It was half an hour into the premiere of 'The Jurassic World' movie but the only thing that my mind had registered was the title of the movie. The rest of it was a blur.

My hands were cold and sweaty. I felt a sense of nervousness. The fear was slowly getting to my head. My heart raced like an unstoppable Rajdhani Express. I couldn’t move. I just kept staring at my phone like I’d been doing for the past 20 minutes.

Finally, I asked myself, “Have I murdered anyone? Why am I reacting so stupidly?”

My inner self, cool and calm as always, explained, “Buddy, you’ve just proposed to your best friend Riya!” Yes, I had. A year ago if someone would have asked me, “Both of you are always together and you make an awesome pair, are you in a relationship with her?

I would have probably laughed at them saying, “Buddy, she is my closest friend, I share everything with her. I want her to be my friend for life”.

But now, everything had changed. Change is the only thing that never changes, they said. But they never said that the mind often changes, no matter who you are.

I knew that she’d read my message a while back but it took a hell of a lot of time to reply. It had been precisely one thousand two hundred and twenty-three seconds and counting since I'd messaged her.

“Yes, I have changed. Have you ever imagined that you could be the reason for it? I want you to be in my life forever, not just as a friend, but much more than that.”

I should probably thank Mr Zuckerberg for enabling a technology that allows a WhatsApp sender to confirm that the person it was meant for has read the message.

“Have I embarrassed her? Should I text her again? Should I even call her now?” several thoughts raced through my mind.

I still sat as a misfit in the theatre, which was brimming with the rich visuals of the movie. Suddenly, the light on my phone blinked; it was a message from Riya.

For the first time, I realized that my heartbeat was louder and more powerful than the 7.1 surround sound system in the theatre.

Finally, I gathered the courage and opened the message. It read, “Come to the CCD near my house at 4 p.m. tomorrow. I need to talk.” Did I have an option? She didn’t even ask for my consent. But that’s what I liked about Riya.

It was 3.45 p.m. when I reached Café Coffee Day. I am not always punctual.

However, that day, I wanted to be like every other single boy eagerly awaiting a hint of a green signal from his girl.

I took a corner table and started rehearsing how I’d convince her, much like an attorney collecting points to prove that his defendant was not guilty of committing the crime.

A flurry of possibilities ran through my mind; would she accept my love or had I ruined our friendship?

The mind is often occupied with this perpetual conflict between the optimist and the pessimist within us. The optimist said, “She is your best friend and no one can understand you better than her. She will definitely be with you forever, as your life partner”.

But the pessimist had a different opinion, “Well done my boy! You have wrecked what was supposed to be a good friendship. Get ready for life without Riya”. Amidst these contradicting thoughts, I heard a sugary childish voice say, “Hey crack”. She had given me this nickname and never called me by real name. That was the only thing I hated about her.

Riya came and sat across the table. As always, I was bewitched by her looks. She was so beautiful. She wore a peach-coloured salwar kameez, which perfectly contrasted her fair skin and long black ponytail.

Her mesmerizing eyes and adorable looks made me forget my dilemma.

I tried to act casual and asked, “Should I order something?” She looked straight into my eyes. I knew that she was looking at me but I couldn’t meet her eyes.

I knew that if I did, I’d end up hugging her and would never let her go away from me.

“Maybe later. I want you to take a look at this first”, she replied handing over a printout to me. It read “Fashion Institute of Technology, New York” at the top. It was a letter from FIT to confirm her admission.

She was an ambitious girl chasing her dream of becoming a fashion designer. During our chats, she’d often discuss her ambition and passion to study in FIT.

I was appalled by the timing of the letter but managed to say, “Congrats Riya, this is what you were craving all these days”, my tone was not as cheerful as she had expected. She thanked me and said, “I was planning to surprise you with this letter but instead, I was baffled by your text. My course starts in two weeks and I need to be there at least a week prior to that.”

“So?” I asked. She continued, “Listen, I like you; you always make me happy, you care for me and you are the best guy I have ever met. I respect your feelings but I don’t know if I am ready for this.”

She was a brave girl who always did what she liked without bothering what others thought about it.

I heard everything and fell silent. The letter and her declaration had sucked all the energy out of me.

My optimist spoke again, “She just accepted that you are the best guy she has ever met. She never declared that she doesn’t want this at any point in her life. She just doesn’t want it right now, so don’t give up.”

But the pessimist shut me up saying, “This is the conclusion and there’s no point in arguing about what you feel. She will never accept you.”

I composed myself and managed to ask, “So, you mean you don’t want this to happen or you don’t want this because you are leaving India?”

“I just don’t know whether I can make a decision at this point and that too so quickly,” she explained in the tone of an excuse.

What did she mean by decision? I hadn’t yet figured the reason why I fell for her. When does love ever have a reason?

In a bittersweet tone, I replied, “I will happily wait for you. No one else can write your chapter in the book of my life. You mean a lot to me.” At that moment, I wished my love had won over my friendship.

But the inner sense of a girl is strong. It’s so strong that it can destroy your confidence.

She thought for a second and said, “I think I need some time, it could be a week, a month or even a year. Will you wait for me till I say ‘no’?”

I thought I had almost convinced her then why was she thinking about saying ‘no’? At this time, my pessimist persuaded me, “Why will someone wait for a ‘no’?”

But my optimist convinced me saying, “Yes buddy, he is right for the first time. Why should you wait for a negative response? Let’s wait for a ‘yes’ from her!”

I wanted to make a strong statement with my reply. I looked straight into her eyes and said, “Riya, I will wait for your ‘yes’. I won’t confess that I can’t live without you. You have given me many memories to cherish, which will always keep me going.

“But I wish to recreate those memories with you again. Will you give me a chance? ”

I poured my heart out in a brave and bold tone. I liked the way I delivered those words. It would have definitely given her confidence in me. She thought for a moment and her blushing lips parted in a smile after a very long time.

“Okay. Maybe you don’t need to wait,” she said in an innocent childish tone. Then she checked her watch and said, “Sorry, I need to go, it’s urgent.” She disappeared past me, as she had several things to do before she left for her two-year tenure in the city that never slept.

I was irritated by the way she left the conversation. Why couldn’t girls be straightforward?

Suddenly, I felt like I had to decode the Da Vinci code. Why did she say, “Maybe you don’t need to wait?” Did it signify anything? The sudden vibration of my phone distracted my decoding process. It was a message from Riya.

I opened it slowly and once again it said the same thing, “Maybe you don’t need to wait.” Before I got could get irritated any further, I received another message from here.

I was ready to throw my mobile outside the café had I received the same message again.

However, it took me exactly half a minute and 25 times of repeating the words in my head to realize that she had said, “I Love You”.

At this time, neither the pessimist nor the optimist could react. They were as shocked as me. I ran out of CCD before the overwhelming joy made me lose my senses.

That topsy-turvy journey from friendship to love had finally been accomplished.

I looked at my watch to realize that it was 5 p.m. and to my surprise, the date column read February 14. Poor me, I hadn’t even realized it until then. “Was it a coincidence?” I don’t know.

But it was definitely not a bad time to start a new chapter in our lives.

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