Ahhhh... The same old Coffee Shop!!!

There she was with him, at the very place where she thought she had left her life behind, herself behind, her existence behind... Everything had changed; the times, the people, the emotions... The only thing that stayed the same was the ominous coffee shop and the dreaded memories caught within!!

It had been over five years and she had thought her life had come to a halt. She thought how wrong she had been and quietly smiled to herself. He assumed he was the reason for her smile, her faraway smile...

Her thoughts flew from the present to a few years ago when she used to frequent this place with the person she loved. Everything was just the same; the glass panes, the decor, the ambience... but it still was not the same. So what was different?? Maybe it was SHE, she herself..!!

She had been so in love with him and everything seemed so perfect until that fateful day when all of it came apart... It had felt so unreal, an illusion perhaps... All her dreams crushed, when she had seen her "love" with another! Sitting at the same table where they had sat... only a couple of days ago!! The same way!! His hands on her face and his mouth over hers...

She felt a rage building up within her but she managed to keep a lid on her temper somehow. What was she feeling??? Shame? Embarrassment? Humiliation? All of them perhaps!!! She managed a cold smile and slowly made her way to the table where the couple were seated and mumbled a weak "HI". The greeting caught both of them off guard. His face had been a mask of horror... but he quickly took charge and gestured at the other girl to leave... Maybe they needed to talk.

And there he was... sitting at the same table!! And she... she was still standing with a feeling of utter haplessness!! She felt violated and still wanted to hear that it was only a prank... But did she really wait for an explanation? No... her mind screamed... no way!!! She could not have tolerated any more explanations!!

He gestured her to sit down... but now she could not bear to even look at his deceptive face which she once perceived as handsome and pleasing. The very same face with the faint stubble, the enticing mole on the cheek and the warm smile. However something was different today... She could not quite figure it out but something had changed... Yet, nothing gave his guilt away; neither his gait, nor his speech, or his mannerisms... not even his face!!! Maybe there was no guilt involved?? Maybe this was a daily phenomenon!!! He had tried giving her a reason but she was too perturbed to care... about his lies! She turned and fled from the coffee house.

She returned home and was thinking about all those stories that she had heard and chosen to ignore... Those affairs, those flings, those summer romances... All of them!! She looked at herself in the mirror and wondered if she really was so gullible that she could not have seen through all of it... Or was trusting someone foolish?? Now she realised that in all probabilities all of those stories could have been true... Maybe the stories were not completely baseless after all... She had felt tears well up in her eyes and she had made no effort to stop them. The tears just streamed down her face and by the time she could steady herself, it was dawn already!!!

And then... in the early hours of the sun-kissed morning, she had heard her cell phone buzzing... The creep... he had chosen a time when he knew he could catch her unawares!! But not today.... not today!! Because today was different, sleep had not yet intoxicated her mind. She took the call and barely heard the explanation and hung up on him!!

She spent the next couple of days introspecting, analyzing and differentiating between facts and fiction. She had searched desperately for a solution. She realised that she had been a fool to let him trick her... but was he wrong, really?? Or was she wrong to have even trusted him?? It couldn't have been her fault, she concluded!! She had known him for over three years before embarking on a relationship with him. She knew him... or so she thought!

Once having made up her mind, she refused to let the illusion carry on any further. Slowly she packed all those things that he had given her.... Yes, of course, she could not collect those good times together, those walks in the rains, those memories, those sweet kisses, those comforting hugs... and neither the disappointment, the anger, the frustration, the shame she had felt... No, she could never pack all of those!!! They were to stay in the mind and sting in the heart.

She walked with a heavy heart towards his house in the wee hours of that morning. It took every bit of her to muster the courage to ring his doorbell... which she finally did. Only to find the door being opened by the same girl in the coffee shop!!! There was a look of bewilderment in her face as she realised any explanation, now would only be futile. The girl in a soft nightgown with disheveled hair had not left too much room for imagination!!

She had asked for him and the girl quickly obliged. There he came... clad in a pair of boxer shorts, bare-chested, yawning, putting on his spectacles!!! He had been horrified to see her that early on a Sunday morning. He had tried hard to regain his composure and hurriedly put on a t-shirt and invited her inside. She gave him a dry smile, handed him the bag and quietly walked out, out of his house and out of his life! Forever! She walked and walked until she collapsed out of exhaustion... That had been the end of it all!!

From that day to today, it had been a Herculean task to survive the embarrassment, the questions, the sympathy, the ridicule... It was then she realised that she had changed!! The past vulnerability had given way to a strong sense of independence, her incessant talking had changed to an extremely introverted nature, the dancing smile in her eyes had faded, the innocence had been replaced by an air of quiet maturity... And she realised that she really had changed!!!

Her reverie was broken by him, his hand waving in front of her as he asked, "Should we go inside?" There was an impregnable pause, she smiled and took his hand in hers and replied, "Why not??" They went inside to the same table where she had sat a few years ago with… And there she was, sitting with him, laughing and chatting. She regarded him with affection and finally answered the question that had been pending for so long in two words, "I do!"