Love and Music

Realization

That night neither Arshi could fall asleep nor Rahul. At about 6:00 AM, Arshi was up(she had not actually slept but had dozed off for about an hour). She was making coffee when Rahul DMed him on Instagram. The message read:'Asleep?' She poured the coffee in her mug and added a spoon of jaggery (that was a new way she had started to like her coffee) and replied back to Rahul,'Nope. Still awake.' Within a few minutes, she got a call from Rahul. 

Rahul whispered slowly"I thought you would have fallen asleep after being tired of the long session in the studio." Arshi replied,"Yes, I usually would have slept off but today I really was not sleepy at all. I was actually binge watching on Amazon Video and I had dozed off for like an hour. I got up 10 minutes back and made some coffee when you called up." Rahul said,"Oh. Same with me I was also binge watching now as I was not sleepy and I had DMed you thinking that you would be awake. Anyway, I got a call from Akshat sir now asking us to come to the studio in the evening for the new music video. Manish is also gonna come. We will be releasing the video at 6:30 PM and Akshat sir is going to go live on Insta and Facebook too along with you me and Amit sir. So be ready and reach on time. Should I pick you up?" Arshi replied,"Yes. It shall be great. Why don't you come for lunch today and then we can go to the studio directly." Rahul instantly agreed to reach by 12 noon. The conversation continued till 9:20 AM. They would not have actually disconnected but had to as Akshat sir had called in for a Zoom meeting at 10:00 AM. They again met at 10:00 AM and the zoom meeting continued till 11:30 AM where they saw and discussed about the music video for the last time before they released it. Arshi was very happy as it was her first Music video as additional music producer along with Rahul. She was elated when she saw her own name in the credits of the video. She took a screenshot of it and sent it to her mother who profusely congratulated her on call after her meeting was done.

 As soon as she hung up the call with her mom,she got a call from Rahul. Rahul had called up to inform her that he would be delayed as there is a lot of traffic and would reach by 1:00 PM. That suited her as she would have more time to cook. She had instructed her cook to make Butter Chicken, Naan (Indian bread),Paneer Bhurji and Caramel Pudding. She herself made the caramel pudding and the chicken  while talking to her mom over the phone. She knew that Rahul loved Butter chicken and Naan as they often ordered it when they sat at the studio to edit. She went to her room showered and changed to her tee and shorts as she was really sweaty. She actually took some effort to dress herself (that was not something common as she never actually cared what she wore). She also dabbed on some lipstick and sprayed some perfume too.
Rahul on the other hand was stuck up in the traffic. He had himself taken efforts to check out what he was wearing.  He wore a T shirt, khaki pants   and neon and white shoes( it was his favorite)
Rahul reached at 1:00 PM sharp. He had got a lovely bouquet of Orchids which was Arshi's favourite flower and gave a tight hug to Arshi. Rahul was impressed seeing how well the house was done and complimented her. Arshi smiled and thanked him. They both went to the kitchen. She made coffee for the two of them. She added a spoon of jaggery to her coffee. She kept both the mugs and rushed to her room as she heard her phone ringing. Rahul took the two mugs of coffee and took a sip of Arshi's coffee not knowing the difference between the two. He loved it. As Arshi returned back to the kitchen and saw Rahul taking a sip from her mug, she immediately said,"I am so sorry. I forgot to tell you that the two coffees were different. Actually, I add a little jaggery to my coffee nowadays. I know it is weird but I really like it that way. I am carrying a small jar of Jaggery in my bag now."Rahul replied," I love it too. This tastes so much better. Thanks for the idea. I am sure I am gonna drink coffee this way now."
They finished their mugs of coffee while chatting with each other. But this time it was not about music but was about love, relationships and their personal lives. It was strangely intimate yet so comfortable. They enjoyed each others' company. They could not realize how time flew.
At about 3:30 PM, they walked to eat lunch that Arshi had prepared. Rahul was in awe of Arshi's cooking skills. Rahul praised the food a lot. He was not much of a cook but was indeed a foody. After the lunch they went to the living room and chatted sitting on the sofa. They talked incessantly over everything and anything. They could converse about everything at any point of time. At 4:45 PM, Arshi went to the fridge and fetched the caramel pudding and generously added caramel syrup over it and took it to the living room where Rahul was waiting for her. Rahul and Arshi enjoyed the caramel pudding and continued chatting.
Rahul out of the blue started talking about love and how happy it feels to be in love. Arshi was astonished to hear that he was in love. Arshi asked,"How do you know that it feels good to be in love? Are you in love or what?"Rahul replied," It is just a feeling and I am sure that it must be a great feeling and probably I will fall in love soon."
Arshi was just smiling to hear him. She was feeling a different and strong kind of feeling towards him. It was a strange attraction that she was feeling towards him. She was feeling happy and it was something that she had never felt before. She did not know what it was but she liked the feeling.
Arshi and Rahul were lost in their talks when they realized that it was already 5:35 PM. Rahul said glancing at his clock,"We better get going. It is already late and we have the music video release at 6:30 PM. I am sure you don't want to be late for the release of your first song." Arshi and Rahul left home and zoomed off in Rahul's car.
Arshi and Rahul reached the studio at 6:10 PM. Akshat sir and Amit sir were already there and had started their live session on Instagram and Facebook simultaneously for the song release. The two also joined the live session and enjoyed it thoroughly.
After the live session was over, they released the song on YouTube. Within a few minutes, there were a lot of comments praising the song and the production team. Everyone sat in the studio for sometime and talked with each other. Everyone congratulated Arshi on the release of her first song as a music producer. They left the studio at 8:30 PM.
Arshi and Rahul left the studio together. They did not talk much in the car. Rahul, all of a sudden, asked Arshi"Are you free tomorrow ? We don't have any work in the studio. I thought we could meet for a cup of coffee tomorrow in the evening." Arshi was surprised by the sudden plan and instead suggested"Why don't we meet at my place tomorrow. I can make some coffee too and we can also chill for sometime. Rahul agreed to meet the next day at Arshi's place the next day at 7:00 in the evening. Rahul had planned to confess his love to her. He did not know how but he was adamant to not let his feelings be within him. 

They spent the time in the car in silence. In the background, the music system played a beautiful song 'Tumko paya hai toh jaise khoya hoon, kehna chahun bhi toh tumse kya kahoon, Kisi zubaan mein bhi woh lafz hi nahi, ke jinme tum ho kya tumhe bata sakoon' (I have found You and I have lost myself in you .Even if I want to speak, I don't know what to I say.If I say that there is no one more beautiful than you in this whole universe ,this praise is just nothing, compared to the whole truth that I am in love)  Rahul smiled listening to the song and felt happy being with her. Arshi had not seen his smile so was enjoying and humming the song.

Rahul knew that he was in love with Arshi and just wanted to confess it no matter what so ever. He knew that he was risking his friendship that he shared with her but he just had to get it out of his heart. Neither did he know  how Arshi would react when he will hear that he loves her nor did he know how to confess his love to her. On the other hand, Arshi was feeling happy to have found a friend in Rahul. Rahul was so different from others and she knew that he is really special. She knew that what she was feeling was something more powerful and beautiful than just mere friendship.

Rahul dropped Arshi and himself left. He reached home at about 9:30 PM. He receieved a text from Arshi that read "See you tomorrow in the evening. Good Night. Take care. PS:-Please sleep instead of binge watching" Rahul had a smile on his face as soon as he read it and replied immediately,"Hey, I know I am late to say this but the lunch was amazing. Thanks for the coffee with jaggery too. I loved it. See ya tomorrow. Bye. Go off to sleep. Good Night." 

Both went to sleep with a smile on their face and were excited to meet each other the next day.