College Fever

Prologue

Romance was on its Peak.

“Tonight I won’t let you sleep early,” He messaged.

“Why?” He received a short reply from the other end. “Because I want to talk to you at midnight. It’s like my fantasy, you know!” He replied.

“Okay baba! I am awake.” She agreed. He read the message but didn’t reply instead, he put his phone on charge and switched on the TV. He fiddled with the channels and finally decided to see WWE SUMMER SLAM on Zee cinema.

After an hour and a half, a new message popped up, drawing his attention towards it. It was from Sneha saying, “I am feeling very sleepy. I am going to bed now. Bye. GN. SWT DRMS. TK CR.”

He instantly replied, “You aren’t permitted to go to bed.”

“Okay! Call me now.” She reverted.

“Nope! I’ll call you after watching WWE.”

“Have you noticed the time? It’s going to be 12 o’clock.”

“Yeah, it’s GOING TO BE.”

She didn’t reply. Switching off the TV, he sent another text, “Okay! Within a minute I’ll call you. Don’t go to bed.” He waited for a minute and finally dialled her number.

‘One. Two. Three.’

She received a call on the other end.

“Hi.” A sweet voice greeted his ears.

“Hi.” He replied.

“Why did you want to talk to me at midnight?” She questioned.

“Well, because I am happy today!” He said. She could feel the happiness in his voice.

“And what’s the reason?” She smiled.

“Do you know after you left the home, what my mom told me?” He said.

“What?” She asked with excitement.

“Silly! Mom selected you. She likes you.” He answered.

A sudden wave ran through her. She was elated. She squealed and started jumping on her bed. After realising the time, she shut her mouth and controlled her excitement.

“You are not messing with me. Right?” She confirmed.

“Obviously not! Stupid.” He answered.

“I can’t believe it.” She whispered.

“Okay! Don’t believe. Bye.” He hung up the call.

She called him and pleaded, “Tell me na! What did your mom say you about me?”

“She said she likes you.” He tried to convince her.

“Okay! To fir ek hug to banti hai.” She said.

They laughed. They couldn’t believe that they were going to be married within a few months. They didn’t realise that it was 1 in the morning, for they were madly in love.

“You know that I love you till eternity.” She said blowing a kiss.

“And I love you more.” He blew a kiss in response.

“I am dying for the day when we will be enjoying our wedding day, standing hand in hand in front of everyone. I dream of the day when I’ll see you in the red dress and I’ll be beside you wearing a tuxedo. Our hands entwined filling the gap of our fingers. I’ll try to get a glimpse of you every now and then, and the best part will be, no one will ever be able to separate us.” He paused for a while.

She was imagining the things he was saying, she wanted it to turn into reality.

“And then.?” She asked. She didn’t want him to stop.

“Everybody would be jealous of me that I got such a beautiful bride. Our friends will be around us, teasing us, making stupid jokes. I’ll fall in love with your laughter all over again, and these dimples of yours would make me to kiss them.”

“I am loving your imagination. Keep going.” She told him to continue.

“I won’t leave your hand even though you’d be struggling to let it go, not even after your silent persuasion. After the announcement of the lunch, when all our relatives and friends would attack the food, we’d get some ‘us’ time, away from everyone’s eyes.”

Adil was expressing his dreams about the wedding. Sneha was lost in those dreams, enjoying everything he had imagined. She never knew that Adil had dreamt all the stuff, she never encountered Adil’s this side.

“And?” She said.

“When food would have drawn everybody’s attention, I’ll turn towards you and kiss your forehead. Our eyes will do the talking and we’ll be lost in each other’s love. We’ll be savouring every moment of our wedding day, and.” He paused.

“And?” She repeated.

“And then, someone would notice us, intervene the romance, and would take us to have the lunch. I’ll waiting for the time to pass soon so that I could finally take you with me.”

She was cherishing every word he was saying. She could feel that love was in the air, and wanted time to freeze.

“Then it’ll be time for the Bidaai. All our relatives will be gathered. You will be spending some last moments with your mom, dad and your brother. The photographers would be busy capturing those last and precious moments. It’s really hard for a girl to leave her entire family, her home and start a new life with somebody else. A salute to all the girls who are courageous enough to leave everything behind. And the moment you’ll cry, I’ll be there to hold you and will let you flow your emotions. But according to me you will not cry.” He spoke.

“Why do you think so?” She asked in a low voice.

“Because tears can spoil your make-up.” He said and they both laughed. They could see their bright future in front of them.

“What are your thoughts on our SUHAAG-RAT...? Mere priye PRAN NATH...?” She teased him.

“Am I the only one who has imagined our future? Didn’t you do some thinking?” He retorted.

“I never got a chance to tell you about my dreams.” She tried to explain.

“Let’s talk about your dreams. I want to hear about them. Actually, I am ready to hear your sugary voice till my last breath.” He replied.

“After reaching your home, I mean our home, our friends will take us to our room. It’ll be decorated gorgeously just like shown in the movies. They’ll make us cut the cake for starting our new journey, and will insist us to dance. A romantic song will be played. Even though you’ll be a little uncomfortable, you’ll pull me to dance so that our friends leave us alone after that.

After fulfilling our friends’ wish to dance, they’ll leave us alone. I’ll be a bit anxious and you’ll come close to me taking me to the bed. You’ll slowly push me on the bed, your one leg would be on my thigh, your feet playing with my ankle bracelet. After that, you’ll proceed towards my cheek, drawing something random with your finger, and when you’ll be about to kiss me on the lips, I’d suggest you to switch off the light.”

He was feeling blissful listening to his future wife’s imagination. He wanted to listen her all his life.

“After that?” It was Adil’s turn to ask the question.

“After the lights would go off, we’ll be lost in each other’s arms. We won’t talk but our eyes will. Like ever man, you’ll make the first move. But I’d feel nervous, so I’d stop you from going ahead. We’ll be tired because of the wedding rituals, and you’ll fall asleep before me. I’ll then go to the washroom and slowly strip, but you won’t be there to take any advantage. After changing into something comfortable, I’ll come and lie beside you. I’ll adore you sleeping peacefully like a kid, before myself going to sleep. Thus, we will spend our first night without doing anything.”

“You are very smart haan!” He said. Before he could say something else, his phone warned him of low battery. They were so busy weaving their future that they didn’t realise it was almost 4 a.m. He yawned and Sneha suggested to go to sleep.

“I think we should go to bed now.” She said.

“Yeah. We should.” He agreed.

“Good night. Sweet dreams, take care. Bye. And the most important thing, I Love You!” She said and blew a kiss. Adil too replied with a kiss and hung the phone up. They put their phones on charging and went to sleep.