1st Anniversary Special: Love, Chocolate and the Bravo Squad

14th February 2032

06:00

Choudhary Residence, Purbachal, Dhaka

Sohel lazily turned towards his bedside table and stopped the alarm. He then lied flat on his back again and stared into the ceiling for a few moments, then jumped off the bed.

He made his way to the washroom and came back after washing his face.

He then got out of his room and headed downstairs to get himself some water.

As expected, everyone was still sleeping.

He took his water and went to the roof of the house to get some fresh morning air.

As he inhaled the fresh spring air while enjoying the view, he suddenly felt a presence behind him. He quickly turned back towards the door but quickly let his guard down when he found Naomi standing on the door. 

Sohel said, "Oh, it's just you."

Naomi came and stood beside him as Sohel turned back towards the railing.

She said, "Good morning."

"Morning, you're up early today."

"Yeah. I have something to do today."

"Ohh? What's that?"

Naomi smiled and replied, "Secret."

Sohel shrugged, "Well, if you want to keep a secret, I don't think I can pull it out of you."

Naomi said, "Look forward to it."

She turned and said, "I'm going to make some coffee for me, you want some?"

Sohel smiled, "Ahh. Thank you."

"No sugar, half milk and a spoon of cocoa powder, right?"

Sohel chuckled, "When did you learn my preference?"

Naomi said as she went towards the door, "How many times do you think I've made coffee for you at this point?"

Naomi left. Sohel thought, "She has a keen eye for details. She'd make a good bride one day."

Naomi came back around twenty minutes later, with two mugs of hot coffee in her hands.

She stood next to Sohel and gave one cup to him. Sohel took the coffee and took a sip. His face lightened up just as he took the sip and said, "It's perfect. Thanks Naomi."

Naomi nodded and took a sip from her mug. Both of them silently enjoyed the coffee and the scenery.

Naomi suddenly broke the silence as she said, "leisurely sipping on coffee while enjoying spring nature with someone precious to me. Haha. If you said this to me a few years ago, I wonder what my reaction would be."

Sohel replied, "You'd have brushed it off with that same familiar dialogue of yours."

Sohel tried to imitate old Naomi, "Don't say stupid stuff. Friends and leisure are just a waste of time. I'd rather spend that time training." then walked off without batting an eye.

Naomi laughed and said, "That might have happened back then. But still, thank you. Thank you for reaching out to me."

Sohel patted on Naomi's shoulder and said, "Always. That's what friends are supposed to do."

Naomi suddenly said, "Naje tomodachi? Naje koibito janai no? Baka. (Why friend? Why not, lover? Dumbo)"

Sohel exclaimed and asked, "What are you talking about?"

Naomi took her coffee mug and stormed off the door as she said, "Nothing. Don't mind me," leaving Sohel dumbfounded.

09:32

Everyone finished their breakfast, and just as Sohel finished washing his hands, the doorbell rang. Sohel said, "I'll take it." as he went towards the door.

Just as he opened the door, he was stunned as he saw Annabelle and Jacob standing outside the door. Jacob said, "Won't you invite us in?"

Sohel snapped back to reality and said, "Ahh yeah. Come in, come in."

As they walked into the living room, Sohel asked, "What brings you all the way here suddenly?"

He got his answers, but from someone else as Sarah suddenly said, "Brother Jacob, Sister Annabelle, you're already here? I thought it'd take you till evening to get here."

Annabelle replied as she went ahead and pinched Sarah's cheeks, "How could I not make haste when my cutie sister has invited me?"

Jacob said as if he were complaining, "Yeah. That reckless girl there used all her royal powers to get a flight to Dhaka. She even kidnapped me along the way."

Sohel laughed as he said, "Looks like Ann was too much for you to handle."

Jacob replied, "She'd be too much for anyone to handle."

Annabelle retaliated, "Oh, shut up, peabrain. Be grateful for the free ride. You'd still be 35,000 feet up in the air if not for me."

Jacob brushed it off by saying, "Yes, your highness. I'm forever grateful to you for saving a few hours of my life. Idiot."

Annabelle got red as she said, "Who're you calling an idiot you… "

Sohel stopped them as he said, "That's enough. No fighting is allowed in Choudhury Residence."

By then, Mitali, Naomi and Luna had come to the living room too.

Luna suddenly said, "Papa, let's go on an outing."

Sohel was taken aback by Luna's sudden request and said, "Suddenly?"

Luna replied, "Please? Uncle Jacob, you come with us too."

Jacob made a hurting noise as he acted like he had lost power in his legs. He said, "U… Uncle? I'm twenty-three, you know? I'm not even married yet."

Annabelle gave a mocking laugh as she said, "Serves you right."

Sohel said, "Okay. What do you want to do?"

Luna excitedly replied, "Amusement Park. I want to go to an amusement park. I've seen videos; it looks like a really fun place."

Sohel went and put a hand on Luna's head as he said, "OK. Today we're going to an amusement park."

A big smile appeared on Luna's face as she asked, "Will uncle Jacob come too?"

Jacob made another hurting noise. Sohel replied, "Yes. 'UNCLE' Jacob will come too."

"Yayy. I'll go get ready."

Luna ran upstairs at full speed.

Neither Sohel nor Jacob noticed the girls grinning behind them as Sarah whispered, "Mission successful."

20:41

Sohel parked his car in the driveway and one by one, Sohel, Luna and Jacob got out.

As they headed towards the main door, Jacob asked, "What's this sweet smell?"

Sohel exclaimed, "Smell?"

Sohel rang the doorbell, and a few moments later, Sarah came and opened the door.

Just as they entered the house, Sarah practically pushed them and made them sit in the living room. Sarah said, "Be good boys and wait here, okay?"

Both Sohel and Jacob were left sitting there with a big question mark on their faces.

A few moments later, Naomi, Mitali, Annabelle and Sarah got into the room, one by one. Each of them had two boxes on their hand. First Naomi went, and she gave a box to Sohel as she said, "Happy Valentine's Day. I hope you like it. I've poured all my love into making this."

Sohel awkwardly smiled as he took the box and opened it. Inside was a heart-shaped dark chocolate. He took a bite and said, "Hmm. It's really tasty. Thank you."

Naomi's face turned red as she said, "Welcome." Naomi then gave the other box to Jacob and said, "This one's for you. Thanks for being a good teammate."

Jacob took the box and said, "Always."

Then came Mitali. She gave him her chocolate and said, "Thanks for always staying by my side. And I'll tell you, I won't lose."

Sohel wondered what loss she was talking about, but he couldn't get the chance as Jacob quickly asked, "And mine?"

Mitali gave the other box to him and said, "Here you go. Hope you like it."

Then came Annabelle, and she gave both of them their chocolate and said, "Please. Take a bite and tell me if you like it."

Sohel took his chocolate and, after eating a bit, said, "It's really good. Thank you."

A smug smile appeared on Annabelle's face. Then Jacob took his chocolate and took a bite. In a moment, he started jumping and running around while coughing and asking for water. After drinking like a litre of water in one go, he said, "You vixen. Do you want to kill me?"

Annabelle was uncontrollably laughing this whole time. She somehow controlled her laughter and said, "Oh, don't overreact. That didn't put that much, which could kill you."

Sohel asked, "What happened?"

Annabelle simply replied, "Uhm, I may have mistakenly replaced the sugar with salt and put three times the normal amount."

Sohel awkwardly smiled and said, "Remind me to never get on your bad side."

Sarah lastly came in front and gave her chocolate and said, "Let's go now. We cooked a feast. I'm already hungry."