It Was Meant To Be

They were friends since high school. It was not love at first sight. They became good friends with time. Love blossomed gradually in her, only she didn’t realise it.

One day, he introduced his best friend to her. The best friend fell in love with her, and as is obvious, expressed his love to her. Only not directly, but through a card, which ‘he’ came to hand over to her. That’s when she realised she hoped it had been him, and not the best friend, who meant those three words written on the card. She, of course, returned the card, with a firm no and deep disappointment.

They finished high school. Nobody said a word. They went their ways. She studied graduation and he went abroad. They lost touch. She found somebody in college. A couple of years later, when he returned home, one day he came to meet her. She was elated, yet nervous. She was surprised she still felt for him the same way. Yet again, she could not say a word. She was already with somebody else. Moreover, she was sure he did not feel the same. Why else would he have acted as mediator to his best friend all those years ago?

However, they talked for a while, and then he went his way. Later, she received a text from him expressing how he enjoyed talking to her and claiming his love for her. He explained how he could not profess his love all those years ago as he had to respect his best friend’s feelings and did not want to get in the way (typical Bollywood style). She read the text elated, scared, nervous. She was already with somebody, and this seemed like cheating. She blocked his number. They again lost touch for a couple of years.

Time went by; she had now completed her studies and was working with a media company. One fine day, she came across his profile on social media. With trembling hands, she sent him an add request. He accepted it almost immediately. They exchanged numbers and began talking. The talks just would not end.

Heaven only knows what they talked about but you could see her on the phone all the while chatting, giggling, and talking to him. He made her happy like no other. Yet there was one complication. She was still with the guy from her graduation days. So neither he nor she made an initiation about their feelings from years ago, which was still very much existent. Yet they could not stop talking to each other.

However, there was this niggling feeling inside her that she was probably cheating the guy she was with. She had to confront her feelings and figure out what was happening to her. She decided to speak about this to ‘him’. He was her best friend. He always meant well for her. He would suggest something that was good for her.

It was also time to confront her feelings about which she had never done till date. But how could she break this news to her boyfriend? How could she hurt him by saying that she was in love with another guy, and had been so for the last so many years? Nevertheless, she could not stay with one person and love another. Mustering all her courage, she confronted him. Things ended on a bitter note, but they ended nonetheless.

It was finally time to tell ‘him’ how she actually felt about him. He had no idea. He was in a different city for the week. She tried his number. The call went to voicemail. She tried contacting him for the next few days, but could not. Now she was extremely worried. A few days later news reached her through a common friend that ‘he’ had been through an accident, and suffered severe injury to the head, and was admitted in the hospital. She rushed to meet him. When she saw him, covered in all those bandages, her heart went out to him. She went closer, sat next to him, and called out his name. He opened his eyes, looked into hers, but there was no recognition whatsoever.

The doctor later informed her that the brain injury had led to complete memory loss, and he remembers nothing apart from the first five years of his life. She was shattered. How could she have let him be away from her for so long? This was meant to be...

Things don’t always turn out the way we expect them to. Yes, this was exactly how it was meant to be....