the long distance

                                                 THE LONG DISTANCE

“Are you coming?” I asked Abhay.

“Shweta!  How can I say now, you know I’m trying and I’m trying really very hard, I have to manage a lot of things here, you just don’t understand”, he answered angrily.

“it’s been a year I haven’t seen your face , it’s just that i get weak sometimes and feel very alone, that’s when I need you the most but you're not here with me” I cried.

“Now please don’t cry baby, I can’t see you like this. I also feel the same Shweta , but it’s not the time to lose hope, you have to stand by me and make me stronger.

Okay , listen, I’ll talk to my boss today for leave, let’s see what happens, now smile, I promise I’ll come soon ”.

“Okay, bye, have to go now” I said weakly and hung up.

I stared blankly at the photo of Abhay and me flashing from my phone and wiped tears back from my face. I locked the empty apartment and crawled downstairs to the parking lot, started the car and moved slowly to work.

Abhay and I met seven years ago in college. The countless dates in canteen and library soon turned into love and in love, there passed our four years of engineering.

He was always there for me, whether it was to run a complicated tree program or to choose between two dresses, or even if I desperately wanted to eat pav patties on the busy streets of chawpaty, he never stepped back.

On our day of farewell, he abruptly held my hand and said,

“Shweta, I’ll miss these wonderful years that you've given me, I know it would be hard living apart, but its temporary, as soon as my training gets over I’ll request them to transfer me to Delhi or we’ll work for your transfer to Pune, it would be alright soon, but promise me, how worse it gets, we’ll never leave each other’s side”.

“I love you Abhay and will always with all my heart but you promise me that we’ll meet every month, no matter how hard it is to do so” I said.

“I promise” he replied.

We both kept crying the whole night sitting at the back lawn under the stars wishing for that moment to never end.

Life changes, so as priorities. We got so busy in our work that we could only meet once in a year and it even got extended when Abhay went to Germany for his internship.

Many a times things got out of our hands, we fought, we cried, got frustrated, just for the craving to touch each other.

“Hi!! Good morning, late for work today, is everything fine?”,asked Poorvi, a friend.

“Yeah, just feeling a little low, nothing else”.

“What happened? Is Abhay good?”.

“Yes, he’s  having trouble making it in time for our anniversary this week on 22nd”.

“Oh! My poor girl, don’t worry, he’ll surely come”.

“ let’s see”, I sighed.

“Hello, Shweta?” asked Abhay over phone.

“ya, I’m in office Abhay, can we talk later?” I asked.

“it’s something urgent. Um , there’s an important meeting coming up this 22^nd, it will decide my promotion, Shweta, listen to me carefully, as soon as the meeting gets over, I’ll take the first flight on 24^th to Delhi, we’ll celebrate our day on 24^th,sweetheart trust me, I’ll just be there.

Shweta?

Are you listening? ”.

I cut the phone and broke down, on seeing me cry, Poorvi reached my desk.

“Hey sweetie, what’s the matter?”

“He’s not coming Poorvi”, I said and busted  into her arms.

“Try and understand Shweta, he has his own problems, he at least tried, now stop crying, we’ll think of some plan”., she said caressing my hair.

“why don’t you surprise him by going to Pune, it would be fun!”, said Poorvi excitedly.

“what!! I can’t, I mean, yeah, but I won’t get leave!”.

“at least go and try, make any excuse, see if it works”.

“But I don’t have enough savings to manage the whole trip”.

“Oh Shweta,  you don’t worry about that, take it from me for the time being”.

“Okay”, I said and smiled.

“ Have you packed everything?” Poorvi asked over phone.

“Yes, almost done”, I answered hurriedly.

“Make it fast, its 8 already , you have a plane to catch”.

“Thank you Poorvi, it would not have been possible without you”, I said abruptly.

“Pleasure is always mine”, she replied.

I checked the mirror twice before leaving for airport. The excitement was too much to handle. I convincingly tried to sound somber on the phone with Abhay and I lied to him about me having cold and that I would sleep early. As he was too busy in his project, he bought it.

Those two hours on the plane were like a million years,every second thought twice before moving ahead and the idea of seeing Abhay after so long made it even harder to pass.

I hurriedly moved out of the airport.

“Taxi!!”, I shouted.

“Madhuban builders, Clover Center”.

“D-57, fourth floor”, I checked the address seventh time on the phone.

“Ding dong”, I pressed the doorbell.

Abhay opened the door and shrieked,

“SHWETA!!! WHAT?? HOW??”

“Happy anniversary sweetheart”, I smiled and hugged him.

“Why didn't you tell me, I would have come to get you”.

“Shh, I have something important to say”, I said and knelt down on the floor.

“I kept my promise Abhay to love you for life, I know this long distance between us bothers us a lot, but when I think about our beautiful life ahead, it just vanishes, all the pain, weakness, loneliness, separation,it just goes away; all I see is you…

You asked me to stand by you in all our ups and downs, so here I am, to trouble you for all your life,

I love you,

Will you marry me?”.

“I love you too Shweta and have fallen for you even more just now,

Now wait a minute, I’ll be right back”.

He paced back inside a room and came back with something in his hands, he knelt down on the floor with me, took my hands in his and said,

“A thousand times yes Shweta”, and slid a ring into my finger.

We both kept crying the whole night sitting in the balcony under the stars wishing for that moment to never end.