I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was a sketch of mine holding the small teddy bear which I had gifted to Hari a few years back. However, the jacket on the teddy bear read I <3 U ( I love you ) instead of Best friends. I quietly kept the book back and started walking downstairs to find my aunt. I was elated and confused whether I should be really happy.

“Does Hari love me too? If yes, what about my promise to my mother? What about the other girl?” I pondered.

Amidst all these thoughts my heart smiled and my mind was filled with glee. I was in state of partial trance. I handed over my cousin to her mother and walked upstairs to see that sketch again. But I couldn’t find it on the table again. I knew Hari must have hid it somewhere. I was curious to know where he had kept it. I searched the entire room but could not find it. I went to the next room and found Hari sleeping. I knew he wasn’t asleep but I had to act along. I went back to Hari’s room and started dreaming about Hari.

My mind was exploding with the thoughts and images of us together. I closed my eyes and kept smiling involuntarily.

I whispered to myself, “I’m in love with you Hari….I love you”

I opened my eyes and saw Hari standing close to me.

“Gayu..I love you too my girl”,he replied back.

I was stunned and even before I regained my senses, Hari took me in his arms and our lips were locked together .Our bodies melted together and love oozed out warming our hearts. We were breathless and ecstatic. The feeling of togetherness was enigmatic. The heat and smell of his body, the sense of touch of his body all over mine was out of this World. I realized how much I had wanted him and yet ignored him.

“Hari…you are mine..Only mine” I hugged him tightly.

“Gayu…”

“Hmmm”

“Gayu”

“Yes”

“Wake up”

“What?”

I opened my eyes to see my mother standing next to me, staring angrily at me.

“How long have I been trying to wake you up?”my mother yelled.

“Oh no! No…..it can’t be a dream…it was so real…I could still feel the kiss, the warmth and the touch.How I wish it was real?” my heart sobbed.

I wondered if my mother sensed or heard anything from my dream. I prayed that she didn’t , as it was forbidden by our promise to love Hari in that way.

I felt guilty and ashamed and didn’t want to meet Hari after that. We bid farewell to all the next day and went back to our house.

I rang Alphonsa and told her about my ordeal. She smiled and said,” If he’s meant for you..God will find a way to unite you. If you strongly wish to be with him then pray for that and wait patiently. God will definitely fulfill your wishes. Go and read a verse from your

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope”

-Jeremiah 29:11

I heaved a sigh of relief. I immediately dialed Alphonsa’s number and she assured me that everything will happen as per my prayers.

Valentine’s Day was around the corner. There was an article in a magazine about Valentine’s day and a trick to find out one’s Valentine. I was too dumb to believe that there were tricks to find out one’s Valentine. Each and every time I told about it to my friends, my belief in the trick started increasing.

The trick had to be tried on the night before Valentine’s day. I couldn’t wait to try it. All I had to do was to sleep alone in a pure white dress on a plain white bed sheet and my Valentine would appear in my dreams.

It was a totally insane thing to do but I was too excited to try it.

And finally, the night before Valentine’s Day happened. I bathed, decked up and wore my white dress. I made my bed ready with a plain white bed sheet and white pillow covers. My parents were amused at the sight of my neat and tidy room, white bed sheet and my white dress. Of course they knew what I was up to as they too had read the famous article about Valentine’s day in the magazine.

I felt bit embarrassed but my eagerness to try it conquered over my embarrassment.

Finally, I switched off the lights and closed my eyes and opened them the next morning.

I saw my valentine reading out bed time stories to our kids.

“This is it. This is how I dream about my valentine. What an unromantic dream?” I was disappointed.

Then I realized that I forgot the most important part of my dream, it was to find out who my valentine really was.

Undoubtedly,my valentine was Hari.

I was calm and relaxed after that incident. I knew my life partner will be Hari and no one else. I had to pray and wait patiently for our togetherness.

I no longer regretted about my promise to my mother or anything else. All I knew was that somehow one day everything in this World will come together and fall in the right place at the right time.

A year had already passed. My parent’s plan of staying together in Kerala had failed badly as my father didn’t get a transfer as expected earlier.

We had to again move back to Mumbai. I was perplexed at the drastic turn of events within a year. My academics went for a toss and my hopes of meeting Hari went into the dumps.

We were back in our own house but were not happy like before. Courtesy to the retransfer my mother went to a different office, my brother joined a different school, my father quit his job and I struggled to find a seat in a junior college. Finally, I landed up at a junior college far away from my house. I had to travel a lot and had no time for studies. In short, we all were in a soup.

Everyone around me was preparing for engineering and medicine entrance. I, too, joined the bandwagon. It made my life even more challenging. Peer pressure, change of place, studies had took a toll on me.

A year at junior college was finished in no time and I had started appearing for various entrance exams like my classmates.

Hari’s younger brother’s vacations had begun. He and his grandmother came to Mumbai during his vacations.

Hari’s brother and I often discussed about Hari and his entrance exams. Mobile phones had started to revolutionize the World during those years.

I got Hari’s contact number from his brother.

I started texting Hari on the days of his entrance exams wishing him luck.

He wished me luck for my entrance exams too. After exams were over, there was a killing silence for over 4-5 months. Our results were declared. I got admission in a college nearby my house. There was no news about Hari. The silence was driving me insane. I sent him text messages but there was no reply. Finally, I gained courage and dialed his number one day. But some kind of fear gripped me suddenly and I disconnected the call.

“What will I tell Hari if he calls back? Why did I call him?” I was nervous.

I switched off my phone the entire day in order to avoid any calls from Hari.

I switched it on only at night. I received a call from an unknown number.