The K- Factor: Happy Memories

“Should I call some of my clients for the wedding?”

“Call only the best ones who will be there to support you in bad times.”

“We will never have a bad time Shruti. Everyone had objected to our marriage, yet we have lived and we have done well enough to support ourselves haven’t we?”

“Yeah Asif, but still. Now even our Kritika will go away, and all we will have is each other. Won’t the house seem very empty?”

“Let’s not talk about it Shruti. She had to go one day, didn’t she? And she’s going to be happier with Sameer. So let’s happily send her with him, okay?”

“Can’t we postpone the wedding or something?”

“Shruti…”

“I’ll miss her so much…”

The rest of the conversation drowned as I walked away from the door. Holding the gift Sameer had just given me, I looked down and a tear slipped down my cheeks. My parents had done so much for me, and I wasn’t able to do anything for them; and now, I was going away from them, leaving them just memories.

“I wish I could do something for them, I so wish,” I said to myself.

Sameer came back in the evening, and off we went for dinner, and to think about our plans.

“So Kritika, all this seems fine?”

“Yeah Sam, it’s all good.”

“What’s troubling you sweety?”

“I wish I could do something for my parents. Something which they would remember forever…something happy…”

“You’re going to be near them aren’t you? You can visit them anytime you want after the marriage as well.”

“Not like that Sameer. They are going to miss me so much, and then I won’t be their daughter too, won’t I?”

“So you want to spend some time alone with them? To build some wonderful memories for them and to give them something they have always wanted, but never done?”

“How did you come to know all that?”

“It’s written on your face, love. Okay, so there are still some months for the wedding. I’ll handle the work here; you go with them on a vacation or something. Spend some time with them, and all of you come back after spending some quality time.”

“Mother won’t agree to that at if I ask her. But the idea’s nice. Maybe we can think something on those lines.”

“I know what to do. Just get some stuff packed for the 3 of you; I’ll manage the rest.”

“But how?”

The look of complete confusion on my face transformed into a wide smile as he revealed what he had in his mind, and I looked at him with tears glistening in my eyes.

“But how will we pay for it Sam? The spending for the wedding is already over our decided budget, and there is so much more to do!”

“You don’t worry about that darling. Money is nothing compared to your and more importantly, your parent’s happiness. We can cut down on our honeymoon in the worst case. We’ll just visit some nearby hill station and spend some time with each other. And anyways, honeymoons hit me to be tricks to allow the newly married couple to know each other, and that we do very well. So…”

“I don’t know what to say.”

“Keep thinking you idiot, but continue after ordering the food. I’m hungry, and then you need to go home to pack as well.”

“Ass.”

The weekend slipped by as I waited for the confirmation from Sameer. My parents kept giving fervent glances at me whenever I passed and I could see my mom roaming around with wet napkins everywhere. There in my car rested the bag, which held some of our necessary belongings, waiting patiently for the day to arrive.

“Mom, get ready fast! Sameer just called to say that there’s some urgent work left for the wedding, and we need to get together to decide it right now!”

“Oh my God! Now what’s left? Where’s your dad!? Wake him up too,” screamed my mom as she rushed to change her jewelry.

Their reaction evoked pity in me, and it wasn’t good that I was lying to them, to my parents. But my heart smiled at the thought of how their thoughts and mood would change in the next hour. I was going to make this memorable for them.

As we all piled into the car, I began driving towards our pre-planned destination.

“Asif, have you taken enough cash and the cards too? We may need them.”

“Shruti, don’t worry. I double checked it all. Where do we have to go Kritika?”

“I don’t know dad. He was talking about some British Airways building. I think he wants to finalize on the honeymoon package or something.”

“British Airways? I thought you’ll were thinking of going to Darjeeling.”

“It’s not sure mom.”

“Take the car from Temple Road, we’ll beat the traffic and then through the by-lanes we’ll reach there,” instructed my dad.

The rest of the ride went in silence as my mom looked suspiciously in the mirror at me.

Sameer was waiting at the entrance and as I got out of the car, he winked and hugged me.

“Hi uncle and aunty.”

“Kritika, I want you to teach him to call us mom and dad till the wedding, or we won’t give our blessings,” my mom threatened with a twinkle in her eye.

“I’ll learn myself mom,” Sameer joked as he took her hand and led her ahead.

As we all settled down, I began, “So mom and dad, Sameer and I have decided that…”

“Kritika has decided that you three should go for a mini vacation of sorts to just spend some time alone with each other.”

“What! No! A lot of preparation is pending; we just can’t go like that!”

“Mom, everything is fixed. Our plane leaves in a couple of hours.”

“Where exactly are we going,” asked my dad with a weird look on his face.

Sameer just nodded to the executive who waited at the side, and he came forward.

“Sir, you and your family are going to depart with British Airways on an all-expense paid trip to Barcelona. The package has been confirmed and all of your visas and passports have been taken care off as well. Our car is waiting downstairs and is set to leave whenever you wish to depart. Your flight is in 2 hours, so I would advise you to leave as soon as possible so that we can make you comfortable in your seats before the other passengers come in.”

“What is going on? Is this a dream?”

“No dad, this is a dream come true,” Sameer answered with a wide smile.

“Sir, your itinerary awaits you in the car downstairs and I shall be happy to explain the whole of it on the way. Some of the main highlights will be your visit to Camp Nou, where you shall be seeing FC Barcelona play; a short tour in which you shall visit 45 destinations all around the city; flamenco night; and a visit to all of the historical sights of the place.

“It is our pleasure to provide such extravagant service and comfort to our esteemed customers. And as our rule goes, we take people farther in order to get closer to each other. Here is a short video of how we helped a husband and wife, Sumeet and Chetna, get closer to each other.”

The video played in silence, punctuated only by my mother’s soft sniffles.

Sameer began as soon as the video came to an end, “Kritika, you all should start moving right now or else you all will be late. Don’t worry about the stuff here mom and dad, I’ll manage it all.”

“Children, why are you doing this? You should have gone for a honeymoon like this, that would have made us happier,” my father said, his cheeks beaming with immense pride.

“No dad, Sameer just got a new project so he won’t be able to take a long leave of absence from office, and I can’t skip school as well.”

“You could have lied better at least. I’m your father, I know you very well dear.”

“Sameer wanted this dad, and I couldn’t say no to him.”

“She will come more happily with me if she has got some new and refurbished memories with her 2 idols. And that is what I want. I’ll follow you in the car and then I’ll drop it off at your place, Kritika.”

“Yeah fine Sam. Mom, dad, you two start going. I just need to ask some stuff, and then I’ll get the bags and I’ll be there.”

As mother and father began walking, I turned to Sameer and hugged him hard. Tears of happiness and joy rolled down my cheeks and he just held on to me.

“Hey sweetheart, go happily with them, that’s all they want from you. Don’t miss me there, okay?”

“Shut up you idiot. Sameer, I love you so very much. Thank you for being there honey. You sure can’t come?”

“This is like a bachelor party thing for you 3. Just go and have a blast. Its true you know, we need to go further in order to get closer, and just today I realized the true meaning.”

With a final squeeze, he held my hand and led me towards the waiting car. I felt like the luckiest person in the universe to have found him; but I couldn’t guess that there were 2 more people who felt the same, and they awaited me in the car.