A Tale Of 2 Cities

My heart thumped against my chest as I heard my father say those words. We were going to see a guy for my marriage. But how could it be possible! I was just a kid, of just 25! Like…no! And what would I tell him? My heart wept, as I thought about him, sitting a thousand kilometers away from me, so distant; yet he was so close. His words still resonated in my heart, and I could visualize him saying them.

As I obediently yet reluctantly followed my dad to the car, my eyes let the dam open as my mind returned to the day I had read him, I had felt him, I had loved him. But, he hadn’t known. His words had made me smile; made me feel the love he had wished to convey with his words, but what I was feeling couldn’t be conveyed merely by words. That was the beginning of the road, and then we had become one.

I reread the words on the screen as my face glowed with a tearful smile.

“Beautiful. This use of words, language and imagery is too good. I have so much to learn, so much,” I said to myself as I read the write-up for the 3^rd time.

It was just like how I had dreamt it to be, the proposal, the words which conveyed the love. I was in love with the words, and I voiced my thoughts about his piece, as I did with various other blogs too. I realized I could connect with him, and as I clicked the button, his affirmation let off a sound from the computer and also from my heart.

My happiness then had been beyond counting, and now as I looked out the window at the clouds, I realized that my true feelings had been obscured at first by the cloud of his writing. I had mistaken the awe as love, but then, it led to that eventually.

As my mind wheeled back and forth from the present to the past, I realized that the future was almost certain. We would never make it together, but then, I couldn’t break his heart too. I wouldn’t tell him about this. What I didn’t know then was that the same thought was going through his mind too.

Raj stood at the window, the hot sun seeping out all his strength and making him feel weak. He had been troubled in the first place, and now he had to make a decision. They had come so close to being one, but then the dream collapsed. Life wasn’t always as perfect as the books. He remembered the time he had asked her to be his, and he had promised to be hers, but now, he was about to tear the promise in half; to break her heart into a million pieces.

He couldn’t do it, he wouldn’t do it. But then the decision had been made. He wouldn’t tell her about his marriage, and then no harm would be done. He couldn’t let their perfect tale just end all of a sudden. He picked up the phone and dialed.

I picked up my phone and as my heart responded with a mighty pang, I picked up.

“I promised to be yours, and I will be yours forever,” he said.

“So shall I Raj, so shall I,” I said slowly as a tear dropped down my cheek.

Oblivious we were to the other’s lie, but we couldn’t let the truth come out. This tale of two cities would go on, till eternity.