“Roses are red, lilies are blue;

You are my lover, …so is Seau!”

“Err! Abhi who is this Seau huh?” Anu almost lashed out on him. Making poetic rhymes was Abhi’s passion. His conversations never finished without something or the other rhyming, rather out of sync. Maybe it was more or less instinctive to his vocabulary, cuss he never tried intending. It was funny how he used up words to construct even the normal of spoken phrases. Utterly grammarless is what it should be ‘to the point of being almost influent in his own speech; maybe the only reason he was being termed ‘A man of few words!’

Flirting “Seau?” glancing at Anu he queried squeamishly “Don’t you know her?” He enjoyed his own humor before anybody else. Even though he realized it, it was helpless. “Yeah ..yeah! must be your other girlfriend, isn’t it!”  Staring directly in him. Abhi had a stark tendency to easily get scared, especially of his only lady love. Never in his existence did he even once tried to hurt anybody’s feeling and took special care that would ever.

“Heehee! No ya …I was kidding.” He turned pink “You know…” he had that guilty smile stuck on him. Still not convinced of his motives “so why did; I mean, why did you mention the very name …dear! Anu reflected at her boyfriend with a glint of furious. Emphasizing ‘dear’ as if it meant something totally irrelevant to her.

He started Staring away at the hip Bandra crowd.  The young group of boys and nicely attired girls were strolling through the café entrance. He somehow found himself to be completely dumbstruck. He couldn’t think of anything now! he could say, stuttering with speech, “..I ..I was just kidding..Nidh’s!”

This valentine of the two newly met slowing started warning into turning bleak. The one he didn’t plan. Out of his sheer stupidity of inducing some unwanted fun, at which he wasn’t too good; strikingly backfired on him out of his dreamy blue.

Anu knew her boyfriend inside out. Having had read his every poems, his unspoken shyness, the way he could relate to any given situation made her fall ‘head-over-heels’ with this unassuming poet. As it is, ‘she didn’t knew many guys who were actually good at writing poems. Most of those guys plagiarized her with some awesome stuff to read. Slyly undersigning them with their own names. “Guys can never even write poems” she once said. Abhi mustn’t have been around that time.

A ‘Heylooo’ followed  ‘do I know you?’ on the virtual walls. It was Anu’s initiating the year long conversation. Hopefully whatever they used to converse in he busy hours were plain silly. No one to her friend list ever did understood the non-sense these two were talking about. Not a single day, since they met went without some or the other silly topic that usually lasted for hours. Abhi waited for her comments, and Anu was  simply great at multitasking.

It is quite amazing how two people can know so many things about each other without ever having met or having a verbal human communication! Abhi for some reasons didn’t asked for her number, even though she did hint it very much the entire time of their chats. They were smittenly caught in the viruality of things. And both felt that they had something, a feeling towards each other.

Came February, Anu and Abhi were feeling restless with the arrival of the 14^th. ‘Abhi will never initiate’ Anu was damn sure. ‘I should!’ Abhi drugged himself with the monotonous thinking. He got used to getting sleepless night and dreamy days that too during his college lectures soon after. ‘What if ..but ..nah!!’

‘What is 14^th Feb?’ came her innocent sounding message in his inbox. Summing up on his humor power, he quickly composed ‘a day that falls between the 13^th and 15^th Anu!’ His reply was followed by a tongued emoticon. ‘Tell me something that I don’t already know …mr obvious!’ was Anu’s quick tether at him.

The two went on and on and on… outwitting each other, and stopped like a sudden jerk ‘lets meet at Bandra….’  Both of them –Anu and Abhi couldn’t stop smiling, one of the humble reasons being of the phone number that Abhi got and Anu gave.

The waiter was back with their order of two yummy looking Crème Caramel Latte servings. The young waiter wasn’t short of smile either.

“Oh that reminds me!” The new Abhi without a quaint smile spoke. “I got you something  …Anu” almost immediately reaching inside the GRAB bag rested to left leg of his chair. He held out a box, not bigger than a shoes’s and almost too big for a ring. It was way too perfect for the size and on its green shiny wrapping. He even had a ribbon with a card hanging to the side that read. ‘Roses are red, lilies are blue;

You are my lover, …my love! just for you.’

“For you Anu.”

The very first thing Anu did read receiving was the sweet poem decorated on the package. “For me!” she as well may have jumped with joy, but it was the café. “Open it Anu.’ She was good at tearing things apart but now she kinda fumbled with the packaging. He couldn’t help but watch her, “Should I ..?”

Seeing her gift Anu screamed, surprising! Abhi and his cup stopped in mid air.

“i-pad?” “you got me a real ..really ..real i-pad! No ways. Are you sure this is for me!’” Anu wasn’t expecting any answer. Trying for another sip “It’s for you.” he smiled and went back to his cup. “I promised you to gift you this i-pad ..didn’t I?’ The crème marked his upper lip.  “I thought you were kidding when you said that. As it is why bring an expensive gift for someone you never even met?’

“Did you like it?” Abhi winked. “I loveee it man!” Her joy echoed the entire café. She was never used to screaming this loud.

“I am not going to give you the gift that I bought for you now.’ She chuckled. “Not fair ya. I want my gift.” He demanded like a preening kid.

Anu swept herself up from the chair, And landed a deep passionate kiss on Abhi’s lips across over the coffee table. The table cloth wrinkled and was short of getting swept away. She completely lost herself with the moment. For time being she did forgot that they were getting viewed by the entire crowd. In and from outside of that café glass window.

He didn’t wanted to let go of this and her too! …He slightly pushed himself back “Anu!” His eyes took the glow. “The latte’ is getting cold” He whispered on her closed eye’s. Slowly regaining herself  “Cheers!” falling back in her chair like out of a fantasy dream. Meanwhile, Short baby faced cupid were still revolving around above of her head…

“Finished with this? There is a sweet surpise here … !!!