say sorry. Maybe you could just tell me how you have been doing.”

“I am good. Thank you. You?”

“I am good too, but it’s great to be back. To India, I mean. Feeling much better than I did there.”

“Oh… why?” 

“Because you weren’t there.” He flashed me a grin.

My head started moving strangely, trying to nod but at the same time to shake my head. “Don’t say that. I am not... You... you should say... I have to go.”

“I have to go??”

“I mean, I have to go home…”

“Lavina, do you like me?”

We stared at each other. 

“I liked you in school, but by the time I understood it, it was too late. And now I don’t know what I feel anymore.” And then I was gone from there.

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The school reunion happened, but I didn’t go. He came to my place at 10 o’clock at night. 

Now there was no shock left.

I just kept staring into his eyes.

“I might get married soon,” I said.

“Marry me.” He said.

“We don’t know anything about each other. I was invisible to you as a kid.”

“No… I was lost in my head trying to achieve the greatest of success and accolades. The day I returned to India and back here in town... You were the first one I saw. You were the one I spoke to. It was refreshing to speak to someone from here.” That was when he chased me when I was walking home. “As days and months went by, I realised that I wanted to speak to you more. I started remembering you from our school days. Your two ponies and your curvy hips…”

He paused, staring at me. “Well, shouldn’t have said that, right?” He scratched his head.

I was embarrassed, but his embarrassment made me smile.

I said, “What do you want, Sylas?” seriously.

“A chance,” he said.

˖⁺‧₊˚ ♡ ˚₊‧⁺˖

Months passed. He bought me gifts and took me on dates. He took care of my grandpa when he fell sick. He spent hours with my parents nursing Dar-ji. I had several work projects lined up and did whatever I could. Dar-ji became better.

I fell deeply for Sylas. Kid-me felt nothing like these feelings. 

It was New Year’s Day, and the morning felt fresh and cosy.

My eyes opened to find the bed empty. I walked to the living room and saw him putting up paper decoration stuff on the walls.

He turned around and fell on the floor. “Oh my God,” he clapped his hands on his eyes, covering his face.

I ran to him. “Are you okay?” I asked with a smile I couldn't contain.

He sighed and said, “Yeah, I… I was doing this for you; I thought you would wake up at least half an hour later...”

“Why were you doing this, Sylas?” I was eager to know.

He stood up and walked two steps backward. He put his hands in his pockets. Then he removed his hands and rubbed them together.

This man… I knew what he had to say, and it was endearing to watch him be so nervous about it.

He finally said, “I love you. I want you to have me in whichever way you want. I am yours, because I can’t think of anybody else who I want to belong to. I don’t have any expectations from you. I just want you to know that if you want to, we can marry, or we can continue living together forever…anything you like. My only wish is to never be parted from you this day on...”

˖⁺‧₊˚ ♡ ˚₊‧⁺˖

Mr. Darcy’s face had a red scribbled moustache on it.

“I am sorry, Mumma.”

The special edition copy was not as precious as my son. And it actually looked very funny.

His dad started tickling him from behind, and he burst into giggles. 

I couldn’t be more thankful than on this birthday. 

Thank you to my son, who adopted us.

Thank you for the books Sylas gifted me.

Thank you for another year of life.

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