Did they break up? (Part 1/2)

“I’m done with all this, we are not seeing each other anymore” said he, with anger probably he never would have expected of himself.

“Do you even listen to yourself when you speak, what you even mean we are not seeing each other anymore” said the girl who wasn’t in a position to process what he said.

“I mean that this relationship is over.” he said hanging the phone abruptly. She had no idea what had happened to him or her.

 For a moment she thought it was a dream which no one wants it to become true. No wonder if she had seen the door of the running train she was sitting in as an exit to her life. On a Saturday evening when she was going to meet her parents after a long time, that was certainly not something she would have expected to hear from him who, for her, was the only one to come in mind whatever she thinks and whenever.

A few months back…

‘Not every online thing ends in a relationship. So does this.’ thought the guy who just got his friend request accepted on a Friday morning by a confident, pretty looking girl. The conversation started as normal like every others. As the chat started, in no time they realized that they work for the same organization but in a different field and different professional hierarchy. He asked her if she would be free to meet over lunch.  She hesitated initially as she was, in some sense, a subordinate to him in the organization, though they had never seen each other in two years of work life. He tried convincing her saying that it wouldn’t matter as that was not a professional meeting. As expected, after exercising her birthright to deny politely for a while, she accepted. Typical Indian dating etiquette.

On the same day, she took half day leave as she also had to travel home, 6 hours drive from there, after the date. She took a cab from the office. She also had a backpack packed since the morning. He started on his bike to avoid anyone watch them go together and followed her.  Neither of them saw the other except in profile picture until she stepped out of the cab in front of the restaurant entrance. A moment before he saw her beautiful face, he noticed from a distance the long straight hair of hers swinging in the air towards and away from him, while she was paying for the cab driver. He could already sense the spark even before she turned her head towards him bringing her hair onto her back. Finally, they met. Entered the nicely decorated restaurant with seats available only for couples. They thought of taking the tables far away from the cash counter, but to no surprise, all of them were occupied. They managed to find a spot which is neither too public that every guy walking in could hear them nor too private that only they two can hear each other.

What surprised him the most was that, she was also as excited as him about that date. Had he had the ability to look into his own eyes, he would have noticed the amusement in her eyes while watching him, was exactly the same as in his eyes while watching her.

They discussed a lot about their past, their families, their work and their relationships till then. Somehow they ended up having similar previous relationship experiences which made the conversation even more friendly and open. After finishing the lunch he had to return to work and she to the railway station. He offered her a ride to the station, and no surprise she was all set for it. On a winter day, 24⁰C, he could literally feel the warmth of her breath hitting his back while on the ride. The ride which was supposed to be for ten to fifteen minutes on the bike, went for more than half an hour with all the unfinished talk from the lunch. He dropped her at the entrance of the station. They exchanged greetings and left. Walking ahead for 30 seconds from there, she turned back to see if he was still looking at her. Since it wasn’t a romantic movie, he already left the place.

While others were spending their weekend in clubs and theatres, these two were just texting and talking over the phone all day as if they would never get another day to know each other. After her arrival back in town, they used to meet frequently, yet not making any statement to anyone. Things weren’t the same after he got an offer in another firm and had to move out of town. Though they both knew from the beginning that it wouldn’t go any further, yet a small hope of hers that he would stay back made her wait till his last working day. But it was too late for her to confess her feelings for him as he was not only ready to move to a new city but also ready to move on. For him, it would have been just a casual fling but for her, it meant something else. Something that she wouldn’t have thought of before for anyone. That was the first time in her life, missing someone so badly that she would even consider shifting to the same city without even knowing what to do there. For him, he was just taking her contact number along with him but for her, he’s taking their memories together too. She didn’t even get a chance to say goodbye as he had to leave for an early morning flight and she couldn’t come out of her hostel by then. On a brighter side, she was happy that no one could see her weeping, outside the airport, like a child.

…….To be continued……
Part-2 link:
https://blvprasad.blogspot.com/2020/07/did-they-break-up-part-22.html