Aparna's POV:

It was a sunny day today. As we decided to go out and eat, Ashi got ready and after what felt like hours of arguing on where to eat we decided to go to Subway.  Ashi was craving for some Subway tandoori tofu. I always wondered how people even finish those things in one go and also I was not a big fan of Subway.

Ashi never wanted to disappoint me so she decided to buy me a cold coffee after we ate at Subway as compensation.

As always I can never say no to her sweet way of asking things.

She always believed in two ways. She was a non-selfish person when it came to the people she loved. Her only mantra was if Appu is happy, I am happy.

We drove to a nearby Subway which was 3 km from her house. I was never a fan of walking so I took my bike wherever I went. Ashi always loved to drive my bike, she did not own one and always dreamt of buying one. So whenever she was with me I always made sure I gave her my bike to ride.

She came from a family with 3 elder sisters and she is the youngest and the only one working among them was a very bravest and ambitious girl I had ever met.

She had come to Bangalore for a job and stayed here since then. Her parents visited occasionally and of course, I was her unpaid roommate for the time being.

We reached Subway around half past 2 and as usual, being the responsible one and a year older than her, I had to do all the older ones' jobs like ordering food, paying bills, etc. So I went and ordered her favorite tofu for both of us along with a lava cake as dessert.

We both loved deserts. At least that was the only thing we both agreed on.

While waiting for our food, being the talkative one Ashi showed me a video on Instagram and started talking about how couples are so cringe these days.

We laughed after seeing the video and completely agreed with her statement. I was not a believer in love or relationship, as I felt it was all fake, in this generation of Gen Z true love was hard to find. I had never been in a relationship yet, Ashi on the other hand had few past relationships.

Being a realistic girl I believe in one man for life. It may sound very old school in the 21st century but it had completely to do with the way I was brought up and also I never regretted the fact that I was that way. I enjoyed being like that.

While we continued laughing and watching videos about couples and waiting for our order, a small boy came up to us gave Ashi a rose bouquet, and ran away. Before we could comprehend on what happened and react there was no one around and the small boy had vanished into thin air.

This was strange. A million thoughts in our heads and possibilities of who would give Ashi a rose bouquet, that too this time of the day and most importantly so specific in color and presentation.

It was not a normal red rose bouquet. Ashi always liked and preferred three white roses tied with a bow. She also preferred thorns to be in the flowers as she believed in the quality of life. Where there is love and sweetness there will also be hatred and bitterness just like roses with thorns.

I remember her telling me about this at the start of our friendship.

This rose bouquet was exactly in the same manner.

Seeing the roses Ashi's face turned red like a tomato and anyone who saw her could tell she was either blushing or embarrassed like hell.

But only I knew she was both together at this point. Even though me and Ashi knew each other only for a year there is nothing that Ashi has kept from me. At least I believed so. I was the quitter one and thought twice to share anything but Ashi being a big mouth made sure she told me everything about her life. Past present and future.

Our order arrived, we kept the roses aside and decided to eat our tofus still in shock and unable to digest the fact that Ashi was probably being stalked and was given roses. 

It was quite shocking that Ashi hadn't uttered a word since. She should have spoken about this long ago. So I decided to break the ice.

'Ashi, you want to talk about it ?' I asked, with Tofu in my mouth.

'I'm still trying to process this Appu. I don't know why, but something feels odd' said Ashi playing with fries in her hand.

I did not want to push further so I let go about it.

We finished eating in silence and decided to go drink cold coffee which was across the street.

After debating for a while Ashi decided to take the flowers with her. I was against it cause it would confirm the person who has given her that she likes it. Ashi being Ashi did not feel like throwing them.

Leaving the subway we made sure to screech the place trying to find something or someone suspicious. It was not of any use.

Not being dramatic but I was expecting them to appear again and give Ashi some chocolates cause that would be more amazing and it would confirm someone was having a crush on Ashi or stalking her also I could see Ashi's tomato face again and could make fun of her all day.

But nothing like that happened and it was just the roses.

The only thing we were scared of was whether someone was following us, because they knew exactly where Ashi was, to give the roses. That means they must be following her and she lived alone in her house. I was a bit worried for her but I decided not to show it cause it may be just a prank. Overthinking will only cause more stress.

I tried to cheer Ashi by teasing her with random guys passing by us while drinking cold coffee but Ashi was lost in thoughts. She tried to stay cheerful but failed. She did laugh but not in her usual way. After finishing our drink we decided to stroll on the streets for some time cause we were not yet ready to go home.

'What if someone is stalking me Appu ? ' asked Ashi drinking her coffee and finally talking about it.

'Then you must be happy Ashi. See people don't even look at me. Your beautiful, outspoken, attractive, etc etc .. ' I said trying to be all dramatic as I wanted Ashi also to take this lightly.

'Please be serious Appu. I did not mean like that. You know it. I'm scared Appu, and I don't know why' said Ashi looking lost and scared.

'This is just the first time Ashi and there is nothing to be scared about, if it happens again then let us take it seriously. Ok? It may be some random college guys playing a dare game or it may be a prank. That's it, and don't worry, I'm always here for you.' I said and hugged her, trying to calm her down.

Ashi never uttered a word after that which was very unusual again, and also she was not quite pleased by what I told her. I could see the worry on her face.

To be frank, even I was not convinced by me, but had to keep it that way.

Ashi had her thoughts and doubts. This bothered me a bit, but knowing her I knew it would not take long for her to become normal again.

The whole time, until we reached home the worry on Ashi's face never disappeared.

'Was she keeping something from me ?' I wondered.

This thought held onto me for a bit but it never bothered me much.

I trusted Ashi way too much and knew she would tell me if there was anything, I just had to give her some time.

Around 5 pm we came back home.

Both our gut feeling told us that it may be a prank and we left it at that.

Ashi decided to preserve the roses, again I was against it as I felt it may bother her. She always made sure she did what she wanted and asked me very sweetly. I agreed.

As it was the weekend Ashi continued to work on her baking order and I started listening to music and lay down on the sofa beside the window.

There was a slight cool evening breeze which put me in dozing mode.

I drifted back to my fairyland. The land I visit when I'm asleep.

I usually dream of Disneyland, princesses, unicorns, and all the rainbow fairy stuff. 

As usual, while dreaming, it was all beautiful and colorful, I kept on dancing until a guy on a white horse came in my way and all of a sudden I could not move. I was stuck like a statue.

He was so handsome and all I could do was stand and stare at him.

I never thought he came for me until I heard him call my name and held my hand. This time he was right in front of him and I could see his beautiful greenish-blue eyes and I could feel him and smell him.

I loved the smell. It almost smelled like lavender. Strong fragrance. It felt good at first and then out of nowhere, we were on his horse riding to nowhere.

We were completely lost in the greenery around us and no one to be seen.

I'm just staring at him in awe and he has a smile on his face. He knew exactly what he was doing. I couldn't move and again all of a sudden it was dark. I'm surrounded by darkness.

I scream my lungs out but my voice does not come out of my mouth.

I'm scared and stuck. No colors, no rainbows, no white horse, no him.

It had all vanished into thin air.

Then suddenly a ray of light appeared and the only thing I could see was a girl, I was finally happy to see her and by the time I asked her for help it became all dark again. So dark that it started suffocating me.

I couldn't breathe and I was choking, just then in the far distance I heard someone screaming my name, I turned around and I couldn't see anything or anyone and then someone hit my head. It hurts. I hold my head and I open my eyes instantly. I was breathless, trying to catch my breath. I slowly wake up and sit on the sofa.

Ashi was jumping with joy in front of me and I was still in a trance trying to comprehend my dream and process it. This never usually happens to me. Especially when I take my afternoon nap. It is usually no dream at all or only a fantasy dream, and also  I never forget my dream, and always my dreams tend to give me a hint about something. Maybe that's what I thought as in many instances my dreams have come true.

This dream was like never before. I was confused and had this strange feeling but I chose to ignore it as we had enough on our plate to digest for today.

'Also it was just a dream and no one had control over their dreams right ?' I thought still sitting on the sofa and one hand on my forehead where Ashi had hit me.

Whatever, even though it felt very strange, first the roses and now this dream. I wanted to spill the beans to Ashi, but I chose not to.

Seeing her smile made me happy and that's all I wanted for now.

I did not want to spoil the fun so I took the pillow next to me and threw it at Ashi, she made that puppy dog face. 'Woah what a view,' I thought. I was amused and I started laughing my heart out, and that's how it started. For the next 15 minutes, we played a pillow fight. The evening flew by and all our worry evaporated.