Happy Valentine’s Day

I hit the send button and heaved a sigh of relief. I had at last finished the project report and mailed it to my manager. But my relief was short-lived because the clock on my screen showed the time - 19.10!

A good 19 hours and 10 minutes delay! Damn!

I had missed the deadline again and this was the second time in the past six months. The HR manager would certainly highlight this in the appraisal although I had met 27 other deadlines very sincerely during the same period. But I would worry about this some other time because I wanted to just relish this moment of finishing that report. I logged into my Facebook account and there it was screaming on my laptop screen:

Happy Valentine’s Day!

I was scrolling down even before I finished reading the second word. I was aware that today was Valentine’s Day because there was no way the E-commerce portals and advertisements would let you forget the day. I knew that there would be no message from Nanda, yet I glanced at my notifications once. There were no new messages and I was not disappointed.

Okay! I’ll admit that I was a tad bit disappointed…

But we both had never celebrated Valentine’s Day in a special way. Nanda and I had been in love for four years and now we have been married for over three years. We were among those people who believed that every day was a celebration of our love. As I scrolled down the newsfeed, I found many of my friends and their friends posting mushy pictures and professing their love. After 15 minutes, I was bored. I logged out and shut down my laptop. Suddenly, my eyes fell on the framed photograph on my writing desk. He was standing behind me with his hands wrapped around my waist. I sported a hearty laugh and he smiled broadly. It was one of his rare smiles when the smile actually reached his eyes. For a couple of moments, I stared at his eyes. I felt a lump in my throat. This entire week, I had been so busy that I had barely spoken to him. My evenings were spent in Skype meetings and documentation. By the time I reached the bedroom, he would be fast asleep. I could not remember the last time we had kissed or even hugged each other.

When did we stop expressing our love?

Certainly, we had not stopped loving each other. We were still very much in love but there was a chilling void slowly creeping between us. I made up my mind, today the food was not going to be delivered by Swiggy. The past month had been hectic for me and preparing dinner had been next to impossible. Sometimes, he cooked if he reached home early otherwise I ordered food online. Quickly, I tied up my hair into a ponytail and walked into the kitchen. The dinner was ready within an hour and it also included his favourite onion pakodas and mint chutney. I looked at the wall clock.

8.45 pm

The smell of food made me a little hungry and I munched on a few hot pakodas. Sitting on the sofa with the TV remote, I waited for my Valentine. Two hours passed but there was no sign of Nanda. I kept checking WhatsApp regularly but there was no message from him. I was adamant about not calling him because it would ruin the surprise. Using every ounce of my patience, I prevented myself from getting mad at him. He was held up at work and certainly had no idea that I was waiting for him. The hunger had disappeared from my stomach long ago. The movie ‘Independence Day’ was being played on the TV and I was watching it for the umpteenth time. Right when Will Smith flew the alien spaceship out of the earth’s atmosphere, I heard his footsteps approach the door. Instantly, I sprang up and opened the door while he was fishing for the key in his pocket. There he was! My man!

His mauve cotton shirt was crumpled and but stilled tucked into his pair of beige cotton trousers. He had rolled up his sleeves and his backpack was heavy on his back. His hair was shabby with a few strands of silver hair peeping through mischievously. He looked exhausted with his sallow face and deep set eyes. Those eyes were no longer the same as they were when I first met him. His eyebrows raised slightly on seeing me at the threshold.

‘Hey,’ he said meekly and walked past me.

‘Hi,’ I replied and locked the door. Keeping his backpack on the sofa, he sat down to remove his shoes and socks.

‘I thought you would be sleeping,’ he said without looking up.

‘I was waiting for you,’ I said trying hard to suppress the excitement in my voice. He looked up at me startled.

‘Why? Didn’t you order food online?’

His eyes were almost pleading “Just say yes! I am starving!”
I shook my head and replied that I had cooked dinner. A shadow of smile crossed his face and he washed his hands while I served dinner on two plates.

‘Haven’t you eaten yet?’ he asked incredulously.

‘Happy Valentine’s Day!’ I said smiling and kept a plate of cold pakodas before him.

‘Oh.’

He did not even wish me back and walked to his bag to fetch his mobile phone. I could almost feel the tears welling up in my eyes. After all, the magic of our relationship was long lost and it was too late to revive it on a Valentine’s Day. I swallowed hard and sipped water to not let the traitor tears stream down my cheeks. I could not blame him, it was not his fault alone. We both had stopped nourishing the seed of love which had been sown years ago. All that was left now was only dried leaves and parched land.

Nanda walked back to the dining table after a couple of minutes while I was busy pouring water into the glass. When I turned around, I found a white box on the dining table.

Pastry Café

I stopped breathing seeing those words! It was the café that we had gone to on our first date and was situated on the outskirts of the city, almost 35 km away from home. I looked up at him and he gave me the smile, which reached his eyes.

‘Open it, sweets.’

It had been ages since he had called me that way. I knew what that box contained and I was not disappointed. It was my favourite Belgium chocolate cake.

‘Happy Valentine’s Day,’ he said walking towards me. I did not wait until he came closer. I strode across and flung my arms around his neck. Instantly his strong arms wrapped around me and he crushed me to his chest.

‘I missed you so much,’ he breathed into my hair.

‘I missed you too, darling.’

After a long time, he released me but held me close. I gazed into his sharp eyes and fell in love with him all over again.

‘I thought the love between us was lost…’

‘How can we lose something that keeps us alive?’ he asked rubbing his nose against mine.

‘I love you.’

I felt the same satisfaction and warmth that I had felt when I said those words to him for the first time many years ago.


‘I love you, always and forever’ he said with the promise of eternity shining in his eyes. Our lips met in a deep passionate kiss and we were born again. That Valentine’s day, love made us…

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