Until We Meet Again.....

Forever can never be long enough for me...

Feel Like I have had long enough with you..." --Train.

A young girl hummed the tune while walking down the street. She had just come out of the crystal shop. A beautiful crystal heart nestled in her arms. She stared at the heart admiringly. The heart reflected the deep sea color of her eyes. As she saw her own reflection, a smile lightened up her lips. The heart had seemed to recognize and capture her innocence. Everything seems beautiful, when you’re in Love. Yes, she was in Love. She couldn’t stop smiling to herself reminiscing about last night.

As she walked down the road, her eyes caught the reflection of her guy on the heart. The guy was her best friend's brother. She was head over heels in love with him ever since she could remember. And she still couldn't believe he had asked her out for the school-dance. She recalled the moment when he had texted her, last night, and had asked her to be his date. She was overridden with joy! She turned to greet him. But he was busy on the phone, talking to his friends; something about how he pulled off the dare on an ‘innocent victim’ and how the prom queen has agreed to be his date for the dance. Bewildered she stood there, taking in the shock! Before she could make a move or confront the guy, he walked past her knocking the crystal heart out of her hands. The heart fell and broke into pieces. The guy did not even spare a glance! He continued walking, being the stud he was. The un-observants did not care about the sunny autumn sky being replaced by grey clouds. It had started pouring, all of a sudden!

The girl stood there, soaking in the rains. The raindrops running down her cheeks carefully hiding her own tears. She knelt down to pick up the pieces of the broken heart. The crystal pieces were making sharp cuts on her pale pink fingers. Drops of blood started oozing out. The girl, however, remained oblivious to the pain. All she focused on was getting the pieces together.

Vaguely, she realised a silhouette was approaching her. She wiped the tears off her eyes for a better focus. There stood a man towering her. Without saying anything...he knelt down beside her and started gathering the pieces. As she watched him, she realised that he was the kind of guy, her mother had warned her about. Rugged and brute, he depicted everything she had been warned about and yet he sat there helping her gather the pieces of her heart.

The man then got up and stretched his hand to help the girl up. He took her by the hand into the café, next door. Then for the first time she heard him speak. He asked if the girl was alright. The girl nodded. He went on to the counter ordered a hot cup of cappuccino and came back with the coffee and a glue stick. He handed over the coffee to her and sat opposite her, sticking the pieces of the heart together. They sat there in utter silence. He didn’t ask her why? What? When? She didn’t feel the need to explain him anything. After the girl finished the coffee, the man got up, handed her the heart and left. As he reached the door he turned and said, ‘Until we meet again’ and closed the door behind him.

The girl sat there letting the warm feeling embrace her. She looked at the heart…it was back in one piece but with subtle marks of joining. She kept staring at the heart. A sense of completeness enveloped her. She felt consoled. She felt understood. She no longer had the urge to run to her mother and cry in her arms. She got up, straightened her skirt...took the heart and left for home.

Time flew by. She never saw the man again. She’d go to the café every week and sit there, in case he appeared again. She wanted to thank him but he was nowhere in sight. He never returned. The episodes of that day remain locked in her heart forever.

One spring morning, the girls were getting ready at her place. It was their graduation. Their moment of glory! One of her friends saw the tattered heart sitting on her desk. She asked the girl, “Why do u keep that ugly thing there? You can always get a better and a new model”. The girl smiled and replied, “You see these lines? These are the permanent marks someone left in my heart. These lines remind me of a guy who was a Man in every sense and beyond who reconfirmed my faith in love. He is out there and until me meet again, I’ll keep this as souvenir of the time I spent with him.”

Later that evening, the graduation party was in full swing. Everyone was either dancing with their respective partners or busy planning their future together. The girl, feeling lonely, distanced herself from the merriment and started walking in the garden humming her favorite tune. Soon she’ll be working and her life’s gonna change. As she walked past the bushes, engrossed in her thoughts, her dress got caught in the thorns. She stopped to free herself when she realised someone had already set her free. It was the same guy kneeling down before her. He got up, smiled and said…”We met again”.

Sounds of the music, drifted into the garden. The DJ had changed the track. The lyrics floated across the garden & echoed in the breeze…

"Forever can never be long enough for me..”