He watched her retreating figure. There were emotions he was trying to keep in check. He knew he should be strong, at least for her sake. She was sceptical and sorrowful at having to leave and the world wouldn’t know but he was her ally in grief.
It was she who was going to enter an alien land and yet, the nervousness struck him deep. He couldn’t explain that he was sick with worry not at the thought of her apprehensions and fears rather at how lonely he’d be without her. International calls were sure to cost him a fortune and yet he couldn’t bear the thought of not talking to her as often as he did then. It’s not as if he loved her, they just happened to be the best of friends.
It was hateful how life demanded so many compromises out of them. That when he wanted to eat his favourite mutton korma and she was willing to make it for him, the distance would shame their plans, laugh at its elaborateness and incongruousness….
He wondered how he would fill in the gaps created by endless phone conversations, by constant words of encouragement and advice when he was in the pits of gloom. He started at the realization that he couldn’t wholly succumb to a person without inhibitions. She’d be too far away for that- to hear winding descriptions of his day at work or to hear how he ruined his coffee by adding the extra spoonful of sugar. And it was harder still to know that the memories wouldn’t go off in a hurry.
For the next couple of days, he made sure he reached work on time. There were no issues. And his coffee was just right.
1 comment:
Lovely.
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