"How did we end up here? Like this?" he asked looking at her intensely.
"Well." she said still looking out of the window.
"No really, I mean, why? Why did we act like that back then? Why did we drift apart?" he said clearly showing his agitation.
She smiled bringing her attention back to the cafe, looking at him, she said "Come on. We weren't so bad. Compared to rest of the couples, I think we dealt with our issues fairly well."
"But, that doesn't make it look any better. Not an excuse" he said shaking his head.
"Hey, we spoke to each other. We fought, we argued, we cried, but we met every day for 4 months. That was bloody 120 days. We faced each other and we spoke about our problems. Most couples just stop communicating, cutting out from one another. Am glad we dint do that. In fact am surprised we handled it with considerable maturity for 24 year olds." she laughed.
"Well true. Anyway, I know I screwed it up, so I don't really have the right to sit here with you and question the past." he sighed looking out of the window.
She slapped his hand on the table and said "Listen we went over this already. No guilt trips to the past alright. We have done enough of it already, it's kinda getting boring. Not worth wasting our time on it anymore."
He smiled, looking back at her said "You know, you did surprise me pleasantly. I should thank you for reaching out. I could have never gathered the courage to call you, after all these years, almost what 10 years now. Good that you called."
She sipped her coffee and said "We were so good with one another and to each other. With time I realized it was not fair to cloud years of lovely moments with just few months of painful ones. Not that it justifies any of our actions. But, it's much deeper than that."
She paused, looked out of the window, taking a deep breath continued "I have met so many lonely souls in past years, I realized how lucky I was to have experienced true love. I know, we were young, we did stupid things, that cost us our relationship but it did us good. We faced our worst fears and look at what we have become."
"Hmm, am proud of who you are today, I always knew you were special." he said smiling
She smiled and said "And you are no less a gentleman. All the good things you have been doing, you are making everyone proud."
She kept her coffee mug down, spreading her hands on the table, leaning forward she said "Bottom line is, when we were together, our heart was in the right place, and we shared that pure innocent love. The happiness of which I can feel even today, which is why I wanted to meet you.
I wanted us talking again. I did not want to take my first love to my grave as a sad story. I know even in all that chaos, we never hated each other.
We were angry, disappointed, sad, heartbroken - but never once we cursed each other. I think that makes it a little easier for us to reconnect."
She straightened up, letting out a deep breath she continued "It might take a while to rebuild something new, that fits into both of our new worlds. We are different people with different priorities now, but those old memories will help us bring that friendship back to life. And no doubt our love for one another won't change."
He said staring at the wall behind her "Well, when people say experience teaches you, I guess this is what they mean."
He looked into her eyes softly and said "I have always loved you, and now I say it with even more conviction. I am glad to have loved you, and yeah, we have become what we are today because of our past. And am glad we did not burn bridges beyond repair, it would have been a shame if we had lost this precious relation in void."
"Well, we might not have aged together, but our love has definitely aged with time like we have always been together. I guess that's all that matters." she smiled back.
He always loved her candid smile, it touched his heart just the way it had 15 years back when he had first seen her. He had spent the whole day with her, and yet, as he sat across her in the cafe watching the sunset light fall on her face, he couldn't believe that they were there together.
He asked looking at her "Do you ever think, what if we had never broken up?"
She smiled and said "You know I don't do what-ifs. I always look at past as roadmap to what I am today. I am happy to be who I am today, so logical answer, I wouldn't be here if we had not broken up. I would have been more or less happier than today; and may be not as happy as I am today. So, no I don't regret the past, and I think it was good we broke up at the right time, no matter how painful it was. And you as well, you would not have met Krissy and have a beautiful family with two wonderful kids. So, no, I don't think of what-if"
She was glad to hear his voice after so many years. They had drifted apart after the breakup. He had sent his wedding invitation of course, but it was just emails once in couple of years. They needed that time for hearts to heal she had thought.
Before she sent out that email asking to meet this time when she was in town, she had thought a lot. She did not want to disrupt his ongoing life, she did not even know what his state of mind was. But then she thought, if she wouldn't ask, she would never know. So she had asked anyway, thinking he would come up with some excuse of not meeting. And he had replied saying yes. She couldn't believe her eyes when she saw him walking towards her this morning, felt like all those years melted in between them. She had felt light.
They had hugged good bye outside the cafe, promising to meet again next year. And as they walked away from one another, they both had a smile of pure joy.
And those two hearts felt whole again.
"Well." she said still looking out of the window.
"No really, I mean, why? Why did we act like that back then? Why did we drift apart?" he said clearly showing his agitation.
She smiled bringing her attention back to the cafe, looking at him, she said "Come on. We weren't so bad. Compared to rest of the couples, I think we dealt with our issues fairly well."
"But, that doesn't make it look any better. Not an excuse" he said shaking his head.
"Hey, we spoke to each other. We fought, we argued, we cried, but we met every day for 4 months. That was bloody 120 days. We faced each other and we spoke about our problems. Most couples just stop communicating, cutting out from one another. Am glad we dint do that. In fact am surprised we handled it with considerable maturity for 24 year olds." she laughed.
"Well true. Anyway, I know I screwed it up, so I don't really have the right to sit here with you and question the past." he sighed looking out of the window.
She slapped his hand on the table and said "Listen we went over this already. No guilt trips to the past alright. We have done enough of it already, it's kinda getting boring. Not worth wasting our time on it anymore."
He smiled, looking back at her said "You know, you did surprise me pleasantly. I should thank you for reaching out. I could have never gathered the courage to call you, after all these years, almost what 10 years now. Good that you called."
She sipped her coffee and said "We were so good with one another and to each other. With time I realized it was not fair to cloud years of lovely moments with just few months of painful ones. Not that it justifies any of our actions. But, it's much deeper than that."
She paused, looked out of the window, taking a deep breath continued "I have met so many lonely souls in past years, I realized how lucky I was to have experienced true love. I know, we were young, we did stupid things, that cost us our relationship but it did us good. We faced our worst fears and look at what we have become."
"Hmm, am proud of who you are today, I always knew you were special." he said smiling
She smiled and said "And you are no less a gentleman. All the good things you have been doing, you are making everyone proud."
She kept her coffee mug down, spreading her hands on the table, leaning forward she said "Bottom line is, when we were together, our heart was in the right place, and we shared that pure innocent love. The happiness of which I can feel even today, which is why I wanted to meet you.
I wanted us talking again. I did not want to take my first love to my grave as a sad story. I know even in all that chaos, we never hated each other.
We were angry, disappointed, sad, heartbroken - but never once we cursed each other. I think that makes it a little easier for us to reconnect."
She straightened up, letting out a deep breath she continued "It might take a while to rebuild something new, that fits into both of our new worlds. We are different people with different priorities now, but those old memories will help us bring that friendship back to life. And no doubt our love for one another won't change."
He said staring at the wall behind her "Well, when people say experience teaches you, I guess this is what they mean."
He looked into her eyes softly and said "I have always loved you, and now I say it with even more conviction. I am glad to have loved you, and yeah, we have become what we are today because of our past. And am glad we did not burn bridges beyond repair, it would have been a shame if we had lost this precious relation in void."
"Well, we might not have aged together, but our love has definitely aged with time like we have always been together. I guess that's all that matters." she smiled back.
He always loved her candid smile, it touched his heart just the way it had 15 years back when he had first seen her. He had spent the whole day with her, and yet, as he sat across her in the cafe watching the sunset light fall on her face, he couldn't believe that they were there together.
He asked looking at her "Do you ever think, what if we had never broken up?"
She smiled and said "You know I don't do what-ifs. I always look at past as roadmap to what I am today. I am happy to be who I am today, so logical answer, I wouldn't be here if we had not broken up. I would have been more or less happier than today; and may be not as happy as I am today. So, no I don't regret the past, and I think it was good we broke up at the right time, no matter how painful it was. And you as well, you would not have met Krissy and have a beautiful family with two wonderful kids. So, no, I don't think of what-if"
She was glad to hear his voice after so many years. They had drifted apart after the breakup. He had sent his wedding invitation of course, but it was just emails once in couple of years. They needed that time for hearts to heal she had thought.
Before she sent out that email asking to meet this time when she was in town, she had thought a lot. She did not want to disrupt his ongoing life, she did not even know what his state of mind was. But then she thought, if she wouldn't ask, she would never know. So she had asked anyway, thinking he would come up with some excuse of not meeting. And he had replied saying yes. She couldn't believe her eyes when she saw him walking towards her this morning, felt like all those years melted in between them. She had felt light.
They had hugged good bye outside the cafe, promising to meet again next year. And as they walked away from one another, they both had a smile of pure joy.
And those two hearts felt whole again.
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