Sameer did not move his eyes from the open chat box, till her address propped up on screen. He typed a quick 'thanks'... his smile reaching his ears.

Next second, his eyes widened. She was putting up in Defence Colony... just across the road. They were literally neighbours. He could even jog down to her house. The distance of about four kilometers was nothing in a city like Delhi.

It took him a few minutes to come out of the shocked realisation, another couple of minutes to exhilarate about it... before he remembered why she had sent him the address. He fished out the number from his contact list. L'Opera was the place from where they ordered their cakes for every occasion... incidentally in Defence Colony only. He chuckled at the coincidence... it was closer to her house than his. After placing the order, and sending them the address, he fell back on the bed, staring at the picture that was now on his phone.

"Toh tum ho meri Naina ke Ayush. Sorry yaar, tumhe kitni gaaliyaan de daali maine... my bad. But don't worry, I'll make up for it. Yeh cake pehla step hai. Abse tum mere liye bhi utne hi important ho jitne Naina ke liye." He fondly gazed at the little boy who was in Naina's grip as she smiled at the camera, leaning behind him.

He noticed her eyes... they twinkled in the picture. They were as hypnotic as in real... but something was different. Her smile and eyes were brighter in the picture. In office, she always seemed to be a little guarded... as if hesitant to express, or maybe, to show any kind of expression.

"Ek din mere liye bhi aise hi smile karogi... dekh lena." He declared, determined to bring the same shine back to her eyes.

Naina quickly whipped up the pasta she was making for dinner. If the cake arrived before Ayush could eat something, his dinner would be a forgotten thing. But luck was on Ayush's side today. In less than fifteen minutes, the bell chimed.

"Offo, mere ghar ke neeche hi khada tha kya cake wala... itni jaldi kaise aa gaya." She wiped her hands and rushed to take the delivery.

"Kahan se aaye hain aap?" She asked the person at the door.

"L'Opera Cakes se ma'm. Very close by." The man pointed to his right.

Thanking him, Naina wondered if Sameer had decided to send it from a bakery near her house rather than his own.

Ayush's excited voice brought her out of all speculations, "Wow, kitna big wala box hai. Cake bhi big wala hoga na. Kitne nice hain tumhare sir."

She sighed, and placed the box on the table. Her brows furrowed in confusion when she opened it. The rich chocolate cake had something written with fine vanilla icing.

Sorry
Thank you

"Ispe kya likha hai? Happy birthday Ayush likha hai kya? Tumhare sir ne socha mera bday hai? Haww, isliye itna big cake bheja... achha hua unko wrong laga." Ayush jumped around gleefully.

"Buddhu ispe likha hai 'Sorry' aur 'Thank You'... lekin kyon likha hai pata nahi." She explained as she cut a piece for him.

Unable to wait, Ayush dunked his index finger into the icing and licked it, grinning when Naina glared at him. As she turned to pick a spoon from the stand, he again picked a finger full of chocolate icing.

Naina held his wrist before he could reach his mouth, "Achha, toh yeh cheating ho rahi hai. Jaa, nahi milega abhi piece. Tune finger se hi chocolate kha liya na... itna hi share tha tera."

"Naiiiii. Yeh wala toh tumhare liye laya tha main... lo, lo taste karo na... ek maine khaya ek tum khao." He lifted his wrist to her mouth.

She tried to move her face away, and his finger landed on her tshirt.

"Ayush ke bachhe, tune mera night suit kharab kiya. Ab toh cake bilkul cancel." Naina scoffed.

Ayush gave a guilty look to her outfit, and swiftly perched on the chair, "Achha pehle pasta kha lunga phir cake. Okay?"

She kept up the pretence of anger till she reached the kitchen. When he knew it was his mistake, Ayush turned into an angel. And that was the reason she had moved... so that his chocolate coated finger could spoil her tshirt.

"I know yeh dhoka hai par chalta hai... aakhir Ayush ki health ke liye hi hai na... toh no problem." She convinced herself for tricking her little brother into eating his dinner.

Only when they both were finally enjoying the cake did it occur to her that Sameer did not mention the reason for calling up earlier. There must be some reason for him to call her at home.

"Mujhe hi puch lena chahiye tha. Ayush ke chakkar mein dimag se nikal gaya." She sighed... then picked her phone, "Uss din sir ne bola tha kabhi bhi call kar lena toh abhi puch leti hun, message kar ke."

Ramdhari had just placed his dinner in the room when the beep announced a message. Thinking it to be from Sanjay, Sameer picked up. His eyes popped out seeing the name of the sender.

"Kya hua, Sameer bhaiya? Sab theek hai na?" Ramdhari gave a concerned look to his startled expression.

"Hn... haan. Tu jaa... meri call hai." Sameer nudged him out of the room, and shut the door behind him.

It was a simple message, "Sameer sir, you forgot to mention the reason for your call today. I just didn't want the work to suffer so I messaged. Hope it's okay."

"Haan ji bilkul okay hai... aap call karo, message karo ya ghar aa jao... last wala option toh sabse zyada okay hai." He winked at her picture, feeling on cloud nine at the chance to make another call.

"Hello sir, sor... nahi... arre haan... aapne cake pe sorry thank you kyon likhwaya?" Naina answered the call few seconds later, beginning her sentence with a sorry as per habit.

Sameer pursed his lips. He couldn't tell her the real reason... that he really wanted to say sorry to Ayush. And also, thank her for telling clearly that she had no boyfriend in her life.

"Aapko koi baat karni hogi na! Baaki sab baaton mein kaam ke liye toh kuch bola hi nahi aapne." Naina's voice brought him out of his thoughts.

"Haan baat... woh mujhe kehna tha... baat toh thi..." He fumbled. He had earlier dialled her number without thinking... had she not mistook him for the promotional caller, he would have been in a fix at that time also.

"Miss Naina, kya aap mera saath dengi?" He blurted.

"Kis kaam ke liye, sir?" She asked, without getting perturbed at his choice of words.

Sameer closed his eyes for a moment, pushing back the words which his heart was pouring out,
"Rohan ke liye ek chota sa send off rakhne ka plan kar raha hun. Kya aap usko arrange karne mein meri help kar sakti hain? Usse surprise dena hai."

Her voice was cheerful, "Sure, Sameer sir. It's a splendid idea. Tell me, kya karna hoga?"

"Kal subah bataunga. Let's meet tomorrow morning, okay?" He was confident now.

"Okay, sir. Good night, kal milte hain."

"Ek... ek minute. Woh mujhe Ayush se baat karni thi." He stopped her from disconnecting.

Naina wrinkled her nose, taking the phone away from her ear, murmuring why he was so keen to talk to her younger brother every time he called... she handed the phone to Ayush, mouthing 'sir' and indicating at herself.

"Hello, Naina ke sir. Cake bohot achha tha. Thank you." Ayush smiled sweetly into the phone as Naina picked up the dishes and went to the kitchen.

Sameer could have hugged him for addressing him like that. On the surface, he grinned, "Aapne kha liya? Naina ko khilaya ya khud hi saara khatam kar diya?"

Ayush recalled the large brown patch on her tshirt and lowered his voice, as if sharing a secret, "Naina ko bhi khilaya aur uske night suit ko bhi. Usne gussa bhi kiya. Lekin abhi bhi bohot saara cake bacha hai. Aapko khana hai?"

Sameer gasped, "N... night suit ko... uspe nishan lag gaya kya?"

Ayush nodded, then giggled, "White se brown ho gaya."

He remembered his white tshirt, that had taken the onslaught of chocolate ice cream... from none other than Naina.

Ayush stated in a delighted voice, "Lekin maine uska pasta kha liya cake se pehle toh Naina ne mujhe gussa nahi kiya."

"Oh toh Naina gussa bhi karti hai?" Forgetting the stain, Sameer lapped up the chance to know more about her.

Ayush again lowered his voice, "Jhoot moot wala. Phir maan jaati hai. Mujhe manana aata hai. One minute mein smile kara deta hun Naina ko."

Sameer found a new best friend, "Ayush, aaj se aap mere dost banoge? Main aapko roz chocolate cake bhejunga."

The kid rounded his eyes, "Roz? Phir toh Naina ki maar khani padegi... mujhe bhi aur aapko bhi."

Sameer wished he was in front of Ayush right now. He didn't know the person he had deemed as his biggest enemy for almost a month would turn out to be the biggest help.

"Aap mere bday pe bhej dena. Okay?" Ayush suggested.

"Aapka birthday kab hai?" Sameer asked eagerly.

"10 June. Pata hai, main five years ka ho jaunga." Talk of his birthday brought a new energy in Ayush's voice.

"Oh great. Mera 8 June ko hai." Sameer was equally enthralled.

"Achhaaa? Hum dono ka saath saath!" Ayush exclaimed animatedly.

Naina came out of the kitchen, and was surprised to find Ayush still on phone. She flicked her brows in question.

"Good night, Naina ke sir. And thank you phir se." Ayush quickly handed the phone to Naina and sprinted away to his room... hoping she hadn't heard him complaining about her anger.

"Sir, Ayush abhi tak aapko disturb kar raha tha? Sor... I mean, meri galti hai main usse phone deke chali gayi. Woh zyada hi talkative hai." Naina was apologetic.

"He's very cute. Mujhe usse baat karke bohot mazaa aaya. In fact, soch raha hun usse roz baat kiya karun... bohot pyaari baatein karta hai." The dreamy look was back in his eyes at her voice.

"Pyari nahi bohot saari baatein karta hai. Aapne ek baar sunna shuru kiya toh pagal kar dega aapko." Naina laughed.

"I really don't mind. In fact, I would love to meet him someday." Sameer hoped he didn't sound too desperate... which he was.

"Sure sir." Naina accepted without hesitation.

She waited for him to end the call, while Sameer was busy in mental celebration.

"Okay, sir. Kal morning mein milte hain." She said politely when he didn't react.

"Yes of course. Good... good night." With a heavy heart, Sameer disconnected.

"Hayee, ab yeh subah kab hogi?" Putting away the phone, he hugged the pillow... the glorious smile now a permanent feature on his face.

If you think this was the last update of 2020...I'm not letting you enjoy the last evening of the year without Samaina 😊

Next surprise update tomorrow evening