Snow White And The Seven Dorks

                                                            CHAPTER-1

                                                My First Kiss...And a Few More

 Well,the day was here.

 I'd been trying to convince myself  during the past one month, that the day was a distant nightmare and that I had enough time to hold my Yukiko in my arms and tell her how much I loved her.

 And boy ,was I wrong!

 I was ticking off days on the calendar,counting down to this dreaded day,and as each day passed,it felt like I saw my death approaching. And trust me ,there's no feeling worse than seeing your own life slip from your hands. My life was Yukiko.

 Yukiko. Japanese for "Snow Child". My girlfriend. My world.

 As I watched her hands hurriedly move over her clothes which she had neatly packed and arranged in a tattered red bag that I had gifted to her when I had received my first salary three years ago( Yes,she was still using it) ,I thought about last night.

Last night-the worst and the best night of my life. The worst because I knew she was to leave the next day and the best because we had our first kiss last night,after a live-in relationship of two years. Shocking ?  Well,that's us!

 We were holding hands and walking down the beach when I said,

 "Do you really,like really really have to go?"

 "Yes, Ian.For the eighty-sixth time in three days ,"she laughed.

 "Sure?"

 "Yes.Eighty-seven."

 "And do you wanna go?"

 Darn it.I'd hit a soft spot. Since the last few days she'd been acting strong and all Oh-my-God-I-don't-care sorts but I knew that she had secretly been crying.

 She looked away.

 "I don't know,"she said. Her voice was cracking.

She was about to cry. One thing I couldn't bear to see . Why,I'll tell you later. But now, let's settle for the fact that I loved her too much, being the reason.

 Then  I heard her take a deep breath. Not relief. The one you take before a loud wail.Uh-oh.

 'Ian,do something,' I told myself.

 Scary feeling-making the love of your life cry. But  I was hopeless with girls.

Since my teen years,girls would fall for me, rather, my typical Latino looks, and their constant flirting and fawning always  got me a little flustered. I remember when my crush came and talked to me for the first time.

 "You're cute,"she said.

 "I love you ,"I wanted to say.

 "La-la-la lo-bu,"I heard myself say.

 And...uh...well...she ran away laughing. So you see,I wasn't good with girls. So I shut myself out .That was the biggest mistake of my life. More girls began falling for me, what they considered a 'mysterious' and 'aloof' boy.

 Anyway, so  basically I did not know what to do.

 Another deep breath. Danger.

 "Hey,hey,now Yuki girl," I said, holding her hand and pulling her back towards me. And I kissed her. My first kiss,and hopefully,hers too.

                                                        * * *

"Here,take this list and call out whatever's written so that I can check whether I am all set,"she said, jolting me back into reality and sat on the arm-rest of the chair I was sitting in. Her habit. Irritating habit, I must say. But cute,too.

"6 perfumes."

 "Check."

 "13 skirts."

 "Check."

 "9 pairs of jeans."

 "Check."

 "Uh...umm...well...10..."

 "What is it?"

 "Uh.."

 "IAN!"

 "10 BRAS! Happy?"

 "Check,"she said and went as red as the bag.

 "Ian,"I said.

 "Check,"she laughed.

She kissed me, playing with my hair simultaneously.I held her as tight as I could, kissed her as passionately as I could and for as long as I could.

"Don't go,Yuki girl."

 "I have to. Or else my boss will kill me,"she said. "By the way, this is the hundredth time."

I laughed.

 "Yukiko,you're carrying all your stuff. How will you carry all this? And it's only a matter of three months."

 Her face turned dark. She gave a faint smile. Somehow,I felt like it was a bad omen.

 "You don't know how much I love dressing up. Anyway,are you dropping me in your car or should we take a cab?"

 I got the strange feeling that she was trying to change the topic. 

 "Let's take a cab," I said."We will at least get some more time to talk." 

I do not talk while I drive as that gives Yukiko a feeling that I am not paying attention to the road,which is true. Yukiko's so stunning I can't take my eyes off her.

 So we took a cab.

                                                    * * * 

I looked up at the electronic flight board.

 "AC-1078.On time," I sighed.

 "Come on Ian, even if the flight comes late, it won't help.It'll only make things more difficult for you."

 "Not for you?"

 "Whatever,"she muttered.

.

We talked for about ten minutes. Or maybe we didn't. I don't remember. I was still dazed by her strange behaviour. Maybe she was getting emotional and did not want to break down and was trying to cover that up by acting cold.

 "So..."she said.

 I took the cue.

 "Yeah ,I think you should leave now."

 I thought she'd take some time, but she promptly picked up her bag and began to walk towards the security check.

 "See ya," I said.

 She shouted through the din in reply to my word of adieu,

 "Bye".

 Not 'See ya.'

 And after that, she didn't turn back.

 Literally and figuratively.