“Sivan, turn off your alarm! What good is an alarm if you don’t want to wake up on time? Wake up now! We are almost an hour behind. Kalley is already there and she is very furious,” Diya screamed from downstairs. It was 2:30 at night, and he turned off the alarm and rushed to the bathroom.
As soon as they reached, the bus departed for the destination.
“Do you have any idea how long we’ve been waiting for you, Sivan? Don’t you have any value for time? From our college trips to this one, when was the last time you got anywhere on time? God, why am I even talking to you?!” Kalley burst out at Sivan in anger.
Sivan and Kalley who were college buddies turned business professionals were marking off one more place on their ‘to visit’ list.
“Calm down bro, calm down! I know it’s my fault and I’m incredibly sorry. I assure you it won’t happen again. Please forgive me this time. It’s a long route and it’ll be very boring without your beautiful words mon amour.” Sivan spoke in his defense.
“Seriously Sivan! Which movie did you see last night?”
“Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam!” Sivan responded in a quirky fashion.
“You and your dialogues! I’m the fool who falls for it every time! Arghh.” She wasn’t angry anymore.
“Hehe thanks, thanks. By the way can we share your earphones? I forgot mine in a rush.” Sivan was being Sivan again.
“Sir, you are really really great! How can you manage to do all the mischief at the same time?” Kalley gave her ear pod to Sivan.
“It’s an art dear. Not everyone can learn it; but I’ll teach it to you, for sure.”
“And what did you take in this bag? Don’t tell me you are going to stay there forever.”
“Nah, the bag is for you. You are going to settle down in the mountains.” Sivan replied.
“How come you always have an answer for everything I say?”
“How come you can always scold me for everything I do?”
The bus had reached the foothills, but their fight was still going on.
“Okay guys, we are here now. Everyone, please divide yourself into pairs of two. We will start trekking in ten minutes.” The guide said.
“Kalley, let’s pair up, we will fully enjoy it.” Kalley’s friend told her. They both heard a little shouting of Diya.
“No no no, I’m not going to pair myself with you. I want peace for a while. Leave me and pick someone else please.” Diya sounded a bit frustrated.
“Don’t worry Diya, my friend will come with you. I’ll handle him very well.” Kalley came up with solution.
“We can enjoy after the trip too buddy.” Kalley told her friend.
“Oh Kalley! So nice of you to take this demon away from me.” Diya thanked Kalley.
The sun didn’t rise but its rays lit up the sky. They started trekking up the hill.
“Kalley, come with me.” Sivan spoke slowly.
“I’m not coming anywhere with you.” She just refused.
“Come on Kalley, you won’t regret it. I promise.” He continued trying.
“But what if we lose track? The team?”
“Don’t worry about it, I’ve visited this place before. Now come on.”
“Okay but don’t run away after leaving me in the wild.”
“Hahaha, that wasn’t in my mind but now I’ll think about it. Let’s go now.” They both picked up a different track.
“But where are we going? Will you please tell me?” Kalley continued to question him.
“Do you trust me or not?”
“Yes I do but…”
“Then just follow me, you’ll get your answers soon.” Sivan replied.
After walking for about 15 minutes they both stopped. “Why did we stop here Sivan?”
“Shhh, we are going down there, in the valley.”
“No way, I’m not going down there. I don’t want to die this early and that too with you.” Kalley hesitated.
“Come on Kalley, the view down there is much more beautiful than the view at the hill side. Later in the bus you asked me what I brought in the bag? I got my mountaineering stuff in it.”
“But what about me? I don’t even know the C of climbing.”
“Calm down, dear. I will be with you down there, I won’t let anything happen to you.” Sivan convinced her for the adventure. They both geared themselves up and started climbing down.
“But what is the depth of the valley?” Kalley did not stop asking questions.
‘It’ll be about 300 to 350 meters but we are not travelling till the bottom; the rope isn’t long enough.”
“What if the rope cuts down Sivan?”
“Oh dear your harness is tied up with mine and nothing is going to happen to the rope, don’t worry. And death is not the end of our relation Señorita. Even dead, I’ll annoy you.” Sivan tried to distract her.
“Oh god! You and your dialogues. Sivan I’m warning you, if you speak one more of your Bollywood lines, I’ll cut your rope. I mean, how can you manage to fit your dialogues in every situation?” and Kalley got distracted easily.
“Natural talent, girl; by birth. Look down, we’ve reached our stop.”
“Sivan, did you come here before too?”
“Yes; every time I came before, I was here.”
They both untied their ropes and sat there. The sun was rising on the horizon, and the yellowish light of sun rays covered everything, the greenery of the wild down in the valley, the fragrance of blossom. What a view!
“Wow!” Kalley whispered softly in amazement .“I told you, you won’t regret the decision.”
“Yes, thank you so much Sivan!” They sat there for a while enjoying nature.
“Let’s go now, the team will be looking for us everywhere.” Kalley interrupted the silence.
“No, they won’t. Diya already knew about this. It won’t be an issue. But let’s go.” He helped Kalley to tie her harness back & pulled out his bag. “What are you doing now? We are not going to camp here. Tie yours too and let’s go.”
“Shhh.”
Sivan was down on one knee. “You are the one who adored me and scolded me at the same time. You are the one who supported me in each and every step I took & pointed out my mistakes too. My wish is to achieve everything but not without you. The friendship we were in for the past six years, I want to extend it till the end. Will you be my companion in this journey? Will you be my life partner?”
There was silence for the moment.
“Yes! Yes! Yes! I will Sivan. I love you too.” Kalley screamed, full of her emotions. She was crying but the tears were of love.
“Stupid, why did you take so much time for it? I was…”
“Sivan, turn off your alarm! What good is an alarm if you don’t want to wake up on time? Wake up now! We are almost an hour behind. Kalley is already there and she is very furious.” Diya screamed from downstairs.