Second Chance Love

Birthday Celebrations

For the first time since she had started working, Akshara was running late. It was all thanks to the surprise birthday celebration at night. Her ma had baked her favorite vanilla sponge cake, while Kairav and Anisha had gifted her a new laptop, much to her shock. She had hesitated to take such an expensive gift, but her family had explained that it was least of what she deserved. The celebrations punctuated with laughter, tears, and conversations had gone well into the night, which made her miss her wake up time. Then she had to visit Siddhivinayak temple. It was a tradition that she followed on her birthdays till she got married. As it was the first birthday in Mumbai after her divorce, she wanted to restart this tradition. But she hadn't anticipated the weekend crowd and was now 30 minutes late. She had called Avni to inform that she was running late. Although Avni seemed rather ok, it did not ease Akshara. This was her first job, and she hated not able to put her best, even once.

She rang the bell all perspiring and breathing heavily from all the running she had done to reach as fast as possible. Abhimanyu opened the door with a smile, which soon turned into a frown. "Akshara, are you ok?" He ushered her in and made her sit on the couch. "Relax, I will get you some water." As she tried to calm herself down, Abhimanyu forwarded a glass of water in front of her. "Take deep breaths and sip the water slowly," he urged.

It took a few minutes, a few deep breaths, and a few sips of water for Akshara to finally even out her breathing. "What happened?" asked Abhimanyu. "I literally ran out of the rickshaw and climbed the stairs, as the lift was taking a long time to come."

Abhimanyu was perplexed. "But what was the hurry?"

"Doc, I am late."

"So, you had already informed Ma, and it is just 30 minutes." He was confused now.

Akshara looked a bit embarrassed now. She did not know how to explain it to him. But somehow Abhimanyu understood.

"Akshara, really, you do not have to worry about being late once in a while. We all understand that you would be late only if there is a genuine reason."

She nodded her head, her cheeks pinking a bit. That's when she realized that neither the kids nor Avni was around. "Where is everyone?", she asked. Abhimanyu smiled. "They are all waiting for you in the kids' room."

Now Akshara was perplexed. Usually, the kids are the one opening the door for her, greeting her, and talking continuously over each other. But right now, all she could hear was silence. Abhimanyu got up and asked her to follow him. Something felt really strange to her.

But all her thoughts flew away when she entered the kids' bedroom with party poppers and loud wishes of Happy Birthday greeting her. She was surprised beyond belief. She hadn't told anyone about her birthday. Then she remembered Anisha blurting it out to Abhimanyu the other day in the car. The kids jumped on her in a giant hug and she would have lost her balance if Abhimanyu hadn't held her from behind. Although sudden and shocking, Akshara chose to ignore the goosebumps that erupted on her arms where Abhimanyu held her. Thankfully, he steadied them all quickly and stepped away not to make it awkward for Akshara.

Akshara bent on her knees in front of the twins. "Happy Birthday, Akshu," they shouted together while hugging her. "Did you like our surprise.?"

"I loved it. It is the best." They grinned, happy that their best friend loved their surprise.

"Can you leave her for a minute, so that we can also wish her?" asked Avni who was standing behind them.

The kids untangled from Akshara who stood up. Avni took her into a warm embrace. "Happy birthday Akshu. I wish you all the happiness in the world," she whispered the last line gently in her ears. Avni's genuine and kind wish brought tears to her eyes. She got herself from Avni's embrace and replied with a thank you.  Kavita Didi, the cook of the family, was the next to wish her. Kavita also had warmed up to Akshara in just a few days. Kavita loved her genuine smile, her kindness, and her soft-spoken nature.