I had planned on giving Aunty the boxes and leaving the place as soon as possible. 

But looking at Mr. K, I was awestruck. Could not take my eyes off him. It was as if the world around me disappeared. He mentioned something to Aunty and went inside the room. I mentally shook my head and came back to reality and forcefully took my eyes off him. Uff!!

Aunty called me in again. I went inside, gave her the boxes, and replied 'Thanks Aunty, I'll come another day just to have tea. I didn't mean to bother you now. Also, I guess you have unpacking to do. For now, I'll leave, let's meet another day?'

'Sure beta, tell your mom thanks for this' said Aunty with a sweet smile.

Just when I was about to leave, it was him again Mr.K, he walked towards us speaking to Aunty. He mentioned something about me I guess. I could not hear a thing as all my attention went on checking him out. He had a perfectly chiseled body with  6 packs which was seen even though he was wearing a t-shirt. His t-shirt was v-neck and was showing off his broad chest which was covered with water droplets. His hair was damped with water, maybe cause he had taken a head shower. His eyes were big and blueish.

'Damn, he is sexy', my mind repeated this sentence over and over again. 

While I was staring at him, Aunty told something to me and I had to ask her to repeat cause I wasn't paying attention to her at all.

I was embarrassed to the core and my face turned red. Aunty said 'Its ok beta, meet my son Kishan'

To that Mr.K said Hi and extended his hand for a handshake like he was meeting me for the first time. He had this mischievous smile and I did not like it at all.

I smiled forcefully and replied 'Hi, Im Aparna' and shook his hand. He squeezed my hand slightly while giving handshake and I immediately pulled out my hand with utter shock. 

I felt a current pass through me and it was the first time I ever felt this way.

God just why? what was happening to me I thought to myself.  Is it because of the dream? Or is it because he is the first guy I was and wanted to notice after all these years?

I did not know, but the fact my heartbeat increased was so unusual, my body was reacting like it was some chemical or something. 

His smile widened after noticing my discomfort and I did not know what to do. I turned to look at Aunty to see if she had noticed any of this but to my luck, she was seeing what was inside the box my mom gave. This was my chance. I told him 'Nice to meet you'  and told Aunty bye and ran from there. I ran so fast that I almost tripped and fell.

When I reached to the front yard I stopped there for a while trying to catch my breath and collect myself and my thoughts back. I tried to level my breathing and waited until it became normal.

I could hear Aunty shout 'Kishu come and eat before you sleep'.

But did not hear his reply or husky voice.

I stood there for another minute because I had to go to Ashi's house. I did not want to get distracted. When I was ready, I slowly walked beside the garden and went to Ashi's house.

While climbing the stairs I wondered 'What was up with me'. All this was very new and I told myself 'This is not you Appu, its just infatuation'  and left all those weird feelings behind before going inside and meeting Ashi, as I had a more serious matter to discuss with her.

Ashi was my priority and she needed me, I did not want my thoughts to come in the way.

I had grown so fond of her in the last year without even knowing. She was more like a sister to me than a friend. Maybe I liked her innocence and also the fact she likes me so much. Oh, that can be so annoying at times. But she knows how to get me back to normal.

She had made such a huge impact on my life and hence I always will give back the favor. She may be a year younger than me but the role she plays in my life is so much more than that.

Keeping all this in mind I rang the doorbell of her house and within a gif, she opened the door and hugged me right away.

After a long long hug, she finally spoke.

'Thank god you're here Appu, you don't know how thankful I am to have you in my life' Said Ashi with a big broad smile.

'Keep your thanks to yourself, Ashi, let me come in now. Also, did you eat?' I asked her smiling back.

'No Appu, Aunty had called and asked me not to eat as she would pack me dinner' said Ashi taking the boxes from me.

'You and your aunty ' I said rolling my eyes to the obvious that she and my mom were closer than me and my mom, on mother and daughter basis of course.

'Stop rolling your eyes Appu, she has always been my second mom and you know that ' Ashi said with that strong tone.

'whatever' I said and made a weird hand gesture.

Ashi started imitating me and making fun of me.

At this moment she had forgotten about everything else and she laughed so wholeheartedly that her eyes sparkled with joy.

I wish for her to be this happy always.

Seeing her happy made me happy. I wanted this to stay until late at night so I did not ask anything about the rose.

We sat and ate our dinner which my mom had packed for us with Bollywood retro hits playing in the background while we chit-chatted about random things.

I did want to mention about my dream and Mr.K and everything that was happening. But I knew Ashi would worry and I did not want to add to her already complicated life. So I just kept listening to her and did not mention anything.

After about 9 pm we finished eating, cleaned up, and sat in her room.

HER ROOM, let me describe.

Her room was decorated in pink and white.

She loved decorating her room. She was so girly that every part of her screamed that she was a girl. She had a vanity mirror for makeup, she always wore a pink night dress, she had pink bathroom slippers, her eye mask was pink and not to mention, and even her bedspread was pink. It was like a mini-Barbie room to be specific. To top it all, She had matching accessories for all her clothes. She put photo frames all over her room. There was led neon light above her bed which said "Believe", again in pink. She even kept some soft toys to keep her company. Everything about her screams she was a typical girl. Also, she was multi-talented. I just loved everything about her.

But on the other hand, was I typically the opposite of that. I was a tomboy kind of a girl. Everything I did or did depended on my mood. Geez, I thought.

It was half past 10 when we decided to sit on her bed instead of Sofa to discuss the 'ROSE'.

After getting all comfy and cozy I finally asked 'Now tell me Ashi, what is it that is bothering you so much? What do you want to tell me?'

We only had the neon light and a small bed lamp turned on. It was dark outside and there was a power cut, again an ongoing issue in India.

From the neon light above us, I could see that Ashi's face had turned into a frown and then a worried look appeared on her face.

Looking right into my eyes she spoke.

'Appu, I have this feeling inside me that something bad is about to happen. You only know that usually I would take these things lightly and feel shy and happy, but this time it's different

I got chills from her tone and look. I just listened carefully.

'I feel like something is not right and someone has been stalking me. Not in a good way of course' Ashi said trying hard to swallow.

I took a few seconds to digest what she said and replied, 'Who might it be Ashi, any suspicious feelings about anyone? Any of your exes ?' I asked trying to give her hints so she and I could figure it out.

' I don't think it's any of my exes Appu, I haven't blocked any of them, they are all in touch with me and I doubt it's them cause I was not in any serious relationship with any of them ' Ashi said trying to remember all her ex-boyfriends.

This statement made me think twice. It had both advantages and disadvantages.

I did not want to push this further, so I just said 'OK, now don't worry. We need time to figure it out because there are a lot of possibilities, It may be your colleague, your ex or your college friend, etc'

She looked sad and worried at the same time and just nodded in response. We both did not have enough details to proceed further. All we had to do was be patient and wait.

'I know Appu but that's not the point. My point is why me? Why rose bouquet the way I like and more over why is that person not revealing himself? God, it gets me so anxious just thinking about it' Ashi said her voice trembling.

Like last time she had got the rose bouquet and preserved them. I did not like it at all but chose to stay quiet.

'For now, let's think and take action, Ashi. Do you want to take the matter to elders?' I asked seriously.

'No Appu. I feel we can handle it as the situation is not out of control' Ashi said with a calmer voice.

'Fine then, let's be more cautious and if you suspect anyone do let me know' I said 

'Ok appu.' Ashi said hugging one of her doll and lost in her thoughts.

I went over to her side and gave her a big teddy bear hug like she liked to make her forget all her worries. She smiled and said 'Thanks for always being by my side. I love you

'Always' I replied with a smile.

We then turned off the music and the bedside lamp and went to bed. Ashi towards her right hugging her doll and me towards her left.

I suddenly remembered my dream and all the things that happened today and wanted to tell Ashi everything but something stopped me from doing so. For now, I buried it deep inside my mind and drifted off to sleep.