"Nice to see you after a long period, let me admit, you still look the same"
She smiled the radiance off her hazel eyes making his heart miss a beat.
"So do you. You haven't aged even a bit."
He grinned, seeking the traces of their past in her radiant eyes.
"Ten years is a long period. You are busy setting up the plans for your future when you suddenly realise that you've already grown up. I vividly remember our last meeting, like it happened just yesterday."
Like it happened just yesterday... true... He had been counting every year, every day, every minute since then... All he could do was smile, not letting her feel the pain hidden behind.
"Ten years is a long period indeed", he said, looking at the little one in her arms lost in her own world, unaware of the contrarieties of life. Why do we even grow up? Isn't childhood more convenient than growing up to break our hearts?
"So, what are you up to these days?" She interrupted the chain of his thoughts..."Seeing someone? Or already settled down?"
"No. I am still single. Too occupied to see anyone."
She tried to remain as casual as possible. Her eyes, as always, were betraying her.
"Life goes on, Jay. You just have to find your true love and get along with it. Your work, your career, your profession, nothing would last forever. Only your loved one stays with you through all the odds, till the end."
"I don't believe in love anymore."
"Haven't you ever been in love? Haven't you still realised how precious it is? Haven't you loved anyone, Jay?"
She knew it was too late for her to ask, but she wanted him to confess. The reminiscence of their broken past still haunted her.
They never realised their friendship had bloomed into love unless they went away from each other. She left college to get married, leaving him alone to regret his failure to express his feelings for her. She did move on.. She got married, loved her husband, had kids; but the sense of incoherence kept troubling her, giving her sleepless nights.
"True, I don't love anyone... I love no one."
"That's rubbish" she frowned, intently searching the love lost in the depths of his eyes....
"Yes that's true... Not loving anyone can be cool at times. Loving no one doesn't land you in troubles of commitment.....loving no one can never betray you, unlike your materialistic love...loving no one makes you stand in front of the mirror and admire yourself the way you are....loving no one is freedom....loving no one is actually loving yourself...", he explained, more to himself than to her..
A drop of disappointment abruptly rolled down her cheeks. He had finally succeeded in concealing the truth. He had finally refrained from speaking out the unspoken.
They knew they had already lost each other. Weeds of hatred were gradually conquering the dark corners of their minds... She hated him for loving no one but himself.. He hated himself for loving no one but her..
© Aditee Joshi
27.12.2015
