Part 6 – Woven Fates

“Who is it, Sam?”
“Um, actually, Mom, no one. It’s just a rose.” Samiksha’s mom entered the room with a surprised look.
“Wow, what a beautiful rose. Who has sent it?”
Samiksha was at a loss for words.
“Who has sent it, Sam?”
“I don’t know, Mom. Come on, you continue your love story,” she said, dragging her mom back to the sofa.
Her mother had a stern look on her face, though.

“Who is the sender, Sam?”

She smiled and asked.
“I said I don’t know, Mom,” she answered, avoiding eye contact.
Her mom continued giving her a curious look.
“Karan.”
“Oh. Then I guessed right last night.”
“Mom, before you draw conclusions, let me clarify there is nothing between us right now.”
Her mom laughed, “So the future holds chances for you both, right?”
“Mom”, saying this, Samiksha laid her head in her mother’s lap.

“Ok. I won’t trouble you. But just something that I feel deep from my heart, child.” Samiksha looked up at her mother’s eyes and saw the light replaced by concern. She got up and asked, placing her hand on hers.
“What is it, Mom?”
“These years of youth are the most beautiful in our life, child. The world seems like heaven when we are in love. No matter what, everything looks gorgeous, and we get carried away with the thrill of these moments. But child, keeping our senses on the right track is also necessary. It is challenging to listen to our heart, which constantly tells and warns us of right and wrong. We ignore these signs and end up miserable and hurt.

“Don’t overlook this child.

That is all I want you to do.”
There was silence in the room for a few minutes. Samiksha assured her mother,
“I don’t promise anything, Mom, but trust me, your words will stay with me, always,” she said, hugging her mother.

Back in Mayem,

Karan and his dad experienced the same feelings in their discussion.
“Dad, I will be back soon. I have a question. Can you accompany me when I go back? It will be better to tell the facts about the ring yourself.”
“Hmm. Let us see. You go ahead for your work, son. We shall have lunch together.”
“Dad, what was her name?”
Smiling, his dad replied,
“Suniti.”

Samiksha and her mom were in the kitchen when their doorbell rang.
“Mom, I will see.”
“If there is one more rose?”
Samiksha glared at her mother and proceeded towards the door.
“If I meet the sender of this rose …” and she opened the door.
A smiling Karan was at her doorstep.
“Then what would you do?”

Samiksha was awestruck and speechless.

“Karan!”
“Yes, me. Won’t you invite me in?”
“Sorry, please come.”
Samiksha’s mother came from the kitchen.
“Oh, Karan. So nice to see you.”
When he came in, while sitting on the sofa, he noticed the rose carefully kept in a flower vase.

“It’s a lovely rose.”

Samiksha’s awkwardness was clearly visible on her face.
“Yes, son, someone very special has sent it.”
Samiksha tried reassuring him that she had already told him about the sender.
“Hmm. Aunty, your daughter is indeed special herself. Like you.”
“I guess you want something from me.” She said, looking at Samiksha.

“Karan, what would you like? Tea or a drink?”
“Give him the chocolate orange pastry you made now. He would relish it. Sam makes them really nice.”
“Um, Mom, I had offered him the same once. But he found something missing in it, right?” A grinning Samiksha informed her mom.

“Aunty, your daughter is not sporty, you know.”
“I think there is something I am unaware of here. Alright, I will get something to eat. You both chat.”
She went inside the kitchen without delay, leaving Karan and Samiksha alone.
Samiksha sat on the adjacent chair and looked around her room. Karan got up and took the rose out of the vase. Samiksha eyed him nervously until he walked towards her in deliberately slow steps. Sitting near her, he offered the rose to her.

Samiksha’s heart

was about to pop up from her chest as she looked at him.
“This is not just a rose. It’s my heart. It no longer belongs to me now. When you rested your head on my shoulder yesterday, I lost it to you, forever. Will you grant it home inside yours?”
Samiksha was dumbstruck at the very first proposal of her life. She looked nervously at the kitchen door, fearing her mother emerging from inside.

Karan waited patiently for her response.
“You are free to reject it and …”
“Isn’t my acceptance of the rose when it arrived itself an answer?”

Apparently, Karan’s joy knew no bounds when Samiksha took the rose from his hand. The room was full of happiness, which radiated from the love that blossomed between Karan and Samiksha.

Overwhelmed in their newly found bliss, Karan and Samiksha failed to notice the reason that brought them to Bicholim. The fact that both had claimed ownership of the Lovers’ Stone was utterly absent from their minds. If they both were the claimants, then there was definitely a connection between the ring and them.

To be continued . . .

https://blogbyhema.com/2022/04/18/we-humans-love-challenges/