Encounter

7. Beautiful Realization

...

"Hey, wassup I have heard you are doing good.. me too I am doing well.. keep it up "

I was a bit shocked and I realized how good of a person she was. She once promised she would text me once I had some jobs and doing great in life. I never imagined she would ever do that. But she did, I couldn't stop myself from praising her.

"thank you for keeping up the promise. Never seen a genuine person like you. May everything and the universe be with you."

"Still not moved on?? Move on and be a successful man"

"I am moving on. Just trying to keep up with the pace of life"

"You would never be able to find someone until you are stuck with me. You never know how beautiful the top of the hill is until you get there. Bye, Don't text me. And I am happy for you. :)"

...

I may have realized how, even after being on the hilltop. All I am doing is looking downhill. Maybe I am stuck with the pain in the leg from traveling the hill and it's time to enjoy the hill, moving on with the pain.

Smriti was blue and wasn't as excited. I made a huge mistake here. I should have talked. But I couldn't break the ice. We reached where the guys were waiting and we didn't talk that long on the trip, being together, for the first time. As soon as she got up from the bike, she went towards Vandy and said, "I will ride back with you." 

I wasn't happy but I knew I was guilty.

Vandy asked her, "Why?"

She replied, "Maybe Kshitij will take me then."

"Okay, fine I will take you."

I wanted to share these things with someone. I wanted some answers, so I asked if Roshan would ride with me going back to Rupa Lake.

We had some tea and went to the tower. I tried to talk with Smriti but she was far from my reach. After spending an hour there, we rode back to the city and went towards Rupa Lake.

Roshan was talking about last night. 

He asked, "Bro, you weren't feeling good yesterday right? What happened? Smriti was sad you didn't stay up."

"I wasn't feeling well. I also wanted to talk about something with you."

"Regarding Smriti"

I was surprised, how could he know the topic already?

"How did you figure out?"

"I have been noticing from the start of the journey. I think Smriti likes you."

"You wish."

"Bro. She constantly is around you and she listens to you and she was worried about you yesterday."

"I wanted to ask you something."

"Sure"

"Am I being stuck with Prakriti too much?"

"Are you still talking about that after 5 years? Bro, there's not even a single ray of hope left with that and you are still searching for a light."

"I don't know, I can't get rid of her. I mean, I have nightmares, I see her in my dreams, all the time. I can't possibly think of someone who can take her place in my life."

"What a pathetic loser you are. Do you really wanna see someone better than her, yet didn't give anyone a chance? Smriti is coming closer to you, she is caring to you and yet you don't see her as the alternative. Why would you even want someone to fill up Prakriti's shoe? Listen Hrish, we often compare between persons, but what we do not realize is one can't be loved or be in our life just because they are better than our past. Rather, the one who is in now should be good of their own and I can't see a better person than Smriti for you. She might not be perfect and she might not be better than Prakriti too but She will always be Smriti, which she will be best at."