First Date to Forever...

Peace Offerings

       Shonali was sitting in the living room when Palak and Maitri came back from college. They could see she was going through an inner battle. They quickly freshened up and joined her in the living room. 

 "Hope the rest of the day went peacefully ?" asked Shonali.

"Yes pretty much , no one had anything to say." Palak shrugged.

"Why didn't you tell me Palak? What happened? When? " Shonali asked Palak directly. Palak understood she was asking about her break up with Darshan.

"It was meant to happen Shonali. We both have literally spent our entire lives molding ourselves according to each other. It is now , after being away from each other ,  that we have realized we want different things from life. " Palak explained.

"How is that even possible?" asked Shonali.

    More than asking about their breakup , Shonali was trying to understand how long distance can change two people. 

       Palak smiled and replied , "Simple, for example Darshan had always given me red roses every time we met and I happily accepted them every time. But Shonali my favorite flowers are Lilies !! I never had the heart to tell him that because he had the biggest smile on his face when he gave those roses to me. I kept on accepting those roses because my life revolved around him. But now I want someone to give me Lilies and not those stupid roses !! I cannot settle for roses when I deserve Lilies !" 

        Shonali understood what Palak was trying to explain. They have never given each other the space to grow and had restricted themselves to a version they thought of each other. However after being apart they realized they were wrong . Long Distance did not separate them , instead it brought them closer to their real self ! And the new self they have discovered did not have place for their love .

     "Are you okay Palak?" Shonali asked . 

     "Honestly it hurt initially , he was my first crush , my first love, first kiss , first everything! I have spent 20 years of my life with him ! But now I think I have never been this relieved. I was constantly living under the pressure of meeting his expectations. Love is not supposed to make you feel that. You should be able to be yourself ... a better version of yourself with the person you love and not live a dual life . " Palak smiled.

    Shonali relaxed a bit , " I am sorry Palak , I was so involved in my life that I was not there for you during this time ." 

   "Arre ! Its absolutely fine , besides seeing you this happy made me realize I never felt such happiness when I was with Darshan . " 

   Shonali became silent on hearing this. Her mind wandered to Sujay . Being around Sujay did make her happy , but she was not in love for sure. Right now she had no idea what to feel.

 As if sensing her thoughts , Maitri asked "What will you do now Shonali? "

    "I don't know Maitri , I don't want to think or jump to any conclusions without talking to him first. But I really do want to know why he didn't tell me about this earlier? Do you think he did this purposely ?" She asked both of them . She never doubted his intentions , but right now nothing was in his favor.

    "I don't think so . It is quite possible he genuinely forgot about it ?" Palak was the first one to respond.

    "I think he did this on purpose ! Had you known earlier , you would not have given him much attention knowing he will be gone soon" Maitri stated.

    "Thanks for helping !" Shonali said sarcastically. She is even more confused now. It is true , had she known earlier about this , she would not have spent so much time with Sujay. It takes her a long time to let people in her life , but once they are in , its hard for her to let them go... She knows how it feels when someone leaves without any answers or explanations !

     Shonali had other things too on her mind , "Do you know what's bothering Akshay? Why is he being so rude to me? I don't  even know what have I done for him to act like that ?!" 

    "No idea , but I do know he is stupid so must be some stupid reason !" Maitri laughed . He and Akshay had a love hate relationship. They both were always at loggerheads with each other .

    "Don't worry about him , he will come around . He is being stupid this time . " Palak said. "And Arush is supporting him blindly instead of making him understand ! I don't get their bromance sometimes , its too toxic !" She laughed.

"So you do know what's bothering him!! Tell me please .." Shonali said .

"I cannot , its for him to sort it out with you !" Palak said .

    Shonali sighed and then she remembered something else , "What happened to Sameer and Sarika? During that game of Truth and Dare that day Sameer admitted he had a crush on Sarika and we know Sarika has been crushing on him like forever . So what happened suddenly? They seem so distant ?" 

     Maitri again laughed "Why are all the boys in our friend circle so stupid ? He said he had a crush on Sarika but was roaming around with some other girl the very next day! He just said that to tease her." 

"What?? Sameer did that intentionally? Poor Sarika !" Shonali exclaimed. She decided she will confront Sameer about this whenever she gets her hand on him. Shonali wanted to ask about Jeevika and Arush too , but she thought of talking to Jeevika herself about this. 

    After all the drama and all the revelations , Shonali was preparing to sleep when her phone pinged-

'Hey there ! I know you must be having a lot questions for me , and I need to tell you a lot of things. Can we meet tomorrow , alone ? ' It was Sujay.

    While Shonali was wondering what to reply he messaged again - 

'Its not a Date , I Promise. You will know when I take you out for another date.'

      Shonali blushed at his message ... and then frowned ! I am supposed to be angry at him , no blushing she scolded herself !

'Sure Sujay , I am free after 12 tomorrow , no other lectures for me. Let me know whenever you are free , we can talk.'

      Sujay frowned at her simple message. Was she angry with him ? What if she is doubting his intentions ? Guess he will have to wait till tomorrow for his answers.

     Shonali couldn't sleep properly the entire night. Too much had happened and she kept thinking about it . Akshay, Arush , Sujay, Sarika , Palak.. all their faces kept coming back to her ! She waited until 7 and then quickly got ready and left for college.

     As soon as she sat down in her seat , a pile of chocolates was kept in front of her . Surprised she looked up to find Arush standing in front of her. "I am sorry Shonali , please forgive me . I think my anger was wrongly directed at you. I am really sorry !" He said.

      Before she could respond , out of nowhere Akshay pushed his lunch box in front of her - "I am sorry too Shonali. I don't even know what to say . But I am really ashamed of the way I have been behaving since past few days.." 

"What's this ?" asked Shonali looking at his lunch box. 

"Peace offering .. " Akshay smiled.

       Shonali opened the box , only to find her favorite Aloo parathas inside !! She immediately forgave both of them. "Oh my God!! Thank you so much Akshay , I was craving for home made Aloo parathas !! and these Chocolates Arush !! How can I stay mad at both of you ! You both are so cute !" 

      They decided that they will talk about everything soon and made their way towards their seat as the teacher entered. Shonali was now looking forward to meet Sujay , she had so many questions only he had answers to.