Birthday Surprise

Her Dhiren

I wasn't sure what to expect for dinner on my 21st birthday. In preparation for the night out, I put on my favorite outfit, a three-piece sunrise blue sharara suit with gold accents. I loved the color and how shararas had the appeal of a dress with the convenience of wearing pants. More than any of that though, I liked this dress suit best because it had been my mother's. I was reminded of her every time I wore it. It felt like she was watching over me and I definitely wanted her help tonight.

To finish off the ensemble, I re-braided my red ribbon into my hair. The ribbon did not really go with the outfit, but today was a celebration after all.

I left the Waghdhare Circus still feeling anxious about what awaited me tonight. However, seeing Nilima in her Jeep parked just outside the circus gate helped with my nerves.

"You dressed up," she called out to me when I got close enough.

I put on a smirk and said, "Did you think I'd risk showing up in jeans when Dhiren might be treating me to some crazy 5-star one-of-a-kind experience?"

Nilima grinned at me. "True enough. He can be a bit over-zealous."

A bit over-zealous? That's what she called him purchasing me a freaking mansion as a gift for my 19th birthday. "Please," I said as I approached the car, "just promise me he's not getting me another present that's worth more than 5 years of my salary."

"I already promised him I wouldn't tell you anything," she said, "So..." She raised her eyebrows.

I sighed and waved off her unspoken offer. "Never mind," I said, "I don't want to ruin his fun and the restaurant must be pretty far away if you're here to drive me. Let's just go."

"It's not as far as you'd think," Nilima said mysteriously.

I rolled my eyes at that and reached for the Jeep's trunk door, thinking that Dhiren was hiding under the blue tarp. Typically on these long trips, I would hide in the trunk with him and we'd stare into each other's eyes until we entered our dreamscape to chat. It was one of the things I liked best about our little temple runs, but tonight Nilima stopped me.

"He's not back there," she said, "so you'll have to make do with me upfront."

"He's not?" I asked. "Where is he?" The Jeep didn't exactly provide a lot of hiding spots that could fit a fully grown tiger.

"He's meeting you at the restaurant."

"Okay..." I said. This was getting weirder and weirder, but Nilima didn't elaborate.

I decided to just go with it and got in the front seat.

Soon, Nilima and I got to talking about things besides magical tiger men. She wished me happy birthday and I thanked her for the mouth-wateringly good German cookies she'd sent me as a gift. Nilima, despite her thin frame, loved a good cookie almost as much as I did. Whenever she went to a new place, she returned with stories and sometimes brought back samples of the new delicacies she'd tried there. So, after I finished singing my praises of those cookies, we chatted about the other treats she'd eaten in Germany and then about her business trip in general. Her new German clients were apparently very finicky.

When things shifted over to me, I told Nilima about how I had spent my birthday thus far. Then I gave her updates on Lisa, her adorable kittens, the circus, and the new baking recipes I had tried out recently. It was really good to catch up. Nilima and I had not seen much of each other this month. The pre-monsoon summer season was always a busy time for the circus, so I hadn't had time to take off during the middle of the week for any curse-breaking excursions with her and Dhiren.

Nilima and I had an odd friendship I guess since we were so different, but I think that was one of the things I liked best about it. Nilima always had a fresh perspective and there was, of course, the one major thing we did have in common. About an hour into the car ride, we reached a lull in the conversation and I knew Nilima's next question before she asked it.