A/N - This was my entry for the contest "Abhirika Drabbles" organised by author Kamikaze Black. Same will be found on Chapter 28 of 'AbhiRika Drabbles' on author Kamikaze Black's Profile.

"You can do it. Have faith." Abhijeet told himself for what seemed to be over a hundredth time.

He watched Tarika and Purvi laugh heartily over something as they ripped the tape of the crockery box.

Tarika had moved into a new apartment and he, Purvi and Daya were helping her move in.

He saw Purvi walk into another room leaving Tarika all alone.

"This is the perfect moment. Go on Abhijeet. Go to her and say it" he urged himself.

He walked towards her at snail's pace. She smiled at him.

Abhijeet cleared his throat. "Um Tarika, I want to tell you something" he said nervously.

"Yes. I am listening" she said smiling at him.

"I - I love you" he said, his voice faltering a bit.

"That's the stupidest thing I have ever heard in my life!" said Tarika laughing.

"What?" said Abhijeet looking scandalised.

Tarika nodded. "I am on the phone", she mouthed, pointing to her ear.

To his dismay, he saw a small Bluetooth device inserted in her ear partially hidden by her dark curly hair. She apparently hadn't heard a word he had said. She had been talking to someone else all the time! Darn it! Now he would have to say it all over again!

A minute later Tarika disconnected the call and turned to him.

"I am so sorry! I was talking to a friend of mine. She was congratulating me on moving into a new house. Anyway, what were you saying?" she asked.

"Nothing... Forget it. Shall we go upstairs? The ground floor is almost done" said Abhijeet.

"Okay, let's go" said Tarika.

In the afternoon, all of them were sitting in Tarika's new house feeling satisfied with their work. Her house shined like a new penny. It looked indeed very warm and welcoming.

"I will make some tea" said Purvi moving into the kitchen.

Tarika carefully grabbed Abhijeet's cell phone when he wasn't looking her way, excused herself and went to her room. Thankfully it didn't have a password. She had to check something in his cellphone which had caught her eye the other day.

She spotted a familiar blue 'bucket' icon on his home screen. She tapped the icon feeling a swooping sensation in the pit of her stomach.

Abhijeet's bucket list sprang open before her eyes. She wasn't surprised to see her name on it. She had seen it before. She tapped it open and giggled as she read whatever he had written. She worked on modifying his post and when she was done, she went downstairs to the living room, his cell phone hidden in her jeans pocket.

"There she is!" said Daya.

"What happened?" asked Tarika.

"Have you seen my cell phone? I remember keeping it on the table but it's not there and it is not in my pocket either" said Abhijeet looking extremely worried.

"Chill. It must be around somewhere" said Daya.

Sometime later, Daya and Purvi got up to leave. Abhijeet was still hunting for his cell phone, now looking positively flustered.

"Buddy are you coming? It's getting pretty late" said Daya.

"I am not going anywhere until I've found my cellphone!" said Abhijeet indignantly.

"Abhijeet I will look for it and get it tomorrow in the bureau if you are okay with it" Tarika offered.

"Thanks. But no thanks. I can't afford to do that" said Abhjeet looking horrified at the very thought.

"Why? What's the problem? Nobody is going to call you tonight" said Daya.

"It's not that! I haven't set a password for it and it has got some personal stuff" said Abhijeet awkwardly.

Daya grinned. "Okay. Got it. Good luck with your search. We are off. It's really getting late." said Daya and he left with Purvi.

Tarika flopped down on the couch and when Abhijeet wasn't looking her way, she slid his phone on the carpeted floor.

"I found your cell phone!" she said a minute later

Abhijeet looked at her suspiciously.

"Where was it?" he asked.

"It was camouflaged by the carpet. Must have slipped out from your pocket" she said.

"Good gracious! Thank god you found it" said Abhijeet looking relieved.

"You might want to check your bucket list" said Tarika smiling shyly at him.

"How do you know about my bucket list?" asked Abhijeet surprised.

"Don't ask questions. Just do it" said Tarika

He opened the app and saw his self created bucket list item - Tell Tarika that you love her.
Target Date : xx June 20xx
Status : Achieved.

"Wait a minute! Achieved? How and when?" he asked aloud.

"You did it, didn't you? When I was speaking to my friend?" asked Tarika flushing.

" You - you heard it?" he asked astonished.

"Of course I heard it! And I had seen my name on your bucket list the other day. So I snooped your phone to see what have you written" said Tarika.

"Never mind that. What is your answer?" he asked staring at her.

"You already know my answer! I love you too!" she confessed rushing to give him a warm hug.

*** THE END ***