Dust to Dust

April 12th, 2011

Remi was finally at a place in her life , where she had no regrets. A surgeon is what she had always dreamt to be and now she was close to realizing her dream with her surgical residency at the New York Presbyterian Hospital. It hadn’t been easy for her , as a first generation Indian American, opportunities like this were hard to find . She had been through so much competition, within her family, her Indian society and school, that she had become as  hard as a coconut. Her over prepared self had found an apartment on rent not far from work, on the same day she had gotten into the program. Her  first day at her internship began the next  day, so she had  some time to pass. Grabbing a coffee and a tourist map, she went off to see the famous sites of New York before  she lost  herself in her  forthcoming work.

Going to central park first , Remi decided to have a leisurely stroll around. Next , she was off to a ferry ride towards the statue of Liberty. Going to a few other places , She finally decided to go to the newly built Captain America Memorial and Museum. Remi had  read about him in some of the history novels which were mandated during her time in high school , and have surely heard about his heroics first hand,  while volunteering at a  nearby VA  , last month.

A lot of holographic pictures of him with the Howling Commandoes , scrolls and letters written during WW2 , and data regarding Operation Rebirth, which was made public recently, were all displayed along with information about the infamous Super soldier serum, which she did have an extra interest in . After going through the museum, Remi finally decided to head to see  the Stark tower , as it was mentioned in the brochure , the home to  billionaire inventor Tony Stark. While out there , she saw that a  lot of cafes  were allowing people to have a coffee and wait  to see Tony stark in his iron man suit fly by , which was  a common occurrence around that time.  Smiling , Remi sat down to see the sight, if it ever occurred . Sure enough , within the next  30 minutes, a cheer erupted through the crowd . Looking up from her coffee Remi was awestruck at  Tony Stark flying in his Iron Man  suit under the now- orange sky.

“Amazing, isn’t it”

She looked over to see a bewildered man, looking at the iron suit with a lot of  pride and awe , sitting on the immediate next table to her.

“ Not as amazing as a triple coronary bypass. Believe me.”  Remi said , a little curtly

“ I see you aren’t a fan of amazing engineering”, the man replied , still looking towards the tower.

“ I am more interested in the bodies that make and  power it.”

Finally, chuckling to himself , the man looked over to her . Getting up from his table , and coming to hers , he extended his hand towards her.

“ Andrew Jordan”

Remi shook his hand and introduced herself.

“ Remi Patel”

Pointing towards the other chair, he sat down opposite to her , when she nodded.

“ What brings you here , to New York City”

Remi paused for a moment, and then replied “ what makes you think I am new?”

Andrew chuckled again. “ You are literally holding a map to New York, and you have no coat with you , which tells me that you are going to freeze to death in” he looked at his watch dramatically- “ hmm, in around 20 minutes ” he concluded.

Remi laughed. “ No shit , Sherlock”
He smiled . “ Don’t worry , I am new as well”

Remi finally felt a little relaxed , she hadn’t met anyone else  who was new in this big city, well she hadn’t been out till today, so she wasn’t exactly searching around. Meeting someone else in the same situation as her , that was good.

“ So where are you from?”

They continued to talk about themselves and their experiences . A coffee , turned into two, and  the conversations continued till dinner.
After eating at a nearby Italian restaurant, they walked together to the Subway. Andrew, or as he insisted  she call him, AJ, was pursuing his PhD at the prestigious NYU. He had immigrated from UK recently after completing his master’s there. London was his home, which he missed a lot , given the “uncivilized” ways of the Americans.

“ I have got to be honest. This has been the best evening I have had since arriving here. We have got to meet again” he said , still laughing from the previous joke that was made.
“ I second that thought. Thanks for making me feel better unknowingly” she said with a shy smile.
AJ looked at her for a while, smiling , he scribbled his number on the back of the receipt he had from the restaurant.

“ Since you are the more busy one out of the two of us, you should give me a call when you are free”

He gave  the receipt to  Remi, who in turn engulfed him in a big bear hug . Patting him on his back and promising to call soon, both of them went to their separate ways.

Once in their respective trains, both of them kept smiling at the memory of the evening together.

Remi got into work the next day, and the evening was forgotten just like that, and for the next many many days, both of them just talked through chat and late night calls, and the  duration kept on decreasing with passing days, as both or either one of them were always busy. AJ had started interning at the  Stark Industry , making him even more busier than ever . While Remi was just getting through with her internship.
Soon the calls stopped and neither one initiated them again. Days changed to Months, Months to a year.Theyahd almost forgotten each other , with only occasional greetings being passed to each other , now only something out of this world could make them meet again. Literally.