4. Arun And Yellow Flowers

Anika's PoV

My fourth semester holidays went boring as usual. I was eagerly waiting for the college to reopen to go to college as a final year student. My devil of a brother always fights with me when I am home even when he is in his final year. Dad was the one that always stood by my side. Mom got many garland and bouquet orders during my vacation. Mom is an expert in making petal garland for weddings. She gave me the bouquet orders and I earned some pocket money through that in the holidays. That was the only good thing that happened in the college break.

"Ma, I will come late today. Me and Nithya are going to the library after college." I told mommy as I was getting ready for college. It's college reopen day today and I am more than excited to go back to college. 

I have been talking to Nithu about the mail stalker as I received no mail from him for a complete semester. I was actually missing his mail. Though he sent only four or five mails over the years, I felt him to be my friend. But by now we are sure that he is someone from our college. 

"Why is he not sending me any mails, Nithu?" I asked her, getting  inside the college bus.

"He must have passed out or must have found something more important than to mail an unknown girl." Nithu said playfully. Though that is a possibility, I could not take it.

"He may have passed out or even got a job. But he will for sure come and meet me." I told her, hiding my disappointment.

"He must be one of our seniors, de. If not he would not have given you a base paper that is worth making a project. It is of no use to him now. So he must be in MSc just like you thought. But Anu, I think it is not safe to track an anonymous mail person or to wait for him like this. Are you sure this is just friendship?" Nithya said and asked.

"I don't feel any threat towards him, Nithu. I am so eager to meet him. He said he will come to greet me when I am done with my studies. He also said he will meet me on my special day. I am sure he is one of our seniors. He is a good man, Nithu. He never said anything bad and he said he will come with a bouquet of yellow flowers. Yellow flowers represent friendship! He is genuinely a gentleman." I told her.

"Whatever!" she said and we went in the direction of our class getting down from the college bus.

"Hey Karthik, hold on. I have your library card." Nithya yelled and ran towards Karthik. Karthik is her neighbor and in a different department. I walked behind slowly and someone bumped into my back and I dropped my books.

"Aahhh! Where are your eyes?" I yelled and turned to see who that was.

"I am so sorry. I was in a hurry." It was Arun. I got my breath hitched and I was out of words. He leaned down and reached for my books. He gathered them and gave them to me.

"Thanks." I got it from him.

"No, it's my fault. I am so sorry." he apologized again.

"It's ok." I looked at him and he nodded his head and smiled at me with a beautiful dimple on his cheek. OMG!

"Hey, no idea to come to class?" Nithu shuffled me. I was still standing there even after he left. 

"Arun talked to me, de. OMG, he is so handsome up close." I told her.

"Ufff, Come let's go." She pulled me towards the classroom. 

After reaching the class, I stuffed my books in the desk and that is when I noticed a bunch of papers stapled together. It is the same base paper that the stalker sent me. Where did it come from? It must be Arun's. I decided to meet him during the lunch break. I know his classroom.

"Hi, Senior. I think you missed this one." I went to his classroom during the lunch break with Nithu but she stalled outside the room. 

"Ahh it was with you? It's ok, Beautiful. You can have it. This is no longer useful to me. I brought it mistakenly." he said with that same killing smile. 

"My name is Anika." I told him. I felt shy when he called me beautiful. His friends were around him and they were looking at us.

"I know. Guys know the names of all the beautiful girls in the college." he said and all the guys shared a knowing smile.

"um... I thought you might need it. Are you sure that I can have it?" I asked him.

"100%! You can have it." he said with that same smile.

"Ok, Bye." I tried to leave as I was getting embarrassed by the situation.

"OK, Anu, See you." he sent me off. I couldn't ignore the butterflies that fluttered inside my tummy when he called me 'Anu'.

"That's him, Anu." Nithu said as soon as I joined her.

"How do you say?" I asked her, burying my excitement inside me.

"He called you beautiful. He bumped into you and gave you the base paper like it was a mix up. He knows your name. He said that he no longer needed it and brought it by mistake. If it was a mistake, how did he even know that he brought it?" she asked me and I felt the same.

"We shall wait, Nithu. We don't want to run into conclusions so soon with just this incident." I told her.

"Ok, You are right. But be careful, Anu." she said. With the looks on her face, I can tell that she doesn't like me looking for that mailman. She thinks I have feelings towards him. But I can tell you for sure that this is just a curiosity to know a man who tries to be so decent even when there is a great chance to misbehave.

From then on, Arun smiled at me whenever we met and his gestures say that we are no strangers. I liked him too. We started talking like friends and I made friends with his friends too. His friends told me that he is a man of little words and he never talked with a girl before, just like the stalker said in the mail. They also said that he had many girl fans who approached him to talk but he never talked to any of them. They said he stopped just admiring the beauty. That irked me, the stalker too admired my beauty but didn't grow on it. The mails never came again after we started talking. That increased the probability of him being the stalker. Nevertheless, I liked Arun so much even if he is not the stalker. Days after we became friends, I realized that his friends were true. He never talked to any girls, even to the girls of his class except for necessity. The only girl he talks friendly to is me in the whole college. His class girls often looked at me with hatred and jealousy in their eyes. He is a gentle man.

"Share me your mail id, Arun. We shall talk through mail." I asked him one day hoping that he would mistakenly give me the same mail id that the stalker uses.

"Mail? You have my number, Anu. We have W******p. You can message or call me anytime." he said.

"Just give me your mail id." I insisted.

"Anu, Mails are just to start the conversation. They are very old fashioned. We are more than friends now." he said. I am now very sure that he is Mr. Stalker, why else would he not give me his mail id?

"More than friends?" I asked him.

"Yes, We are thick friends." he smiled at me lovingly. As usual I was lost in his smile.

Days later, it was my birthday and I went to college in a Red color salwar that my dad got me for my birthday.

"Whoa, you look stunning in this red color outfit, Anu." Arun said.

"Thank you." I told him looking down to hide my blushed face.

"Here, Look at me. Many more happy returns of the day, beautiful!" he gave me a bouquet of yellow flowers and a basket of chocolates. My eyes grew bigger as I got it from him.

"Th… Thank you, Arun. These are beautiful. And these are my favorites!" I stumbled upon the words and I thanked him for the gifts and the clues he gave me long before. This is the special day he was talking about.

"Anu, I want to talk to you. Wait for me in the football court in the evening." he told me. I have something going on in my stomach whenever I talk to him like this. I don't know if I am getting it right. I think I have fallen for him.

I just nodded my head in agreement and he smiled at me and went to his class. I had a joyous day with my friends and class. I told Nithu that he is Mr. Stalker. I told her that he wanted to meet me in the evening.

"This is no good. What if he proposes to you?" she asked me rather angrily.

"I would say yes. I like him, Nithu. I like spending time with him. I like his smiles. I like his gentleness with me. I like how he treats me. Never once did he cross his limits with me. Never once did he take advantage of me. He is very helpful. He gave us notes for our studies. He always asks me to study well. He is nothing but a support to me. He is a good friend. I know his family. His mother and sister are very kind also. My parents will like them too. They are just like us in status. If I can compromise my mom, then everything will be fine, Nithu." I told her.

"Adipaavi (sinner), have you planned for your marriage already? You are just in your final year now. He still needs to finish his degree and get a job. So you are in love already? I don't like it one bit, Anu. If he didn't propose to you today, what would you do?" she asked me.

"I don't know, Nithu. Yes, I think I love him already. It is the gentleman in him that I love. He is a wonderful friend and a decent guy. I am happy whenever he is with me. I like to share things with him just like I share it with you. If he doesn't propose to me today, I...  I don't know, Nithu." I told her.

"Whatever you say comes under Friendship. Love is a magical feeling, Anu. It is not developed over time, it is a pull that you can't resist. It happens in a fraction of second. Anyways, All the best. I think you are way past the time to listen to advice." she said sarcastically.

"I don't believe in such a dramatic thing, Nithu. How can you develop feelings for someone whom you don't know? I think this is safe. I know Arun. He is good for me." I told her. She talks under the influence of movies.

I waited for him in the court in the evening. He was playing and he was one of the team players that represent our college. He came running to me with sweat dripping on his face. His clothes drenched in sweat yet his face was like a fresh flower with that lovely smile.

"Anu, get me that towel." he said, showing me the bag. I reached out to his towel in the bag and gave it to him.

"You wanted to talk to me, Arun?" I am out of patience.

"Yes. Did you like that bouquet I gave you in the morning?" he asked me.

"Yes. I loved it!" I told him failing to meet his eyes.

"How about this one?" he forwarded his hand in front of me. I looked up to see a beautiful red rose in his hands.

"Arun!" Words stuck in my throat.

"Anu, That bouquet represents Friendship. I value your friendship. But this single red rose represents Love. I love you, Anu! I don't know when this happened. I truly thought of you as a good friend. I felt at ease with you and I am myself when I am around you. I am very much comfortable with you. I enjoy your non-stop talks. I love the kid in you. I like the mischiefs you do. I think, if you are to be my life partner, then we will remain as good friends for life. You are beautiful yet you disregard it. That adds to your elegance more. You are so natural, Anu. I believe love needs friendship to last long which we have!" he said, looking me in the eye.

"Arun, I.." I stumbled upon the words yet again, hearing all this from him just like it were in the mail. Yet another proof that he is the stalker.

"No hurry, Anu. Take your time. Think it through. Answer me when you are ready." he told me.

"Me too, Arun." I told him, looking him in the eye. "I don't need time, Arun. I am happy with you. I am sure that I will be happy with you in our long life together." 

So that is how our love started. His semester ended before ours. He is now searching for a job. Our semester exams are round the corner and our project review is next week. Campus interviews have started and I have been busy attending the interviews. I am waiting for the one on one personal interview round in two companies now.