In the morning I had got ready for office, when Rihana called and said she had reached Green Park Metro station. The Metro station was just a short distance from my room, so I reached there within a few minutes. She would be waiting for me at Gate number 3, she had said, but I couldn’t see her anywhere. I looked around, and thought maybe she had given me the wrong Gate number. I thought of calling her. But before I could take out the phone from my pocket and dial her number, someone cupped my eyes from behind. From her fragrance I could tell she was Rihana. But I decided to play along, and acted as if I had not noticed. 

“Who is this?”

“you guess…” she tried to modify her voice.

“I know who you are …” I thought I will tease her further.

“Tell my name”

“Ankita… right?”

As soon as she heard Ankita’s name, she was furious. Removing her hands from my eyes, she angrily said “Who is Ankita? Your girl friend? What is your relation with her?”

She had asked several questions… This was the first time I had seen anger on her face. But even in anger, she looked beautiful to me. I looked down to make her think that I actually knew some girl named Ankita. And she did.

“Tell me, who is Ankita?” she again asked angrily.

“There is no one. I was teasing you.” I said, touching her cheeks.

She was still looking at me with suspicion.

“Arree, I was joking. Your smell had told me it was you.” I thought, maybe she will cool down, but she was still upset. 

“I am asking you for the last time, tell me who is she?”  

“I was really joking.” I said touching my ears.

“Don’t ever repeat this mistake, or I will leave you forever. Got it?” 

“Yeah, got it” I also smiled.

“Can we go to your room? I want to see it.” She said.

I was very happy. I could spend some time with – just me and her, all alone. 

“Oh sure. Let’s go. But the room is a little untidy.” I said immediately.

“Don’t worry about that. I will clean it.”

“Ok, let’s go.”

Shortly, we were standing in front of our building.

Which floor do you live on?” she asked.

“The top floor. It only has my room. I have taken that room as it is very peaceful, and I can concentrate on my writing.”

As we walked up the stairs, she asked me “Will you make coffee for me with your own hands?”

“Why not?” I said, but then I suddenly remembered that there was no milk. Giving her my room keys I said, 

“Here, take these keys. Go to my room, and I will get milk”

“Come fast. I will clean your room in the meanwhile”

She went towards my room, and I left to get milk. 

As I was returning, I was very excited. I was sure I would be able to kiss her for the first time. The only confusion was whether I should kiss her on her cheeks, or her lips. As I walked on the stairs taking big steps, my heart beats were getting faster. As soon as I entered the room, a tight slap landed on my face. I was shocked. Was this a way to express love? I could feel my dream crashing down. I could not understand why she slapped me.

I stood still, shocked in disbelief. Then I noticed Rihana was holding something in her hand, behind her back. She had same anger on her face, which I had seen at the Metro station a little while earlier. Her face was red like a tomato and was breathing heavily. Before I could ask her the reason for the slap, she said,

“You had lied to me that you don’t know any Ankita”

Oh no.. she had again started the same story. She was still doubting me. I again tried to pacify her.

“What nonsense. You are still stuck on Ankita. I told you I was joking”

“What is this?” she brought her hand forward. She was holding the cup with the mark of her own lips. I realized why she was angry.

“This is a cup. What is there to ask.” I smiled.

“I have to ask, Aarav. Aren’t these Ankita’s lip marks on this cup?”

 I thought of teasing her a bit, but then remembered that she doesn’t like this kind of jokes. 

“These are your lip marks.” I decided to be straight.

“Don’t try to fool me, Aarav. Tell me the truth – whose lip marks are these?”

“These are yours only. This is the same cup in which you had coffee with me for the first time. Remember, I was talking to the waiter in the corner?”

“Yes, I remember. You had gone to place the order for coffee.” She said.

“Do you know what I had told the waiter?” I said.

“How can I know?”

“I had pointed you to him, and told him that I wanted the cup in which you would drink coffee. I had given him 100 rupees for that. As soon as you all left, I had got this cup.”

Rihana looked at me as if I was the biggest fool in this world.

“Why did you do that?”

“Because I had started loving you. And I wanted to keep your memory with me forever.” I smiled.

“This is height of craziness, Aarav” she smiled faintly.

I looked in her eyes, held her hands and said “Love, which is not crazy, is worthless.”

She was standing so close to me, I could feel her breath. Without batting her eyelids, she looked into my eyes, and said “You really love me so much, Aarav?”

“I love you more than my own self” I said pulling her even closer to me.

And then our lips touched each other. I took her in my arms and started kissing her lips. My hands were all over her body. She was hugging me tightly… our bodies were crashing into each other…. We reached the corner of the room… we were breathing heavily. I was just kissing her like mad. 

Suddenly my phone started ringing. I didn’t want to pick it, but when it rang the second time, Rihana pulled me away and asked me to see who it was. It was Bhayya. Today I had to go to his house with Rihana. I informed him that we would be reaching his place shortly.

I again wanted to kiss Rihana. She was looking at her lips in the mirror, which had got swollen due to my passionate kissing. She turned around and said, 

“Were you so thirsty? Who kisses like this? If Bhabhi sees this, what will she think?”

. Her lips had really swollen. But how could I help. This was my first kiss ever, and had to be memorable.

“Tell her, it is due to mosquito bite.” I suggested.

“Bhabhi has also passed through our age. She will know instantly that this is the job of a big mosquito.” She smiled.

I laughed. But in my mind I was planning to kiss her again. I started moving towards her. As soon as I hugged Rihana, and tried to plant a kiss, she realised my intention, and pushed me away.

“Aarav, have you gone mad? My lips will swell even more.”

“Tell Bhabhi that the mosquito was really very big.” I said and again started kissing her. A little later she freed herself and started getting ready. She opened her bag and took out a lipstick and a small teddy bear with a chain. I could understand lipstick, but Teddy bear?

“Rihana, do you wear this chain?” I asked.

“Are you mad? I have bought this for Bhabhi’s son. Isnt it good?”

I took the chain in my hands, “Yes, it is really very nice.”

My phone again started ringing. It was Bhayya again. I knew he was going to be angry because he had been waiting for long. But I also could not have lost the opportunity to love Rihana. I picked up the phone and told him that we were on our way.

“Rihana, we should leave immediately.”

Her reply shocked me. She came very close to me and said,

“You were behaving as if this was our last meeting, Aarav”

I thought she was upset that I had kissed her so much. Maybe she wanted me to kiss her more. I again hugged her. But before I could kiss her beautiful lips again, she pushed me away.

“Aren’t you getting late now? This is the beginning of our love, Aarav. We have our whole life ahead.”

I went closer to her and looked into her hypnotizing eyes.

“Do you know, Rihana… when I am with you, every moment is like a full life for me.” I hugged her and planted a kiss on her forehead.

“Will you promise me one thing?” I asked.

“What?”

“That you will never leave me.”

“Are you mad? In fact, I am afraid that you will leave me when you become a big writer.”

I could see fear in her innocent eyes. 

“No matter how big I become, my life would be incomplete without you. I love you a lot.”

She kissed me “I also love you a lot. Let us go now.”