Always Have. Always Will

A Night to Remember

Dehradun, 5 years back, Atharva – 23 years, and Mahika – 20 years

Author's POV

Mahika stretched out her arms from the car window. She smiled closing her eyes and felt the cold breeze. This was the break she had been looking forward to for a long. She almost completed her 3 years in MBBS and got a 15-day break before the final year started. She missed this place a lot, it was where she felt closest to her parents. Especially her mother whom she lost when she was just thirteen years old, but she never felt her absence even for a day as her maternal grandparents were always there for her whom she lovingly called Nana and Nani. She could feel the presence of her mother in her Nani. Her mother was almost a replica of her mother, and so was Mahika, but she also got some features from her father. Also, whenever she feels like talking to her mother or sharing things with her, she writes letters to her in the diary gifted by her mother on her thirteenth birthday, and she believes she reads those letters wherever she is.

After a four-hour drive, she finally reached her grandparent's house.

Mahika's POV

"NANA..., NANI... where are you guys?" I entered the house directly as the main door was open. It felt suspicious as my NANA can never keep the main gate open even by mistake. Though it was just 5 PM the inside of the house was dark, all the lights were off, and it was dead silent and cold. I carefully walked forward and could hear my footsteps. When my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I saw the switchboard with a hologram sticker pasted by me the last time I was here. I stepped forward to switch on the button and felt a touch on my shoulder, I turned around instinctively and suddenly all the lights turned on and my favorite people were standing right before me with balloons and cake in their hands and a wide smile plastered on their faces. "WELCOME HOME DOCTOR" they shouted together. "I am not a doctor yet guys" I felt overwhelmed by all their love and hugged my Nana and Nani. "You will be I am sure of that," Nani said while caressing my cheeks. Diksha and Ravi were also present, they are my childhood friends and worked in my Nani's book café as chef and account manager respectively. We grew up together as a kid and they are one of my real friends. I hugged them both and cut the cake which they brought for me.

"Thank you so much, everyone but this was not needed..." I was about to go along with my gratitude speed when a voice interrupted me in between.

"Oh, shut up babe! You don't have to be so sweet all the time" I could recognize this voice even in the crowd. This was none other than my best friend JUMI, she is not just a friend but a sister that I never had.

"JUMI" I exclaimed and gave her a tight hug. "When did you come here? We just talked last night, and you were in Mumbai."

"I took a late-night flight to reach here before you and surprise you," she said while batting her lashes in her sweetest voice. I glared at her, and she finally gave up from her blank expression and said "Ok, I have an event to host here but I would have come to meet you anyways and you know that, right?"

"I know and am just so happy to be with all of you." I felt excited and content at that moment and my eyes welled up, Jumi shared the same emotion as we were meeting after almost a year. We hugged each other.

"I hope that's enough of an emotional display I can handle for now," said Ravi who looked at them bored. "Yes, let's start the party now", it was my Nana, always in high spirits in contrast to my Nani, but today even she was looking forward to celebrating my homecoming after so long.

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After dancing our hearts out and several rounds of dumb charades we ate the most delicious dinner I had in the last 8-9 months. It filled not just my stomach but my heart as well.