ONE HUNDRED AND ONE

DYLAN'S POV

While I sat at the dining table, nibbling on my food, I waited patiently for a reply from Anisha. I could not believe that after I sent a 'good night' message she was typing such a long response. I was more than eager to read what she was typing, and so I waited patiently. It felt like forever before the message popped in, and in haste, I opened it.

What? It was not my message, but Valentina's! And what's more…it was a confession of her love for me. Realising what had happened, I was not sure how to handle the situation. I knew without any doubt that once Anisha realised her mistake, she was going to feel terrible. And I had already read the message. The message brought me a lot of joy, but at that moment I blamed myself for delaying to tell the lady how I felt about her. Now my delay had ended up causing the girl to embarrass herself. I stood up and headed to her suite. After a soft knock, I slid the door open and entered.

"Dylan," she immediately blushed and looked away, pulling the duvet up to cover her shoulders.

"Anisha, don't…don't feel bad but I saw your message, and I love you too." That is what I found myself saying.

She froze for a moment, her eyes widened in shock, and she looked at her phone.

"Oh no!" she screamed and jumped off the bed to run into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her. The way she ran was really funny, but then it was not the right time for me to laugh. I walked towards the bathroom, telling myself that it was better to get the issue sorted out. If I left, it meant Anisha was going to continue avoiding me, so it was best to just talk about it and let it go.

"Open the door please, Anisha," I pleaded with her.

"No. Please Dylan leave!" her voice was shaky.

"Anisha listen, for how long do you plan to stay away from me? Come, let's talk. Believe it or not, I was going to tell you that I have fallen in love with you."

"You're lying just to make me feel better!" she screamed. The bathroom door was still locked.

"I wouldn't lie to you. Open the door and we can talk."

"Just talk to me. I can't face you right now." I felt sorry for her. She really sounded seriously embarrassed.

"Anisha, I need to see you as I tell you what I want to tell you."

"No, you don't have to see me. Just tell me!" she snapped.

I stood by the door and said nothing more. Why was she being that stubborn?

"Anisha, I'm going to stand here until you open the door." I said.

"Then you'll stand there for the whole night!" she said in a shaky voice.

"And you will spend the whole night in the bathroom? Is that OK with you, Anisha?"

"Yes!" she said.

I felt bad for her. I waited for a while, but she did not open the door. "Anisha, I had already made a dinner reservation for us at the Octavia Hotel. Tomorrow evening. I can show you the proof. I was going to tell you tomorrow, Anisha, that I am in love with you." I pleaded as I went down and knelt in front of the bathroom door.

"That's not true!" she said.

"It is true. I can call the hotel now and they will confirm the reservation."

She was silent for a while, before she said, "just because we were going there for dinner does not mean that you were going to tell me that….that you…" she stammered and stopped.

"That I love you," I finished off the sentence for her. "Well then, you may need to give Ms Meyerton a call. Remember I told you that she asked me not to hurt you and all that. I didn't tell you one thing…I actually told her that I am in love with you."

She remained silent. I was also silent, waiting for her to talk. After almost half a minute, she said, "What? You told her that?"

"I did. I'm sorry that I had to tell someone else first before you. But I had to assure her, and I told her. And Pete knows it too. He has known about my love for you for too long." I told her.

"What; for too long? Since when have you loved me, then?" I think she was smiling.

"Anisha, please open and we can talk." I tried to persuade her.

"No Dylan, I cannot face you now. Please just tell me." Her voice was less shaky and it was returning to its original sweetness.

"Anisha; I have known you since I was a young boy. I liked you the very first day I saw you, and as I got to know you better, along the way I fell in love with you."

There was nothing but silence. I sat at the door and hoped that she was going to open it, but she did not. With my shoulder resting on the door, I pulled up my legs and locked my fingers together over my knees.

"You know what, Anisha, before I met you, I believed that happiness in life comes from money. That's how I was taught, as a child. I was told that in order to be happy, you need to have money. It was impossible for me to believe how someone can be happy without money."

I wanted her to say something, but she remained silent. There was no movement from the other side of the door. No sound at all. I decided to continue talking,

"When I met you, the first thing I noticed about you was your smile, which never left your lips. It was my first time to visit Olga Children's Home, and when I went there, I had expected to see very sad faces. Your face was radiating above them all, and you immediately caught my attention. I started to ask myself how you managed to continue smiling like that. My answer was right before me. Giving of yourself, giving your time and efforts to others made you happy. Every time I saw you, you would be helping someone. You carried the little babies, you allowed the toddlers to sleep on your laps, you fed them, you helped them put on their jackets….and I believe you did a lot more for them while you were staying at Olga Children's Home."

I heard some movements, as if she was leaning on the door. I waited patiently for the clicking sound, for her to open it, but it did not happen. Of course if I had wanted to unlock that door I would have done so, but it was proper to wait for the lady to open it herself. I waited for a while, and she also waited.

"When I met you," I proceeded after seeing that the door was not going to be opened anytime soon. "When I met you, Anisha Meyerton, I then began to understand that happiness is something that comes from within us. We have it in us, and we give it out to the world. The mistake that most people make is to expect the world to give them happiness. We look at our money and our jobs; our friends and families, and we search for joy from them. Yet our duty; if we are to attain pure joy, is to give it.

You taught me life, Anisha. You taught me the beauty of giving, even when you have nothing. You too were a young orphaned girl, yet you gave of your time and your love to the other children who needed your help. You gave without expecting anything in return. You gave from the heart. From you, I learnt that sometimes the greatest gifts we can give are not monetary; but the gift of giving our time, our attention, our love, kindness and our care."

She coughed a bit and said, "really, Dylan?"

"Yes, I am telling the truth." Finally, was she going to open the door? Not yet. The door remained locked.

"Anisha, when I heard you singing, your voice became the standard of what music is, to my ears. I wanted to hear more and more. I looked forward to every first Thursday of the month, for it became the happiest day to me. I could not wait to see you; to see all those little ones around you as you assisted them one by one, and still maintained a smile. You never showed annoyance; you never seemed tired of them; you just loved them. Anisha, you are a good person.

Since that time, it became my dream to get to know your better, and to bring you close to me. I have said it before, and I will say it again: it was a blessing in disguise that Israel kidnapped the both of us. If he had not, I might have never met you again, and I dread to imagine how my life would have been like.

I have dated before, I told you, but that poor girl could never make my heart happy. The space for love, in my heart, was taken years back. It was taken by you, Anisha. You fill my heart with pure bliss, and I feel that as long as I have you with me, everything else does not matter. Being with you is what matters most to me…."

Click…and the door was unlocked. I slowly moved away from the door. I meant to stand to my feet, but before I could stand, she opened the door and quickly sat down beside me. She did it so fast that at first I thought she had fallen down. Since she closed the bathroom door before sitting down, both Anisha and I sat with our backs at the door, leaning on it. She also pulled up her knees, and I slowly took her hand in mine. Although she did not shake my hand off, she made sure not to look at me at all, and I had no intention of forcing her to do so. Both of us remained silent. She evidently made it a point not to look at me. I chose to give her time. None of us spoke. I guess she wanted me to say something; but I felt like I had said enough already. I had said all that was on my heart. I did not exactly expect her to say anything. She was not going to say anything; that much I knew. The silence felt peaceful. It sealed our friendship and love; the love which each of us had in their heart for long; and had just been confessed. The silence was exactly what we needed at that time. It was the happiest moment of my life; and I believe hers too.