The fragrance of flowers rejuvenated my mood as I stood amidst them. It wiped off my sleepy mood and tuned it into a pleasant one. Of course, a better way to start the weekend.

This was the first time I visited this florist. A woman was on her phone, picking up the orders, while I turned up. "Hey! I'm El." I didn't mind introducing myself to her even though she was occupied, just in the hope that she would hand me a present at the very moment she heard my name. But my crap, she didn't.

"Hey kid! Choose the flowers you want to buy, I'll be back in a sec." She excused herself courteously. I couldn't hold myself back from seeing what was waiting there for me. I waited impassively until she showed up again.

"Sorry for the delay." She smiled genuinely and asked whether I had chosen the bouquet.

"Yeah, I did!" I blithed on an impulse.

"Actually No. I just... umm, is there anything?" I didn't know how or what to ask her. I took a deep breath and continued, "Jeez! I was told that there's something in here for me. Did someone give you anything to present me, I mean to the person El?"

She thought for a minute, and finally her eyes widened, implying that she remembered something.

"Oh yeah! I totally forgot it. What took you this long to come here, dear?" She asked as she went in to fetch something that probably had my name on it.

"Is this long? I got the hint yesterday, and I was here the next morning. Maybe I was a day or two late finding the book." I was murmuring by the time she came back.

"There it goes!" She handed me a glass vase full of white Asiatic lilies and white roses, beautified with dark blue iris. It was all glamorized with greenery here and there.

"Aw! Thank you so much." I gripped it with much care and firmly held it.

Amidst the flowers were letters rolled up and exquisitely laced with blue ribbons. There were two of them. I peered through the hollow hole created by rolling the letters to see if anything written inside was visible.

"Ah no! Save it for later." She chortled.

"Do you have any idea who the person is who gave you these letters?"

"Um. No honey. He didn't give his name. Excuse me for a moment." She was in a rush as people started showing up. I, with a little disappointment, went outside and came back home. All the way, I was embracing the beauty of blurry iris standing unique among white lilies.

"Where did you go, El? We were waiting for you." My mom asked me even before I set foot in.

"Umm... nothing but to grab this vase, mom."

"Happy birthday, my sweetheart!" Granny gave me a warm hug as soon as she spotted me.

"Thank you, Granny!"

I was quite nervous, hoping that they wouldn't see the letters.

"Self-gifting, huh?" Dad mocked me, thinking I bought flowers for my own birthday.

"It's called self-love, dad." I smirked. He laughed as he came closer and gave me a warm forehead kiss. I was relieved a bit, as they didn't spot the letters rolled up in the vase.

"And I just baked brownies and cupcakes for my warrior girl's birthday!" My mom held a plate full of delicious brownies topped with chocolate sauce and sprinkles.

"The best, I bet." I clutched the flower vase in one hand and fetched the brownie in another.

"You have so many gifts up in your room. You should be running by now." Granny winked at me. I promptly stuffed the whole brownie in my mouth and ran up with expectations rooting up.

"Be careful with your vase." My mom was being a mom.

The door of my room was slightly opened, and I could hear the noise from inside. I pushed it gently, making no noise, and sneaked in through the narrow opening. I got awestruck, as I didn't expect it. I didn't believe all of my friends had travelled all the way from Santa Monica and New York just for my sake. Everyone was there: Jas, Clara, Larry, Hazel, and Joe.

Gifts were placed here and there, and it was more like a mini-Christmas. Hazel was holding a chocolate truffle torte in her hands. Joe was secretly rubbing the sides of the torte with his fingers and licking them. It took Hazel a long time to safeguard it from him. Near her was Clara, with a bouquet in her hands. Jas was there, wearing a black birthday cap, and he couldn't control his laughter at seeing Joe. And there, our Flair Romeo was practicing for the birthday song.

No one noticed me, as already a war had been declared for the torte.

"Could you all spare me a little?" I walked in, closing the door behind me. Everyone stood frozen, as it was the time they least expected me to sneak in.

"Happy birthday, El!" They all shouted, and there was Larry singing a song of his own lyrics with no tune, to be honest. Only he can do that. Poor Hazel. I pitied.

It was written Ms. Insane cursively in the torte, and no doubt it should be Jas's idea.

Gosh, I missed this. The sense of being loved and cherished beyond the flaws, being within the walls of no judgements, the warmth they spread, the hope they sow all around, the messy things we do together to make sure we land in chaos downright. I honestly missed this.

After cutting the torte, it took only few seconds for it to land safely in the mouths of Joe, Larry, and obviously mine. But mostly in Joe's.

"So how are you doing? Any handsome hunk in your course?" Clara initiated it eagerly.

Instantly, I got confused about whether I should tell them about the mysterious man or not. After a quick thought, I decided to spit it out.

It took me almost an hour to narrate our unfinished story. They were silent for a brief moment, processing it. It was the first time silence coexisted in the place we did.

"Are you even serious?" Hazel asked in amazement.

"God no! She is just narrating a movie she watched probably yesterday or the day before." Larry was pretty sure it was a movie tale.

"Argh! Seriously guys? Why would I lie to you all?" I defended.

"Wait, so that's why you called me often to check whether I wrote you any letters?" Finally, Jas got the lead.

"Jeez! At least you got it, Jas." I relaxed.

"OMG! Then it's no longer a prank, huh?" Joe asked, wiping out the chocolate sauce that had dried around his mouth with tissues.

"It never was." I drank some water to energize myself for the next Q&A session.

"C'mon, shoot it. I'm all ears." I crisscrossed my arms, leaning against the wall, opening up my ears for all kinds of weird questions about history.

From all the things they inquired about, I realized that I knew nothing about him. It was thrilling to live through these puzzles, but at the same time I feared what if it was all a game, just like Joe asked.

Meanwhile, they didn't ask for the letters. That gave me a brief relief, as I wanted those to be personal, just between me and him.

"So his name is what? E and R?" Clara sighed.

"ER. Maybe Eric?" Hazel glued them into a name.

"Nah, I didn't like it. What about Edward? It's cool, right?"

"C'mon, man, even the name of an old vampire in Twilight is Edward. Try something new." Larry affronted Jas for his poor taste in the selection of names.

"I got it. I bet his name is Einstein!" Joe expected us to celebrate him for this invention.

"Oh god! I fear what you'll name after your kids." Clara sighed in pity.

"But for god's sake, where's R in it?" And in there, they all started making a ruckus.

"Oh, oh wait! Are we in the naming ceremony for him?" I raised my shoulders in disgust.

After all this chaos amid eating the brownies and cupcakes, we decided to leave it for future, as it was already evening, and decided to have an outdoor dinner.

After the food, we sat down for a campfire in our backyard. I appreciated my dad's idea of setting up a campfire tonight. It felt so good to be around them, teasing, making fun of ourselves, and laughing out loud like there was nothing to worry about. With them, it's only about living in the moment. No past regrets or future uncertainties can barge in. I felt the warmth around them, along with the warmth from the burning woods.

After burning down all the woods along with our chit-chat, they left, bidding bye. It felt hard as the place became quiet promptly. But I pushed that feeling down to some corner of my heart. Instead, I tuned myself to be happy to possess these kinds of domestic creatures in my life.

I rambled to my room, full of spirit after such a long, happy day. I comforted myself in the recliner near the window and took the vase. Flowers were already dull and soulless, making the letters amidst them much more peculiar. In one of the letters, there was a sticky note pasted stating, Read it after our first meet :-)

I couldn't withstand the suspense, yet I decided not to fool him with my juvenile deeds. I saved that letter for later and took the other one.

I opened it gingerly, and on one side it was written,

Why don't you visit Baker's Beach sometime soon and take a walk on the sand ladder? If so, don't forget to look at the 20th pole of the ladder while ascending back from the beach!

And there he gave the next hint. It's more like a treasure-hunt game now. He is enjoying giving the clues, and I am curious about finding them.

With so many butterflies rushing through my stomach, I flipped the paper around and started reading.

Blue to purple,
Sky turned into a teen.
Moon, the solo performer,
Chorused by the gust.

The stormy wind
Squeezed the woods,
Only the sound of snowy flakes
dripping off the leaves,
Besides our breath.

Days disguised as nights,
Anything barely visible
And everything freezes
Except our hearts.

Chillness uprooted
With no permit,
Followed by darkness
With no excuse.

No horns, no uproar.
No hatred, no regrets.
No one in the territory
But you and me.

Just you and me,
Taking off from the shore,
On top of an iceberg,
Being our Titanic.

Just you and me,
In the middle of nowhere,
In the middle of our own shades,
In the middle of insane love.

Far from the chaotic world,
Building our castle in the air,
With racing heartbeats as bricks,
And your smile as the key.

Over the berg with you beside,
Facing the sky eye-to-eye,
Floating through all the waters,
Pouring love all over the sea.

Whispering tales to the moon,
Composing soothing music
Over the strings of the breeze,
Making the waters blush,

Wishing everything to freeze,
This moment, this surreal feel,
Like just how you are
Frozen hard in my heart.

With every stare,
My eyes capture you
In portrait mode even after
You leave the frame.

Every minute you're by my side,
Every second, I gaze into your eyes,
Every time I hold your hand,
Every inch we travel afar,

My love for you inflames,
Making this poor berg tremble
Holding this much love
pouring over its roof.

That tickle in my stomach
Ascends in a rush
The moment you unfold
Your inner self up to the hilt.

With our true selves unbarred,
Nothing being concealed,
No filters, no masks
Just raw scars to be adored.

Two souls tied up in a knot,
With no buttons to undo,
With no one to untangle,
This seems perfect.
Damn! This is so beyond perfect!

This time,
I'm T.

"Uff!" I just exhaled while reading this letter, as every emotion leaked through my breath. Love, insecurities, self-doubts, contentment—everything is jumbled up. I was probably too overwhelmed by this. Or perhaps I began to question whether I was worth all of this. One way or another, I started embracing every emotion that rooted.

Some say, "How could we fall for a person even without seeing them?" Some say, "How could we love them even without knowing their character in person?" Some say, "How could we fall for someone without knowing their status, history, geography, and everything else?" But if I didn't fall for his letters, then probably for what would I?

I started wondering if I had already fallen for him or for the mere idea of him loving me. It was hard for me to figure it out at this stage.

Just like that, so many expectations emerged, like what his name is, how he may look, and how and when our first meeting is going to be. I imagined him with every name and every possible face I could imagine. And that's the beauty of imagination—no boundaries are set, unlike reality.

But in real life, he may be a different person than what I fancy. But that doesn't change anything. It was the soul he put into these letters that I fell for, not his name or address. Like Joe said, even if his name is Einstein, I will be happy to be with him.

•×•×•×•

And that's how our beautiful young lass fell for the mysterious man and his letters!

Let's go to the sand ladder together in the next chapter folks!

I hope you're as excited as El!

•×•×•×•