I heard the door bell. The kaamwali bai worked as an alarm
clock for me for the past 2 years. I looked around. He slept peacefully. I gave
him a peck and got up to welcome the bai.
We were on the breakfast table. I buttered the bread for
him. He hid behind the paper. I had kept the gift beside his plate. He did not
notice. It was Valentine’s Day and our 2nd year anniversary. I knew
he had forgotten, like the engagement ring on the day of our engagement and the
restaurant bookings on our first wedding anniversary. He asked for fruit juice. I asked him to fetch
it from the fridge. There lied another gift, his favorite pack of rum chocolates
wrapped in a shining silver paper so that he doesn’t miss it. This strategy would
also help him see the ‘I love you’ note on the refrigerator door. He walked to
the refrigerator, opened it, looked for the fruit juice and calmly walked back
to the table. He had missed the chocolates too.
I was amazed by his lack of attention. How could he miss 3
straight clues? I decided to ask him straight.
“Honey, what plans today?”
“Oh! I forgot to tell
you. We have to go to my boss’s dinner party tonight. Be ready by 7. I’ll send
the car” He said as he picked up the briefcase and walked towards the door. I
followed him. He kissed me on my forehead as usual and left.
I hoped that the boss’s party was all a cover up and something
better was on the plate. I checked my phone calendar. “Rohan’s Boss’s party at
7 PM today. Wear something black!” it said. I was not worried about the boring
party though. I was sure he would read the note that I had left for him in the
lunch box. And he would definitely see his emails. I had written a love email
for him. I decided to wait for his call.
It was 2 PM and he hadn’t called yet. I decided to check on
him. He couldn’t have missed the email and letter both! I decided to start the
conversation with the mutter paneer that I cooked.
“Hey hon. How was the lunch? Was
the sabzi okay?”
“Oh hi.. Umm… I haven’t really had lunch yet. No time. I
have been jumping from one meeting to another. And then I had to go to this
meeting with the caterer for tonight’s party. I was too full after the tasting
thing itself. I’ll eat it after this meeting maybe and let you know? I am sure
it would be awesome as always. How have you been? Had lunch?”
“Yea.. Had.. Was just about to leave for the classes now.
So… lot of work?”
“Oh yes! So much of work I tell you. Imagine my assistant
hasn’t been able to get my account unlocked yet. It’s all a mess. Anyway, be
ready at 7. See ya.”
“Okay, bye. Love you.”
He had cut the call before he
could hear the ‘love you’ part. So the letter in the lunch box and email were a
bad idea. I should have done a feasibility analysis before planning for the
gifts. My Valentine’s Day and 2nd Wedding Anniversary were now
effectively ruined.
**************************************************************************
She woke me up with a peck as usual. Today was our anniversary
and the Valentine’s Day, a day I had been planning for since a long time now.
We were at the breakfast table. Not wishing her was a part
of my plan. It would be too routine to wake her up with a gift I thought. I
wanted to surprise her. I knew she would be thinking about the engagement ring
and the missed out dinner reservation. But I really wanted an exquisite ring
for her and so I had chosen a platinum-diamond ring from the catalogue. The
jewelry store guy promised me the ring one day before the engagement but he did
not keep his word. Thank God for my cousin who picked up the ring right when we
were about to exchange rings. None knows this though. Another cousin of mine
covered up the whole ring thing saying that I had forgotten it in my car. I
have been labeled as ‘forgetful’ ever since. And I had not forgotten the hotel
dinner reservations either. I had just goofed up again and booked tables at the
wrong hotel! These hotels sound so similar at times. The hotel I booked for
just had a ‘Grande’ after its name (and I was asked to book a hotel which was
not ‘Grande’ of course)! Yes, she still remembers that as one of the few ‘most
embarrassing moments’ of her life. We had to wait for an hour for the dinner
table that day. It was bad only because it was out first wedding anniversary.
She buttered toast for breakfast as usual. She kept a small
gift beside my plate. I had spotted it long time ago. While I hid myself behind
the paper I was wondering if it was the cuff-links that I had my eye on. She asked me to fetch fruit juice for us from
the refrigerator. I saw the ‘I love you’ note as I walked toward the fridge. That
brought a beautiful smile on my face. But I chose not to react. I saw the box
of chocolates neatly wrapped in a silver paper. I knew they were the rum
chocolates I loved. That was three gifts straight. But I chose not to respond
and go with my plan. I left soon after.
My extremely inefficient assistant
escorted me to the meeting room as soon as I reached work. She had not been
able to get my email box unlocked since last night. String of meetings
followed. Some stupid people want me to sit through and analyze everything they
say, which was crap! I had arranged for a surprise Anniversary party in the evening
for our close friends. Yes! My boss’s party was a lie. I knew she would doubt
so I had synced our calendars to it. I wanted her to wear something black. The
diamond set that I was going to gift her later in the evening would go
perfectly with that. I had to visit the hotel in the afternoon for the wine and
food tasting. I had missed appointments with them earlier so I had to make it
that afternoon. The food was going to be awesome. Everything on the menu was
her favorite. And so I had missed lunch. She called up enquire about it and I couldn’t
lie. So I just told her the truth with some major data hiding. I was in the
hotel and the manager was approaching me with the cake designs as I was talking
to her. I hanged up immediately when the manager started to talk. I think I missed
her ‘love you’ part. Never mind, she
shall know tonight that I loved her too.
*******************************************************************************
It was 7 pm. The car arrived. She wore his favorite Black
dress. With no faith at all in her husband she got into the car. She arrived at
the hotel. ‘His boss is a big shot’ she thought. She entered the party hall.
The hall was lit with beautiful, dim, romantic lights. He walked towards her
and said “Happy Anniversary honey.” The cake arrived. She was pleasantly
shocked. He gifted her the diamond set that she always wanted. It went
perfectly with her black dress as he had thought. Her Valentine’s Day was not
as bad as she thought it was. In fact, it was perfect.
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