Hacking The Relationship Code

Chapter 18: Supportive Girlfriend

"When did you know you wanted to embrace vegetarianism?"

"I guess it was my mom. She has been a vegetarian all her life. While we were growing up, she would take me and Aurelia to visit those live meat counters to show us how torturously those speechless creatures were massacred. We would close our eyes but that sight wouldn't leave our minds for days. We would literally puke our guts out in the night. That's when we adopted vegetarianism. I know it was mean to expose us to that when we were kids but I guess that was exactly why my belief in vegetarianism never shook."

"It sounds so gross. But tell me one thing, what do you have for your Christmas feast and Thanksgiving if not a turkey?"

"We go overboard in the dessert department to compensate for the turkey. You will easily find four different types of desserts laid out on our table and then there's always cranberry sauce to add a bit of tradition."

"How can you call yourself a foodie when you haven't even tasted half the stuff?"

"A foodie is someone who enjoys having food in general not someone who eats everything under the sun. At least that's the definition I go around with."

"You surely have a weird definition to suit yourself.  Anyway, whatever helps you sleep at night."

We were having dinner while he told me about his football practice. The coach was demanding more and more with the passing day since it was their final month which meant I would be seeing less of him each day, not that we were seeing each other a lot since his practice was a true bitch.

"For the next two weeks we will be practicing 30 hours a week to prepare for the match, especially the newbies like me."

This felt like a torture camp.

"How will you handle football along with the assignments? I mean I am always there when you are stuck but you know right you can't compromise on any one out of the two."

"Coach is making us do five hours on weekends and an extra hour on weekdays. I have a schedule in my mind. I think its manageable. I really enjoy both the things so managing everything out isn't an issue. Moreover, now I have this cool girlfriend who is so loving and she will help me out when I am stuck."

"When you say it like that, do I really have an option but to be that cool girlfriend? And I know this dinner is a way of bribing me before disclosing the bad news.", I chuckled.

"Seriously Ginna, I hope you know what you are getting into. This isn't the first time and it certainly won't be the last time. I might not be able to give as much as you expect into this relationship. I am swamped with football and academics and I can't give up either of them."

He used his serious dialect to convey the news.

"Come on Adrian. If I can't support you in pursuing your ambitions, why are we even together?"

Well, that was last Monday. Everything we had discussed was easier said than done. I hadn't seen Adrian much since our dinner that night. I missed being with him terribly. I didn't know what I had signed up for when I had agreed to be supportive. We didn't speak much except for the ten-minute phone calls we had at night every day before he went to sleep. I wasn't complaining but I was surely pretending to like it. We would meet in the mornings during the class and sit together. We couldn't talk during the lecture and he would straight away sprint out of the class right after the lecture, bearing me with just a quick hug.

Three days ago, we climbed a little foothill of progress in our ladder of romance when he kissed me on the cheek for the first time right before running for his trials. He had vanished even before I could register what happened. He did things like these and then I couldn't even be upset for long.