A love story- They meet again

One would think now that Aryan decided to come to Mumbai.. they would meet and would live happily ever after.. but it was not so.. No this is not a soppy mills and boons story where the guy approaches and the girl swoons.. and they happily live ever after. But ofcourse there is an happy ending.. didnt we make that clear in the prologue itself? and also.. its quite a logical end dont you think so ? Ofcourse it is! And yet, the story doesn't end here!

Aryan couldn't rush like any hero in a movie. For you see he had responsibility. First and foremost was to find a job in Mumbai and then a school for pinky and a house to live in. Then he had to wait for Pinky's school term to complete. So by and large it took him 2-3 months to return to Mumbai to start anew.

Once he was in Mumbai, he felt like a fool. The "What If's " started bugging him big time! He first thought "What if she is too angry ? Wouldn't it be better to give her time for the anger to lose the edge ? Besides it wouldn't hurt to settle down in Mumbai first. Then it was "what if she has a new guy in her life? " So the days of wait became weeks and weeks months and he never tried to contact her.

And yet fate wouldn't let them go. Not yet.


Six months had passed by. Everyday he woke up with the hope that he would see her and things would work out finally.. and every night was filled with dreams. And yet.. when that lucky day came he was totally distracted. A new mall had opened in a nearby area. Pinky wanted to go there and pick up her favorite comic series. And being a doting father, Aryan complied. While he was at it.. he decided to pick up some for himself..

And there she was like a goddess.. and pastel pink chudidhar.. whats commonly called as lucknowi wading through the soft toy section. He thought of ducking and hiding but she had seen him.. and there was a tremulous smile on her face.. a naked vulnerability and there was pleasure too. He started towards her and Pinky rushed towards her and hugged her tightly.

By the time he reached her, they were already in an animated conversation. And Pinky already had told her that they had moved to Mumbai few months back. The cold polite smile that Soumya gave him almost made him wince. He didn't know what to say. There was this stilted politeness between them that never was before. But with Pinky, she was very warm and that gave him hope.

Much later, sitting in a CCD sipping coffee, he asked her about her life.. and she replied with the generally acceptable platitude. And then silence. Both didn't know what to say. Before parting, he asked for her mobile number which she gave.

It was an disaster! Aryan thought.. Next time it would be different! he promised himself.. for there is going to be a next time and soon.