Chapter 17- Birthday Romance

A month after her holidays, it was Amrita’s birthday. Amrita is usually known as the friendly and loving girl. Due to this, it seem to be characters that attracts boys. There were 2 boys who seem to have a crush on Amrita. Nakesh who is the hot and famous guy of the class is most attracted of Amrita’s beauty. As a son of a rich business tycoon, he feels that Amrita seem true and genuine and she is not like other girls who gets friendly with him for a reason. Another guy is Shankar, who is a sweet boy who behaves good to everyone and gifted with good looks seem to like Amrita just because he feels that the 2 of them share a lot of similarities. These boys always tries to capture Amrita’s attention in however way they can.

They are the boys who do not mind doing a lot of work if they are in a group with Amrita for team assignments. It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out what they are trying to do and Amrita being always smart could read what the boys were trying to do. The sad truth for the boys though, Amrita was never interested cause she is clear of what she wants and she definitely does not want to get involved with these boys. She does somehow acknowledge though that the boys are definitely trying really hard.

It was her birthday when she saw a bar of her favourite chocolate on her table and recognized the person who gave her the chocolate.

Dear Amrita,

Happy Birthday. Hope all your wishes come true. I am thankful that a girl like you is born because your birth definitely makes the world a better place for everyone.

Love,

Shankar

Amrita was touched with the gift and the message. She took her phone to send Shankar a text to thank him for the message and the chocolate.

Amrita:

Shan. Thank you for the chocolate and the beautiful message. It is a wonder though, how did you know that this was my favourite chocolate?

Shankar:

You are welcome. I have my resources. Glad you like it.

After class, when she was walking out of the hall with her friends, she was stopped by a huge bouquet of red and white roses in front of her face. Nakesh came in front of her having his charming smile on his face.

“Happy birthday, Amrita,” Nakesh said handing the bouquet to Amrita.

“Thank you, Nakesh. These are really beautiful,” Amrita said taking the bouquet from Nakesh.

“Nothing is more beautiful than you. But still, I hope you like it,” Nakesh said. 

“Of course. I really do life it. Thank you so much,” Amrita said taking a sniff of the fragrance from the roses.

Nakesh just smiled looking at Amita oving the flower. Noatter what she does, Amrita always seem beautiful to him.

“Ok then. Bye, Nakes,” Amrita said andwaved at  Nakes. She walked to her group of friends who were waiting for her.

“You are so lucky. Seem like you are going to have quite a great day today,” one of her friends told her.

After a nice lunch treat from her friends, Amita went to her next class. While she was reading some notes before the class started, she suddenly heard group of students singing a birthday song. She saw the whole class singing for her. One of her friend who was also in the same class as her pointed to something on her right. She turned to her right and saw Nakesh holding up a big chocolate cake.

“Make a wish and blow,” Nakesh said.

Amrita made a wish and blew the candle. She was surprised of everything Nakesh was doing for her.

“Thank you, Nakesh,” Amrita said.

“No. Thank you. For coming into my.. Errr.. our lives,” Nakesh said scratching the back of his head in embarrassment about what he was about to say earlier.

They all shared the cake with the rest of the class.

Amrita felt touched with whatever Nakesh did for her birthday. She could see that he was willing to do a lot just to make her happy on her birthday. The only people who had ever celebrated her birthday is her family. But, even with all of this, she still did not feel like she was falling for Nakesh. Something seemed to be missing for Amrita. The attraction towards Nakesh was not felt at all for her. She could see that Nakesh felt more like a friend to her.

That night, after finishing her classes, Amrita walked back to her room. While she was on her way, she got a text from Shankar.

Shankar:

Hey, Amrita. Any plans tonight?

Amrita:

Nope. No plans so far. Why?

Shankar:

Can I bring you out for dinner? My treat.

Amrita thought abput it for a moment. She did not see the harm of going out with Shankar because she knows and trust Shankar well.

Amrita:

Sure.

Shankar:

Okay then. I will pick you up in 20 minutes. Is that okay?

Amrita:

Okay. See you then.

Amrita decided to doll up a bit. Her motive was not to impress Shankar, but she just wanted to look pretty on the night of her birthday. Amrita chose a dark red knee-length, sleeveless pencil skirt dress that her mother bought for her when she went home the last time. She chose a black Mary Jane high heels for her shoes. She just blow cried her already curly hair and choose simple teardrop earrings for her accessories. She did simple makeup to enhance her beauty.

After 20 minutes, Amrita heard her phone ringing.

“Hey. Birthday girl. I am waiting outside your place,” she heard Shankar once she answered the phone.

“Okay. I am o my way out,” Amrita said and hung up the call.

Amrita checked herself one last time in the mirror and went out once she felt satisfied with how she looks.

When Shankar saw Amrita walking out, he could feel his heartbeat beating faster than usual. He was already nervous about seeing her tonight and bringing her out on a date. When he saw her in the red dress which makes her look sexy and elegant at the same time, he was praying that his plan works and she is his by end of the night. When he saw how beautiful she looked when she walked towards him, it really made his nervousness increase a hundred times more.

Shankar did what a gentleman would especially when he saw Amrita coming near the car looking like how elegance should be defined. He got out of the car and walked towards her. He opened the cat for her.

“Thank you, Shan,” Amrita said and took her seat.

Shankar closed the door and walked to the driver’s side of the car. Shankar took a few deep breath for him to calm his nerves before getting into the car. He took one final glance at Amrita before driving. While driving, Shankar could not stop himself from stealing glances of Amrita from time to time.

“You do know that it is really dangerous if you drive without looking in front right?” Amrita said without looking at him. She could sense that he kept looking at her.

Shankar quickly turned his head to the front, feeling embarrassed that he was caught stealing glances of Amrita. They came to a traffic signal light which turned red. After stopping his car, Shankar looked at Amrita and said, “You look beautiful today.”

“Only today?” Amrita asked, teasing Shankar.

“You always look beautiful. But at this moment, even the word beautiful is not enough to describe how you look,” Shankar said.

“Thank you. Oh. The signal changed,” Amrita said alerting Shankar of the signal. Shankar just chuckled to himself and continued the drive.

After an hour drive away from the campus, they arrived at a romantic restaurant. The restaurant was filled with dimmed light and candles. Not many people were in the restaurant but the restaurant still had a peaceful vibe to it. Amrita was surprised that Shankar found such place. She also felt bad because the place gave out a vibe that the food would be pricey. Shankar saw the hesitation in Amrita’s face when they waiter ushered them to their table after he told them about his reservation.

“Don’t worry. I have planned for tonight well. Please don’t hesitate or feel bad. I can see it on your face. Just enjoy the night okay?” Shankar said placing a hand on Amrita’s on the table.

Amrita just nodded and smiled. After a while, Shankar and Amrita ordered their food and had a long conversation about a lot of things. After their dessert was served, Shankar finally decided to do the one thing he was planning to do tonight. He was going to confess to Amrita about his true feelings towards her.  

“Amrita, I have a feeling that you do realize the feelings I feel for you. But I think it is only right that I confess instead of going on playing the guessing game. Amrita, I really like you. More than a friend,” Shankar said. He saw Amrita staying quiet, he decided to continue his confession, “Would you be my girlfriend?”

Amrita was shocked with Shankar’s bold confession. She quickly recollected herself and thought to herself about how she feels. She does not feel any butterflies like she felt when Shivanesh confessed. She knew then that what she felt for Shankar was nothing more than just a friend.

“Shan, I have to tell you this. But I do not feel the same for you. I am currently not interested in any relationships. Not because of my studies or anything. But I am confuse of a lot of things right now. One thing I am sure is that I can’t return your feelings just because I don’t feel the same. I am so sorry,” Amrita said.

“But I am willing to wait. Nothing is certain when it comes to love. I will hold on to my feelings until the day you come and tell me that someone has owned your heart. But I really hope what happened earlier does not affect our friendship,” Shankar said.

“Of course it won’t. And Shan. Thank you so much for tonight. I had so much fun,” Amrita said.

“No worries. Anything for you,” Shankar said with a cheeky smile on his face.

Shankar drove Amrita home. As much as she had fun, Amrita could not wait to go back to her laptop. There is someone she has been dying to speak to the whole day. The moments she reached her room, Amrita turned on the laptop without changing or taking of her make up. Just as her laptop started and finished the startup loading, she received a message from Shivanesh through Skype. Amrita had a big smile on her face because she really wanted to speak to him.

Shivanesh:

Can we video chat today?

Amrita:

Yeah Sure.

After a while, Amrita received a video call notification on her laptop.

She clicked on the “ANSWER VIDEO CALL” icon and was shocked to find a huge placard feeling the screen window and a birthday song playing on the background. A few seconds later, Amrita realized that the birthday song she was listening to had a different tune to it. It was not the traditional birthday song. But it is another remixed version. After the song was over, she saw Shivanesh brought down the placard.

Shivanesh was shocked and speechless when he saw the figure on his screen. The girl in front of her looked so beautiful ad elegant. She was like a goddess in front of him. Shivanesh quickly got himself back together before Amrita could realize.

“Happy birthday Amrita. So? You liked the song?” Shivanesh asked.

“Yeah. God. You are super talented. You made traditional birthday song sound so different and new,” Amrita said. “And the placard is super cute. Please don’t tell me you made it yourself?” Amrita asked.

Shivanesh smiled. He remember how he was planning everything out sine a week ago.

#

A week ago.

Shivanesh was panicking. He does not know what he should give Amrita for her birthday. He wanted to give her something memorable and different. He called one of his friend to ask for ideas.

“Herald, help me out bro. it is Amrita’s birthday next week and I don’t know what to do. I don’t have much cash with me to buy expensive gifts. Bu I really want to give her something different. Something that she would remember,” Shivanesh told her friend.

“I heard somewhere that girls like Amrita would like things made than bought. Why not you remix a song for her. Maybe a birthday song, specially mixed for her. Or maybe a handmade card,” Herald said.

Shivanesh realized how both the ideas are amazing. “Herald dude. You are a genius. Thank you,” Shivanesh said before ending the call.

He went shopping to buy things to make the card. He spent 3 nights preparing the remix. He wanted to be satisfied of the product before letting Amrita listened to it. Shivanesh also spent some time to do the card on his own.

#

“Yeah. I made it on my own. With all the stickers and the colours. It is actually a birthday card. But I didn’t want to show you the inner part because I want you to read it in person. And besides, at least you will come to see me because you will die of curiosity to know what I wrote inside the card,” Shivanesh said.

“Shiva you are so cruel. This is not fair. Can’t you at least let me have a peek on what is inside? I swear I won’t read it. I just want to see how it looks inside,” Amrita said.

“Oh no you clever one. I know you too well. Taking a peek means you will at least read a bit,” Shivanesh said.

“Great. Now I am really dying to meet you because I am super curious to what is in the card,” Amrita said.

“Well, that is the point,” Shivanesh said chuckling.

“Shiva, When did you become that cruel?” Amrita asked sarcastically.

“Since I met you,” Shivanesh said still wanting to tease Amrita.

“Shiva!!,” Amrita shouted. She saw Shivanesh laughing at her. As much as she hates to be teased, seeing Shivanesh laugh tickled her insides making her to break a smile.

“So, how was your birthday so far? Seem to me you had quite a good one cause you are dressed so beautiful,” Shivanesh asked.

“Nothing much. In the afternoon I had a celebration with my classmates. Got a bouquet of white and red roses from a guy and chocolate from another,” Amrita said showing both the items she mentioned. Shivanesh was starting to get jealous that there were guys who could do that for Amrita.

Shivanesh tried his hardest to hide the jealousy that is growing in his heart and asked,” What else?”

I went out for dinner with the guy who gave me the chocolate. That explains the whole dressing up. He even confessed to me that he likes me,” Amrita said.

Shivanesh could not take the emotions building up in him. First, he was jealous that a guy confessed to her. And second, he was envious that a guy got to see her looking as beautiful and elegant as she is right now.

“Owh, what did you tell him? Did you accept?” Shivanesh asked.

“I just told him that I cant accept his confession because I am currently not interested in a relationship,” Amrita said.

Shivanesh could not help himself from smiling after listening to Amrita’s answer. “I still have a chance,” he thought.

“That was quite a birthday you had. Which is your most favourite birthday gift?” Shivanesh asked. He was thinking that she might pick the chocolate or the bouquet of roses.

Shivanesh was surprised when he heard Amrita,” Yours, Shiva. I like your gift the most. Big noisy celebrations, flower bouquet, chocolates and dinner is anything anyone can do. But yours. There is no other birthday card in the world that can be the same, even though I have not read what is written inside. And the remixed birthday song. Only one in the world. No one else could have made such a remix,” Amrita said.

Shivanesh was controlling himself from smiling too much and make it seem obvious to Amrita that he likes her answer. He was jumping inside after hearing what she said. She choosing his gift as her favourite made him feel like he ca conquer the world.

“Thank you, Amrita. I thought you would still be impressed with what the boys did for you. But after hearing what you said, I really feel appreciated. Anyways. Aren’t you tired? “ Shivanesh asked.

“Quite tired actually,” Amrita said suddenly yawning.

“You had a long day and it is getting late. You should get some sleep,” Shivanesh said.

“Yeah. Really want to sleep. But my birthday will ot be complete without your wishes. Now I can wash up and sleep,” Amrita said.

“Ok then. Good night birthday girl,” Shivanesh said.

“Good night, Shiva,” Amrita said and ended the call.

Amrita washed up and went to bed with a big smile on her face. She felt herself feeling butterflies in her after the conversation with Shivanesh.

#

After ending the call with Amrita, Shivanesh started jumping around. He felt so happy because firstly, she did not accept the confession of the guy who confessed to her tonight. And second because she chose his birthday gift as the gift she liked the most.

“I love you, my princess. You really know how to make a man feel lucky,” Shivanesh said looking at the picture of Amrita which he captured during the video call.