C16 MY OLD BIKE

When I met Tiwari ji in the office, I asked him for some advance money. He looked at me and smiled.

“I know you have a girl friend, so would be needing money. How much do you want, Aarav?”

I wanted a bigger amount, but couldn’t gather courage. I had just completed one month in the job and if I had asked him for 30,000 rupees, he would have refused. Still, I took a chance.

“Tiwari ji, I need 30000 rupees. You can deduct it from my salary in installments.”

“What will you do with this money?” he asked.

“I will buy a second hand bike. If you could help me…”

He thought for a moment.

“I can’t give it to you from the company’s account. But I will give it you from my personal account.”

I had very less expectation that he would say yes. I was very happy. My only thoughts were how happy Rihana would be with this surprise. Once she had shared that she wanted to go around with me on a bike. Now finally, I would be able to fulfill her dream. I couldn’t get a new bike with this money, but I could do with a second hand one. I had taken a chance with Tiwari ji, and luckily he had also helped with money. I went to my seat and started working.

Finally, I bought an old Yamaha FZ bike and parked it in my building. I wanted to surprise Rihana. I called her to my room. I waited for about an hour and was very eager to see her reaction on this surprise. Finally she gave a missed call, and I rushed down to receive her.

She was standing at the gate and was looking extremely pretty in blue jeans and matching blue top. She gave me a smile, and I gave her a hug. She smiled again and said,

“Now if you allow, can I see the surprise?”

I thought of having some fun, and told her “There is no surprise. I just wanted to meet you, so had made this excuse.”

She got very upset and looked at me as if I had committed a crime. She asked me again,

“Is there really no surprise? You were joking with me?”

“Yes, there was no surprise. I just wanted to meet you”

“On phone you were asking me to come fast, that there was a surprise. I couldn’t even do my makeup properly.” She made a face like a child, who was about to cry.

I started laughing. At the end of the day, she was also fond of make-up like any other normal girl. Holding her hand I said,

“You are so beautiful, Rihana. You don’t need any makeup.”

I was telling the truth, but she thought I was trying to cover-up for the ‘surprise’ joke. She stared at me.

“Why are you buttering me? So that I don’t get angry?”

“No, nothing like that. You really don’t need any make-up. My darling Rihana is sooooo beautiful.”

“Leave it Aarav. I know you very well. Tell me what was the surprise.”

It was clear she was very eager to know what the surprise was. I decided not to pull her leg any more. I took her to the parking, but she couldn’t get the idea.

“Why have you brought me to the parking, Aarav?”

“Wait for a minute.”

“Ok, as you wish.”

I took her to the place where my bike was parked along with several other bikes. I pointed to my bike.

“Look there.”

She saw many bikes parked.

“Are you mad, Aarav? You have brought me to the parking to show bikes? Staying awake whole night and writing Novel is affecting your brain. You need some rest.”

What could I say. I smiled and said, “Look at that FZ bike, number 5895.”

“Yes, so what? Why should I see someone else’s bike? When we have our own bike, we will go around.”

Pulling her cheeks, I looked into her eyes, “This is our bike.”

“Really???” her eyes became bigger with excitement.

“Yes, this is our bike.” I hugged her.

“Aarav, are you joking with me?” She became a bit serious.

“No, really this is our bike” I took out the bike keys from my pocket, and handed them to her. She shouted with excitement, hugged me and kissed me many times. This was the first time I was seeing her so happy. I only wished I could give her such surprises every day, and see her so happy, and she would love me in return.

“Where did you get all this money from?” she asked.

“I have borrowed from Tiwari ji. It will get deducted from my salary in installments. Sorry, I could not afford a new bike, so bought a second hand one.”

“Are you mad?” You have taken all this trouble to make me happy. I wanted to go around with you, I didn’t want a new bike. Will you take me on a long drive?”

It was such an innocent question. She knew I had bought it for her only, and yet, she was asking this question, as if there was a small child inside her.

I took out the bike from the parking and we left for a long drive around Delhi. After a couple of hours, she said “Why don’t we see a movie?”

It was 7 in the evening. If we had gone for movie, she would have got very late for home.

“If we see a movie, wont you get late for home?”

“I will say it was Pooja’s birthday, so got late.” She said.

After all these meetings over the past months, this was the first time she had talked about lying to her family to spend some more time with me. Clearly, she was very happy today, and I couldn’t even think of breaking her heart. We went to a nearby Mall which also had a movie hall. I wanted to see a comedy movie, so that I could see her smile a little more. I wanted to see Akshay Kumar’s “De Dana Dan”. I was a big fan of Akshay Kumar, and wanted to see this movie, but did not want impose my will on her. Luckily she also turned out to be an Akshay Kumar fan and wanted to see this movie. We bought two tickets, popcorns and settled inside the hall.

The movie had just started, when the phone of a boy sitting in our front row started ringing. It was a very cheap ringtone, more like a girl’s scream in a porn film. Everyone around was upset, but the boy was enjoying it. He had a very weird hairstyle and thought he was looking very cool. Thankfully, he put his phone on silent mode when people objected. I also put my phone on silent mode, not because it had a cheap ringtone, but to avoid inconvenience to others. It was an excellent comedy movie, and we all enjoyed.

After the movie I asked Rihana if I could drop her home on bike.

“Not today. Some other day. Its already very late and you will get stuck in traffic. Just drop me at the Metro.”

I dropped her at the Metro on my bike. She hugged me.

“Call me when you reach home, Aarav. Take care, love you.”

“Love you too. I will call you when I reach home.” I replied.

She left towards Metro station, and I left for room on my bike. I was very happy, not knowing my happiness was going to get destroyed very soon.