Yes - Part 3

You can read the First Part Here

And the Second Part Here

Panting and practicing Ajay stared at the clock. It was 11:00am and he was late. Sameera laughed at her brother’s misery as Ajay turned the whole room upside down for the red tie Mishka had given him for his graduation. “You sure you want to do this today Ajay”, a worried Sameera asked. “I have waited years, I love her, I want her, and now I have a job too. She can study after we marry or maybe we can wait for her to finish her studies but I need to know she will be mine for the rest of my life” Ajay remembered the blank pain in Mishka’s eyes - the day her parents died. He had decided he would make his life’s mission to make her happy always and now he has reached a level where he could fulfill that mission, why stop now? Finally Sameera had some pity on her brother and tied the tie she had been hiding all the while and kissed her brother good luck.

On the way to Mishka’s place he kept thinking about how after her parents’ death she lived with her aunt and uncle and they had so many restrictions levied on them. They had no more late evening cycling trips, the band was shut down and they could meet every day but just in school and after his 12^th only during vacations thirty minutes per day. That is when they came up with the old school letters game. Every day when they met both of them had a letter filled with not important but important stuffs that they couldn’t talk about in the half an hour mirth and blissful meets. Soon it became a habit and they wrote everything important in letters over the years.  Distance was set to test their love but his determination to get a job as soon as possible and finish the journey whose destination was this very day kept him going. He had come so far and nothing could have stopped him nothing but a word.  He reached her place and pressed the doorbell for the 1^st time in his life. Uncle came up to the door and greeted him with a smile. One step inside; his eye caught the visage of his girl sitting on the dining table, smiling nervously and clenching a piece of paper tightly in her right hand. The breakfast on her table was untouched and he knew what that paper was. Without wasting any more time he started speaking as soon as chachi entered the drama room. “Sir ummm Uncle I know, I think you know this day was coming. I know it’s early, I mean very soon. But I got a job and I don’t want to… I mean it is ok if we… I want to marry Mishka. I know she has just started her graduation and is quite young but…” rest of it was all lost. Mishka kept staring at Ajay while he babbled in front of her Uncle, tears rolled down her cheeks, she didn’t even notice the muffled laugh Neha was trying so hard to control, her heart was thumping and all that kept playing in her mind were the words of that letter.

“Mishka

I dreamt of this day ages ago, when I would ask you to be mine but was scared of a “No” so the day took pretty long to come on the calendar. But now, I make a promise to keep. I’ll ride like a knight, without the armour or steed (unfortunately), Race to you place when I get a job and ask your Uncle for your hand with brimming hope. If you have no qualms getting married to me Say yes now Mishka and the year will pass in a jiffy. I respect your dreams and your aims in life, but it would be my pleasure if I could be a part of it with all rights. I love you, you know that. You love me I think. You are my saviour, my miracle, the person who made me realize my dreams and taught me to follow my heart with my responsibilities. I want you to be a part of my life forever. Please say yes.

Love you always

Ajay.”

The moment she read it she had tears in her eyes making them sparkle and with some mustered up courage she made her cracking voice say “Ajay, Yes!”

Her memory train came to a sudden halt as everyone in that room stared at a cheery elderly face bringing the moment to stand still with a delighted “Yes”. Uncle had said yes even before Ajay could finish his super unsuccessful attempt at a speech.

Neha later informed her dear sister that she had been feeding seeds of their love coaster to their uncle and aunt regularly and they knew Ajay was coming that day. Mishka couldn’t thank her sister and Uncle enough but knew that their love had made that “Yes” the purest word of her existence now. Ajay and Mishka smiled at each other dreaming of the world that reverberating “Yes” was the door to.