5. Our Paths

He helped her load her bags onto her trolley. They both made their way in. They went through the regular airport rituals. Nothing new. Then they sat down, waiting for the announcements that none wanted to hear.

Time flew by as the first announcement was made. Melbourne. People had started to move towards terminal 3 to board.

She looked at him. He was looking down, his face firm. Then he got up, trying to avoid making eye contact. She got up too, pushing her trolley as he walked next to her till they reached the terminal gate. He stopped abruptly, getting a hold of her hand. He was looking at her now, his deep brown eyes failing to conceal his emotions. He gently pulled her towards himself.

"This is it I guess" he said, a moment after his eyes met hers. "Erm... good luck, and goodbye, I hope..."

She freed her hand from his grip and wrapped her arms around him, her face buried in his shoulder. He put his arms around her too, his face gently brushing against her dark hair.

"I can't do this. I don't know how to go on" she said, her voice shaky.

"You know you have to, Deepika. You must. You know we've been through this already. You have to be in Melbourne and there's no way I'm going to let you skip it. It's an amazing offer. It's good for you."

"No. There's always a way. We... We could do this differently. This... This, today, this could be different." She wasn't the kind who gave up easily.

"There's no way this could be any different. We've been through this over and over again. You... have.. to go. We can't be together. We're on different paths, ones that'll never meet".

"And what about us? Is this how it's all going to end?" she couldn't hold her tears back anymore.

They both didn't say anything for a while. He pulled away, still holding her. Then he looked at her, in the eyes, and said "If I loved you truly, I'd want the best for you. Even if that means I'd have to let you go."

He then pulled her close again, kissing her briefly. He looked at her one last time before saying goodbye.

*****

Burbank, CA.

His new posting needed him to travel interstate, and that sort of helped. He preferred driving. On this sunny day however, he was home. Burbank. As he reached home and was parking his car in his garage, the song on the radio station had changed. They were playing one of his favourites. Actually one of her favourites, which made it his favourite.

It had been 5 years. He never spoke to her after that day. Neither had she. They'd decided to keep it this way, so it'd be simple. Long distance never really works. At least they knew that it wouldn't for them.

He got out of his car, slamming the door out of frustration. Why couldn't he get over her? It had been 5 years. FIVE whole years, no contact, nothing at all.

He was trying to push these thoughts, and her out of his mind when his phone rang.

Alessia (Work) Calling...

"Hello? What in the world reminded me of you? ... Well I hope you're not calling me to set me up on a date again... You KNOW why. Okay forget it, why'd you call me?"

There was a meeting. Kinda important. He had to be there. He always had Alessia's back.

*****

The meeting was being held at this really fancy restaurant and important clients were to be there that evening. He'd just handed his keys to the valet when he spotted Alessia in the distance. She looked at him and smiled as he approached her. He embraced her affectionately and said "I thought you'd turn up in jeans and sneakers. What's with this ball gown, Cinderella?"