Once In Four Years

2012 is a leap year. It meant, we had an extra day in the calendar to live through. It came just once in four years and I had an instant thought, to make it the most special day for us (Me and Arpita). My annual functions were going on in the college and I had decided to bunk them. I had asked her to make an excuse at her place so that she could be with me for the day. I had it all planned out and eagerly waited for the day.

The alarm woke me up at 7:00 in the morning. The sun rays made their way through my window and brightened up my room. Only one of my eye had the courage to withstand the brightness. I searched for my cell phone. I checked it out. 7:10 am, 29^th February 2012. The date on the calendar brought a smile to my face and an instant rush of energy in my body. I sat on my bed and looked around. Stretched my hands to shake of the laziness. I stood up, brushed my teeth, made my bed, went to the kitchen and prepared coffee for myself. Within an hour and a half I was all dressed up. I went to the temple for daily prayers. But, today, I just had one thing to pray for, may there be no glitches in my plans.

Although we had decided to meet up at 11:00, I left the house at 9:30. I had some shopping to do. I reached Fatehgunj, where I hoped to find what I was looking for. And I was all done with my shopping till 10:30. Perfect timing boy, I patted myself. I waited for her at the 7 Seas Mall. I texted Keya and informed her about my plans for today. It was just to kill time, not that It was important to inform her. I checked out the time. 11:15. I called her up. It kept ringing. No Answer. I waited some more. After another half an hour, I called her up again. It still kept ringing. No Answer, again. My cellphone beeped. Text Message : Appy. It said, she’d be there in about 15 minutes. I didn’t reply. I, tired of waiting, called her up for the final time. She picked up this time. She was about to reach. Finally, at 12:15, she came. (Yes, I checked the time instead of checking her out. I was so fucking bored, waiting for about an hour and 45 minutes.) She saw my face and instantly apologized. I walked up to her. She handed me the keys and we drove away.

“So what have you planned for today?” She asked me, with sheer excitement in her voice.
“Don’t worry about it. I have it all planned. You just sit back and go with the flow.” I said without revealing any details.
“Huh. I know you might not have planned anything. That’s why you’re not letting me know.” She tried to intimidate me.
“So be it. But, whatever it is, I am not going to tell you.” I winked.
“Okay, so where are we going now?” She asked.
“For a movie.” I informed her.
“Which movie?” The questions kept flowing.
“Any movie, you want to see.” I replied.

I lied when I said I didn’t check her out. I did. How couldn’t I? I still remember what she was wearing that day. Light Blue sleeveless top, jeans, and her penguin slippers. Her face was blooming like a flower. Her fragrance reminded me of the freshly plucked rose. Her lips were as moist as the dew on a leaf at dawn. Her skin was as soft as a feather shed by a bird. I could forgive her even if she murdered me. I was crazy for her.

We entered Cinemax and got tickets for a movie. I held her hand as the movie started. My eyes looking at her glistening face. She noticed me staring at her, but didn’t make any eye-contact with me. Instead she covered her face with her hand. I blushed as I turned my eyes towards the movie. She tightened her grip on my hand. All this little flirting kept on going throughout the movie.

We left the multiplex around 3:00 and went for the food court. She didn’t feel like eating anything but I was starving. She asked to order something. I denied. I had told her that I was going to cook something last night. That was a lie though. I had planned to cook it in the morning. I opened my bag and took out two boxes. One had Noodles and the other one had Pasta. She opened the boxes and instantly smiled. Her smile widened as she looked at me.

“This is still kind of hot.” She said.
“I know, I cooked it this morning. For you.” I smiled.
“Awwwwww, this is so sweet. I mean not the taste, the gesture.” She said as she tasted it.
“Hehe, I know. You didn’t have to clarify that.” I winked.
“This is so Yummy, Chintu. Thank you so much.” She said as she licked her lips.

We finished the food in about an hour or so and left the place. I was driving again. Soon I saw a gas station and stopped for refilling.

“Why are you refilling?” She asked.
“We’ll need extra gas, to reach where we are going.” I told her.
“Where are we going?” There were just too many questions today.
“Have patience. You’ll know when we reach there.” I assured her.

We were back driving and there was an unusual silence between us. Soon I took the highway. She realized that later and asked me if we were going to my college. I nodded. She asked me to stop as she didn’t want to go there. I assured her that she’d love it where ever I was taking her. She rested her head on my shoulders and wrapped her hands around me. The sun shown bright and she feared that she’d get tanned. I stopped and took out my jacket from the bag and gave it to her. Her eyes got wide as she looked at me. All pre-planned huh? She asked me as she wore it. I just smiled away.

I went off the highway and took a small road that led to a village. The tall trees were replaced by open fields. The moisture in the air increased. The smell of the wet soil replaced the one of chemicals and insecticides sprinkled on the fields. We stopped. I asked her to open her eyes. We had reached there. The view was just amazing. Greenery surrounded us, a little walk away water replaced all the greenery. The river flowed in full force. I had been there for a couple of times with my friends of course, first time with a girl though. But she was there for the first time, and the view just mesmerized her. We got down and parked the vehicle and started walking towards the river.

We sat on a big rock right by the river. My chin rested on her shoulder, my eyes on her face which was just millimeters away from me. My hands wrapped around her waist with a tight grip. I wanted to convey a message through the grip, 'I am never letting you go away.' The moment seemed perfect. We talked about how I found out the place. And she thought that this was the climax of the day. She had no clue what was coming her way. But I kept the suspense alive.

The brightness of the sun deemed a little as it turned red. The air became cooler. We sat facing the sunset as I whispered into her ears. “I really love you.” She just smiled to that. Not that I expected it to change. Not before the grand finale atleast. I kept her attention on myself as my hands searched my bag. I took out a little red bag and hid it in my pocket.

“I need one last favor. Take off the jacket.” I whispered.
“What? Why? No.” She got confused.
“Haha, I guess that came out wrong. Trust me just take the jacket off and close your eyes. I promise, I won’t do anything wrong.” I assured her.

We got up as she took off the jacket. I took out a necklace from the red bag and put it around her neck. She was taken by surprise. She touched the necklace and turned around to look at me. Her expression was priceless. Just the way I had imagined it to be, since the day I planned about today. She couldn’t stop blushing.

“Oh My God! This is so pretty.” She was excited.
“You like it?” I asked her with nervousness. This was the first time I had done anything like this for a girl.
“I like it? Chintu, this is so beautiful. I love it.” She was extremely happy as she hugged me.

The hug was a pretty long one. I might have lasted a good 10-15 minutes.

“Where did you get it from?” She whispered in my ear.
“Does it matter?” I countered her.
“No, but this is so perfect. Just the way I like it. So pretty and delicate.” She said.
“I really love you, a lot, Appy.” I had tears in my eyes. I had the girl I loved the most in my arms. I was overtly joyed.
“Thank you so much. This is so special.” She said as sadness covered my face. I had expected completely different set of words.
“Let’s go, otherwise it’ll get late.” I said as our embrace broke.

I started gathering things and packed my bag. My disappointment was clearly evident on my face. But there was indeed a sense of satisfaction that the day went exactly how I had planned it to be. I was happy, that I could make a difference in someone’s life by doing something. I had really wished, that this sends out a message to her about how madly in love I was with her. She was indeed the best thing that ever happened to me.

"Everyday that goes by it seems like I discover something new about you to love. It's incredible to me how one person can make such a big difference in my life. You touch me in a way no one else ever has and gave me so many reasons to love you."