It had been a month since Bhayya died, but Rihana had still not forgiven me. I was able to convince her that I was not in a position to tell her about Bhayya’s accident on the night of accident. But she was more upset about the fact that I had told her about Bhayya’s death after many days of the accident.

Perhaps her anger was justified. I knew everything would become normal with passage of time, but no one could fill the gap Bhayya’s family had left in my life.

My Novel was complete now, and as I had promised Rihana, she was going to be the first person to read it. It was time to fulfill the promise. I called Rihana and invited her to my room. I also bought a chocolate cake because she liked it very much. I cleaned my room so that she didn’t have to do anything.

                                                                                                A little later she reached my building. I went down to receive her. She was looking very pretty in white jeans and purple top. She smiled at me. She looked happy and I was sure we were going to spend a good time. She hugged me.

“I hope you will prepare great coffee for me with your own hands.” She said.

I remembered the previous incident of coffee and that she had slapped me. But today I did not have to go out for milk, as I had already arranged that. I smiled and both of us walked towards my room.

I had been planning to kiss her for quite some time. But I had decided that I was not going to initiate it, although, if she began, then I was going to go along.

In the room, I placed the pages of my Novel in her hands.

“Finally my Novel is complete, Rihana. And, as I promised that you would be the first one to read it, here it is.”

She was very happy to hear this. My gesture showed her how special she was for me. After Bhayya had left, I was seeing her so happy for the first time. Her interest in reading a Novel of an ordinary writer like me, made her even dearer to me.

She kissed me on my cheeks, and hugged me.

“I love you, Aarav, really proud of you.”

Her words made me feel that my writing the Novel was worth it. My love was in front of me, holding the dreams of my life.

“I will make a fantastic coffee for you.” I said.

“Of yes, sure. But I won’t drink alone, so make two cups.” She kissed me again on my cheeks. She had kissed me twice within a few minutes. Now it was my turn. Or should I wait a little more?

I went inside the kitchen to make coffee. When I returned, I saw that with her lipstick,  Rihana had made many love signs on the wall and written “I love you Aarav”. For a moment, as if everything stopped for me. It was the most wonderful feeling for me. We were both smiling at each other. I went closer to her and asked her to close her eyes.

Normally if you ask a girl to close her eyes, she will ask a hundred questions. Like, why should I do it, Is there a surprise, first tell me the reason, then I will do it etc. Rihana also did the same. But when I requested again, she closed her eyes.

I went inside the kitchen, got the cake and put it in front of her.

“Can I open my eyes now?”

“Yes, you can open now”

“Sure?”

“Yes, sure.”

As soon as she opened her eyes, she saw her favorite chocolate cake in front of her. She excitedly asked me,

“Aarav, is it your birthday today?”

“No, it’s not my birthday.” I smiled.

“Then, why this cake?”

“This is to celebrate my first Novel.”

“Yes, great idea. Thanks. Aarav, do you know this is my favorite cake?”

“I know this is your favorite cake.”

“How do you know? So far as I remember, I have never told you.” She was surprised.

“You friend Pooja told me.”

“Ohhhh Give me the knife. How will I cut the cake?”

I again went inside the kitchen, and brought the knife.

“Are you really happy?”

“Can’t you see I am happy? I am very happy. Earlier this Novel was only your dream, now it is ours.” She said looking in my eyes.

There was a pleasant feeling of warmth in her words. She cut the cake and put a piece in my mouth.

“We are together because of this Novel. That day if a page of your Novel had not flown towards me, maybe we would have never met.”

“And if you had not shown any interest in that page, you would have never come to talk to me.” I said offering her a piece of cake.

We were both smiling. Slowly we came closer to each other.

I started passionately smooching her. We were getting lost in love. I could feel the excitement in our bodies. Shortly, she was on the bed and I was on top of her. Our bodies had become one. I could feel her hands tightly clasping my back. I had a feeling we were going to have something more than a kiss. Would it be sex?

With every passing moment, we were getting more passionate. We were out of control. Maybe this was because it was the first time we had come so close. My hands were inching towards her chest. Suddenly I felt a burning smell. For a while I couldn’t understand what it could be, as I had lost my senses. Then suddenly I remembered that it was the coffee which I had left on the gas stove. My first instinct was to ignore that smell and carry on. But I had forgotten that Rihana was also in the room, and had felt the smell of the burning coffee. She pushed me away.

“Move away. Our coffee is burning.”

She ran towards the kitchen. I wish she had also noticed my burning emotions. The hot coffee had poured water on my passion, but I couldn’t do anything. Rihana brought the burnt coffee in a cup and smiled.

“The coffee got burnt, Aarav. A little is left. We will both have this.”

I was very angry at the timing of the coffee getting burnt. Sitting on my lap, Rihana was affectionately sipping the coffee. She offered a sip to me too.

As soon as I sipped it, I realized it was bitter like a karela (bitter gourd). I was surprised that Rihana hadn’t complained about its taste. I asked her…

“Didn’t you find the coffee bitter?”

“No. Not at all”

“But I found it bitter like a karela juice. How come you didn’t notice it?”

She looked at me for a while, then kissed me.

“Because it has the sweetness of your love. That is why I found it sweet.”

For a boy, getting a compliment like this from his girlfriend is no less than getting an Oscar award. I had the same feeling. Rihana pulled me towards her.

“I will lie down with my head in your lap, and you read the Novel to me.”

Rihana put her head in my lap, and I started reading. I had barely completed two chapters, when she slept. In her sleep too she looked as beautiful as ever. I just kept looking at her affectionately, for about thirty minutes. I didn’t want to disturb her. Finally, when she opened her eyes, her first question was,

“Is the Novel over?”

“No. You had fallen asleep.”

“Oh, sorry. Are you upset?”

“No, I didn’t feel bad at all. In fact, I felt very nice seeing you sleeping peacefully with your head in my lap. That’s why I didn’t wake you up.”

“So sweet Aarav…. Love you.”

She pulled my head down and kissed my lips. I felt as if luck was again smiling on me. Rihana was raining kisses on me.

Finally, it was time for her to leave. She took the Novel with her.

After three days, Rihana informed me that she had read my Novel. She was full of praise for it. Now was the time for me to meet publishers. A few months back, Bhayya had told me about Mantra Publications in Daryaganj, where a close friend of his worked in a senior position. I thought of starting with him, and went to meet him. His name was Rajeev Pande. I waited for him in his office for about an hour. Then I saw two men wearing suits, coming out, both talking in English. I was scared as neither my clothes were so good, nor I could speak such good English. Anyways, it was now my turn, so I got up, sorted my clothes, remembered god, and went inside.

It was a very grand office. Mr. PandeY, was sitting on a big black chair. He must have been around 45 years of age, a very slim, fit person, wearing gold rimmed spectacles. I was feeling more scared now, than when I was sitting outside. Mr. Pandey asked me to sit on the chair in front of him.

“So, you are Aarav? Your brother used to speak very highly of you.”

His statement increased my confidence. Because one, he knew my name, and second, Bhayya had put in a good word about me.

“Thank you, Sir.” I said.

‘So Aarav, you want to publish your Novel. Right?”

“Yes Sir. I have written it with all my heart. I am sure it is going to be a best seller.” I said with confidence.

“Do you know Aarav, our company brings a new Novel every month in the market. And like you, every writer who comes here claims that his Novel would be a best seller. But this is far away from truth. Forget about being a best seller, it’s difficult to sell even a thousand copies of these Novels.”

His statement made me feel as if I was appearing in IAS exam. I wasn’t sure whether he was trying to frighten me, or was speaking in my favor.

“All this is a money game, Aarav. Without marketing, no one will even touch your Novel. How would anyone know that a new writer has published a Novel?” he continued.

“Yes Sir, you are right.” I said.

“It is a very costly affair to publish and market a book. Then only people come to know about your Novel. I am sure you write well, but my company’s boss doesn’t give a damn. He takes a risk of publishing a Novel, when the writer is willing to invest atleast five lakh rupees, which I believe you won’t be able to do.”

Mr. Pandey was right. Forget five lakhs, I didn’t even have ten thousand rupees with me. Even if I had sold everything I had, I would barely manage fifty thousand rupees. And clearly, without five lakh rupees, this publication would not publish my Novel.

“You are right Sir. I really don’t have so much money.” I said.

“Sorry Aarav, I can’t help you. I am also just an employee in this company. I also have to follow company’s rules.”

“Right Sir, I can understand. May I leave now?” I said, getting up from the chair.

“Yes. But, it was a pleasure meeting you, Aarav.” He shook my hands.

“The pleasure was mine, Sir.” I also shook his hands and came out of the office.

I felt very bad. I had hoped he would help me, but that didn’t happen. He killed my hopes under the excuse of rules of his company.

But I had realized one thing. Publishing a Novel wasn’t going to be a piece of cake. It wasn’t enough to be a talented writer, one also had to have money to publish and market one’s book.

In the evening when I met Rihana, seeing my sad face she asked,

“What happened Aarav? You are looking very sad. Any problem?”

I had already decided to not tell her anything about today’s meeting, to avoid breaking her heart. So, I said,

“Oh, nothing, I was thinking something.”

She was a girl, who knew me for so many months, and also loved me. So she sensed that I was sad about something. This was love…

“You are again trying to lie to me, Aarav. I have told you several times that you can’t even tell a lie properly. I catch you every time. Now tell me what happened. Why are you upset?” She asked again.

“It’s nothing like that. I am ok. You tell me – how was your day at Call Centre? I hope your fat boss was nice to you today.” I tried to change the topic.

“Everything was good, Aarav. You first answer me. Don’t try to change the topic. Why are you upset? Today you had a meeting in some publication company. What happened there?”

“The meeting went very well. They liked my story.” I again tried to bluff her.

“I can see on your face that you had a wonderful meeting. You are still lying. Ok, don’t tell me. I won’t even ask you again.”

She made a face like a crying kid. I could not see her like this. Girlfriends know how to make you do what they want. So I told her everything about the meeting.

“There are many good publications in Delhi. Don’t worry. Someone will definitely value your talent.” She tried to motivate me.

“Thanks. I was a little tense, but your words have given me a lot of inspiration.” I said.

“That’s why I ask you not to hide anything from me.“ She hugged me.