The Wrong Card, The Right Love

I had been looking forward to this moment for a while now, and everything was going according to plan. The location had been finalized, and even the mariachi band had confirmed their presence. Riya had been just as excited for this moment as I was. We were planning to go to the park where we had our very first date, intending to sit under the same tree where we had confessed our love for each other. The night before the grand event, I was nervous — my palms were sweaty, and my heart was pounding so loudly, it felt as if it would escape from my chest. Only one thought was running through my head: "Would she say yes?" I decided to go to sleep so that I would be a fresh character tomorrow.

"The grand day was finally here. My alarm rang, 'Tring tring,' sharp at 7 a.m., and it was the first time that I woke up with a smile in a while. Without wasting any time, I rushed to the bathroom to take a quick hot shower. I broke my personal record for the time it took to put on my tux—just under a minute! I was off and ready to go. I hastily grabbed my car keys while bidding goodbye to mom. The road was clear–no traffic at all. I reached the park 30 minutes ahead of time. At that moment, the clock was ticking at a mile per minute! And as it neared 9am a wide smile appeared on my face knowing the moment that I was waiting for was finally coming true.

Sharp at 9am, Riya was there, wearing that beautiful red dress that I myself had gifted her. Her face was glowing and she had put on my favourite bracelet. That day, it felt as if I were at the peak of my life. We both immediately went and sat under the tree and started munching on snacks that I had brought from home. Soon, the Mariachi band marched in and started playing. I gave her the card I had made for her and she grabbed it with sheer excitement. However as she was reading it her facial expression drastically changed. I was worried. During then, I was thinking of the most absurd reasons on why she would not like it. “Was it poorly written or was she not understanding the handwriting?” She looked up at me — tears rolling down her cheeks — confused and puzzled, and slowly whispered, “I don’t understand.” I had put my heart and soul into making that card and the words I was, “I don’t understand.”. At that moment nothing made sense. There were all sorts of emotions I was feeling then but I was not able to freely express them. My voice was trapped inside of me and as time passed by the situation became more and more awkward. She swore that she would never see my face again, threw the card on the ground, and vanished.

The moment she left I hurriedly picked the card up to see why she felt so disheartened after reading it. While reading the card my jaw dropped. With my heart racing and a droplet of sweat rolling down my cheek, I realized the mistake I had made. The name at the bottom said, “To Maya.” Maya was my ex-girl friend, the one whom I had previously written a card for but we broke up before I could give it to her. Amidst all the stress at home, with me thinking of various different reasons on why Riya wouldn’t accept the card, I picked the wrong card from the drawer.

Quickly, I drove to her home and rang the doorbell vigorously—stressed and disheartened. I soon realized that the door was open. I swung the door open, only to see her bawling. I tried to console her, but she wouldn’t even let me touch her. From far away, I explained the entire situation to her and apologized to her from the bottom of my heart. She questioned me, “What if you were going to give her the card today as well?” I quickly replied, “Look at the date on the bottom. It says 15th May 2020. That was five years ago.” I told her that I had written this card for Maya years ago, and now she is not even an important part of my life and that she had been erased from my memories. After a few moments, she came running to me and hugged me as tight as a child clinging to their favourite toy.

In the evening, we went back to the same park. The sun was setting, casting golden hues over the tree where it all began in the first place. I handed the real card over to her and while reading it she was crying out of happiness. She jokingly said, “You’re sure this is my card only right?” Looking at her lovingly and with deep affection, I said, “Yes.” After reading the entire card thoroughly she replied to the card with a resounding yes.

Later that same evening, many of our family friends and relatives gathered together at my house for an early dinner. I had cooked her favourite meal for her: pesto pasta. All of us were happily devouring our meals and having hearty and fruitful conversations at the dining table. Soon, after all of us had finished eating our desserts, I thought the time was right. I went down on my knees in front of all of them and asked Riya to marry me. Riya was overwhelmed with tears, her voice was full of emotion, and with a wide smile and an open heart, she said yes. All of our family members enthusiastically congratulated us, and all of a sudden, I felt a certain bliss in the air. Everything went according to plan, and alas, this moment was finally here. Being surrounded by the love and support of our family members, I knew that this day was going to be etched in my memories forever.