The clock was ticking faster than I had ever noticed in my Life. It was sprinting towards 12 as I was still searching for a cake shop to give a surprise to my friend on his birthday. My cellphone showed 11:27 PM and popped up an alert saying "Battery Low". I had exactly 33 minutes to get a cake and reach my friend's place which was 1.5 KM from the place where I was standing. I thought that J.P.Nagar would have umpteen shops opened till late night. I was reaffirmed that my understanding of Bangalore was null.
My "Search-for-a-Cake" mission was ON. I didn't even find a single shop to get a cake or even some sweets. To my bad luck, even the CCDs were closed. I had to give up on my mission and started moving towards my friend's place. I was a few yards from my friend's flat when I saw a board 'Cake Palace'. It looked more like a small villa or may be a sumptuous 3 BHK home as I opened the gate. A small board said "Closed" welcomed me to the shop. I kept aside all my inhibitions and entered the shop to see a young lady finalizing her accounts. She was minting the currency in the dark.
"You should switch on the lights, its too dark here.", I interrupted her.
"Sorry, sir ! We are closed", She replied.
"You can call me Sid! I see that you still have your gloves on.".
I searched for the switch-board and lightened the place.
"Sir, we can't take any orders now. We are done for the day. We don't have any cakes as of now. I'm sorry".
"OK. I don't need cakes but would you mind listening to a story, please !".
Now that I had found a shop I badly wanted to get a cake.
"Hmmm. It's getting late. Only If you make it fast, I would"
"Here goes the story.....where should I start....OK...24 years ago, his parents were..."
"24 years back !! Its one hell of a flashback...forward it...".
She was hastily grabbing all the currency in the counter.
"Let me forward it...From the last few months he was deeply in relationship with a girl, fortunately. They were too close for more than 5-6 months."
" 5-6 months! That's quite a long time, these days."
"Even their names sounded good together. Aditi and Akash were so happy, you know. Both of them were very compatible."
"Wait ! Did you just say "were". Aren't they together anymore."
"I can only reveal if you promise to bake me a cake."
"Fine. I'm not interested !"
" OK. No issues. Let me tell you what happened...."
" Stop! Sid, I don't have time now. It's almost 12 in the night."
" Listen to me, please. A month ago, she broke up with him and got married to someone else."
"That's a shame! How could she do that?"
"Not everyone is as sweet as you are."
" Stop flirting with me. But what was the reason behind this break-up ?"
" Will you bake me a cake ? Please !"
" No ! "
"Anyway let me continue the story. Actually, two weeks ago both of them decided to go for a movie; their first movie together. She decided to go for 'Go Goa Gone' and he chose 'Ishkq in Paris'. They had a big fight and lead to several other disparities among them"
" Seriously !! That was so lame !! How could they choose those films when they had Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani in theatres?", She laughed.
"I second that. I love Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone!"
"Cool. He is one of the best actors in recent times."
"Plus the director of the movie has such credentials. I fell in love with the movie."
"I usually like non-fiction, real, humane and emotional movies. This movie was too good and I could relate to it, totally."
"For the one last time I am requesting you..will you bake me a cake, please!"
"OK. Let me see. Before that, tell me why is this cake so important?"
"Its Akash's birthday and he is kind of depressed. So I just want to give him a surprise. By the way, that break-up story was more complicated. What I told was utter bullshit? I was just trying to earn a cake from you."
" I got it ! I am not a bimbo! Your story was pathetic ! ", She smiled at me.
I laughed at myself for such a stupid story as she went inside the baking area and returned within a few minutes.
"Sid, you are very lucky. We have a fresh cake for you that I had almost forgot. Is Vanilla flavor fine?"
I took a bite of the cake.
"Its not vanilla, its white-forest. Works for me !"
She packed the cake and I paid her cash.
" Before I leave, may I know your name ?", I asked.
" Next time !",She (kind of) winked at me.
As I left the cake store and took a last glance at her I was very sure that I was going to meet her again !
A new day had started and the time was 12:13AM. I knocked at Akash's door and there wasn't any reply. I tried it a couple of times and finally called Akash. I was a bit worried as he was going through a rough phase in his life.
" Akash, where are you ?", I asked him as soon as he picked the call.
" I am at NightLife pub, Sid....Indiranagar !", He replied.
" You fine?"
"Ya, totally. I am with Sakshi now !"
"Sakshi?!"
"Guitar classes Sakshi ! She called me out. Where are you?"
"Cool. I'm in front of your flat to wish you on your birthday !"
"Sorry, bro. I'll catch you tomorrow"
"Fine. No issues"
Needless to say, MEN WILL BE MEN.
There was no dearth of romanticism in me to get into the cake-store again. But I thought of postponing it to the next day.
In retrospect, what happened on the next day made me truly spellbound.
To know what happened next Click Here
My "Search-for-a-Cake" mission was ON. I didn't even find a single shop to get a cake or even some sweets. To my bad luck, even the CCDs were closed. I had to give up on my mission and started moving towards my friend's place. I was a few yards from my friend's flat when I saw a board 'Cake Palace'. It looked more like a small villa or may be a sumptuous 3 BHK home as I opened the gate. A small board said "Closed" welcomed me to the shop. I kept aside all my inhibitions and entered the shop to see a young lady finalizing her accounts. She was minting the currency in the dark.
"You should switch on the lights, its too dark here.", I interrupted her.
"Sorry, sir ! We are closed", She replied.
"You can call me Sid! I see that you still have your gloves on.".
I searched for the switch-board and lightened the place.
"Sir, we can't take any orders now. We are done for the day. We don't have any cakes as of now. I'm sorry".
"OK. I don't need cakes but would you mind listening to a story, please !".
Now that I had found a shop I badly wanted to get a cake.
"Hmmm. It's getting late. Only If you make it fast, I would"
"Here goes the story.....where should I start....OK...24 years ago, his parents were..."
"24 years back !! Its one hell of a flashback...forward it...".
She was hastily grabbing all the currency in the counter.
"Let me forward it...From the last few months he was deeply in relationship with a girl, fortunately. They were too close for more than 5-6 months."
" 5-6 months! That's quite a long time, these days."
"Even their names sounded good together. Aditi and Akash were so happy, you know. Both of them were very compatible."
"Wait ! Did you just say "were". Aren't they together anymore."
"I can only reveal if you promise to bake me a cake."
"Fine. I'm not interested !"
" OK. No issues. Let me tell you what happened...."
" Stop! Sid, I don't have time now. It's almost 12 in the night."
" Listen to me, please. A month ago, she broke up with him and got married to someone else."
"That's a shame! How could she do that?"
"Not everyone is as sweet as you are."
" Stop flirting with me. But what was the reason behind this break-up ?"
" Will you bake me a cake ? Please !"
" No ! "
"Anyway let me continue the story. Actually, two weeks ago both of them decided to go for a movie; their first movie together. She decided to go for 'Go Goa Gone' and he chose 'Ishkq in Paris'. They had a big fight and lead to several other disparities among them"
" Seriously !! That was so lame !! How could they choose those films when they had Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani in theatres?", She laughed.
"I second that. I love Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone!"
"Cool. He is one of the best actors in recent times."
"Plus the director of the movie has such credentials. I fell in love with the movie."
"I usually like non-fiction, real, humane and emotional movies. This movie was too good and I could relate to it, totally."
"For the one last time I am requesting you..will you bake me a cake, please!"
"OK. Let me see. Before that, tell me why is this cake so important?"
"Its Akash's birthday and he is kind of depressed. So I just want to give him a surprise. By the way, that break-up story was more complicated. What I told was utter bullshit? I was just trying to earn a cake from you."
" I got it ! I am not a bimbo! Your story was pathetic ! ", She smiled at me.
I laughed at myself for such a stupid story as she went inside the baking area and returned within a few minutes.
"Sid, you are very lucky. We have a fresh cake for you that I had almost forgot. Is Vanilla flavor fine?"
I took a bite of the cake.
"Its not vanilla, its white-forest. Works for me !"
She packed the cake and I paid her cash.
" Before I leave, may I know your name ?", I asked.
" Next time !",She (kind of) winked at me.
As I left the cake store and took a last glance at her I was very sure that I was going to meet her again !
A new day had started and the time was 12:13AM. I knocked at Akash's door and there wasn't any reply. I tried it a couple of times and finally called Akash. I was a bit worried as he was going through a rough phase in his life.
" Akash, where are you ?", I asked him as soon as he picked the call.
" I am at NightLife pub, Sid....Indiranagar !", He replied.
" You fine?"
"Ya, totally. I am with Sakshi now !"
"Sakshi?!"
"Guitar classes Sakshi ! She called me out. Where are you?"
"Cool. I'm in front of your flat to wish you on your birthday !"
"Sorry, bro. I'll catch you tomorrow"
"Fine. No issues"
Needless to say, MEN WILL BE MEN.
There was no dearth of romanticism in me to get into the cake-store again. But I thought of postponing it to the next day.
In retrospect, what happened on the next day made me truly spellbound.
To know what happened next Click Here
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