New Year's Eve

The Story

"I don't want to come," Tara whined as her roommate, Saanvi tried to drag her out of bed. It was New Year's Eve and she was trying to coax her to join her and her boyfriend, Rishi for dinner. "I don't want to be the third wheel. You'll be making heart eyes at each other and I'll just be sitting there awkwardly." Her roommate looked offended. "You think I'm going to let you be alone? Even Vihaan is coming."

Now that got her attention. Vihaan was her roommate's twin, who also happened to be her longtime crush. She first met him when she moved in with Saanvi and he had dropped by to come and check in on her. When Saanvi started dating, he was instructed by their mother to chaperone their dates, and even though they were adults now, he insisted that he come till he was sure of the guy (his words, not hers!). She started liking him, but she was nothing more than a friend (or so she thought). She never told him though, feeling it might make things awkward if things went south, not to mention incredibly messy, with her being his sister's roommate.

Reading the look on her face, Saanvi grinned. "You know you want to go, I can see the wheels turning in your head." She threw a pillow at her face. "Ok fine, I'll come". "Dress warm!", she squealed as she ran out of Tara's room.  Saanvi and Rishi had decided to go to a nice pub for New Year's. On reaching, Tara took in her view.  The pub was decorated for the occasion. A Christmas tree stood by the entrance, decorated with fake snow, ornaments, and fairy lights. There were mini stockings, gifts, and candy canes hanging on the walls, and some mistletoe on the ceiling. Rishi engulfed Saanvi with a hug as soon as he saw them. A few minutes after they settled down, Saanvi turned to her brother. "Vihaan, Tara was telling me the other day that she hadn't visited any Christmas markets in the city." Vihaan turned to look at her. "You haven't? " She shook her head. "Not really. All the markets are pretty far from where I used to live, so I never really went before." Saanvi cut in "So I was wondering if you could show her around. " Tara's eyes widened. What was she up to?  Vihaan looked at his sister suspiciously. "As her so-called "best friend" aren't you the one who's supposed to be doing this? " She narrowed her eyes at her brother. "Can't you do this ONE thing for your sister? Come on, I'll owe you one"All this while, Tara was silently signaling Saanvi to stop whatever she was doing, but she ignored her.

"Why are you so eager to get rid of us though?" Vihaan asked. Saanvi rolled her eyes. "My dearest brother, today is New Year's Eve, and I'd like to do things with my boyfriend which I'd rather have my brother not see" Rishi started choking on his drink when she said that.

Tara cleared her throat, and got up to leave, with Vihaan trailing behind her.

Saanvi giggled as she saw the two of them leave the pub. Rishi groaned. "Oh god, Saanvi why did you have to do that? I don't think I can ever look your brother in the eye."

"Come on, don't you see it? Both of them have been crazy for each other for quite some time now, but are too scared to act on it. I just nudged them in the right direction. Who knows, maybe the new year will work its magic on them" she winked.

Once outside, Vihaan leaned on his car. He groaned, "God why did she have to tell me that" Tara giggled. "Well, that's Saanvi for you. Also, can you just drop me home instead?" Vihaan vehemently shook his head. "It's a sin that you haven't been to a Christmas market. And as your friend, it is my moral duty - no responsibility to take you to one. " Tara gave him a disapproving look.

"Oh, come on, don't tell me that you have something better to do at home? It's New Year's Eve, and you don't even have work tomorrow." He pleaded, giving her the best puppy eyes possible.

Tara tried to think but finally relented.

As promised. Vihaan took her to see the Christmas markets in the city. Christmas in Bengaluru, or anywhere in India wasn't that big of a deal, but there were some places where you could feel the Christmas Magic. After driving for a few minutes, the view outside the windows changed. The streets were lit up with fairy lights, with people dressed as Santa Claus roaming the streets, and the hum of Christmas carols filled the air. They drove past different shops selling baubles, candy canes, and other Christmas decorations. She looked out the window, grinning like a child. "Can we buy some of these, please? " She asked "Just a sec, " He said, smiling at her childlike wonder. "Let me park my car and then we can go." Vihaan parked his car and they got out, exploring the streets. Everything was decked out in reds whites and greens. Christmas was over, but there were still pop-ups selling ornaments, sweets, and fake Christmas trees. Children were enacting plays on the street and people were walking about, hand in hand, enjoying the last day of the year. She and Vihaan were walking very closely too, she realised. So close that she could smell his perfume. Closing her eyes, she discreetly tried to sniff him- woody, earthy, and, wait plum cake? She opened her eyes. Vihaan looked at her amusedly. "Were you just sniffing me? " "No, " She replied, trying to hide her embarrassment. But suddenly, she saw a small bakery. That's why I smelled the plum cake, she thought. "Nope, I just smelled plum cake and was trying to find it. Come on, let's go to that bakery, I'm craving some plum cake."

Inside the bakery, she ordered two slices of plum cake, along with a dozen of rosette cookies to go. The old lady at the counter smiled at them as she packed their order. Despite her resistance, Vihaan paid for their order. The old lady laughed, seeing their exchange. "Ah young love" she sighed "My husband Cyrus and I were once like you too," she said.

"Oh, we're not-"

"She's not my- "

They both started, but the old lady smiled knowingly "If you say so."

They thanked her and went out of the bakery, eating their plum cakes as they strolled through the streets. Tara groaned as she took a bite of her plum cake. "Oh my god it's so good," she said with her mouth full of cake, and he nodded in approval. And indeed, it was. The cake was perfectly moist with rum-soaked plums coming in each bite. Walking through the market made her think why she had never visited before. Walking through the streets, she could feel the magic people always talk about. Vihaan took her to a Church and a few more pop-up stores after that. After hours of walking, Tara grew a little tired. "Can we stop for a bit? I'm tired ", she said, struggling to walk more. "Come on, can you walk a bit more? It's 11 pm and I want to take us to one last place before midnight."

She agreed but whined the entire time they walked to his car. "Drama queen" He muttered under his breath. She shoved him," Hey, I heard that!" He laughed "Okay, okay, I'm sorry but trust me on this, you won't regret it." Tara relented. "Well, you better hurry, because I don't want to miss the fireworks"

He drove for a few minutes and stopped at a park a little away from the market. It was empty and it was just them. A comfortable silence settled between them. "Now what? " Asked Tara. "Now, we wait." She looked at her watch. It was just eleven pm. Tara looked at Vihaan. Would it be so bad if they dated? Spending time with him just made her feelings harder to deny. Suddenly remembering something, she started digging through her bag. After rummaging for a while, she finally found what she was looking for - a miniature Christmas tree that she had bought for Vihaan. She slowly unwrapped it and placed it on his dashboard. "Aww, that's so cute. Thanks for that." He said " Don't mention it, " She smiled.

"Tara listen-

"Vihaan I -"

"You go first," said Vihaan. She nodded "I enjoyed today, Vihaan, thank you so much. I can't believe I've lived here my whole life and not come here" he smiled. "Tara, I have to tell you something," Vihaan said, turning towards her. He took her hands in his. "The thing is, I like you Tara, and I have felt this way for a long time. I never told you because I was scared of losing you as my friend, but I don't think I can do that anymore. I don't drop by your apartment just to check up on Saanvi, but also as an excuse to see you. I understand that if you don't feel the same but I couldn't help myself, I  wanted to tell you but - " "Shhh" She silenced him with a finger on his lips. He was stunned. "I feel the same way too, Vihaan. I've liked you since the first day you stepped foot into our house and have liked you ever since." He let out a sigh of relief at that. She continued, and what fools we've been to not act on our feelings till now" They both chuckled at that. "So, Vihaan, I'm going to kiss you now." She said, before leaning in and kissing him.

Fireworks exploded in the sky as they kissed, "Happy New Year," he said against her lips.

"Happy new year" she wished back.

THE END

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