.. And Then ..

Then, around November, she just packed up everything, left her job and pushed off to Mumbai for good. At that time, neither of us was serious about it, so we weren't heartbroken or anything about the parting. But then, I told myself that it was another chapter that just got closed and decided to forget all about her. But she wouldn't let go .. thankfully. And we started competing on who'll pay the higher phone bill every month!

Come February, and she was already in the US, having got her H1-B and landed a few jobs almost as soon as she landed in NJ. This was when I started feeling the distance a little bit. But, fate would not have it. We hiked our phone bills but kept in touch. In fact, it looked like the more fate took us apart, the more we were bent upon being together!

During this time, I had applied for my higher studies at some universities and was hopeful of making it into some of them. But when the results started trickling in, both of us started losing hope. The few that I got admitted into, were short of funds, so I declined them. But then, our optimism bore fruit and I happened to visit the US during this time. Topmost on my priority list was meeting her and making up for lost time. So, I took a week's vacation and visitied her in NJ.

A blast of emotions, the longing, the missing-for-so-much-time feelings all came together when we finally stood there hugging each other in the airport lobby. The next 5 days were a full-fledged holiday with visits to NY, Atlantic City, Cape May and Bear Mountain Park. We had longed for each other so much that we just didn't want to let go of each other. No wonder the week flew by so fast. I had known it all this time, but it was during this week that I realized that I was truly in love. At last ...