Pre-Planned Destiny

By Shaik Resham

Chapter 1

I opened my phone to connect the headphones and started listening to one of my favourite play-lists, made three weeks ago by me. At the same time, I appreciate myself for having wholesome taste in music.

My attention caught up to a group of friends a few feet away from me doing incredible dancing and recording it. The song I was listening to and the dance they perform is in perfect sync.

I wanted to disconnect the headphones and listen to the song they were dancing to, but the sync was so perfect I just went on listening to my music. After their performance ended, everyone present there started applauding. I joined too.

As my stop arrived, I exited the station and went to the stationary store near my house. Chinna uncle has been reading a newspaper. He noticed me coming and placed the newspaper aside.

“Hey Atul, it has been so long since you visited here,” he said. With a smile, I replied, “Uncle, today I left early from work.” and immediately pointed out the journal. “Uncle, give me that journal, lavender one!!” I asked.

I paid the amount for the journal and kept it in the bag. I reached home. I entered the house where the whole hall was floating with paneer butter masala fragrance; not surprised.

My father shouted, “Atul, is that you?” from the kitchen. I answered, “Yes, dad.” I went to my room, kept the bag aside, and washed my face. I am back to the hall again and went near him.

“Dad, why don’t you open a restaurant of your own?? It’s amazing rather than working as a chef in a hotel,” I said. He laughed out loud. “It takes a lot to do. It is not like we cannot, but the pressure is so much!” He responded. I nodded in disbelief.

I always wondered; if people who work as chefs, artists, dancers, singers, etc., had ever thought of quitting them. Because those jobs seem enjoyable when compared to IT jobs. As I got stuck in my thoughts, my mother arrived.

“Looks like someone is having deep thoughts…” She said, looking at me, and went straight to my father, who was preparing roti, and handed him some grocery stuff.

She comes near me with a bunch of fresh flowers. “Place it in your room, Atul,” she said and gave it to me. “Or maybe you can give it to a girl!” my father teased.

I blushed. At the same time, thought it was funny too. My dad always proves that he’s sarcastic, especially to me. I went to the room to place the flowers in the vase. Then a sudden notification from one of my colleagues.

“Hey, a reminder that we are having a meet at 8 pm today, something important came up!!” the text showed. I wanted to shout loud, so loud. Instead, I stayed calm and replied, “Ok, will be in the meet by 8.”. Not actually.

I kept my phone aside, rolled on the bed, took the new journal out of my bag, and adored how pretty it looked. Pink shades are so beautiful, in my opinion.

“Okay, Kishore ji, I will send the flowers tomorrow afternoon with all the gift packs too…" I heard mom speaking to her customer. She called me, “Atul beta, come here!”. I stood up lazily and headed towards the hall.

“Atul, I know tomorrow is your day off, but your Rinku chacha and Shalini didi are on leave tomorrow, so…” she said. “So, I need to deliver them?” I asked, keeping my hands on the hip. “Yes, Atul, look; he was one of our old customers, and his son is getting married. The wedding rituals will start tomorrow."

I stood there thinking for some time, and guess what? Usually, I agreed to go. In the meantime, dad came with a big glass of grape juice and gave them to us. “Well, I heard some Atul and wedding… he is getting married or what?!” he asked, knowingly.

“Dad!! no…” I defended. “Stop it, Varun,” mom said, with a giggle, and continued, “You know Kishore ji, right?? His son is getting married, so they ordered some flowers, bouquets many other things from our shop. He invited us all to attend the wedding rituals too.” “Well, tomorrow you are visiting your friends, right??” dad asks mom.

“Yeah, so I told Atul to handle the delivery tomorrow and attend the wedding on our behalf,” she said. “Mom, I don’t know anyone there, so I will deliver the things, see if everything is right, and I will be back. That’s it!!” I protested.

“Okay, fine, the decision is on you to attend the wedding or not after the delivery,” she clarified. “Let’s fresh up and have dinner,” dad said, breaking the wedding conversation in the middle.

I went to my room to check emails on my laptop. “Event at 8 pm got cancelled, will schedule again…” the email showed. "Beautiful!" I whispered.

We gathered at the dining table for dinner and started to share what had happened today. “My son is going to help me in cooking breakfast tomorrow.” He said. “Okay, fine,” I said. “Wear something formal tomorrow.” She said. “Mom, come on, everything is formal in my closet.” I clarified. “Put on the best one from them,” she ordered.

It was 9:30 pm, and I started to write in my new journal. Lavender one!!

Chapter 2

My mom left early morning to visit her friends and gave me instructions on how to deliver the things and behave there.

I selected the best ones to wear, as my mom told me. I had a Get ready with me session in my room. I wore a light blue colour shirt with cream colour pants. I also wore a silver-coated watch on my left wrist and a silver bracelet on my right wrist, by matching it with a pair of brown-shade boots. “Perfect!” I shouted excitedly.

I took a picture of myself after, fully dressed, and shared it with mom. I walked towards the hall; my dad said, “Here comes the Hero!!!”. I felt shy, laughed a little, and said, “Dad, thanks!”. We ate breakfast. Both of us went to the boutique shop and saw that my mom had already arranged everything perfectly.

Dad left after half an hour to work, and I called an uncle with a mini truck to ship the things. I recalled the location directions again that my mom shared and started to drive on my bike, followed by the mini truck behind me. I reached the destination finally. The decorations from the outside looked great.

I called Kishore uncle, and he came and took us inside. I instructed the truck uncle and another person at the wedding to transfer the things into a room.

After that, I paid the amount to both, who helped me. I heard Kishore uncle calling me from a distance. As I approached him, I saw many people standing near him.

“Everyone, meet Atul. Varun, and Hema ji’s, son.” He introduced me to them. I said, “Hello, I am Atul. Nice to meet you all,” I greeted them.

They told me how they all know my parents and mentioned that they saw me when I was a little kid.

Then, Kishore uncle’s son interrupted us in the middle. We both introduced ourselves. His name is Shreyas.

We started to walk away from Kishore uncle's group to talk. He said, “I have checked the flowers, and all, they are beautiful!”. “Thanks, Shreyas, give credit to my mom…” I said. We talked about our work life and all. He had to leave as someone called him. “I am glad that; we met, see you soon!!” he said. “Same here, congrats on your wedding… I wish you the best!” I wished.

I heard someone calling me by my name there. I turned to see who it is. It’s Raghu. My old school classmate.

“Hey Atul, after so long huh!?” he said. “Hello! Raghu, yeah, I guess!” I said. We hugged each other; he said, “how have you been Atul, the only person that doesn’t show up to any of our get-together events” with a smiling face and a disappointed look.

“Well, it’s because I always caught up with some work or other. How are you?” I asked and defended myself. “Good, you know Shreyas or the bride??” he asked. “None of them, I came here to deliver the things they ordered,” I replied. “Yeah, I remember your mom has a boutique shop.” He said. “Yeah! So, you know Shreyas?” I asked. “Yes, we work in the same company.” He answered.

“None of our co-workers attended except me. I tried to convince them, but due to their schedule, they couldn’t attend.” He continues, “but they made sure to give the presents to him through me! “Okay, that’s great,” I said, with a giggle.

If I remember properly, Raghu is the kind of guy who makes sure that everyone attends an event or an occasion whenever it is happening in our circle. He’s a social butterfly.

Then a woman approached us. Raghu introduced her, “Atul, she’s Mythili, and Mythili, he’s Atul...” He said. We shook hands and said hello to each other. “She is Shreyas’s little sister,” he said. “He had a brother too... Right??’ I asked. “Yes, he is Ashok,” he said. “Got it!” I replied.

“Raghu, I am bored here. All my friends haven’t attended today, also; my cousins are younger than me to spend the time with them,” She continues, “I had left some handmade gifts pending. Do you guys help me to make them?” she asked.

“Of course; we will, so you are not going now... Right??” Raghu asked. “Not now, but I will leave soon. Let’s go and help her now,” I said.

We went to a room and started preparing the gifts that were pending. Mythili instructed us on how to make it. We followed her instructions.

“Beautiful!” I told myself, by looking at the gift I made. “Haven’t you prepared any of these before?” she asked. “No, not really...” I answered. “Well, I thought of you as a professional by looking at your preparation of gifts right now...” She said. “No!! It's my first time...” I said, with a giggle.

I always believed that art is so beautiful. Unfortunately, I wasn’t part of any art, but as a hobby, I have some inner talents related to art. The only thing is, I didn’t express my view of art in front of people. I always wanted to be a part of the people who are creative and learn from them. I am glad that I have met those people in my life and hope that will meet some in the future too.

We finished the task and informed Raghu that I am leaving now. Mythili handed over a flower to me and said, “Thanks for helping Atul, see you again!”. “Thanks to you, for believing me that I can make them, by the way, you are welcome...” I said with a smile.

“Okay, where’s my flower, as a token of thank you??” Raghu asked Mythili. “I will give it to you too... Don’t worry...” She said while laughing. I waved them goodbye and went to meet Kishore uncle, to say that I am leaving. He told me to come tomorrow too. Well, let’s see, I thought

Chapter 3

At 7:00 pm, my mom reached home. I can tell by looking at her that she’s so exhausted and happy at the same time, “Today is such a beautiful day to remember!” she said, with a low tone. “Hey Atul, Kishore ji said that you have managed everything so perfectly and well,” she said; proudly. “Fine, Mom, now go; take some rest sometime will talk later,” I said.

We all are having dinner. My mom shares how her day went. I love my mom’s gang. They still have get-togethers and all. She never misses taking part.

“How was your day, Atul?” mom asked. “Good, I met Raghu there...” I said. “Raghu, one of your classmates, right?” dad asked. “Yes, my school classmate,” I replied. “So, are you going to attend there tomorrow too?” mom asked. “Let’s see,” I said.

I went to my room to check my outfits; what if I go there tomorrow? I selected two outfits and kept them aside. I opened my journal to write. Lavender one!!

Morning, I went near mom and asked if she was coming with me there. “No Atul beta, I will attend the main event on Wednesday. You go there and enjoy,” she said.

As it was Sunday, my dad must leave early for work. Mom is going to have her Me-Time Day. I was confused between the two outfits that I had selected yesterday. Finally, after so much research, I have selected one.

I started the get ready with me session again. This time I wore a Caramel colour shirt tucked in and matched it with dark blue pants, completing the look by wearing black shoes. I wore a black belt watch on the left wrist and a black shade bracelet on the right wrist.

I came outside of my room and saw that mom was solving the sudoku in the newspaper. She looked at me and said, “Arey Beta!! you look like a groom!” teasingly. “Mom, I wanted to look best, but as a guest,” I said with a laugh. “Okay, come sit, breakfast is ready.” She said.

I left home and reached there by 11:30 am. There are so many people today when compared to yesterday, or maybe I haven’t observed that much yesterday. I called Raghu to know if he was around. “Hey Atul, I will reach there in 20 minutes, I will tell Mythili that you have come...” He said and I hung up the phone. After some time, I heard the voice of Mythili. I turned around to her.

“Hey Atul, Hi, come this way...”. I met Kishore uncle and greeted him. On the way, I saw Shreyas and said hello with hand gestures from far as he was busy talking to someone. Mythili took me to the food stall that was present at the wedding.

“Atul, have this halwa puri. It’s so tasty; I bet you will ask again for it,” she said. “Yeah, I guess so! It looks delicious!!” I said. We started to eat, as Mythili said it was so delicious.

Raghu arrived then. “I will get myself a plate too!!” he said. I had eaten 3 plates, Mythili 4 plates and Raghu had only 2 plates because he just had his breakfast.

“So, Mythili, what are you going to gift your brother?” he asked. “I don’t know, I haven’t yet decided...” She said. “What? you didn’t buy anything until now for him??” I asked. “No, I thought of giving him a perfume bottle, but I couldn’t agree to give him that...” She said. “You can think, what he loves most and what things he usually uses all the time...” I said.

“He’s mostly into reading books and taking pictures... Pictures!!!Camera!!!” she screamed. “Yeah! well, you can gift him a good camera...” I said. “Yeah!!” she said. “Okay, I will do one thing; Atul and Mythili are you free tonight from around 7:00 to 8:00 pm..” he asked. “Yeah!” we both said at the same time.

“Fine, that’s great... Atul, why don’t you help Mythili, find a good camera to gift for her brother... because barely 2 days are left before the wedding. She can’t even order it online,” he said. I thought for some time and turned towards Mythili, “I am up if she’s okay with it” I said. “Yeah!!, I will buy the best camera now...” She said, excitedly.

Chapter 4

We reached the shop and started looking around curiously for the best camera to gift. All were looking good, but it was hard to choose one. “Mythili, do you know at what budget and brand you have to buy it?” I asked. “Yeah!! I am searching exactly for it,” she said.

Finally, we bought the camera that Mythili wanted. We went to a cafe that is nearer to the shop we visited.

“Mythili, what would you like to order?” I asked. “Anything you would like, your wish,” she said. “Bhaiyya, bring two plates of samosa and a plate of jalebi!” I ordered.

“Why aren’t you married yet??” Mythili asked. “There’s no particular reason; I am just busy and still learning about almost everything," I said.

“Oh! I thought you were waiting for someone…” She said. “I would rather forget and move on than waiting for someone!” I replied. “So, you forgot about me...” She said.

I am stunned. What is she even talking about?? Did we meet before?? School?? College?? No, I don’t remember meeting her before. I met her yesterday only. Did I miss something??

All these thoughts are running through my mind. “Atul, I am talking to you,” she said.

I came out of my thoughts. “Sorry, but did we meet before?? I don’t remember any incident that we met before...” I said, confused. She gave me a shocked look to me. "I hadn't even gotten into any accident to have memory loss!" I screamed, in my head.

“Atul, you are kidding right??” she said. “Why would I?? I met you yesterday for the first time!” I defended.

Our order arrived, and we started eating. The silence continued for some time. I ordered 2 milkshakes.

She takes a deep breath looking at me disappointed. I am confused as hell like what on earth is going on here? I am trying my best to remember every single detail from all my past interactions, but she is not there in any of them.

“Mythili, can you please explain,” I said, with a cracking voice. “Atul, you haven’t read the letter that I gave you??” she asked. “Letter?!” I said. “Yeah! letter... probably by the look on your face, I can guess that you didn't read the letter!!” she said with frustration.

Milkshakes came at in right time. I hoped that it must help to calm down the situation.

“Mythili, please relax. I promise. I don’t remember you giving me a letter or we both meeting before…” I said. She continues the disappointed look on her face.

“Okay, fine, you explain to me how we met... where and when!!” I asked. “Okay! Atul, do you remember? two years back, your parents bought a match for you??” she asked. “Wait, let me remember...” I said. I don’t even remember what happened 2 weeks ago... how can I remember 2 years ago incident.

Then I got a sudden flashback that my parents bought a match for me and went to their place to talk about me. “Yeah!! I have remembered now, my parents went to their home to talk,” I said.

“What did they say to you after returning home??” she asked. “That she wanted to focus on her career,” I said. “She is me, Atul!!” she said.

“Wait... Mythili...” I said, confused. “Yes, it’s me,” she said. “Okay, I got it! So, what's the point of that now? you have already rejected the proposal to focus on your career, right??” I said.

“I got to know that you didn't even try to see my photo and to know my name...” She said, disappointed. "You rejected the proposal, and before that my parents didn’t even mention anything about you, they only said that they were going to meet and will tell me everything once they return,” I said.

“After rejection, why will I try to know the name and see how you look!” I said somewhat frustrated. “Okay, then what about the letter??” she asked.

“Which letter are you talking about? I didn’t receive any letter,” I said. “Fine, we are going to finish our food anyway, let’s leave after this!” she said. She started to take bigger bites than usual. “Calm down, there is no rush!” I said. “Yes, it is!” she replied.

I paid the bill, and without waiting for me, she left the cafe, waiting for me outside. “Do you want to buy anything??” I asked. “No, I had already got more than I expected,” she said. Was she talking about me, I wondered.

I dropped her at the home. “Let me help you to take this inside,” I said. “No problem, I can do it. Thanks for your day, Goodnight!” she said and walked away from me.

I left there with so many questions unanswered, so now only my parents can give me the answers to my questions.

Chapter 5

I reached home. My parents are watching TV, “Hey! my boy, get fresh up and come. We will have dinner,” dad said. “Mom, Dad... I need to discuss something with you guys,” I said. “Yeah, sure, go ahead!” mom said.

“Do you guys know Mythili?” I asked.

“Yeah!! We know her; she was the girl we wanted you to marry 2 years ago,” dad said.

“Mom, if you know her, then why did you tell me to attend her brother’s wedding and deliver the things,” I said. Frustratedly.

“Look, Atul, I told you to deliver the things because it’s an emergency and need. I also mentioned that it’s up to you to attend the wedding or not...” She said.

They know she will be there and still let me attend the wedding. “Guys, you know how clueless I was when she started to ask random questions!” I said. I sat on the sofa, looking down at the floor and keeping two hands on my forehead.

“Beta, tell me everything that happened...” My mom said.

“Why did you tell me to attend there even for delivery?? You shouldn’t have let me go there, mom...” I said.

“I thought of that but was not sure if you will meet her there,” mom said. “Mom, it’s messed up!!” I said.

“Beta listen it was 2 years ago and why you both brought that up now?” dad asked. “I don’t know. It was like she is waiting for me for 2 years!!” I said. “What??” my parents reacted. “Yeah, she was talking about some letter!” I said. “Letter?? Oh Yes! I kept it in your room...” Mom said.

I was shocked. “Mom, what?? Wait! You didn’t give it to me. As far as I remember...” I said. “I kept it in your journal!” mom said. “Mom, you should have given to me! Why did you place it in the journal??” I questioned.

“I thought you wouldn’t take it because you declined to know her name and everything, so how would I expect that you would read the letter from her if I handed it over directly to you??” she said.

“Okay, which journal is it??” I asked. “I don’t remember properly, but I think it’s brown!” she said. I went to my room immediately to search for the journal.

I opened all my last two year’s journals and searched, but it’s not there. My hands were shaking. I don’t know why. I jumped on my bed to relax for some time.

I woke up after 1 hour. Suddenly I got up from bed and searched in my old journals, which were more than 2 years old. I found the letter.

I found the letter which was from 4 years back journal. I wondered why the old journals were on my table then. The colour of the journal was not brown, it was maroon!

Finally, I found the letter. I don’t know if I should open the letter or not. The time has passed. It’s been 2 years.

My parents didn’t call me for dinner. They knew I’m in no mood to eat, even though I had snacks a long time ago. The letter is still in my hands. If she doesn’t want to marry me, then why does she have to write a letter?

The other thing is, why am I stressing about it so much? Two years back, I felt nothing. I didn’t even think about it.

I don’t know if it matters or not because after opening this letter. Will things remain the same or change?? For a good cause or the other? My head is exploding.

Then suddenly, a mail popped up on my system. It shows that we are having a meeting with the client for just 15 mins. During these 15 mins, I can easily be distracted, so I got fresh up quickly and sat in front of the system.

The client has explained everything that they need and in response, we explained, how we can provide the requirements to them. My manager told me to submit the review sheet by tomorrow afternoon.

It was 10:15 pm and I started to prepare the review sheet. Out of 8 documents, 2 are missing. I searched in the drive for a half hour and I finally, found it.

The review sheet got completed by 10:48 pm. Got some more updates, so I started working on it. For the First time office work has not been seen as a burden after all these years. It’s giving me relief as of now.

Suddenly I got in mind, “where did I keep the letter??”. I started searching for it. It’s not there on the bed; under the bed; near the laptop, then where it can go these are the only places I have been in these few hours!!

I got panicked. My room became a mess searching for it. At last, I found it, in my pocket!

I got on my bed keeping the letter on the table safely and took my journal out to fill my thoughts in it. It’s 11:45 pm, almost nearer to midnight. The next day is coming nearer and nearer. I know from tomorrow; my life would be different.

I completed my journal writing at 11:58 pm and made ready myself to sleep. I took the letter and started reading it. It’s midnight now!

Chapter 6

I reached the office early so that I could complete the review faster. I have arranged all the inputs and requirements to start working on them. Our team is working very hard on this report. It’s almost at the end.

With the help of the team, we completed all the work before the due time. We all got relaxed for some time. Our manager called me to his cabin.

“Atul, I have received the mail that you want to leave for half day. You can take it. I will send you updates after today’s afternoon meeting. Have a good day!” he said. My permission for half-day leave has been granted.

I handed over the final reports to my team and headed out of the office. I reached the cafe where I and Mythili met yesterday. I saw her there, waiting for me.

“Hey, hi! How long have you been waiting? there’s some important work. I had to clear it and come!” I said. “No problem, it’s been 10 mins. So why did you call me here??” she said. Yeah! It’s me. I messaged her yesterday to meet in the same cafe.

“Yeah! Mythili, the day I saw you for the first time was the day I realized that I must attend the wedding no matter what. My parents, at first, told me to attend the wedding too but not just to deliver the things... But I didn’t want to!” I said, taking a deep breath in I continued “I don’t know what happened past 2 years, and a part of me got to know it matters... I read the letter yesterday” I said.

“You read the letter yesterday??” she asked. “Yes, I have to search for it in my room and I found it finally…” I said. “Why did you search for it?? Didn’t Hema aunty give it to you??” She asked.

“She kept it in one of my old journals and thought that if she handed it to me directly, I wouldn’t read it,” I said. “Oh! Hema aunty knows you very well,” she said. “Yeah! Of course...” I said it with a giggle.

“Mythili, you should have called me once back in 2 years,” I said. “I thought a letter can convey more when compared to so-called “phone calls”. I didn’t have your contact number and I don’t know anything about you. How can I even reach out to you?? Yeah, as you said I should have called or come to your house, but I didn’t want to do that,” she said.

After some pause, “I have seen in movies and read in books that if you wish something from your heart it will happen for real, and giving letters is one of the love languages in the olden days. I know we weren’t in love or anything. But I started to like you back then and as a one-sided lover, I wanted to confess it from the side through a letter” she said.

“Yeah, you are such an old-school lover Mythili. I realized yesterday that I should have read the letter before, I know that it was late, but I was also shocked by the same coincidences happening as mentioned in the letter,” I said. “Yeah! I thought the same too... That you have read the letter, so you are here,” she said while laughing.

“I am telling you, the moment I saw you was the moment I fell in love with you!” I said. There was silence as soon as I said that. “Sorry! I forgot to ask you, what do you do actually?” I asked. I know it’s awkward to ask her and I blame myself for not knowing it.

“I am a dancer and have our institute, which was started with my friends!” she said. “Oh! That’s great, it sounds joy to me...” I said. “It’s been half a year since we started it...” She said.

“Okay! So how many students do you have as of now?” I asked. “Not much, but they all are so talented. We have around 150 students. We are trying to make it 300 by next year!!” she said.

“Then advertise it more...” I said. “Yeah, we do it a lot. Like flash mobs, social media, and many...” She said. “You perform flash mobs in public??” I asked. “Yeah! We do them a lot” she said. “So where have you performed recently?” I asked

“Our last performance was in the metro last week Saturday, we dared to perform there for the social media content purpose, and guess what? We got huge appreciation from the audience present in metro and social media users too...” She said, excitedly.

“Okay, so for which song were you all performing?” I asked. “It’s ‘That’s all I really want to do’ song from ‘Teri meri Kahani’ movie…” She said.

“Perfect!!” I screamed. She was shocked by my reaction. “What happened Atul?? What is so exciting about that??” She asked. “That was the same song I am hearing too at that time!!” I said.

“What??” she questioned. “Okay, the thing is...On Saturday, I was on the same metro as your group... I saw the group of members dancing. I was hearing to my song on headphones and watching the group dancing. I wished that they are dancing to the song, I am listening because the sync was so perfect!!” I said.

She is laughing continuously. “Here you go, that was the song I am listening to at that time too...” I said. I opened my phone and showed her that it was the last song I played that day.

She looked at me and said, “We both are such weirdos!!”. We both laughed out loud there.

Chapter 7

I got home early and explained everything to my parents. They are so happy to hear that we have interacted and cleared all the misunderstandings. I can see the joy in their eyes.

“Well, we will meet Kishore ji after Shreyas’s wedding is over…” mom said. “Mom, I have explained my side of the story and revealed what I felt for her now. She has yet to give me an answer that what exactly she thinks about me now!” I said. “I hope everything happens for good…” dad said.

I got up ready to attend Mythili’s house for her brother’s sangeet function. I had a Get ready with me session in my room. I wore a cream colour shirt tucked in with hunter-green pants and matched it with brown boots. I wore the brown belt watch, having a golden dial on my left wrist.

My parents were so happy to see me get dressed up. I usually dress up all the time, but this time it felt different.

I reached Mythili’s house. Kishore uncle noticed, and he welcomed me personally inside his house. I finally met Mythili’s mother. “Gowri, take Atul to the hall and give him something to eat. I will return in 20 mins,” he said.

I am in the hall, and Gowri ji bought many varieties of food. I just took one of them from each and started to eat. I met Shreyas in the hall, and we both began to talk.

Then Mythili enters the hall. She looks so beautiful in that green Sharara suit. She’s usually pretty. “Hey! Atul, you look good…” she said.

I can feel the blush on my face. “Thanks! You look pretty too…” I said. “Okay! I will leave. You both have a good time, will meet you around sometime,” he said with a smile and left us there.

“I wanted to tell you something…” I said. “What is it?” she asked. I knelt down in front of her. “If you were a page in a book, I would read it every time, as many times as I can until the day of my last breath!” I said. She laughed out loud, knelt down in front of me, and held my hands. “You are being so poetic! It’s nice to hear it…” she said.

“I am just trying to be better at it because you like it that way!” I said. “Oh, my man!! That’s great…” she said. “Your man?? I am glad to hear that, Mythili!!” I screamed in happiness and hugged her.

We both got up and started to eat the snacks. Mythili’s father came in. I served him some snacks too. “It would be nice if your parents could have joined us too!! I called them just now, they said that they will attend the wedding on Wednesday,” he told. I nodded. “They will attend surely on Wednesday uncle…” I said.

After some time, we went to the garden, as Mythili is the next one to perform. “You will perform well, I know…” I said. “I will smash it!” she said.

I went near to the stage, as she is about to perform. I took out my phone and started to record it. She’s dancing so effortlessly well and looks so happy while doing it. I wondered whether it was our destiny that bought together us now.

I am happy that I didn’t read the letter 2 years back. But it was all a Pre-Planned Destiny!

By Shaik Resham

Letter

Hello Mr. Blank,

I know your name but assume that I don’t know it because you don’t know my name either. I haven’t seen you or know anything about you, and it’s vice versa on your side too. To achieve my dreams and build a career, I have no option other than not to marry now. I am just a blank page in the book as of now. I want the page to be filled with my achieved goals so that I can inspire someone who reads it. Let’s meet next year or the other year or never. It depends on your decision. I will be waiting for you until the day we meet or not. Take Care. Bye.

Yours truly,

Ms. Blank