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Two months later...
Zarine put on her seatbelt and waited for the plane to take off. In front of her, in the aisle, the air hostess demonstrated the usual safety instructions. And soon enough, the plane was off.
She smiled as she watched the ground drop beneath the aircraft which rose upwards. To think I'm actually going to Madrid and it's all because of an early morning email from him. A lot had happened since Cristiano's email, that morning two months ago.
At first, it had seemed like the week for El Clasico would never come. Cristiano and she talked more than ever and they had become the kind of close friends who knew little things about each other, who made fun of each other incessantly and yet knew that the other would always be there for them. They even recommended shows to each other and tried to watch them together. Zarine told Cris to watch Beauty and the Beast and Cristiano recommended Masterchef. Then, there was the time Cristiano tried to see a Bollywood movie and Zarine listened to Portuguese songs. It wasn't much but it was their way of being a part of each other's lives especially when they lived so far apart.
While Cristiano notched up goals and broke records, Zarine read and researched, toiling away for her thesis. Last night, a letter had arrived and she had screamed the place down until her parents had implored her to stop having hysterics and tell them what had happened. What had happened was simple. She had given interviews at a couple of colleges of Delhi University for the position of Assistant Professor and the letter was an approval from one of the colleges.
YES, I FINALLY HAVE A JOB OHMYGOD. She hadn't told Cristiano yet even though she had been dying to but she had been patient thinking that telling him in person would be way better. An excited shiver ran through at the thought of actually meeting him.
It hadn't been easy arranging this trip. Farhan was having exams and Mr. and Mrs. Hasan couldn't leave him alone during the studiously tough time. After bouts of alternative shouting and begging, Zarine had finally been allowed to go alone and she could already imagine how this would be the best trip of her life.
***
Zarine wheeled her luggage trolley trying to find someone who was waiting to receive her. Cristiano had told her that someone holding a placard with her name on it would pick her up from the airport. It had been a match day (Real won, she had checked online the moment the plane had landed) and she could understand that he would be too tired to come all the way to the airport.
