Crowded Cafe

'Are you all right?'

'No, do not ask me about it. Leave me alone,' snubbed Maggie.

'But what I have done, Mag. Just tell me, and I will rectify that mistake,' assured Tim, Maggie's Husband.

'Just keep quiet and complete that Mocha.' ordered Maggie. Tim and Maggie were inside a busy cafe. People were waiting for their turn to sit and sip the delicious coffee. 

'But what have I done?' asked Tim in a somewhat high-pitch but anxious tone.

Maggie looked around and caught nine pairs of eyes looking at their table.

'Can't you keep your cute mouth shut for sometime. People are looking at us.'Tim

'So, what? I am not ashamed to ask my wife about what bothers her that she had to cancel the candle light dinner on marriage anniversarry and drag me to this crowdy cafe. Huh!'

'My love let us finish this drink and take this discussion in the car, Shall we?'

'No, we shall not. You better give me the reason or I will shout at the top of my voice.'

Tim knew that Maggie was shy and she despised any kind of attraction. On the contrary, Tim loved the attention. This contrary nature, which might be the reason for many lovers to call it to quit, has been the reason for their attachment. They were pole opposite. This dissimilarity kept them bonded. Tim was banking right now on that dissimilarity to find the reason behind the fading love. It has been nine years of their marriage and not one day goes by where they fail to express how much they love each other.

People often fail to recognize the true value of familiar things. 

Maggie knew that time was becoming heavy on their marriage life. The passing years took a toll on their marriage. Although it may be invisible to the naked eyes of others, Maggie knew that Tim was not the Tim that she knew in college. The behaviour of Tim was saying more than his words. Maggie knew that Tim's business had taken a toll on their love. She did not want to end the precious bond. So, in the hope of renewing the love, she chooses their anniversary to course-correct the trajectory of their relationship to take it to new heights.

She cancelled the candle-light dinner at a fancy restaurant up-town and dragged Tim to a crowded cafe. It was a special place for them which Tim forgot. 

'Mag, Please, Please, Please, Please... Tell me. What is the matter? I am at any fault?' asked Tim to Mag with a slightly lower and appeasing tone. 

'Do you remember the first time we met?'

'No way!!!!!!!!! I am sorry, my love. I totally forgot this place. It is the same table where I proposed you. How stupid of me to forget such important things. Forgive me, my amore.'

'Do not act oversmart, my chubby hubby. The entire interior is changed. And I can gurantee that this is not the table where you proposed me. Keep your charming words with yourself. I am not going to be enticed with those words.' 

'No, Mag. This was the exact spot where I proposed to you. I remember this window. It was from here that I first saw you with you engrossed in your book. You were literary lost in that fictional world, not caring about the happenings around you. There was a birthday party going around the next table, and you were totally into your book. That killer looks with unflinching attention into that book made me wondered. I was actually on my way to interview a national basketball sensation in our town. But, I cancelled that interview for our college magazine and decided to visit this cafe.'

'Seriously, Tim. You remember all of that.'

'You do not know how much I adore you, my Amore. Words fell short to express my feelings.'

'But from what I heard about our college secretary Tim Sheldon, was that he was never short of charming words and cheerful smile.'

'You heard it right, but Tim Sheldon never found any words to express his feelings. Infront of his love, he could only smile.'

'Is that right? What about all that charming things that you said the day we meet.'

'What can I say? You never noticed me, for full six days. Even half of the college knew that Tim was in love with a book-nerd reading novels all the time in this cafe. Only you were unaware of it.'

'Yes, but the offer to write book-reviews in the college magazine was the only thing you can thought of at that time.'

'Yes, and it worked. We worked three days a week together, and it gave me a chance to talk to you and know you. At that time, college might have placed you under the nerd category, but you were more than that. Only if the college knew about all the creative solutions that you gave me to solve the problems of our college.'

'Listen, they were merely suggestions that I thought of from all the stories I read and all the worlds that I travelled through stories. Remember that there were problems in this world long before we were born, and there were also solutions.The authors all around the world have doscumented both, Problems and their solutions in all of their stories.'

'And that is the reason that you are fluent in five major languages of the world. Your advise still works wonder in my business world.'

'OHHHHHHHHH! Businessman, We are not here to discuss business. We are here for a special reason.'

'And that is what I am asking you for the hundredth time.'

'And that is what I am saying that try to remember on your own.'

'Okay, then I lay my weapons down and surrender to your surprise. But first, allow me to surpirse you. Take this,' saying this, Tim handed an original copy of the manuscript of Mahabharata to Maggie. The Mahabharata was the longest written poem about the Pandavas and Kauravas. The Epilogue of the book mentions that: “Whatever is here, may be found elsewhere; what is not cannot be found anywhere else.”

'Thank you. Tim for this. I have been looking for it since many years.'

'I know Mag all about you that even you seem to forget. Only one thing that I do not know is what is the reason behind this sudden change of plans.'

Without saying a word, Maggie slides a box towards Tim. Tim opened it and extracted the letter from the box. 

'I am pregnant' was written on it with bold letters.

Tim jumped with joy on the table. At last, Maggie saw the same Tim that jumped on the table when she accepted his proposal. Sometimes, we fail to notice the beauty and the love that others have for us within them, although we have seen them hundreds of times. It takes a moment to recognize the love inside others for us, and Maggie saw that spark of love still alive inside Tim. It was enough of an anniversary gift for her. The Mahabharata was a bonus.