Joyee’s Kitchen

"Smile, dearie! Remember, once upon a time, you were a fairy! So, you can create magic. Just look for your magic wand and give it a flick!"

Rayan looked at the note once more and kept it inside the bag. It is a specialty of Joyee's Kitchen. People always get food with a note. Most ignore them or throw them in a hurry. But some read them. Some use them as their social media captions. Rayan never gets credited. Nor do they credit Joyee's Kitchen. But he does not mind. He is happy if someone reads them and feels motivated.

"Take it carefully, Jeet. Try not to spill the food," Rayan said while giving the packet to Jeet.

"Have I ever?" Jeet smirked. Rayan smiled. Jeet took the food and rode his bike.

Nafisha ran to the door and opened it. Finally, the food had arrived. She was famished. It had been a stressful day. Once again, all her hopes shattered. She moved two steps back from her dreams once more. 

Again, a no-show at her garage! Why can't people trust her skills? She is good with cars, she can repair them. Why can't they give her a chance? Just one chance! That's what she needs. She had already quit her job and lived a challenging life pursuing her dreams. The only thing she needed now was a teeny bit of support from everyone. That's it! Can't she expect that, too?

She thought while having her food. If anything good happened today, then it's the food. "I love you, Joyee! You are a fantastic cook!" Nafisha said, licking her fingers when suddenly her eyes fell on the note that came out with the food packets.

Nafisha smiled and felt hopeful after reading it.

She said to herself, "Yes, I am a fairy! I will prove it. I will create magic. This switch in my career will be the reason behind my success!"

***

"Your happily ever after lies with you. You have to believe in what you do."

Rayan looked at the note and smiled, looking at Joyee. She knows the meaning of this the best! After all, she fulfilled her dreams because she never stopped believing in herself. Everyone stopped her from quitting her job, but she followed her heart.

Nafisha looked at the bank's message once more. She had pennies in her account and had to pay her EMIs and bills. "This is it. I AM ALL DONE! I will return home, get married to the boy my parents have selected, and start working in an office again! I will have my happily ever after," Nafisha said, then shouted, "But I don't want happily ever after. I want to fulfill my dreams! Oh, Lord, help me, please!"

Ding Dong!

Nafisha went to get her food. With the food, she had Rayan's note.

"To hell with you and your words, Joyee!"

Frustrated, Nafisha threw the note and did not touch the food. But she was hungry, so she dropped her anger and started eating. While going to the kitchen, she spotted the note lying on the floor. 

Nafisha took it and read it—the second time. "Have I stopped believing in myself?" The question disturbed Nafisha the entire night.

***

Jeet pressed the doorbell and waited for Nafisha to open the door. Today, Nafisha ordered Joyee's Kitchen's specialties.

"Hey there," Nafisha greeted Jeet with a big smile and a bit of nervousness. Surprised, Jeet smiled back, "Hi!"

"I was waiting for you. Please come in," Nafisha said and welcomed Jeet.

"You were waiting for me?" Jeet was now shocked.

"I was hoping to meet Joyee. Is she your wife?" Nafisha asked directly.

"No, my sister, elder sister!" Jeet replied.

"Oh! My bad," Nafisha bit her tongue and said, "Can I meet her? Please let me meet her! I had quit my job and started following my heart. But sometimes I feel so hopeless. Her notes, her words, give me hope, but then again—"

"Okay. Be ready tomorrow. I will take you to my sister," Jeet said and moved out.

***

"That's my sister!" Jeet pointed to a photo frame of a young woman. Two burning incense sticks were in front of that frame, and a garland was on the frame.

"Is she—" Nafisha could not complete her sentence. So, Jeet did, "Dead? Yes, she died during COVID!"

"Then who wrote those notes and who cooked those foods?" Nafisha asked. Now, she noticed a man of her age standing beside Jeet with a soft smile on his lips. Jeet looked at him and said, 

"Meet my brother-in-law, Rayan D'souza. He never let my sister die and continued what she started! Thus, Joyee may have left the material world, but Joyee's Kitchen is much alive, spreading food, love, and hope!"

Nafisha stood there with her mouth open. "This online world is a damn glitch," thought Nafisha, and then said, "Who came up with the Joyee's Kitchen app?"

"Jeet! He came up with it for introverted guys like him who often feel shy placing the order on the phone," Rayan spoke this time. Nafisha smiled and said, "And that created all this confusion because I thought it was Joyee cooking and writing these notes, motivating me not to give up on my dreams."

"Well, technically, you weren't wrong," Rayan said, looking at Joyee's picture. 

Jeet excused himself, saying, "Let me bring tea for you guys." Rayan looked at his tracing figure and whispered, "Emotional as always." 

"Why don't you sit down? Have Jeet's cup of tea. He always makes it refreshing enough," Rayan said, looking at Nafisha.

"So, she was your wife?" Nafisha asked, sitting on the couch. Rayan came near Joyee's picture, caressed it slightly, and said, "She was my love, inspiration, motivation, strength, and everything. You know," he looked towards Nafisha and said, "She married me against her family's will. I was an orphan, and she was from a conservative family. Her parents were against our relationship. Only Jeet supported her."

"She loved you loads, no?" Nafisha asked, putting her hand under her chin. Rayan sat on the couch opposite Nafisha, took a deep breath, leaned back, and said, "Yup! She did! Her love had always been so passionate."

The conversation paused for a moment. Jeet entered now with three cups of tea. He served the teas to all and was about to leave when Rayan held his wrist.

"Sit with us," Rayan said. Jeet tried to say something, but Rayan pulled him and forced him to sit beside him. Nafisha saw that compared to Rayan, Jeet was introverted, shy, reserved, and simple. He quietly sat beside Rayan and started fiddling with his cup.

Rayan smiled and turned towards Nafisha. "You were saying you felt like Joyee was writing these to you, no?" Rayan asked. Nafisha nodded and said, "Indeed, I felt like it. But I was wrong!"

"Not entirely," Rayan said, "Let me tell you a story. Everyone in Joyee's family has the intelligence of a scholar. Her father was a Cambridge scholar in Literature, and her mother was a math genius. You may have heard her name, Sobha Bhattacharya. Jeet, here, has been a gold medalist from his university. Joyee, too, was a data scientist, earning six figures a month, when suddenly she decided to quit her job and open a home delivery, Joyee's Kitchen and this was before we met."

"And?" Nafisha now straightened. Rayan smiled and said, "And she followed her heart. Her family almost disowned her. They stopped talking to her. Nobody said even a few nice words to her, except for Jeet, of course," Rayan smiled, looking at his brother-in-law. 

Jeet spoke after a long time, "Di'bhai, I mean, my sister, told me one thing, 'I won't take my degree, my 3BHK, my six-figure salary, expensive shoes, and dresses, up there with me, in the other world. I had nothing with me when I came to the world. I would have nothing with me when I would leave this world. So, why not try fulfilling all my wishes and dreams and be happy today? At least, when I leave this world, I will know I have tried fulfilling my dreams. I tried living them.'" 

"Joyee had a philosophy—a unique one. You are your story's princess, fairy godmother, and prince. So, you help yourself, give yourself true love's kiss, and fight for your dreams because nobody will live your life and neither dreams. So, why waste time explaining things to people," Rayan said.

"And what if I fail?" Nafisha asked, fiddling with her dress. Rayan leaned forward, then said, "Failure doesn't mean you haven't tried. All our dreams may not be fulfilled, but if you give up without trying, when the final call comes, you will have only one thought in mind, 'If I have only tried once—'"

"I won't die with an 'IF' in mind!" determined Nafisha standing up. Rayan and Jeet stood up, too. Nafisha bade them goodbye, and Rayan escorted her to the door since Jeet had an important call to end. At the door, while bidding final goodbye, Nafisha said, "Jeet was right, Rayan. Your love for Joyee kept her alive. If she believed in her dreams, you believed in her. You respected her."

"How do you know that?" Rayan asked.

"Or you wouldn't have kept her business running! You wouldn't have spread her thoughts and philosophy" smirked Nafisha, "Joyee loved you madly. But you loved her with all your soul!"

Nafisha left, and a soft breeze hit Rayan. After a long time, Rayan felt Joyee's touch. He hugged himself as he felt Joyee's whispers in his ears, "Thank you, Rayan, thank you, my love."