When Fiction Turned Reality

Wow, What a gentleman he is, I thought while reading the novel “This Love that feels right”. Lost in my imagination I was sitting in my room on the right side of the bed, holding the novel tightly in hands close to my heart with a wide smile on my face.

I am an avid reader with good imagination but till now I never felt this way while reading a novel. I felt that Male protagonist AARAV from the novel is the perfect gentleman, I always wanted to hang out, marry and spend my whole life with. I started to behave crazy every time thinking about him.

From that day I started searching Aarav in my real life, but I forgot that fiction can’t turn into reality. Every boy in my college was crazy about me but I was crazy about this fictional character and I used to dream about him day and night. For years, I kept on searching for my real-life dream man as same as Aarav. But as time passed and after reading so many books, Aarav got a break from my thoughts. Now Aarav was patiently waiting in the 3rd book on the left corner of my bookshelf. Life was treating me with many ups and downs and slowly I stopped searching him but as soon as I start liking someone else I start comparing him with Aarav at some point. Many boys came in my life, they proposed me but none of those relationships worked because I was searching for something else in them.

Though now it’s been 6 years for me, it was unable to get over Aarav but I was just living a normal life like everyone else without thinking much about love and relationships as I believed that being loved deeply by someone is not my destiny and finding Aarav was not my priority anymore.

As everyone says that true love happens either with the wrong person or at the wrong time, but I feel the only right time in life is that, when you fall in love, and the only right person on the planet is the one, whom you are in love with. For me, the right person was Aarav (a fictional character) and the times were forever.

But you never know what surprise life could serve you at any time. One day, when I entered the gym, while climbing stairs, my feet stopped on the 4th stair, suddenly. My eyes noticed a handsome, 6 feet tall young man with strong muscles and sexy back, in the mirror of strength section. I looked at him in the mirror continuously without blinking, but suddenly I realized the hustle of that place and resumed moving upstairs. While doing warm-up I kept on thinking about him and soon I realized that I was blushing without any reason. When I completed my cardio work out and came back to the strength section, my eyes started to search him but unfortunately, he left the gym already by then. But Why I was thinking about a person, whom I had seen just once and maybe I won’t see him again ever . Was it love at first sight? Don’t know but it was not normal for me. As we meet many people every day but we don’t feel the same about all of them. So I forgot that incident in a day or two.

After few days, on a winter afternoon, I visited a nearby mall and while getting my Activa out from parking I noticed a tall and fit man in the white shirt and brown trouser sitting on a bike, as I had seen him from back only , while passing by his side. After almost 100 meters I turned back to see his face and I realized that he was the same person I noticed that day at gym,my heart skipped a beat . I stopped my two-wheelers on the other side and started staring at him from a distance, then I heard people around me saying . “ Is she mad?” who were blowing the horn continuously to get a side. I started Activa again and rode along roadside while thinking about that guy. As I am a strong believer in the law of Attraction, I was sure about meeting him again.

Two weeks later I skipped the gym in the morning due to some reason and thought to go in the evening hours. That day I wore a black color t shirt, black tights, and black pullover to protect myself from the cool breeze of December winters. After completing sets of my exercise, I approached back to the sofa on which I kept my bag. While looking towards stairs I slowly looked up towards the boy standing on my left and it was the third time I saw him and this time from a lesser distance, again my eyes glued to his face and I forgot what’s going on around me. He was talking to other trainers and I was just looking at his wheatish face half covered with beard, almond eyes, and long sharp nose. He was wearing a grey t shirt, green pullover and black joggers. He was looking like some Punjabi movie’s actor.

Deliberately, without any reason, I walked towards the trainer just to have a close look of that stiff man’s face and strong built. And at that very moment, Aarav , yes that character from the book returned to my presentation with the help of time machine or whatever,but as soon as I observed him closely, he reminded me description of Aarav’s personality from the novel and I was dancing with joy , not physically though. That day, I returned from the gym with a smile on my face, threw my gym bag at a corner of the bed, moved fast towards bookshelf and after 6 years I held that book again in my hands and started reading it. This time while reading I was not in love with Imaginary Aarav but I was imagining the face I had seen few hours back.

After few days, something unexpected happened, which I never ever thought not even in my dream. Yes, I got a follow request on Instagram from the same guy. Without wasting a single second I accepted the request and followed him back and then I liked all his pictures in a row. You know the time span between I had seen him the first time and accepting follow request was ten months, yes almost a year. But from that day, I started believing in the Law of Attraction more . He dropped me a Hi and now I was blank, unable to reply a simple Hi and I actually didn’t know what exactly was happening with me. Finally, after fighting myself on the decision, should I reply or not, I replied hi and we started chatting on Instagram. One day while chatting He asked that What am I doing, I replied that I am writing an article about top 10 whey protein in India, for a project . After gathering my all strengths, I asked ,” Will you Help?” And he replied, “of course”. I started to jump on sofa, where I was sitting and I texted back, “ please give me your email Address, I’ll email you what I have written till now , you please read it and let me know whether I can add some more details. He typed his email address and that was “ [e-mail] and after reading the name Aarav, my mouth was wide open in surprise, confusion or whatever because I was unable to figure it out. Name written on his Instagram profile was different but Aarav, how can it possible. And there I felt that fiction was turning into reality… I finally took a deep breath and asked him, Who is Aarav? And he replied, “me”. I was like, “ No way”. After sending that email I asked him again, “ Are you serious ?’’ He said ,” about what?” I replied,” your name is “Aarav”. He said , “ Yes”.

I was surprised, no doubt, But I was so happy that I felt butterflies in my stomach once again for Aarav the character of the book, but this time Aarav had a face. That day we wished each other good night very late or I can say that day we were chatting from dusk till the dawn.

Next day, I saw him at the gym and guess what? He was wearing a T shirt on which his name “AARAV” was printed in capital letters with orange and black color and t shirt was light grey in color. His back , wow, so sexy , broad shoulders and strong muscles . How can someone so perfectly build and look like a book’s fictional character? When he looked back at me , I just looked down towards the floor and blushed, just after two seconds I realized that Why the hell I was blushing, I completed my workout but continuously I was noticing him from a corner of my eye. I talked to myself, Are you mad I? What are you doing and what’s this feeling ?’’ No No. You are not suppose to fall in love with him, just because he resembles Aarav. After coming back from Gym, I messaged Aarav and complimented him that he was looking handsome today. And again I asked him, “ seriously, your name is AARAV” He replied, “ Yes, Why are you asking, again and again, is something wrong in this name?” I was looking like a kashmiri apple while reading his messages , I was blushing after a long time or you can say after years. So, Finally I told him the story behind the name “AARAV” And asked Aarav to read that book. Aarav was not a reader though but he said yes because I already praised a lot about the book and made that more interesting. So both decided that next day I will carry the book to Gym and hand over to Aarav.

 According to plan, I reached Gym on time as I used to go 9:00 in the morning, But Aarav was not there, After completing my cardio, when I came downstairs, I noticed him on sofa. I went to the parking, unlocked my active and carried the book to the gym, I walked straight towards Aarav and handed him the book infront of everyone. Aarav kept the book in his bag and we both completed our workout as per the routine. So now it was almost part of our daily routine to chat after reaching home from Gym. I called him that day too, but Aarav didn’t answer. I tried his number more than 50 times that day , messaged him on instagram, watsapp, email, wherever it was possible to reach him , but I didn’t get any reply . I was not worried because he was not replying, I was worried because all messages were unread and I had no clue what’s wrong. That night I wasn’t able to sleep properly and yes, I cried too. Next day, I woke up with a hope that it’s okey if he didn’t take calls yesterday, I’ll ask him the reason when I’ll meet him at the gym. I finished my household chores and reached gym before time. I waited for him for two long hours at gym but he didn’t come. I was almost in tears while I was lifting weights but somehow I managed to stop them at the verge of my eyes. Hopeless and sad I returned home, after 30 minutes my phone rang and as I was waiting desperately for a call on my phone, I answered the call. Yes, It was Aarav. In his soft voice, he said helloooooo, and as my tears were eagrly waiting for that moment, they started to flow like high tides in the ocean and they were unstoppable. Aarav asked,” What Happened?” And just then I started to throw my questions on him like missiles , which I prepared with my overthinking guide in last 24 hours. Are you mad? Where are you? What happened? Can’t you drop a single message if you are busy or stuck somewhere . Me and my tears both were unstoppable. That day I realized that I am in love with him because after a long time I cared this much for someone. He said sorry and I replied, “ I know you have many options, but I have just you and I can’t afford to lose you.” After that, we started talking normally and he told me that his phone was at service center. I again insisted Aarav to read the book and Aarav again promised that he definitely will read. That night too we were chatting late and I asked,” Aarav met Aarav ?’ Aarav got confused and replied, “What?” I explained him, “Have you started reading that book.?” oh! Ya, just started but Aarav’s entry is still awaited. Ohk, I replied. I messaged him that he should continue reading and I am going to sleep as I has to wake up at 6 in the morning . So for the next few days Aarav used to read at night and I used to ask him the story next morning though I had read the same book three times already. I was so possessive about Aarav or you can say obsessed with him in the book that I wanted everyone to read that book and love Aarav. But my obsession was now slowly shifting towards the real-life Aarav and I used to ask him about his girlfriend, ex-girlfriends, love life and his point of view about Love.

Let me tell you something about me now, I am Aanya, A simple, middle class 5.5” feet tall, beautiful and chubby girl. I am an elder than Aarav. I was frustrated and tired of waiting someone who can love me too. Many boys came to my life and complimented me that I am beautiful, bold and independent, Everyone wanted to spend time with me, but I was done with this loop of trusting people and then regretting my decision. I am a believer; I always waited for the one, who can understand me and my dreams. While reading that book “ This love that feels right” I used to imagine myself as female protagonist “Naina” and that book gave me a hope that one day someone like Aarav will come and love me in the same way I always wanted or I deserve to be loved.

 So while Aarav was reading the book, I keep on messaging him that “have they (Naina and Aarav) met?” and when he replied Yes, I desperately asked him to imagine himself as Aarav of that book. Aarav replied, ok, “ But I haven’t found my naina yet.” I was eager to hear that I can be Aarav’s Naina, but I was afraid to lose him before meeting him. I stayed in my own imaginary wold with Aarav for the next few days. Now chatting and talking over the phone with Aarav used to be my favorite time of the day and I felt that Aarav was also enjoying my company. Sometimes we used to talk over video calls and slowly I started sharing each and every detail of my life with Aarav. On the other hand Aarav was little secretive but he also shared some secrets with me and most of them were heartbreaking for me like Aarav told me that till now he had been in almost 60 relationships , Shocked??? Hahahahah… I was shocked too and Aarav told me the most heartbreaking thing after this was that He doesn’t believe in love and he can’t love one girl. I was listening his stories about his girlfriends and his daring acts like, how he managed to date 6 to 7 girls at the same time . I tried to pretend like I am enjoying his stories of love affairs and how he makes out with girls at different places. But a part of me, yes my heart was sinking with every story because I was deeply in love with Aarav by now. Thou. now I was at the stage of life where I was not looking for promises, commitments, hangouts, gifts, pretending to be in love deeply, PDA etc. As I knew clearly that I and Aarav don’t have a future together, because I was elder than him. Best part about Aarav was that he too never promised or committed anything while talking to me, not even as a friend.

One day, I told him that some guests are at home so I will sleep in another room than my usual sleeping place and we can talk over video call at night. Aarav said ok I’ll try to be free by 11:30 pm and that day we talked till 3 am.Then Aarav slept without disconnecting the call and I just kept looking at his baby face when he was sleeping and thought that Why can’t he love me . After some time I disconnected the call and slept. Guests were suppose to stay there for 8 to 10 days and I was happy because now I had 10 days to see Aarav sleeping. And one day while talking over video call, both confessed that we have feelings for each other. We started avoiding each other at the Gym, so that no one can gossip about us. One day Aarav asked me to meet him. I told Aarav that I can’t come out as guests are still at home but I desperately wanted to meet him. Aarav came to meet me at the parking of my building and we touched each other the first time. We hugged for the first time and that ended in a minute as we realized that we were standing on the stairs. I gave a peck on his lips softly , caress his forehead and ran way. Aarav went back to his car and called me, I picked the call but I was unable to say anything. Then I heard Aarav saying I LOVE YOU and this time I felt it was serious, I was on cloud nine at that moment.

One day I skipped the Gym and Aarav called me to ask that what I was doing. I replied, “ Nothing much.” Aarav said ok, then, “ I am coming.” I was shocked and trembling because of nervousness but I was happy too. Aarav was on my door after 5 minutes. He hugged me tightly just after entering the house. And for few minutes we both forgot everything around us and about us. Slowly I started melting in Aarav’s arms as he started kissing my earlobe and slowly he came down to my neck and his soft lips were tickling on my neck and collar bones . I was losing all my senses. After few minutes Aarav kissed me on my lips and then forehead and pushed me against wall behind the main door . After a few minutes, he said that he needs to leave. See you soon baby, he said. Unwillingly, I said see ya, love. 

We started meeting twice a week. One day , Aarav called me and asked me to make tea as he was coming to meet me. He reached my place in 5 minutes and we spent a lot of quality time together . Aarav was perfect for me as he understands me, my silence, listen to my problems and try to find out solutions , he care for me, and he express his love in messages , on call and also in person but don’t know why I was afraid to believe him . Whenever I hear Aarav saying I Love you , I kept on repeating that sentence from our first conversation that Aarav don’t believe in love. But , by now we didn’t promise or commit anything because we both understands each other without speaking . So, I was on the stage where I knew that I should leave Aarav free to keep him forever with me. Love is like a bird, it’s beauty lies in setting it free , because if we try to cage it, it will stop flying and die a slow death . Later we realize that Love is all about loving unconditionally not in expecting all the time.

 One day, When Aarav Said , “ I love you” I directly looked into his eyes and said ,”Aarav , I don’t believe you when you say I love you.” He laughed out loud and hugged me. That day too I prepared tea , we were sitting on the sofa and having tea. After finishing the tea Aarav put back the cup on table but tea in my cup was still left. Aarav slowly came closer and kissed my lips , I ldropped the cup back on table while my eyes were closed , we were still kissing, We came to the bedroom while kissing and that day we made love in the winter afternoon of December .That day I cried on his shoulder, he caressed me like baby, embrassed me in his arms and that only day was the happiest day of my life in the past 8 years. That day when Aarav was leaving, he walked towards the door and kissed me on cheeks, He opened the door slowly and then closed back . He came closer , kissed me on forehead and said ,” Now it’s perfect.” That day in the evening I called Aarav and said that you know I write short stories and I want to write our story too. I also added that when a writer loves you , you never die , even after you die you stay alive in their words. I was waiting for a long time in my life for the kind of love Aarav was giving me. I was happy but I was afraid too. Because I knew that Aarav and I don’t have any future together and I had no clue that how I’ll survive if Aarav will leave. Aarav was so humble, kind, loving and caring towards me and I loved each and everything about Aarav. Aarav was a fictional character of a story which turned into reality in my life unexpectedly and by writing this love story I turned my real life Aarav into fiction. I don’t want to write end of this story so that my readers can read it and end it as per their own fiction or real love story. And this is how a fiction turned into reality and reality turned into Fiction.