VALENTINE'S DAY EVE

"Fantasy "a word which can spark my life . An imagination which decorates me with its magic. A thought which is not bonded by any boundaries where I just flow like a river. My exotic dream world which makes me loved and happy. Fantasy is not stupid. It's a very strong emotion. Then why can't he understand my fantasy world?"

With a deep sigh , Reema put her fancy pen down and closed her floral pink diary.

It was the Valentine's day eve. Reema was in the room of a plush five-star hotel exultingly preparing for the next day. She had planned a romantic date with her fiancé. A cozy lunch , then a long drive and an exotic candlelight dinner. She opened the box where she had kept a diamond ring.

'I will put this ring in his wine glass. I have seen in one movie that the hero gifts the heroine in the similar fashion. Wow so cute.' She blushed.

'When he gets the ring he will kiss me. I hope he doesn't gulp the ring with his wine'. She chuckled.

Reema had come to attend a corporate seminar in the city. She was a well-educated , disciplined girl completely addicted to romance.

The smell of something burning broke her romantic reverie. She sniffed to smell.

'What's burning?' Reema said to herself as she sniffed again. She jerked with the sound of siren. It was the fire alarm. She ran to the windows and opened the curtains. The whole hotel was ablaze. Horrified till core she took the diamond ring in her hand and called her fiancé.

" I am going to die... I will burn alive." She said to him tightly holding the diamond ring. Her petrified eyes looking at the huge smoke coming from the door of her hotel room. She was stranded alone in the room.

" No don't say that dear . You will be safe." Her fiancé tried to console her.

"Goodbye sweetheart. I am breathing my last moments. Our Valentine day......" She said coughing the smoke out of her chest. Her mobile fell down from her shivering hands as she saw smoke engulfing her room. She started coughing and gasping for breath.

Reema was about to collapse when she heard a faint voice outside her window. Someone was calling her.

"Madam look towards the window. I am the fire brigade officer. Reach out to me. Give me your hand. " He said as he was on the edge of the ladder. Reema could see his face vaguely. She wanted to reach him but it seemed the smoke had taken away all her energy. He stepped inside her room and took her towards the window.

"Hold me tight." He said as he tied a rope to his waist line engulfing her in it. Reema hugged him tightly in fear. With the help of the ladder he came down escaping puffs of the poisonous smoke. They reached the ground but she was still holding him tightly.

"We are safe Madam. You can loosen your grip." He said warmly.

"Am I alive?" Her terror-stricken eyes looked at him blankly.

"Yes. You are safe and alive. Please have a seat on this bench." He said.

Reema sat on the bench with trembling legs. She had lost the ability to feel anything. Gradually she started to fit in the situation. As Reema gazed around, she saw that the fire brigade people had rescued all the hotel customers and the staff members. Everyone was trying to get comfortable to the situation.

He came with shawl and a cup of coffee.

"It's cold here. Have your coffee. You will feel better. " He said. Suddenly Reema realized it was freezing cold outside. Maybe the warmth of his body didn't make her feel cold.

"You have to stay on this bench till the fire gets extinguished. You can collect your belongings in the morning and call your family." He said.

"Am I alive ?" She asked him again.

"Yes Madam. Just relax. You are pretty much alive." He said affectionately.

She instantly embraced him and tears started flowing down her eyes wetting his uniform. He calmly allowed her to cry and soothingly patted her head. She realized that she was crying in the arms of a stranger. But the feeling of being alive overpowered all the other emotions.

"I am sorry. " She said embarrassed with herself.

"It's ok Madam. You are overwhelmed with the situation." He said as if it was normal for him to see people reacting in this way. But it was Reema 's first experience.

" I was so close to death. "

" Now you are safe. We have rescued everyone. We are going to serve dinner to all the rescued people. Till then relax and enjoy this night. I will take your leave now." As he got her shawl got entangled with his watch. He caught her shoulders to avoid tumbling on her. The touch was electrifying. Their eyes met in a different way that moment. Reema turned her gaze and looked at the sky. The sky was velvet and she felt that the sparkling stars were singing serenade for her. The cool breeze softly brushed her cheeks enticing her to touch him. She reached out for him but he was gone. She got in her consciousness and saw him serving food.

Reema heard some soft musical chords. The music was coming from the I pod of a teenager sitting on the bench opposite her.

'Is this my fantasy or it's really happening ' She thought enjoying the tunes which raised her romance.

She saw him approaching her with a dinner plate.

"Your dinner." He said.

" Will you have dinner with me?" She asked gently biting her lips. He gave her a sweet nod and went to get his dinner plate.

'He said yes. Wow. ' Reema felt rejuvenated by his affirmation.

It was not a fancy dinner but she enjoyed the sight of the love blossoming in his eyes. He was a handsome uniformed man who was on the verge of stealing her heart away.

"Thanks for having dinner with me." Reema said.

" No I should thank you. The dinner was so amazing. I wish this night never ends." He said at the spur of that intense moment. He turned away his passionate eyes away from her as he pulled the collar of his uniform.

"Can I help to serve dinner to the rescued people here?" She asked him to change the awkward moment.

"Yes ."Let's go. He said grinning widely.

After serving food to the crowd they sat on the bench.

"Serving food is such a satisfying gesture. I felt so human. Thanks a lot." She said to him.

Her tired eyes were slowly coming together. She kept her head softly on his shoulders and they both slept in each other's arm. Their euphoric experience escalated the atmosphere.

The chirp of birds awakened her beautiful sleep. He was standing in front of her.

"Time to go." He said. His eyes staring at her as if they wanted to speak something.

"Means?" She asked shocked.

"Your father has come to pick you." He said.

"O is it! " Reema said with a shallow sigh. She desired to live the last night again.

She saw her father standing beside him.

"God gracious. You are safe. Come child let's go." Her father said.

"He didn't come." She asked.

"You mean your fiancé? No he didn't even bothered to call me." Her father said bluntly.

Reema gave her father a pained look as she was broken inside. She started going with her father away from her savior. Away from the person who had changed her in one night. She stopped and thought something for a moment.

"You go ahead . I will join you." Reema said to her father. She turned. He was standing looking at her with his intense eyes. She approached him and kissed him softly on his cheeks.

"Happy Valentine's Day " She said to him. Every cell of her body blushed in happiness.

"Same to you." he said as he nervously fiddled with his hands.

"This is my best Valentine's Day . You know why?" She said.

"No... " He asked her curiously.

"Only because of you. You are my knight in shining armour. As a school teenager, I fantasized a handsome man whisking me out of a difficult situation. As a college teenager, I wanted the cozy yet intense touch of a man with a shoulder to cry on. Now I desired for togetherness. A shoulder where I can sleep peacefully. I yearned to sleep in my lover's arm. You summed up all my mad fantasies in one night. Will you be my valentine for lifetime?" She asked.

"Yes." He said tenderly. He removed the diamond ring from his pocket.

"This ring fell from your hand when we were climbing the ladder." He said.

She took the ring in her hand.

"I guess it was for you." She said. As they embraced each other passionately a beautiful love song started playing on the teenager's I pod.

Love is blind ...

It can happen any moment anytime...

Can it be grabbed with a diamond ring?

It has to flow like a wind ......

Can you be my valentine?

For lifetime......

Happy Valentine!!!!

Happy valentine !!!!

"Can I get a glass of wine ?" She asked him as she stared at her diamond ring.

"Why?" he asked. She blushed and smiled and dazzled like a star.

AFTER 10 YEARS

Reema took her pink floral diary and started writing her feelings:

It's Valentine's day.

But I like Valentine's day eve more than the day. I met the man of my fantasy. It's been 10 years now and we still are together. My ex-boyfriend felt I was impossible to live with.

As a couple we love and we fight. Yes we argue too . Every couple does. But he let goes his ego to fulfill my fantasy and I let go my fantasy to fit in his matured world. That's what love is about. To let go our desires to fulfill the desires for our sweetheart.

We have mutual respect for each other.

The day we realize that the other person is not wrong only his thought process differs from our thoughts.

The day we start accepting other person's way of life.

Love will blossom.

Fantasy is my way of self -love. A tour which gives me joy and happiness. I am happy so my relationship is happy.

The world is thirsty for love.

Let's not create scarcity of love by getting entangled in other emotions like pride, jealousy, ego. Let love be the only emotion available on this earth.

Love and sustainable relationship can make world a better place.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY....