Like No one Ever has or No one Ever will !!!

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Veer parked his car near the famous bouquet shop at the palace square & rushed in to buy his love’s favorite, the fox brush orchid. He got a small, delicate & very expertly arranged bouquet of orchids & was getting back to his car when something stopped him at the door. He could not have afforded any further delay but this was no ordinary day. This was the eve of Valentines Day. The 3^rd Valentines Day they were going to rejoice together, but this time not as friends. Veer had finally gathered the nerve to pronounce his love for Noor.

[ Noor swept Veer of his feet at the first look itself. They had met each other exactly 3 years back at a coffee shop on a valentines day. Both were single, without a valentine & bizarrely trying to maintain customary faces at two adjacent tables. Every other table had love written all over with couples deeply engrossed in each other.  Both Veer & Noor had had enough scratchy eye contacts with couples lining up outside & waiting anxiously to be able to get a table. Finally, Noor fluttered her long dark lashes at Veer & asked if they could have coffee together. Veer by nature endured a striking incongruence with his name. But to avoid the discomfiture, he gladly obliged. That was the first time Veer saw her. Noor, unlike Veer, harmonized her name impeccably. Veer could not take his eyes off from her long dark honeyed hairs with a lock slowly upsetting her left eye. He was mesmerized by her mellifluous voice & honored her with his silence. They were the strangest couple in the restaurant, yet the most vivacious one. All the love poems, Veer had ever read were manifesting before him. Veer was so hypnotized in Noor’s exquisiteness that he could only retain 2 things from that meeting – Noor loved orchids & wished to open her own coffee shop one day. That was the beginning of a wonderful amusing voyage of companionship & love.]

Veer scanned through all the vibrant bouquets in display & finally chose only a fully blossomed red rose. He got back in his car & drove to the same coffee shop; they had met the first time in. Noor looked ravishing in her red mermaid gown. His restless eyes met Noor’s smoldering ones. Before Noor could show her annoyance for his late arrival, Veer greeted her with the orchids, though he very well knew what she lacked was a red rose in her hand. Veer tucked the rose in his suit & sat alongside. Noor’s bother was far-gone & they went on to have their most enjoyable evening together.

Veer was driving her back home, when Noor asked him the purpose behind tucking a red rose in his suit. Veer knew that was then or never. Before any reconsideration could take effect, he abruptly poured his heart out. This startling revelation stunned Noor. She too loved him from the day they first met; yet it took 3 years for Veer to finally confess. Veer’s car was about to take the last turn before they arrived at Noor’s place & he was still to get an answer from Noor. Both of them were feeling goose bumps all over their bodies. Noor had hardly said, “I love”, when a reckless truck from the opposite direction dodged & missed them by a whisker. Veer lost control of the car & dashed it onto a tree. It lurched & Noor was fiercely thrown outside. Veer got trapped with the seat belt & was glued to the driver’s seat. The resonating sound of raining glass made him get back his sense. He yelled out Noor’s name several times but never got a response. Finally he could free himself from the car & came out. On the footpath bordering the main road, there laid Noor bleeding profusely.  Her face was drenched with blood. Veer could not fathom what he was seeing & immediately passed out.

Veer got up with an excruciating headache & discovered himself on a hospital bed. He had no time to give attention to his own injuries & asked for Noor. He was aided to stand on his feet & was taken to the ICU by the Nurse where Noor was kept under life-support. The nurse informed him that she was in a state of coma & considering the internal injuries in her brain, chances of her coming back to life was grim. Veer could not respond. He did not feel his pain anymore. He could not see anything but the view of Noor playing with her hair locks while showing her vivacity discussing about her coffee shop. He could not hear anything but Noor singing songs in her syrupy voice for him.

It had been almost a complete year. Noor was showing signs of minor improvement but still remained in coma. Veer left his job after the accident & started a coffee shop with whatever savings he had. The coffee shop was named “Noor’s” & there was a particular table that always had the “Reserved” tag on it. It was reserved for the day Noor came back to Veer’ life. He visited Noor everyday to explain each minute details. He sat beside her bed every night to remind her of all the stories of their years together. Not a while, he had given up on her, even when the doctors had given up all hopes. He had no control over his fate that was testing his love still he was determined to get through the thorns & find the rose.

Summers saw Veer toil hard to realize Noor’s dream of setting up a coffee shop. All through August, the whole universe shed tears with him & till a few days back in January fate remained rather cold to Veer’s frequent & earnest pleadings. Ultimately destiny gave in. it was 14^th of Feb again. Veer was suited up in a similar black suit with a tucked red rose at the chest. He had a bouquet of orchids in his hand & was invigorating himself to propose to her love. He went down on his knees, held Noor’s hand & this time the proposal was not rushed at all.

“Noor, I literally fall short of words, when I start unfolding you. You make me spellbound. You leave me speechless. You leave me captivated. But, you know what, you complete me. I have loved you from the first time I saw you. You asking me to join you over coffee that day is the best thing that has happened to me. I’m glad that, you happened to me. I want to forget this past year as a nightmare. I fancy the days when we will spend all beautiful nights in each other’s arms, holding each other cozily so that nothing makes us apart. The time I have spent with you is the only life I have led so far. I don’t believe in multiple lives, please come back, I would rather spend this lifetime with you. All I want you to know is, I love you. I love you like no one ever has or no one ever will.”

A teardrop flashed from his eye & descended onto Noor’s palm. She felt the warmth & opened her eyes. Her palm embraced his; pulled him closer & she whispered, “I love you” into his ears.  She said she could hear him all the while she was asleep. She remembered all the stories. She teased him for being too melodramatic. She could hardly speak, but used up all her energy in showing her gratification.

She was discharged after a week. Veer had got a similar red gown for her. He was himself in a black tuxedo. To Noor’s displeasure, he did not have a rose with him this time. Veer drove her directly to the coffee shop. He scooped her in his arms, carried her to the “reserved” table. The whole coffee shop was ornamented with fresh orchids & on the table there was a bunch of 373 roses resting; most of them had turned black, some of them had signs of shrivel, a few them had their remaining lot of fragrance & one of them was prominently visible in its flourished shape. Veer had got a rose for Noor every single day from that ill-fated night. Then was the time for Noor to take the custody of those.

She raised her tear-swollen eyes to Veer’s & “I LOVE YOU” was what they both said promptly.