Chapter 1: The Wrong Message
It all started by mistake.
Aanya sat alone in her small Delhi apartment late at night. Her eyes were tired, and her heart felt heavy. She had cried for hours—not over just one thing, but many small things. That day, her boss had praised someone else for a project Aanya had worked very hard on. She had come home, made herself dinner, and sat quietly, feeling completely alone.
She picked up her phone and recorded a voice note. Her voice was low and shaky, but honest.
“Do you ever feel like you’re not enough? Like no one really sees you? I just want someone to look at me and feel like… I’m the person they were waiting for.”
She hit send, thinking it was going to her best friend Maira.
But a few seconds later, her phone buzzed.
Veer Saxena: “Hi… I think this wasn’t meant for me. But… it meant something to me.”
Her heart skipped a beat.
Veer Saxena. Her senior from college. She remembered him well.
Back then, he had a quiet charm. Veer was very handsome—tall and slim, and he walked in a calm, effortless way that made people notice him even when he didn’t try. His face was sharp and neat, with deep brown eyes that looked kind and thoughtful. His eyelashes were thick, his cheekbones were high, and his jawline was strong. He had a clean, well-groomed beard that added to his warmth and made him look grounded and mature.
His skin had a warm golden tone. His dark, slightly wavy hair often fell over his forehead, and he would casually push it back with his hand. Even in simple clothes like a plain shirt, he looked good without effort.
But the best thing about him was his eyes. When he looked at someone, it felt like he truly saw them. And when he smiled, even a little, it made everything feel warm and peaceful.
She remembered him asking to borrow her blue pen during a sociology exam—and never returning it. They had barely spoken since.
Chapter 2: A Message Turns into Something More
Aanya quickly replied.
“Oh no! I’m really sorry. That message was for someone else. Please ignore it.”
But Veer didn’t ignore it.
“No need to be sorry. Honestly… I needed to hear that. Thank you.”
That one wrong message turned into something unexpected.
They kept talking. First just short messages, then longer chats. Texts became voice notes. Voice notes became phone calls. They talked about life, books, memories, and their quiet fears.
Veer now lived in Jaipur, running a peaceful little café with a library called The Wordsmith’s Retreat. Aanya was still in Delhi, working as a book editor.
One night, she asked him, “Why didn’t we ever talk in college?”
He replied, “Maybe we weren’t ready to understand each other back then.”
Chapter 3: Disappearing Brother
Their connection grew stronger every day.
But one day, everything changed.
Aanya’s younger brother, Aarav, suddenly left his job in Dehradun and disappeared. He wasn’t answering his phone. No one knew where he was. He hadn’t told anyone anything.
Aanya rushed to her hometown, Ranikhet, where her parents were already worried. Together, they searched for Aarav—called the police, contacted his friends, and even checked hospitals.
Weeks passed. Nothing.
During this time, Veer kept texting her:
“Are you okay?”
“Please say something… anything.”
But Aanya didn’t reply.
She was too worried, too exhausted, and didn’t know how to explain it all.
Then finally, a phone call came.
Aarav had been found.
He was living at a quiet yoga retreat near Almora. He had been feeling overwhelmed and had left everything behind to clear his mind. He hadn’t told anyone because he didn’t want to burden his family.
Aanya hugged him and cried when she saw him again.
But in her heart, she knew she had pushed someone else—Veer—away too.
Chapter 4: The Letter
A few weeks later, after returning to Delhi, Aanya found a letter in her mailbox.
It was folded once, with just her name on the front.
She opened it.
“I don’t know if you’re okay. I don’t even know if I matter enough to ask. But you matter to me. And I’d rather look like a fool than stay silent and wonder what could have been.”
It was from Veer.
Tears filled her eyes.
She picked up her phone and called him.
But he didn’t answer.
Later that night, one of his team members from the café texted her: Veer had gone to Sikkim. He had joined a peaceful monastery to volunteer for some time. His phone was off. No one knew when he would come back.
Chapter 5: Jaipur Again
One full year passed.
Aanya kept working. Her life looked fine from the outside, but inside, something always felt missing. She still thought of him often.
She kept Veer’s letter in her wallet.
One day, she was sent to Jaipur for a literary event.
After the event ended, she went out for a walk, not knowing where she was going.
She turned a quiet corner and stopped.
Right in front of her was The Wordsmith’s Retreat.
Her breath caught.
She walked in slowly, heart pounding.
The familiar scent of coffee and books filled the air. And then—she saw him.
Veer.
Behind the counter. Making coffee. His head was slightly bent, a wisp of hair falling over his forehead.
He looked up.
And time stopped.
He looked the same.
No—better.
Time hadn’t taken anything away. His warm golden skin, his deep brown eyes, his calm presence—everything was still there. His beard was now a little fuller, still neatly groomed, giving him a quiet, poetic look. His smile was softer, his presence stronger.
He hadn’t changed.
He had only become more… him.
He stepped out from behind the counter.
“Aanya?” he asked softly.
She smiled, eyes full of emotion. “Hi.”
“You came,” he said, still surprised.
“I didn’t plan to. But I think… I was meant to.”
Chapter 6: A Rooftop Reunion
That evening, they sat on the café rooftop under the stars and fairy lights.
“I read your book,” Veer said.
“I didn’t use your name,” Aanya smiled.
“You didn’t have to. I saw myself in every word.”
“I missed you,” she whispered.
“I was scared to hope,” he replied.
Chapter 7: A Quiet Love
They didn’t call it love. Not right away.
But it was in the way she arranged his bookshelves.
In the way he made her tea with cardamom, not ginger.
In the way they sat on the floor reading together, laughing at silly poems written on café napkins.
One night, she was ranting about an annoying writer she was editing when he leaned in and kissed her mid-sentence.
She forgot what she was saying.
She smiled instead.
It felt like home.
Chapter 8: A Choice to Make
Then came another decision.
Aanya got a job offer from New York—a top publishing house, the role of a senior editor. A dream come true.
She told Veer.
He looked down for a moment, then said, “You should go.”
“I don’t want to leave you,” she replied.
“But you will,” he said quietly. “And that’s okay. You’ve earned this.”
On her last night in Jaipur, Veer gave her a small wooden box.
Inside was the blue pen she had lent him during their college exam, years ago.
“You gave this to me once,” he said. “Maybe now you’ll use it to write our story.”
She held it tightly.
And cried the whole train ride home.
Chapter 9: The Right Message
New York was bright, fast, full of opportunity.
Aanya did well at work.
But her heart was still back in Jaipur.
Six months passed.
She wrote many stories—but none felt complete.
Then one evening, she picked up that old blue pen.
And wrote something else.
A message.
This time, she made sure it was going to the right person.
“I don’t want a world without you. I miss your coffee. Your calm. The way you looked at me. Please… tell me it’s not too late.”
She hit send.
And waited.
Chapter 10: The Answer She Hoped For
An hour later, her phone rang.
She picked it up.
He didn’t say hello.
He just whispered, “Come home.”
Two weeks later, she stood in front of the café once more.
It looked just the same.
But this time, there was something new.
On the rooftop wall, in soft golden paint, were the words:
“The message wasn’t meant for me. But you were.”
He was standing there, waiting for her.
She ran into his arms.
He kissed her—like a promise and a beginning.
This time, it wasn’t just a moment.
It was their forever.
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