203 Surprise!
Leading her through the corridor, Anna’s mind pondered on what type of surprise Roshan must have planned for her. She tried to think of anything that would be a surprise to her, something that Roshan himself was capable of doing but Anna found it difficult to come up with anything extraordinary.
Going down the stairs with their fingers still interlaced, every part of the palace was brightly lit up with candles, the golden candle holders were twinkling with burning lights and all the curtains were closed, giving off the vibe of a hidden mystical underground palace.
The servants were all busy with their usual duties, and as Roshan made his way through the second corridor, the servants immediately stopped what they were doing and bowed politely to his majestic presence.
“Greetings your highness!” They said in unison as he walked by, and when Anna followed suit, she waved at them.
“Hello everyone.”
“Hi Anna.” They neutrally responded and habitually returned to their duties, but all it took was a few minutes before one of the servants paused on what she was doing, her face paled in shock the moment she realized who she just saw and greeted.
“Was that Anna??”
Looking at the rest servants, everyone was just as shocked as they turned around to see, watching her exit the corridor with Roshan by her side, and the tray one of the maids held fell from her grasp.
“Anna’s alive??”
.....
——
“Where are we going?” Anna asked when he just kept making her walk through the corridor, but she didn’t really mind since she got to be by his side, except she was really curious about the surprise he had for her.
She couldn’t remember the last time someone planned a surprise for her, so her eagerness was justified.
Roshan didn’t respond to her question, and it didn’t take too long before he brought Anna to a completely dark room, except he stopped at the entrance, leading Anna to stop as well. Confusion and a look of uncertainty reflected on her face, and the confusion grew when he released her hand from his hold.
“Go in.”
“A_alone?” She hesitated on that part, not completely sure why he brought her to a dark space. Roshan, who just stood beside her, sensed her anxiousness to go in alone, it displayed on her pretty face and she was back to working on her fingers.
“I’m here, trust me and go in.”
Looking at his face for some reassurance, Anna’s heart eased and she figured she had nothing to worry about as long as Roshan was by her side. obediently nodding her head, she stole in a deep breath before stepping in like he told her to.
She hadn’t even stepped in too deep when the lights suddenly went on, and to Anna’s unexpected surprise, rose petals began to rain down on her, leaving her lips to part in surprise and before she knew it.....
“Happy birthday!!!!”
Came the joyful birthday cheers from Levi, Becca, Azazel, Melrose and even little Gemma as they stood in the room.
Anna’s eyes widened in full surprise when she saw the design that had been put into the room, and on the table laid a beautiful three layer cake with candles, one that left Anna staring unblinkingly at the positive atmosphere in the room.
She could swear to her life that this never came to mind.
“W_what??” Was the only thing she could say. Their surprise had left her breathless to the point she couldn’t say something meaningful to them.
Gemma was already running towards her direction, and Anna instantly went on her knees so she could give Gemma a big warm hug as she ran straight into Anna’s open arms.
“I’ve missed you so very much!” Anna said while hugging her tightly, and no sooner, Roshan also knelt beside her on the ground, giving the little one a wink when she pulled away from the hug.
“You did great!”
Gemma proudly placed both her hands on her waist, waiting for her reward for getting everyone here on time, and Roshan knew exactly what she wanted.
“You didn’t ruin the cake by dipping your fingers in it, so I’m willing to make the exception.”
He brought his hand forward, and Gemma shook it with a determined gaze, as though they were two business people who were forming an alliance and sealing it with a handshake, earning rounds of laughter from the people present.
“Happy birthday Anna!” Becca also hurried to her side, giving Anna a warm hug and feeling extremely happy to see that she’s awake and well.
“I’m so glad to see you awake.”
Returning her hug, Anna’s gaze still held the surprise that she had been welcomed with and her heart swelled. Never in a million years did she think she’d ever celebrate her birthday again, and to think they all did this–
“But how?” She asked, she didn’t recall mentioning her birthday to anyone, so how did they know about it?
Levi suddenly smiled with mischief, “you can ask Roshan, he’s the one who planned it all, we’re just supporters.”
“Roshan?” She turned her head in his direction, but the glacier was ignoring her stare and he rose to his feet. Anna did the same, unwilling to let him escape from answering her questions now.
“You planned it for me?”
“Don’t ask him, ask me.” Levi intervened, earning him a death glare from Roshan but he didn’t mind, “Roshan made us stay awake to decorate this place all night. We don’t know much about how humans celebrate birthdays so we took hints from a special guest, and Roshan even blackmailed us with Gemma to do his bidding, so everything was planned by him.”
“Yes,” Melrose happily joined in, “his highness put such great care into surprising you, I must say you’re very lucky Anna.”
Hearing them speak, Anna looked at Roshan who had refused to meet her gaze still, she noticed the slight blush that creeped into his ear and only then did she understand what was going on with him, leading her to chuckle silently at his act.
“Thank you.” And she meant it. She wished she could really say the words that spoke of how grateful she felt, and the fact he remembered her birthday touched her heart and soul.
Roshan looked at her, and before he could utter anything to her, Gemma was already pulling down the hem of Anna’s dress to gain her attention back. When Anna looked at her, she was eagerly pointing at the cake, indicating she wanted to have some and Anna smiled at her innocent cravings.
“Hey,” Roshan gained Gemma’s attention, “no misbehaving, or I call off our little deal, are we clear?”
Gemma obediently nodded before running off to go meet Levi and Azazel. Seeing as no one is ready to interrupt, Roshan finally looked at Anna who was also staring at him, and he uttered, “I know your birthday was actually at the end of last month, but you said something about how it’s been long you celebrated one so—”
He cut himself off when Anna quickly kissed his cheek without warning, baffling the glacier since he didn’t sense that coming, and she looked away from him when her face reddened due to her own actions.
“You still remembered,” she shyly pointed out, “and I’m grateful for that.”
He made her turn around to look at him, hands grabbing her shoulders gently and when she raised her head to meet his gaze, a cute smile curved his lips.
“Happy birthday.”
She grinned and hugged him like a happy child, not caring if anyone was watching, but was interrupted when she heard a familiar feminine voice.
“I still need to be introduced too, how come I’m not part of the surprise?”
Hearing the familiar voice, Anna’s eyes widened in disbelief and when she pulled back from Roshan’s embrace, her face lit-up when she spotted Calista standing at the other end of the room, waving at her.
“Shall we cut the cake?”
Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.c(o)m