"Happy birthday beta," my parents said in unison as soon as I opened the door of my apartment at 1 AM. Sometimes you are really happy to see someone, like I was to see my parents but it's just that the timing's a bit off.

Ok, scratch that. I was totally screwed. I could hear my heart beat in my ear as I tried to act ecstatic and ushered them inside.

"See, I told you she will be alone. Who will surprise her like this? It's best we did it," my mother grinned at me, landing a loud kiss on my cheeks. I smiled weakly at her as she went on telling my father all the reasons why she was right, not missing an opportunity to prove to my father that in their thirty years of marriage this was perhaps the thirty millionth time that she was right about things and how he should just listen to her.

My father, wise man that he was, kept his mouth tightly shut. But this wasn't my concern. My concern were them, standing in the hallway of my cozy apartment, having surprised me on my birthday by travelling late night in the flight all the way from Mumbai.

Surprised? No, shocked me to the core. You see, they hated every thing associated with "late nights". To think they had taken up the journey to surprise me at midnight was a thing I would have never expected of them. EVER.

"What were you doing? And I hope it wasn't office work again. That boss of hers is a bona fide idiot, overworking his employees," my father scoffed and plumped down on the sofa, his eyes threatening to close down. Guilt instantly filled me as I thought of their loving gesture towards me - travelling so late at night just to wish me, when they hate to do so. Was I self-centered?

The thought fled out of my mind at my mother's next words.

"The mess your hair are! Don't you comb them? Look how shabby they have become," my mother's indignant voice fell in my ears and all guilt was replaced by a roaring anxiousness. If only she knew why they were so shabby, she wouldn't mind dragging me out of the house by holding those same hair. I sighed and closed the door behind me.

"Beta, you should have called us if you were feeling so alone and lonely. Why, you bought a cake for your own self," my father's contrite filled voice made me almost jump out of my skin as my insides filled with panic.

Their razor sharp eyes had landed on the cake. It was only a matter of minutes before they would start questioning about the other 'things' in the room, thus inviting my impending doom.

As for alone, yes, that I was if you decide to ignore the man currently hiding in my room's bathroom.

It started an hour ago. Midnight. 12 AM. The man I mentioned earlier was then standing in my doorway with a cake, balloons and a pretty little gift box. But the most salient part of him was the quaint olive shirt he had donned that I absolutely loved on his broad, lean body. I stared at him while chewing my thumb's nail seductively.

"What are you doing here?" I had asked, leaning against the door frame, a mischievous glint in my eyes, which was shared by the man before me.

He raised his thick eyebrows before replying in the same teasing tone I had used earlier. "Oh, I have a delivery from your boyfriend."

I pouted, my body taking a thoughtful mien. "But I like you better than the things you're holding," I said, sounding completely different than my usual self. I wasn't a seductress per say, but dammit if I wouldn't capitalize on the situation, especially with the completely male person before me.

His full lips turned upwards in a smirk as his brown eyes glittered with mirth and laughter. He gave me an intense look which had me quivering at my knees. "Then perhaps you could hold me instead," he whispered, making me want to giggle giddily.

I grabbed him by the collar and pulled him in. He was Abeer himself, we were just joking. How could there be anyone else when a certain hotshot, exceptionally male and warm Abeer Sen had my insides tingling with excitement at his mere sight, whom I officially had all to myself?

He grinned at me rakishly, pecking my cheeks that had me cheeks flaring, as he placed the cake on the tea table. He opened the cake box to reveal a double chocolate cake with, "Happy birthday, Miss Singhania will be fine" iced on it.

My insides tugged at the sight of it. It is what I had said to him the first time we had met. Though I glared at him the moment I saw it, I knew my face was glowing with mirth and happiness at the sight of it.

After cutting the cake he made me sit on the couch and read what was written on every balloon. I found this gesture exceptionally cheesy, but it warmed my heart in a certain way only Abeer Sen could.

The Tea-stall, 20 questions, Tirany, concert, kiss in the basement - every balloon had a word that showcased an episode in the formation of our relationship. I was shaking my head at him, all the while smiling unknowingly at the words written on the balloons.

He gave me the tiny gift box he had and out came those earrings which I had called "pretty" a few days back while we were wandering in a mall. The diamond studs glittered in the dim nightlight, giving them a different shine than it already had. My heart swelled at his beautiful gestures.

"You like it all?" He asked, tugging me closer to him.

"Its so cheesy," I complained half heartedly, mostly to keep the tears at bay.

I looked up only to find his face gone slack with worry. "Uh, really? I mean, you don't like them?" He asked in a worried voice.

I immediately regretted my words. "Oh no, God no!" I exclaimed, chuckling worriedly. "I love everything you did for me, I love everything you do for me. Even if it's a single flower and I would still be in love with you," I said, grinning.

He chuckled, suddenly grabbing me by the waist and pulling me on his lap, making a shiver run down my back. Even though he had a lazy grin on his face, his eyes had an intense look in them, glowing with love and delicious hazel warmth.

"My sisters had thought that the balloons would be a brilliant idea for you," he said, drawing me closer to him. "But they don't really know that you are the different, rare kind who would be happy with a single flower too, isn't it?" He whispered the last words to me and before I knew it, I had closed the distance between us, kissing him passionately.

He responded immediately, opening his mouth to deepen the kiss. Our tongues mingled and we moaned as they fought for dominance. I pushed him back on the couch, tugging at his hair, that made him growl against my mouth.

We pulled apart, gasping for air, before Abeer caught my lips again in a shattering kiss, which had me in a different, unknown state altogether. The heat had not submerged, in fact, it only seemed to grow by the minute.

My hands started moving and I tugged at seam of his olive shirt, before pulling it all the way up. My hands burned as they came in contact with bare, male skin. My hands slowly travelled the way up his torso, making his muscles flex everywhere I touched, and when I finally looked him in the eye, a shudder ran down my spine.

His eyes had darkened, the look in his eye making me lose every bit of control I had exercised over us. In no time, he flipped us over, giving me the perfect view of his torso, as I wiggled under his scorching hazel eyes.

He gently feathered my blushing red cheeks, a sigh escaping my mouth when his other hand reached under the hem of my shirt, his fingers accidentally brushing on my naked skin, making me jolt at the electric contact.

Before we could get my top removed from my body, the irritatingly loud doorbell rang and we both jumped in panic at the intrusion. In a frenzy I pushed him in the bathroom of my bedroom and went to open the door. The rest as they say is history.

My parents sat on the sofa, in the exact same place where we had been kissing each other senselessly. I tried to not let the two pictures combine.

While on the couch, Abeer and I had only cut the cake but never ate it, so when my parents sat down and read what was written on the cake, they gave me a puzzled look.

I chuckled hesitantly, chanting the golden mantra of lying in my head. Believe what you say and keep calm. "While buying the cake I was talking on the phone to an intern who kept addressing me by my whole name, like how stupid was that, so I told him that Miss Singhania was fine. The stupid bakery salesmen thought that I wanted that iced on the cake," I clicked my tongue and rolled my eyes in effect to my lie, which had them shaking their heads in mirth. They had brought a cake along and had begun unboxing it when my mother said that we can have the cake that had been cut and distribute the other to the poor in the morning.

I cut the already cut cake with them again but I was so nervous that I made a deep cut that ran till the center of it, where it had a red liquid center. It suddenly dawned on me that Abeer had brought a wine cake that one of his friends made. It was covered with normal cake from around with thick wine filled in the middle.

Now my parents, among other things also hate all kinds of alcohol. So let's say I had to make very careful cuts and offer the side ones to them. The stars were in my favor that day otherwise my mother had eyes of a hawk that seemed to detect mischief quicker than Sherlock. After everyone had eaten they decided that we should go and watch a movie in my room. I agreed readily and followed them, eager to have them out of the hall before their attention fell on other aspects of my "lonely" birthday.

"Yeh kya likha hai balloons pe, beta?" ( What is written on these balloons?) my father innocently asked.

So much for wishing otherwise.

My brain raced a hundred miles an hour as excuses flowed out of my mouth. "Arre, its everything that I have achieved in this year, I got it written on the balloons. Just wanted to try the latest trends, you know," I giggled sheepishly, trying to brush off the topic. But they kept looking at the balloons inquisitively, giving the hint that they wanted me to elaborate. Biting back a sigh, I started blabbering a litany of utter crap.

"The Tirany project was a major achievement. Then there's 20 questions, you know we had that in Bangalore conference, too complicated to explain right now," I said, waving my hand dismissively. The key to a good lie was to not overdo it and keeping it simple.

Very, very simple. I had made these observations years ago, and so far, things had gone splendidly.

"Then there was the concert I had told you about, a tea stall I had found on my way to office, just a bunch of different things," I said, infusing enough ratio of glee and indifference in my tone.

Or I hoped so.

While explaining, my eyes fell on the earring box, and I sneakily bend and shoved it inside gap between the armrest and the cushion, pretending to be dusting the sofa. It had a note saying "from Abeer with love" and that was the kind of thing which couldn't be solved with an excuse.

But what I forgot while taking care of it was the last balloon which said "kiss in the parking lot" upon which the all-seeing eye of my mother landed.

Holy crap.

"Beta, how did you achieve a 'kiss in the parking lot'?" my mother suspiciously asked, narrowing her eyes at me.

I rolled my eyes, trying very hard to ignore the nervous thudding of my heart. "That is my favorite song of this year. 'Kiss in the parking lot' by Olivia Rodriguez," I blurted the first singer that came in my mind, owing to my little knowledge about English singers. But where my knowledge was little, theirs was non-existent hence they would never figure out that Olivia never sang anything like that and perhaps never would. "You know, hmm...hm..hm hm hmm..." I tried to hum a tune to solidify my claim with a laugh.

By this time my mother was shaking her head disapprovingly at me, the suspicion gone from her eyes. It was all I could do to not cry with relief. "Kids these days with their craze for that nonsense," my mother muttered and moved to my room to play a movie for the three of us to watch that night.

By the time I reached the room, I saw my father had switched off the bathroom lights being the electricity saver that he was, leaving the half naked Abeer in total darkness. My insides churned with worry the entire 2 hours, hoping against hope that he would survive in there and not lose it. I sighed with relief as the credits rolled on the screen and rushed to get out of bed as my parents moved to the adjacent room. My parents got out of the room and just as I was thinking everything was finally over, I heard my mom bellow from the hall.

"Whose shirt is this, this doesn't seem yours?" I jumped, biting back a curse as I strode in the hall.

"Mom," I sighed, fake-yawning to cover up my anxiousness. "Mera hi hai mom ( it is mine Mom), who's will it be other than me? I had ordered a larger size for me online on sale, but I didn't realize that it would be this big. And it wasn't returnable or refundable, so I use it at home sometimes," I explained, trying to take the shirt from her. "Now come on please, it's so late mom, go to sleep," I said, eyeing the shirt carefully.

"This is why I tell you not to shop online," she said, admonishing me while striding to the laundry basket. "I'll have the clothes washed tomorrow," she said and finally waved me goodnight with a peck on my cheeks.

"Goodnight," I loudly called after them and lingered in the hallway till I heard the click of the door's lock, upon which I hurried back to my room and ran for the washroom.

I opened the bathroom door to find Abeer sitting on the commode, hands behind his head, staring at the ceiling. Patience was surely a very strong virtue of his because if I were in his place and someone had locked me in their washroom for two whole hours in darkness, I would have broken the door down and slaughtered them. Or screamed bloody murder within the first hour.

He looked at me as I strode towards him. "I am so, so sorry," I went in and hugged his bare torso. To say I felt guilty would be an understatement. His chest vibrated with silent laughter as he hugged me back, landing a soft kiss on my head. I ushered him back into the room and then to the hall, where he looked for his shirt.

I twisted my hands with worry. "Abeer, your shirt..." I started, looking sorry already.

"What happened?" He asked, his brow furrowed.

"Mom took it and put it in the laundry, She will notice it tomorrow if you take it back" I whispered back guilty.

"Okay so I will leave half naked like this," he muttered quietly.

"You will, really, thank yo -"

"No! Obviously not. How can I go without a shirt?" He whispered testily, making me effectively shut my mouth. He was losing his cool by the way he was running his hand through his hair. I sighed.

So much for the perfect birthday.

I finally gave him the largest sweater I had in my closet, which had arrived in the wrong size online. It was still tight for his built, but he managed to squeeze in. The situation could have been better if the sweater hadn't been neon pink with a big flower printed in the middle. Not that boys can't like pink, but Abeer had particular hatred towards that color.

"You still look handsome," I whispered to him as I watched him eye the sweater in the mirror with distaste, to which he only flashed a look at me. Again, I shut up and quietly sneaked out of the room to the door and he went out, muttering to himself something along the lines of "things I do for love".

I quietly closed the door with a smile playing on my lips as I rushed to retrieve the earring box from the sofa and stuffing it to the farthest corner of my closet.

I closed the door of my room and giggled. Really, the things we do for love!

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