Dedicated to ashona2

Prabir and Bhargavi came downstairs and all of Prabir's friends clapped and cheered, as if they were already a newly married couple.

It was a very joyful event, Bhargavi was elated observing the beautiful decorations. The paper flower garland and especially the condensed butterflies flying heart were the centre of her attractions.

Ms. Nalini was awestruck as she glanced at Prabir and Bhargavi, they really looked like a beautiful couple.

Prabir went to the kitchen platform and returned with the big chocolate cake he had baked. Parul rushed to bring some candles. She placed the candles on the cake and lit them happily.

Vishwesh held the knife but passed it on to Prabir to hand it over to Bhargavi. Bhargavi cut the cake after making a wish and blowing the candles, as everyone happily sung the birthday song, clapping their hands.

Sarvesh was busy capturing these moments on his camera. However, he took more photos of Parul than anyone or anything else. Prabir took turns with his friends as they took several group photos, not wanting anyone to be left out. Sarvesh was also roped in, several times by Prabir,who teased him casually saying "Mr. Professional photographer, please honour us with your humongous presence, here beside Parul."

Bhargavi gave the first piece of the cake to Bhawani, then followed by Parul, then her Maa and then Prabir. The youngsters almost ignored the presence of the elders in the room, and hooted and whistled as if they were enjoying a romantic movie.

Prabir fed back Bhargavi a really large piece of cake, which was fluffy, tender moist- crumb, with the perfect amount of sweetness. The chocolate cake was one of the most craved recipe for Bhargavi. Though everyone starting from Bhawani to her Maa, had filled her mouth with a small piece of the cake, but she was craving for more of it.

Prabir took the cake back to the kitchen, followed by Ananya, Parul and Bhawani who helped him, place one piece each on plates and hand them over to everyone present.

Ayush then presented his masala tea to everyone, in paper cups and enjoyed the comments, as everyone relished the beverage.

The house was filled with bustling activities, and loud music. The snacks were served a little later. Prabir was engaged in the kitchen and Bhargavi seemed to be impatiently waiting to just steal a glance at him, every now and then when he suddenly walked out of the kitchen.

The dinner was simple,plain jeera rice, roti and paneer butter masala, veg korma. For dessert everyone was served ice-creams of different flavors and Ras Malai.

When the party was over and everyone left slowly, Prabir relaxed a bit sitting on the sofa besides Ms. Nalini. Then he placed his head on her lap and she softly ruffled his hair.

Bhargavi stood up from the chair she was perched on and walked upstairs to Parul's room to get changed finally. She hurriedly changed and came downstairs removing the heavy earrings and hair accessories, again pulling up her hair into a messy bun . Ms. Nalini had already left, after picking up some of Bhargavi's gifts, followed by Bhawani and Parul.

Prabir and Mr. Banerjee were trying to clean up the living room and Bhargavi joined them, she had held up two dirty plates and her hand was grabbed by Prabir.

"Bhargu no!", Prabir protested.

"Please let me help, you all are so tired, please", she pleaded with Prabir.

"Then leave this, you have received so many gifts, that you need to carry on with you", Prabir said calmly snatching the dirty plates from her.

Bhargavi picked up the remaining gifts and then left for her home sadly. She was super annoyed with Prabir who did not let her help him even once.

She sat down on the floor in her room, and started to open up the gift wrappings. Her eyes fell upon a big gift which had no mention of the person who presented it, but she placed it aside and opened the others.

Ananya had gifted her a beautiful bracelet. Vishwesh had gifted her a small purse. Sarvesh had presented her a beautiful wrist watch. She felt her phone beep with a message but she ignored it.

She finally opened up the gift with no name mentioned on it after having opened all the other gift wrappings. It had a  taupe coloured stylish handbag, which was not only fluffy but unusually very heavy.

She unzipped one of the chains and found  three pepper spray cans inside, a small pen knife, a round moon shaped light aluminum alloy torch and a 5.5 inches long pointed keychain, ideal for self defense crafted out of hard steel, that had finger grooves for better control and grip. There was a small note implanted inside that said, ' From your loving angel '.

Bhargavi had been so engrossed in her discoveries that she did not pay any heed to her phone that kept buzzing again and again. She softly sneaked out to see that her Maa and sister were already asleep and it was 11.45 p.m. She opened her purse, counted some money and held it tight in her palms, then she crawled upstairs tiptoed and jumped off the terrace to land on the terrace of Prabir's house.

She softly approached Prabir's room. He was still awake, glaring at his phone, pacing in the room restlessly, but he had already changed into ordinary trousers and a navy blue t-shirt. Bhargavi softly closed the door behind her on entering the room. She handed him the money, " it's still 11.48", she said noticing the time on the small clock placed on his table, " and you are accepting this money, granting my wish. That shirt is a gift", she further added.

It was the exact amount that the shirt costed, which she had wanted Prabir to purchase earlier in the mall.

Prabir moved closer and slammed his lips on hers, kissing her softly, tenderly but for quiet long, pulling her close to him. When he lifted his head breathless, he looked at the watch and mumbled," it's past 12now and I am not granting your wish."

"Fine I'll leave then, goodnight", Bhargavi said disappointed.

Prabir held her arm and she jerked her hand away, " Don't. Don't touch me."

"So you are here only to throw that money at my face?" Prabir said with disgust snatching the money from her hands.

"You don't have to take the money, return that shirt to me. When you feel I am worthy enough to gift you a shirt and not get bankrupt in the process, let me know, I'll give it back to you.

You know this is the only reason I don't like to open up to people. You know very well that I am the sole bread earner in my family, as I don't let Maa work anymore, and that makes you treat me this way", Bhargavi snapped and darted to open the door in order to return to her own room but Prabir stood in front of the door guarding it, with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Before you deliver the punishment, I need to tell you... that you are doing grave injustice to me Bhargu.

I texted you about 15 to 20 messages and you didn't bother to give a single reply, so I assumed that you might have fallen asleep. But now that you have graced me with your presence, the first thing you did was to hand over the money to me and when I refused to accept it you wanted to leave. It just pissed me off.

I need you Bhargu, I don't want the money and.... I am never returning my gift.

The first half of the day, went by without any kind of celebration but I need to know if you enjoyed the party, liked the decorations, the gift I got for you and the dinner", Prabir said agitated and moved aside.

" You are getting pissed off a lot these days don't you think? Is something troubling you?" Bhargavi asked curious.

"Why do you care? You were about to leave anyways", Prabir said gloomily.

"And you won't stop me from leaving?" She questioned perturbed.

"Who am I to stand in your way? when you have already decided to leave", he replied sadly, fixing his gaze on the floor.

"When Parul decided not to eat anything at all, did you not coax and cajole her into having something?

Why couldn't you honour her decision and let her starve?

So you won't be stopping me even if I do reckless things? You will still let me do anything I want to do?

Prabu....we cannot respect each and every decision that a person makes. I may not be always right and when I am wrong, it is your responsibility to guide me, pull my ears and put me straight.

I may be mad at you for a million reasons. Maybe just because I am in a very bad mood, I may say mean and rude things to you, which I wouldn't even mean and hate myself later on for having hurt you. But you can't sit back and just watch, letting me become a touch-me-not plant", Bhargavi went on cautiously picking up the right words, making Prabir chuckle.

Prabir picked her up in is arms and gently dropped her on the bed, murmuring, " I love you baby."

"Do you feel happy when you pick me up in your arms like a baby?" She asked cheerfully sitting up.

"Yes! Of course! You are my queen and a queen needs to be treated like one", Prabir smirked.

"So am I the queen of some deserted hinterland or a mysterious wonderland ?" Bhargavi quizzed playfully.

"You sit on the throne... here", he said, placing her palm on his chest, " here in my heart."

"You never cease to amaze me Prabu, I really appreciate your efforts. How long did it take to make all those flowers and butterflies?

The decorations were so pretty, I felt like I was taken to some other world.

The chocolate cake was yummy and the snacks and dinner...the food was extremely delicious. How did you manage to do all of this in such a short span of time after returning from the mall?" Bhargavi exclaimed shocked and excited.

Prabir laughed heartily and pecked her lips before sitting beside her, leaning his head on her shoulder. " Bhargu, it took me a week to decide, and plan for your birthday.
The butterflies and flowers took around 30 days as I was making them only when I found some spare time.

Bhawani had informed me that you never celebrate your birthday, regarding it as a waste of money and resources. Did you like the handbag? " He enquired at last.

"Yes! It's amazing and I loved the self defense equipments with all my heart", she giggled.

"Ah! I forgot about these", Prabir said and searched in his pocket." I didn't have the time to even gift wrap it." He held out the earrings that Bhargavi had been staring intently at the mall but had returned it.

"When did you..? You kept fooling me throughout the day Prabu", she said making a pout. " I feel like an ass", she added realizing that he had acted out a small play of having dropped something and headed back to the place where they were looking for jwellery.

He wrapped an arm around her and gently kissed her head, " you are a very smart ass Bhargu. I had to do a lot of brain storming to stray you from developing any suspicions. I couldn't even include Maa in my plannings as she's such a simple woman. You would have ended up extracting all the details from her, pouring tonnes of water on my plans", he whispered softly.

She giggled out and then asked on a  serious note, " Are you still troubled due to the old hag syndrome? I have never seen you turn so violent and aggressive before."

"No, Bhargu. I don't have nightmares anymore. I am usually so tired that I am drifted off to sleep, the instant I fall on the bed.

The way that creepy thing was lurking around you in the mall and the way he was gawking at you. I couldn't bear it Bhargu", he replied casually.

"Are you sure, you are not hiding anything from me?" Bhargavi inquired.

"No Bhargu, definitely not from you", he replied laying down on the bed.

She laid down beside him,plopping her head on her palm, placing her elbow down on the bed for support, gazing at him with gentle eyes. She lovingly ran her fingers on his face and kissed him on his forehead whispering, " I love you Prabu, thank you for making me feel so special."

He pulled her up in his arms, placing her head on his chest and slowly they drifted into sleep.

It was already 6 in the morning when Prabir woke up. Bhargavi was still clinging onto him. He needed to wake her up, but even that thought tormented him.

A/N: Hi Guys!

Hope you all are doing well, so here the party is over😔, but we have more surprises ahead🤔🤔, so stay tuned .

Keep reading and enjoying!!

Thank you all so much for your generous help and support 🙏 ❤️, but it's a humble request to all if you enjoyed reading please do vote for me and also let me know your thoughts about the main protagonists in the story.