Part II

There was a certain genuineness of appeal in those eyes she was now looking into. They lacked the ferocity of passion that was so often mistaken for a mature sense of warmth. They lacked that childish glee, similar to having discovered a new candy store round the corner. They lacked the deception, which many unfortunately fall for. They had nothing but sincerity; Sincerity born from the deepest crevices of emotional being that is humanly possible. It was this she saw in his eyes. It was this that made her pause to think, instead of garrulously writing off what he just said. True, she wasn’t given to admitting her mind, or as some may say, her heart, in this fashion. But, this wasn’t some everyday random happening now, was it. This, surprisingly, was something else.

Nothing, ever starts in the now that people think it does in. there is always a history, a past, a background, some grounding to everything that happens. Some have tagged it karma. So why then, should this moment they both share be only in the now. It is not.

//No individual’s life is like any other’s and no one’s experiences can be compared to any other’s. Even if we brought two identical individuals passing through similar situations in life and attempted a comparison, we would fail, miserably or otherwise. I’ll explain why; perspectives. No two people may look at a situation in the exact same way – the colour co-ordinations, settings, dream sequences et al. and that is the beauty of uniqueness, of individuality. And perhaps that, is the reason why, even after all these years of evolution and so many centuries of emotions, we can still read more stories on them. //

It Begins..

She stood by the railing that was on the top most floor of the building on the hill overlooking the panorama below. She stood gently sipping her drink as the wind played around with her hair, tossing it in different directions. The wind felt good. It had a slow, comforting rumble, unlike the ferocity of the gusts of wind that came sometimes. It was the evening, just before it begins to turn completely dark. There was still some light. The Sun had just gone down leaving orange traces where he had last been. The clouds around had taken a similar hue. There were no visible birds in the sky to disrupt the peace of the moment. There was only the distant murmur from behind, behind where all the action was happening. Oh yes, there was a lot of action happening there, but none of which concerned her. Anything could have been going on there, for all she cared, but she didn’t. She was basking in the peace and calm of that moment, quietly, gently sipping her drink. Nothing seemed to bother her, right at this very moment. No one seemed to bother about her either, right now. All, except this one guy. He walked up to her so quietly, that she barely noticed him coming. “Enjoying the moment all by yourself?” he asked. She was shaken from her tranquility, but she didn’t seem disappointed with the company. Perhaps she didn’t seek it, this particular one; she wasn’t averse to it either. She gently smiled at her new companion but said nothing. That was her way, she barely spoke sometimes and at times, it was hard to get her to stop. This was one of those quiter moments. “What a day it has been”, he said. “It’s been one long, tiring day. And the guys aren’t stopping at anything for fun”. The week had but just ended and he was referring to the weekend revelry that was in progress behind them, where the entire din was. “Yes, the week has been strenuous. I’m glad I don’t have to worry about showing up at work tomorrow”. He was contemplating the pros and cons and wondering whether or not to do it, for the millionth time. This is it, he thought to himself. If I don’t pop the question now, I never will and then what if I never can? This thought scared him. It took him a lot of introspection and guts to get to this point, this point where he stood now, ready to blurt out. After what seemed like ages, or could’ve otherwise been just a few minutes in human time, he cleared his throat, drawing her attention. “I wanted to talk to you about something” he said. She turned in response and said, “Yea?”. “I don’t think I want to contain this within myself anymore. I love you. And honestly, I don’t see why you wouldn’t already be in love with me either”. This was amusing, the way he put it. But it was after all what she had in her mind all this while too, except she did not come to the moment of realization where she could articulate it. She felt as much, as hard, as deep and as strongly for him as he had for her. She wasn’t adept at emotional communication, that’s all. She stared back at him, with those distant, hazy eyes of her. It could’ve been eons ago, that he popped this question.

But it was. It was all those eons ago. It wasn’t customary for women of royal breeding such as hers to freely and unabashedly express emotion. It showed vulnerability. But it felt like a million firecrackers were bursting within her, all gushing out as fiercely as the waterfall, flowing in all might right below the portico they now stood on as they spoke. The attendants were all a reasonable distance away, but on this fateful day, luckily, they were far away not to over hear this particular conversation.