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Recap:
Hi its me Riya again. In the last chapter, I told you about how the lives of my friends progressed - Nisha became a big model and a famous social media influencer, Arjun completed 1 year with his wife, Shiva got a new girlfriend named Samaira, and Sameer got divorced. Then the day of my birthday came and Ranjan was so busy that he couldn't wish me in person. And to top it all off, I had to do a BORING night shift on my birthday. I was turning off the desktop when suddenly a pair of hands covered my eyes.
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"Ranjan!!" I shouted.
He removed his hands and hugged me from behind.
"Happy Birthday Riya!!"

"How come you've been busy all day?" I asked with a pout as he turned to face me.
"I had work... and I completed it fast. So we have the whole night for ourselves" he grinned.

Then he said that he had planned a surprise for me. I turned off the computer and we went into his BMW. We started talking on random topics, and he told me that since he was a teenager, he had always had this fascination over cars. I nodded. I loved such deep talks we had, when he told me about his past or when I shared something from mine.

It was almost half an hour and I had no idea where we were going. The time was 11:20.
"Where are we going?" I asked.
"Its a surprise - I told you" he replied.
"Well, at least say when are we gonna reach?" I asked. I was annoyed. I'm not a car person - it makes me feel sick.
"In about 10 mins" he said.

True to his word, we reached a beach soon. But what surprised me was - there was no one on the beach. And, there was a tiny dinner table with just 2 chairs. The whole scene was decorated aesthetically. I had never seen such elegance in my life. It was a mixture of nature and man-made beauty - exactly how I liked it. Ranjan's choices weren't bad at all.

He took my hand and guided me to the dinner table. Then he pulled the chair so that I could sit.

Truly a gentleman, isn't he?

I had already eaten dinner and I told Ranjan so.
"Atleast have chocolate cake" he pleaded.
I agreed. My stomach was always empty for chocolate cake.

We ate and talked. By the time we finished, it was 11:55. I got up to head to the car. It was getting late and I was scared that my father would be worried for me.

"I told him I was taking you out" Ranjan said, clearly reading my mind.

What good deed had I done in life to get such a guy like Ranjan?

Ranjan told me to sit on the chair. I obligded. He then took out a necklace - it was made of Rose Gold. It had a heart - on which the letters 'R' and 'R' were engraved.

"This is your birthday present" he said.

"Oh wow!! I absolutely love it!! This is the best gift ever!" I said as I held the necklace delicately.

It had another feature: If you pressed in the middle of the heart, it would break into two halves: each half containing one 'R' and then you could join it all over again. It was really cute. I had always wanted such kind of a necklace since I was a kid.

Ranjan just smiled and said, "Well , there is one more thing..."

Then he stood on his knees in front of me, opened a box, that contained a diamond ring and said, "Riya Dwivedi, the most beautiful and cute person I know - from the inside and the outside - will you marry me?"

I was surprised. I never knew Ranjan would propose me on my birthday!! I was soo happy - my exitement and delight couldn't be expressed in words.

"YES" I took the ring and screamed and gave him the biggest hug ever!!

While hugging him, I checked my watch - 11:59 had just changed to 00:00! So it was Ranjan's plan to propose me right at midnight.

Suddenly fire crackers exploded in the sky. I looked at Ranjan, he just smiled. He had done all this for me and I was really gratefull to him.

Then we rode back and he dropped me home. When I came home, my dad was still waiting for me.

"Ahh finally you came. How was your date?" he asked.
"Wonderful!" I said as I went upstairs to my room.

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I woke up in the morning as fresh as a a daisy. I was up early and I had nothing to do - Ranjan had given me a leave today even though I asked him not to. So I just had to be bored at home.

I decided to reply to other "Happy Birthday" messages that I couldn't respond to the day before since I was too busy.

All messages were fine. But one of them surprised me a little. It was a message from Sameer. It said: Happy Belated B'day Riya. Hope your day is good.

For the past year, he hadn't even contacted me once: and now he was wishing me happy birthday? I did feel that something was fishy, but I brushed that thought off. He was probably just being nice, my brain said. My heart asked, how can you put Sameer and nice in the same sentence?

I decided to not make it an overrated issue. I gave a simple reply: Thanks.
After that, I turned my phone off. I was kind of disturbed by his message, so I decided to go downstairs.

My father was not awake yet. Yesterday he made kachoris for me and then waited for me till midnight. He loved me so much and yet I spent my whole birthday on work and with Ranjan. I couldn't help but feel guilty. To make up to him, I decided to cook breakfast for him and go out with him today.

I made his favourite naan and palak paneer (an Indian dish). When he woke up, he was surprised to find me in the kitchen and even more surprised to see the breakfast cooked by me. He smiled and thanked me. We shared some quality father-daughter time during breakfast.

I asked him whether he had time so that we could go out as a part of my birthday celebration. He refused, saying that he had really important clients coming today to invest in his business. I kind of felt sad, but it was okay. He told he'd be back by 6pm.

The doorbell rang and my father answered it. Ranjan came and asked me if I wanted to go with him to watch the movie: Brahmastra. I immediately agreed. Bollywood movies hardly made it to theatres in New York, but when they did, I was desperate to watch them.

So we went on a movie date. The movie was pleasant - a clear mixture of romance and action. I loved that there was Sharukhan in it! I mean, who doesn't love Sharukhan?

But the best part of the movie date was when Ranjan held my hand when the Rasiya song played. It was magical. I felt as if the lyrics complemented us. This had to be the best moment of my life. Nah, the best moment was when Ranjan proposed to me. This was the second best. I swayed while listening to the song and watching the Ranbir-Alia romance on screen.

Bankar Tera Yara Rasiya, Soche Na Dobara Rasiya...
(Oh, sweetie, one should not ponder after being your lover)
Jogan Tera Mara Rasiya, Jag Jeeta Dil Hara Rasiya...
(My darling, I am completely smitten by you. I won the world, but I lost my heart)
Pag Tere Chaubare Thehre, Sadke Main Banjara Rasiya...
(My trip comes to an end at your door, and I am overwhelmed, my darling)
Rasiya Yeh Tera Hua, Toone Jiya Moh Liya...
(My dear, You've won my heart, and it's yours now)

"Aww.. they're so cute" I said to my self
"Just like us meri jaan" he said and kissed my hand.

After the movie ended, we headed to the car. Ranjan was taking me to meet his parents. I felt a little nervous. Scenes of what happened the last time I met my boyfriend's parents flashed into my mind.

"Its gonna be okay..." Sameer said.
"I hope" was all I could reply.

When we pulled up on the entrance of his house, I was amazed: it really looked like a royal mansion. I became even more anxious. Ranjan was the prince of a royal family. And who was I in comparison to him?

"You are my life darling" he said as he held my hand and led me inside.

Ranjan's parents were already waiting for us. I went to greet them in the usual Indian sanaskari way - touching their feet. But Ranjan's mother lifted me up and hugged me, "You don't need to do that dear"

I was so touched. It was a simple sentence, but it had too much warmth in it. I started tearing up - probably because I missed my own mother's hugs. Ranjan's mom looked at me and wiped my tears, "We are here for a special occasion, why are you crying?"

I just smiled and took a seat on the couch. Then she and Ranjan's dad talked to me. It was really entertaining and special. Overall, they liked me and I liked them. Somehow, they already knew so much about me. Turns out Ranjan used to talk about me all night till he became my boyfriend.

"And after he became your boyfriend, he talks about you all day and night!" Ranjan's mom laughed. I could see Ranjan blushing, probably because of embarrassment. It was a fun time indeed. Why had I been so insecure before?

When I was about to leave, Ranjan's mother stopped me and gave me 2 kangans (holy bangles). I tried to refuse, but she forced me to take it. I tried to act stubborn saying, "Aunty please...."
"I'm not aunty beta, call me maa (mother)"

I just melted at that. I couldn't refuse then.

"When is your dad free beta? We have to talk to him too to take the marrige talk forward..." Ranjan's dad asked me.
"I'll ask him and text Ranjan about it, will that be fine?" I replied
"Sure"

I loved his parents. They were so warm, kind and most of all - modest. I finally got to know why Sameer was a jerk and why Ranjan was a gentleman - it all depended on how they were brought up in their families.

After Ranjan dropped me home, I told my father everything. He was ecstatic! He told me to inform Ranjan that he was ready to meet his parents tomorrow itself! I cooked dinner for my dad as usual and chatted with him. I thanked my luck that I was living with my father rather than my mother.

At night, I decided to check my phone again. There was a new message from Sameer: Can we talk?

I tried to sleep, but couldn't. The message sent by Sameer was disturbing me - why did he wanna talk to me? And about what? I scolded myself for spending my dreamy time on my dumbass ex. I starting thinking about Ranjan and soon drifted off to my dreamland, dreaming about my marriage.