There comes a time in your life when you are so much in love that nothing matters. All the things that your mom warned you about, all the principles that meant so much to you go up in smoke. Only the person in front of you matters. And you’re feelings for him. You are exited and a little scared both at the same time.  

I nearly died when it happened to me. The situation ran out and over took me as my boy friend held me in his arms. We were together for three years now. We had been intimate but never overtly so. A girl’s instinct told me this time it was different. I stopped my active brain from questioning and decided to experience the answer instead. I was twenty one and he was twenty eight and we knew all about safe sex and all. Still, was I ready for this kind of a commitment? I had no doubts about him, for a thousand times he had gone on his knees and proposed marriage. We knew it was an eventuality after my MBA.  

This was our moment and I was going to let it change me any which way. We were in my bed room in a small hill side house in Darjeeling . My parents had gone to Nepal , our native place, as my great grand mother had passed away. The sudden appearance of my boy friend at my door, when he should have been busy at the Bank, pleasantly surprised me. Unaware about the absence of my parents he had come to inform, he was leaving for Kolkata the next day. He was working for an International Bank in Darjeeling for last four years. His mother had urgently needed him to sign some documents. The poor lady was suffering from old age.

That was a week before, today I looked at my mobile in disbelieve. The slim Motorola Razor mobile phone seemed too heavy. I just had a word with him. He sounded exited and a little out of breath. I could see his face in my mind. It was a standing joke between us. He would call me at the middle of the night asking for me to guess where he was or what colour clothes he was wearing. Invariably I knew he would be in bed at that hour, wearing close to nothing. As for his state of mind I was a champion there. A slow pitch meant he was missing me. A shriek tone meant some good news from home and that made him miss me. A lazy voice meant, he was tired and was missing me.

I came to the coffee shop all dressed. I was meeting him almost after a week. I was so looking forward to seeing him. Out of habit I gave him a miss call. As usual he called back. He was on his way. He said he was sorry, he was late.

I did not care. I was ready to wait for him all my life. Cutting into my romantic thoughts he added, he got engaged while in Kolkata. His fiancée is a nice girl, real cute and friendly he added in bad taste. She reminded him of his girl back in Darjeeling . The same skin, the same voice and the same height. That was the reason he agreed to the engagement in the first place.

Is it possible to sense the betrayal even before it’s expressed? I have had a bad feeling all this week. Some thing was just urging me to break down and cry. Before I could muster words to congratulate, he hung up. As the phone died in my hands, I died too.

My mind went through a flash back. I remembered the time when I had left my old mobile in the multiplex, where we had gone for a late night show of ‘Don’. The next day he had gifted me this new Motorola razor, which he had seen in some gizmo magazine. It was a mile stone gift in our relationship. I had always said no to expensive gifts until then. Before that he only bought me sandals and shoes. He had a fetish for it. ‘Beautiful feet deserve beautiful shoes. And beautiful hands deserve this beautiful handset.’ He had said happily.

How come when it takes two individuals to built a relationship, it just takes one to break it? My dreams were just five feet eleven inches. If I would wrap my arms around him all my dreams would fit in. Ignoring the slow pain releasing at the back of my head, I called him back. We were connected immediately, He said ’hi! sweety, I am right here. Turn around and see.  Hope you are not too mad at me for turning up late.’ Mad for turning up late? He came up and stood in front of me. Blue T shirt and faded jeans always made him look extra handsome.

I stood up in reflex, leaving my coffee untouched. ‘I will drop this hand set at the bank first thing tomorrow.’ I said softly not knowing what else to say. He looked hurt. ‘Hell, No! You keep it. It is yours. You know I am engaged, not married. I made myself very clear to Ma, I am not marrying for next three years. Till then am yours, darling.’ He sat down and sipped coffee from my mug.

I wished him, a small piece of the heart break that was going to be mine for a long time. And walked out of the coffee shop into the mall leaving the mobile behind. It was too cold for a summer evening even in the mountains. Darjeeling was full of happy and colourful tourists.