‘Even if we
could turn back, we’d probably never end up where we started’. An encounter
with this quote in one of the books suspended his reading. Something deep was
imbibed in the line. Regardless of zero correlation, it made him remember her.
The statement was flammable and in no time, he experienced an urge for
contradicting it. Her friendship was the best thing which could have happened
to him. However, it had gone astray since past some time and he could not think
of anything better but this to achieve his contradiction.
Rekindling
anything is tough and this situation was nothing different. After brainstorming
for three weeks, the idea of gifting her on upcoming birthday sounded best to
him. He was not oblivious of the fact that she did not like these formalities
yet his belief that she’ll for sure be elated upon seeing the gift, overpowered
any other thoughts. Somehow with her, he believed in instincts.
He was excited.
He was happy. He had planned everything perfectly but little did he anticipate
the upcoming jolt. A week prior to the day, he expressed his intent to meet
her. She was a highbrow. It took her less than a minute to figure out what he
had been up to. Their discussion that day ended up on a completely opposite
lane than its start. Somewhere in the middle she even mentioned about not
meeting him ever if he happened to get her a gift. She was apathetic. She was
indifferent.
He had
anticipated her reaction, however, the one thing which he did not anticipate
was his strong aloofness to the efforts. She was unmoved, she remained
untouched - totally opposite to the person he used to know some time back. The
lines of the book danced strangely around him - ‘Even if we could turn back,
we’d probably never end up where we started’.
The next morning,
a gift was ordered with two changes - content and shipping address. Her smile
was invaluable - true but beginning that night, he started appreciating his own
smile even more.