He smiled, and then revealed a sleek black package from behind him. I hadn’t seen it on him when he’d walked in. But I guess when you’re busy trying to tell your best friend that her celebrity crush looks like an alien, you don’t bother much about anything else.
“What’s this?” I asked Gallan.
He handed the package to me with a broad grin. “Look for yourself.”
I raised a brow and took it from him. I untied the silver ribbon on it, and then carefully opened the neatly folded black flaps.
“Whoa…” My eyes widened when I saw the copy ofPeople’smagazine in my hands. “This is just…wow.” I ran my fingers over Gallan’s photo on the cover – the one I’d helped him pick only yesterday. “I’m so proud of you.” I looked up at him. “This is beautiful. Congratulations, babe.”
He leaned in and pressed a kiss on my lips. “Thank you. I’m very happy with how it turned out. Your choice of photo really did make an impact.”
I smiled. “I’m glad.” I squeezed his hand once. “It was fast, though, the printing process. Doesn’t it take days for the copies to be ready?”
He shook his head. “Once I finalized the cover photo and did a short phone interview with them yesterday, they got to the whole printing process fairly quickly. The issue is set to release on March 1st, so there’s hardly any time left. This,” he pointed at the copy in my hands, “is one of the advanced copies they sent me for early promo and sharing purposes. The final ones come out on Sunday.”
“Does that mean we get to keep this copy?” I asked him.
He chuckled. “Yeah. I have a few more that came in. I got this one for you.”
“Yay, thank you!” I hugged the magazine to my chest. “I love it so much, and I haven’t even read your article yet.”
“Pages 11 and 12,” he said with a smile.
“I’m so ready!”
He laughed and wrapped his arms around my waist. “Why do you have to be so damn adorable all the time?”
I used my right hand to cup his face. “Because I have to keep up with the aesthetics of a chubby and nerdy novelist, that’s why.”
He grinned, and then bent to kiss me. “How do you say I love you in Hindi?” he asked against my lips.
I nuzzled my nose against his. “Well, ifIwere to say it, then it’d go like:main tumse pyaar karti hoon. If you were to say it, then thekartiwould turn tokarta. Simple.”
“Uh…” Gallan shook his head a little. “This is way outta my league.”
I laughed. “You asked, didn’t you?”
He chuckled. “I sure did.” His prismatic eyes searched my face, and in that moment, I saw how Gallantrulylooked at me. How he reacted with me so close to him.
He looked at me with love in his gaze.
He looked at me with awe on his face.
And when he leaned in and claimed my lips again, I realized that he kissed me like I held significance; like I was the ink and he the page.
“I-love-you-in-Hindi, Zaira,” he said with a smile.
I chuckled. “I-love-you-in-Hindi, too, Gallan. So,somuch.”
