Random scribblings

A new phase

Now: It was him again! With his twany eyes and tall figure, a smirk tugged on his lips. My eyes met his for a second and lowered the next with an unknown feeling. We were meeting after eight whole years, he held the same charm, he had when we met for the first time. But, some dark circles had made their way and grey hair were trying to peep. He brushed his palms across his face, wiping out the tears that had threatened to run down from his eyes. "You remember, our first meet?" He asked, smiling through his tears, making them run down my eyes too......

Past: I was walking through the corridor in front of my college canteen along with my friend. Those were the initial months of my F. Y and I was a fresher. I was engaged in a conversation with my friend, when someone came from the opposite direction in full speed, holding a cup of tea in his hand and bumped on me. The tea splashed on my dress, he mumbled a sorry. I shifted my angry glare towards the person who did this, but he was long gone. My friend indicated towards a boy, standing in the canteen, his back towards me, least bothered. I tapped on his shoulder, preparing to lash out for his irresponsible behaviour, but felt all anger melting down as my gaze met his. There was something in his twany eyes that held me captive. My trance broke when my friend nudged me, I opened my mouth to say something, but closed it again,nodded in a no and rushed out of the canteen. I still remember the way his lips had tugged in a smirk.

Now: He was smirking in the same way now, mischief written in his eyes. I broke into giggles, reminiscing the good old days of college, I had spent with him. "Your smile is still the best and you the prettiest" he flirted. "You know right? I am married and have a son" I asked, he nodded in a yes, a tinge of sadness on his face. "How did you find my Instagram id that day?' I asked in an attempt to lighten his mood, "Talent!" He shrugged and I nodded negative.

Past: That was not our only meet. The same evening he sent me an follow request on Instagram. 'Karan Suryavanshi ' was his name, I accepted it without a second thought. We talked for few days and the whole time smile didn't leave our faces, he was in T. Y. One day, he asked me out for a date and I agreed. I still wonder how! I was an introvert and had not let anyone inside the little bubble of mine. But there was something in him, which made me trust him and I still do. Our chords struck and we were in relationship within a week. Everything was merry and good until differentiations in our opinion started to peep in our relationship. He would always ask me to bunk classes and spend time with him, he had a part time job and earned well through it, completely graduation was a secondary priority for him. But I had dreams and ambitions and would always decline bunking lectures. We would have fight sometimes, but at the end of the day,the feeling on security and comfort we felt with each other, would bring us back together.

Now: We were seated on a wooden bench near the field. "How's life?" I asked, "Tough" he replied with a small smile. "I wish I had spent more time studying and gave more attention to education instead of my job. I messed up with my boss a few years later and was removed from the job. I am still trying to manage everything" he replied with a sigh. This was the same thing I would always tell him, to concentrate more on education, but he never listened. Now it was my turn, "I completed my M. A in english literature and started working as a teacher in a secondary school. My parents then started insisting me to get married. I waited for you, but you never returned and I gave up in front of them. But, my husband is a nice and kind guy, we mutually support each other a lot" a said with a content smile. He tried to force a smile, but I noticed his frown and disappointment, maybe he thought I was in an unhappy marriage.

Past: Good days don't last long. The same happened with us, when my father announced his transfer to another state. We were completely shook after this, we were not prepared for a long distance relationship. I still remember how we had spent my last few days in that city, the most memorable ones. He took me out to almost every tourist destination in the city, making me much on street food too. He treated me like a queen in those days, trying to create best memories, before we separate. Finally, that unfortunate day came, my last day in college! I bid a tearful goodbye to my friends and went towards him, he had masked a happy expression, but I knew the pain he was trying to hide. We promised each other continuosly, that we would not let the ship of our relationship sink and would always stay together.

Now: "We were so naive back then" I said and he agreed. He was smiling, reminiscing those memories, those lines of worries on his face getting erased slowly. I felt content, that I was able to make him smile and forget about his worries now also. "Long distance was never meant for us. You having communication issues and my mismanagement of time" he sighed , his face contoured with an unknown expression. "But we tried. We tried our best to keep the promises we made. We tried to hold each other in hard times. But!" I had a hard time controlling my emotions.

Past: Just two months had passed since I had shifted to another city with my family, but I had already started missing him. He was also feeling my void. I was having a hard time, making friends here and adjusting to new atmosphere, being an introvert, I had to cover up the portion that was already taught. I was still trying my best to balance between my relationship and new life. Amidst all this he was also having hard time to fill the void created by my absence, he was also trying to balance between job and final exams. We had fights more often now and it was difficult to solve them over a video call. We tried holding each other amidst distance torturing us, but were proving more toxic for each other. After a lot of struggle, we finally decided to give up. To give for each other's mental peace, so that we both may complete our dreams, letting go of the dreams we had planned together. We decided to extinguish the fire that threatened to burn our careers as well as mental peace.

Now: For a few moments we sat still with those bitter memories. After a brief time, we gazed at each other. "The time spent with you was the best part of my life" he said with a smile, "The feeling is mutual" I replied amusing him. Maybe he still blamed himself for everything that happened between us, I was equally responsible. "Can we be friends again meghna?" He asked all of a sudden, his eyes locked with mine. "I sware just friends, nothing more than that. If you want, I will have a talk with your husband. We have met after so many years, I don't want to lose you, please" tears spilled from his eyes. My gaze was fixed on him in amusement, I had a battle within myself, whether to nod in a yes or no. After a lot of thoughts, I gave up to the tears in his eyes and nodded in a yes.

A huge grin spread on his face and his eyes shined. "Friends?" I asked wiping my tears and raising on my feet. He too wiped his tears and held my hand, "Friends!" . And thus a new phase began.
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I randomly wrote this story as a part of my college assignment.
No one is allowed to take this as their story plot, without my permission.