Thank you for joining me on this beautiful journey of love, friendship, and romance.

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It was a gloomy day, in mid-September 2018. The sky was covered with grey clouds. The weather report predicted loud thunderstorms and heavy rain. As anticipated there was a heavy downpour of rain that evening for the third constitutive day. The streets were empty and covered with darkness. Not a single soul to be seen except for the distant howling of street dogs. There was something too dark about the night. 'She' had no choice but to enter a house as soon as she found one. Without hesitation, she entered the first house she found. A few more yards and she would reach her flat, but destiny had planned something much more interesting for 'Her'. It was that exact moment which led to changing her life forever. Not right away, but this incident was a turning point and the main reason for something bigger to happen in her life.

Present day:

'Hi, I'm Ashika. Professionally a UI designer but I have always dreamt of being a professional baker. It's my favorite hobby and I have baked some of the most delicious old-school cakes. As you guys already know I have learned baking and developed an interest in it from my grandmother. If you want to know how my cakes are old school, it's because they are recipes that she gave me. I would love to give her all the credit. Turning my hobby and passion into becoming a people-loving baker is my aim. For people who have asked me, 'Do you bake cakes for you and your family or do you also sell them'? My answer is 'Yes', I have started a small business of selling my baked cakes. I'm the solo owner, chef, and seller. As I have some free time to spare I have even come up with new recipes and will soon start selling them too. I would be happy to get your support.

'This is the 50th time you're recording this Ashi (aka Ashika)' screamed Aparna in the background.                            

'Oh god Appu (aka Aparna), how many times have I told you not to talk when I'm recording , it makes my life a hell as I have to edit that part and upload it' said Ashika having a frown on her face.                              

'Oh sorry, I didn't mean to Ashika. I spoke unknowingly' said Aparna not taking her eyes off the book she was reading, she had a sheepish smile on her face and her eyes were gleaming with mischief as she stressed the word, Ashika.                                                                                                                  

 'Come on Appu, I always thought you are my motivator, my inspiration and you would never make my life difficult etc etc....... ' said Ashika rolling her eyes at Appu and trying to be dramatic.                                                                                                                                                      

'Uff!! Please keep this drama to yourself, Ashi, I'm tired of hearing this almost 100 times daily. Can we go out to have lunch at least now?' Asked Appu finally looking at Ashi with a grin.                                                                                                                                  

'Sure Appu, give me 5 minutes to get ready' said Ashi, she closed her camera, kept it aside, and went to her room to get ready.                                                                                     

 While waiting for Ashika, Aparna's thoughts drifted back to how she and Ashika met.

It was 7th September 2018, the sky had decided to mourn continuously nonstop from the afternoon. Having a bad day at the office I just wanted to go home. So got into a cab at the earliest. As I was the last drop, I got down the cab on the main road. My house was about 700 meters from my drop point. Hoping to reach home as soon as possible, I started walking faster getting drenched rain. The streets were silent and there was something unusual about the night. Not a single person to be seen. And to my bad luck, street lights went off.

Not knowing what to do, I decided to get inside a house and wait for the rain to stop or the street lights to turn on. As soon as I found a house to my left side I got in. I could hear my own heart beat loud and fast, as I had almost sprinted to reach this place, hence the sound of rain pouring was very faint. This was a first for me. I had never come across a situation like this before. Something felt strange, but I suppressed that feeling. There was no shelter inside the house and also I did not want to go further in so I stood there getting wet in the rain and Cursing the street lights under my breath. The thought of my house a few steps away was even more annoying. Standing in the dark inside an unknown house my mind wandered to a series of thoughts about how the day could have gone better and just about I heard a voice that snapped me back to reality.

It was a loud squeaky voice, like a child's.

I was startled and I slowly turned, just to see a girl holding a small light in front of her face, with Mickey Mouse pyjamas. I could not see her face from this far but the color of her pyjamas was so pink that someone could make 100 soft candies from them. It hurt my eyes just to see them from this far.

I thought whoa, how can someone wear this, just to sit at home?

I had to shake myself back to reality after seeing those pyjamas and her.                                                 

She saw my condition and murmured something under her breath while walking towards me. 

As soon as she came and stood in front of me she said 'Hi, who's this?' in such a loud voice that it sort of made me deaf.

I was so shaken by the question, the rain pouring and her in front of me that a 'hi' couldn't come out of my mouth nor I could tell my name, but that didn't stop her from speaking.

She started saying so many things at once like 'Oh you might be so cold, let me get you a towel, where do you live cause I'm so new to this place, and do not worry I am not going to hurt you, girls should not be standing out in dark for long at this time of the day, please come in................, 

She went on and on and on and I could not keep track of the things as she spoke, as she spoke so fast and her bright pink pajamas were too distracting that it was the only thing catching my attention at that moment.

Among all this happening, the girl in me was comparing her appearance with mine.  She was tall and lean and had the features of a Bollywood actress. She seemed to be a typical girl types. Long hair which was left loose, a pink hairband matching her pajamas, lip-gloss and furry bathroom slippers, and a black wristband. She seemed like the main character of a movie. She was opposite to what I was. Even though I had gone to the office, I had just worn a simple blue Kurti, hair tied up in a ponytail, Bindi to compliment my ethnic look, simple pump shoes, and a watch along with my laptop bag. Also in the end I wondered why don't have pyjamas like hers and also for a second wondered why I was not the fancy night pyjamas kind of a girl.

While all these embarrassing thoughts were running through my mind she shook my hand asking if I was okay and invited me inside her house.

By this time she was half drenched from rain and I was fully drenched from top to bottom including my laptop bag.

I felt guilty about the fact that some stranger girl was getting wet in the rain because of me.

Like all Indians, my instant response was telling 'No no', the rain will stop in some time and I'll go home.

But she was the persistent one. By then she started forcing me for the 4th time and I had no choice but to agree.

From that incident on my life took a drastic turn. According to me, I met the most amazing weird girl ever.

'Come on Appu let's go eat, I'm damn hungry, also I wonder what will always be running in that head of yours' Ashi called out to me. The same squeaky voice that I had heard almost a year back brought me back to the present day. I had this sheepish smile on my face seeing her.

Never did I know that a girl in pink pyjamas, who saved me from rain and dark, would be my best friend in the future.

Before we met each other both Ashi and I were independent girls who had our own dreams and responsibilities. But after meeting each other we had become more like sisters. We used to hang out a lot in Ashi's house and finally we became inseparable.