12:30 PM, Afternoon…
Ruhi knocked gently on Anamika’s room door. The soft knock stirred Anamika from her sleep.
Yawning and stretching like a child, Anamika stood up with a sleepy smile.
Ruhi walked over with a smile and sat beside her on the bed. Carefully brushing a few strands of hair from Anamika’s face, she whispered sweetly, “Anu… I mean… Anamika!”
Anamika rubbed her eyes and gave her the softest smile. “You can call me Anu. I think I like it better when you do.”
That one sentence melted something inside Ruhi. She smiled back—blushing a little—and said, “Actually… I wanted to ask you something.”
Anamika tilted her head and noticed Ruhi’s nervous fingers fidgeting against each other. She gently placed her hand on Ruhi’s and asked in a calm, affectionate voice, “Is everything okay? You look like something’s bothering you.”
Ruhi looked down like a child caught doing something sneaky.
After a tiny pause, she said hesitantly, “I know we’re supposed to follow the rules… but… do you think we can maybe, just a little bit, bend one of them?”
Anamika blinked, half-confused, half-curious. “Which rule are we talking about here?”
Ruhi slowly pulled a small folded chit out of her purse and placed it gently in Anamika’s hand, like it was some ancient magical scroll. “This is… Aniket sir’s wish chit,” she said softly.
“There’s something in it that I want your help with. But for that… you’ll have to read it. And if you do, that technically breaks the rule.”
Anamika looked at the chit and then back at Ruhi’s nervous face. She thought for a moment, then smiled.
“It won’t break the rule,” she said calmly. “He said we can’t just randomly tell someone our wish chit. But you’re not being careless. You’re telling me because I’m the only one who can help you with this. And if anything, this is for the most important rule of all…”
Ruhi raised her eyebrows, curious. “Most important rule?”
Anamika gave a warm little nod. “To fulfill the wish. No matter what. That’s the most important rule. And it can’t be ignored—ever.”
Ruhi’s heart eased. “You’re kind of amazing, you know that?”
Anamika giggled, “Tell me what’s in the chit then!”
She opened it and began to read…
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Anamika couldn’t help but laugh at the last line.
“But Ruhi,” she said, raising her eyes from the chit, “this wish clearly says the person who receives the chit has to paint the portrait. That means… I can’t paint it for you.”
Ruhi made the cutest little sad face, like a kid who’d been told she couldn’t have chocolate.
“I know,” she said with a sigh. “That’s the problem! I don’t know anything about painting! I could’ve asked my brother to help me learn, but…”
“But…?” Anamika prompted.
Ruhi gave a dramatic sigh. “He’s sweet but crazy protective! If he finds out I’m painting a guy’s portrait… he’ll go full FBI on me! He’d assume it’s my boyfriend! But Aniket sir is like a brother to me! Ugh!”
She rolled her eyes and added, “Even if, somehow, I convince him… he cannot keep a secret! If it slips out while talking to Dad… then poof! I won’t survive the next family dinner. So please, Anu… teach me to paint! I’ll be the best student ever!”
Anamika chuckled, “Alright then! From today, I’m your guru (teacher), huh?”
Ruhi, fully committing to the act, bowed dramatically. “Yes, oh wise Guruji (teacher)! I am your loyal disciple. Please shower your divine brush strokes of wisdom upon me!”
Anamika burst out laughing, “You’re so dramatic!”
Just then, a quiet knock broke the giggles. Aditya stood at the door, peeking in shyly.
The moment their eyes met, Aditya’s smile faded.
He remembered it. The moment he had kissed her lips while she was asleep… gently, hesitantly… like it was a dream. It wasn’t even a full kiss, just a whisper of one.
But to him—it was wrong. And it weighed on him.
He quickly looked down, hiding his eyes.
Anamika noticed his awkwardness but didn’t say anything. She chose silence.
Aditya cleared his throat, eyes still avoiding hers. “Ruhi… I told you to introduce Anamika to the staff, right?”
“Oh! I completely forgot!” Ruhi stood up.
She grabbed Anamika’s hand and tugged her gently, “Come on, Anu! Let’s go meet everyone!”
Aditya watched them walk away. And then, he heard it again.
Anu
Ruhi had called her Anu. So easily. So naturally.
And Anamika had smiled.
Aditya just stood there, frozen. That simple name—Anu—echoed like a thunderclap in his heart.
Because he had never called her that. Never had the courage.
Never had the right.
And yet, she smiled when Ruhi said it. She allowed her that closeness.
As they disappeared down the hallway, Anamika turned once.
She looked back at Aditya’s face. Something in his expression made her pause. Something… unreadable.
She gently touched her lips.
Aditya saw that too. And panic crawled up his spine.
“Did she remember? Oh God, please no… please don’t let her remember that kiss.
If she does… what will she think of me?”
And then she was gone.
Aditya stood alone in the cabin. He looked at the sofa where she had slept, where he had lost control—just for a second.
He whispered under his breath,
“If only… If only I had even a tiny bit of right over you.
If only I could call you Anu, like Ruhi does.
I don’t know if that day will ever come…
but I wish… I wish it would.”
He remembered every moment he had hesitated. Every little wish he had buried inside:
“I want to touch your face without fear.
To move that one strand of hair that always falls over your eyes…”
He remembered Saaniya feeding her with a smile…
“I want to feed you, too. Just once, let me do that…”
He remembered her clinging to Saaniya, begging to go home with her…
“I want to be the one you insist on going home with. Just once, throw that tantrum for me…”
He remembered their reunion after six long years…
“I want to be the one who holds you when you break. Just like Saaniya does.”
He watched Ruhi walk proudly with Anamika, introducing her to people…
“I want to do that, too. But I can’t… because you’re never that open with me.”
He watched Ruhi hold her hand in the elevator, heard her call her Anu again…
“I wish… I had a name for you too. A name only I could call you.”
Back in his cabin, Aditya slowly closed the door behind him. He leaned against it, all his strength fading.
He shut his eyes.
And whispered with trembling lips,
“Why… Why do I keep dreaming of all these little things, When deep down I know… Not a single one of them will come true?”
Will Saaniya fulfill Aniket’s last heartfelt wish?
Will she become the bridge between two hearts?
Or… will destiny create more distance between them?
