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‘You had me much before that,’ he said, smiling a slow smile.
‘When? The fish?’
He shook his head.
‘The cakes?’
He shook his head.
‘The very, very first cake?’
‘When I left Dad,’ he said and I noticed how he left out ‘your’, ‘in the hospital, he told me that you were already sorry about what had happened.’
‘Really?’ I asked, surprised.
‘Yes. He asked me if I still loved you.’
‘Oh!’ I said, taken aback. ‘And what did you say?’
Purva smiled and his eyes shone. ‘That I could never not love Kasturi,’ he said, shrugging his shoulders. It took a moment for realization to dawn upon me. So Dad knew all this while! I had been on the phone with him pretty much every day, fretting about Purva, and he would tell me to be patient and to understand how much Purva meant to me.
‘Even when I do stupid things?’ I asked, wide-eyed.
‘Especially,’ he said, smiling, ‘when you do stupid things.’
‘Why?’
‘Because that’s the way it is.’
I smiled a wide, happy smile and promised myself that I would never again take for granted the love that I am lucky to get from Purva. It is pure and genuine and people die many deaths to have this in their lives.
‘So you were never really angry with me?’
‘For a bit I was. You know, when things seem to fall apart, I often try to let go of the idea of how I think things should be. Maybe there is a bigger picture I cannot see? I know you well enough, Kasturi, and the more I thought about you, the more convinced I felt of your love for me, though you seemed very unsure. So I decided to simply wait for you to figure things out in your head. If you did not love me, I could not force you to be with me, and if you realized that you did, I was right here, waiting for you.’
My mind inadvertently went back to the misery I had to go through during the time Purva had refused to talk to me and a chill ran through me. That was a part of my life I did not wish to relive.
‘Of course, I am sure, Purva … very sure of how I feel about you,’ I said, my heart melting like warm wax with love that really knew no bounds. ‘I love you so, so much.’ I added, spreading my hands wide to show him how much.
‘Silly girl!’ he laughed and kissed me on the forehead. We chatted more – about Dad’s surgery, about Pitajee and Anu.
When I glanced at my watch, it was already one. ‘Will you drop me home?’ I asked.
‘Yeah, of course,’ he said, getting up.
Hand in hand, we walked out of Purva’s office but stopped short when I opened the door. The sight that met my eyes stunned me into immobility.
Ravi Singh and Pretty Nurse were pacing the corridor, their body language giving away their anxiety. Behind them stood about twenty people, staring expectantly at the door that had just opened to reveal us.
‘They’re holding hands!’ someone shouted.
‘Oh yes! I win!’ someone else shouted
‘I win too! Five thousand rupees!’ another woman screamed.
‘What’s going on?’ Purva asked me, looking bewildered.
Ravi Singh and Pretty Nurse ran up to me and, after hesitating for less than a second, gave me a quick hug.
