In the labyrinth of life, fate often weaves unexpected threads that entwine the past, present, and desires yet to be realized.
This is a tale of Smriti Roy, an interior designer poised at the cusp of pivotal choices. Caught between the allure of he...
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1. The Proposal.
The evening sun painted the sky in hues of orange, Smriti walked into the restaurant. Aarav stood up with a smile, pulling out a chair for her. "You look lovely, Smriti," he complimented, holding out the seat like a true gentleman.
"Thank you, Aarav," Smriti replied with a warm smile as they settled into dinner.
Midway through their meal, Aarav's demeanor shifted slightly. He reached into his pocket, drawing out a small box. "There's something I've been wanting to tell you, Smriti," he said, a hint of nervousness in his voice.
Curious and surprised, Smriti looked at him, her eyes widening as he opened the box to reveal a ring. "Aarav..."
"I love you, Smriti," he confessed earnestly. "Will you be my girlfriend?"
Caught off guard, Smriti's mind raced. "Aarav, you know I like you a lot. But love..." She paused, searching for the right words. "I need time to figure things out. I'm younger, and I just need to be sure about what I want."
Aarav nodded understandingly. "Take all the time you need, Smriti. I'm not rushing you. Your happiness matters the most."
After the dinner Aarav asked Smriti wheather he should drop her home? She politely denies saying she had booked herself a cab. The cab ride home was quiet, the city lights passing in a blur outside the window.
Smriti scrolled through her phone absentmindedly, tapping through Instagram's endless feed. Suddenly, a new post caught her eye—Shubman Gill, the cricketer. She couldn't help but double-tap the picture, a rush of nostalgia flooding her thoughts.
"Shubman," she whispered to herself, a faint smile playing on her lips.
Shubman was her neighbour when her family had shifted to Chandigarh due to her fathers transfer. She didn't know him like from bottom of her heart but was great friends with his sister Shahneel gill.
"Hey Smriti meet him, he is Shubman by baby brother." Shahneel introduced her brother to Smriti.
"I am not a baby Shahneel Di!" He said.
"Hi I am Shubman. Shubman Gill."
She remembered how zhe first met him. He was her teenage crush, her first crush.
"Shahneel Di will come in few minutes she is getting ready." Shubman sait to Smriti who was waiting for Shahneel.
"By the way you look great today Smriti." He complimented her.
He wasn't such a guy who would do that normally, she felt a blush creeping on her cheeks. Well complimented from your crush feels good right? She was only sixteen and won't it feel good at this age ofcourse right.
Later again her father got transferred to Delhi and she parted with him since then she had no contacts with him.
She was 20 when this happened and now she is 23. Three years only but they were the longest for her. She always loved him a lot, she watched his every match, she knew maybe they won't meet again and he won't remember her either, just a teenage crush she thought.
Aarav's earnest confession echoed in her mind, contrasting with the whirlwind of emotions Shubman's picture had stirred.
"He's perfect," she murmured softly.
"But is he what I really want?"
The cab slowed as they approached her apartment building. With a sigh, Smriti bid the driver goodbye and stepped out, her mind clouded with conflicting emotions.
The yellow glow of the streetlights blurred past the cab's window as Smriti sat lost in thought, her mind swirling with conflicting emotions.
"Aarav is so sweet and caring, but..." she murmured to herself, contemplating the evening's events.
Her eyes again went back to Shubman's post. Her heart skipped a beat again.
"He was my first real crush," she whispered, almost as if confessing to the city lights outside.
"We were just friends, but I liked him so much. Shahneel was the bridge between us."
A pang of longing mixed with nostalgia washed over her. "Three years and it still feels like yesterday," she mused, staring at Shubman's photo, wondering if he ever thought of their brief connection.
"No Smriti, it's time to think about Aarav not Shubman." She said to herself.
"Aarav he is everything I should want," she acknowledged. "Stable, caring, and perfect. But something feels... missing."
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