A Love Story..Continues...Some More....

"The distance between 2 people can sometimes make them strangers...but sometimes...just sometimes...they come closer than ever"

Routine life started. Kimberly was busy with her own life. Working, studying and having fun. Everything was back to normal. Now Douglas was a distant memory. Sometimes she would just think of him but then the thought would vanish as quickly as it came.

Once in a while she would see his Facebook and remember him. He was a like a distant friend now. Almost an acquaintance, someone she knew at one point in time. She would only be reminded of him when he would call her. That would be like once in a blue moon. Though it did have a pattern. He called every once a month. Invariable on the same day of the month. Ask her the same questions. It felt more like a formality and that made Kimberly angrier. She'd rather he wouldn't call rather than him calling and having a formal conversation.

Meanwhile Kimberly got into many different activities to kill time that summer. She decided she wanted to explore her options and try out different things. One evening while she was walking through the city a little birdie came down upon her. The birdie whispered in her ear that there was a magician, a lady who was teaching everyone her famous trick of how to hide yourself behind a mask and seem convincing while you do it. That caught Kimberly's attention!

Of course she wanted to learn. So she went ahead to the room of magic at the other end of the city in her purple carriage. There she met the magician, Madame Marian. She was an amiable short and stout woman. Very "cute" as far as her appearance goes. But the first thing that Kimberly learnt here was 'never judge a book by its cover'. Madame Marian was not at all like her appearance. Actually she was quite the contrary...

Kimberly was the youngest among the people who came to learn this magical art. All of them were women which helped them to open up a little bit more. The first step, according to Madame Marian, was to slowly peel off the layers and share your life with others share your intimate secrets. What happened there stayed there - was the motto there. Kimberly though still all of 18 had nothing much to share but she did hear a lot of things. She genuinely for once felt like a child. She had seen nothing...whereas those women in the room had seen so much!!

Slowly they started drifting towards the art. They started learning it. It started coming to them. Kimberly and the other women started getting acquainted with each other in the room. One of the days Kimberly got talking to Kristen. That day just as a part of the conversation Kimberly asked Kristen in which part of the city did she stay? Kristen gave an answer. The place sounded very familiar to her. It was near the Highest Point in the massive Iron Market. Of course Kimberly remembered who stayed there. She told Kristen she knew someone who stayed there. Kristen inquired curiously as to who Kimberly knew. Kimberly told her that her close friend Douglas stayed there. There was an awkward pause and Kristen looked taken aback. Kristen told Kimberly that she was Douglas' elder sister. Now it was Kimberly's turn to be shocked.

Kristen and Kimberly talked all day. About Douglas, about Kristen's life. Somehow Kristen seemed to open up to her. She almost poured her heart out to Kimberly. They decided not to tell Douglas they knew each other. They decided to take him by shock. There was a big festival of the Holy Elephant that everyone celebrated. So did Kristen and her family. She invited Kimberly to celebrate this festival with her family and that way she could meet Douglas too.

So they day of the festival came and Kimberly found herself going to Kristen's home. As soon she entered the yard of the house she saw Douglas with his eternal love...Rachael. She was most definitely a beautiful looking woman. Genuinely the belle of the ball. As she was walking towards them she could see the shock on Douglas' face. When she reached where he was standing he asked her what she was doing there. No pleasantries needed. Kimberly didn't like the response and she instead told him to mind his own beeswax and she wasn’t here for him as he hadn’t invited her in the first place.

She went past him and just walked up the stairs leading to her house. Douglas and Rachael followed. Douglas was shocked to see that Kimberly went and gave a hug to Kristen and then she was introduced to the family. That is when Douglas came to know about the friendship that had blossomed in between his sister and Kimberly. She was then introduced to Rachael. She was an extremely pleasant woman to speak to. Very amiable. Kimberly was happy for Douglas. He was in love, and it showed. It was the most beautiful feeling and Kimberly was happy that Rachael was feeling the same too.

She bade farewell to Douglas and Kristen and their family. She promised Kristen that she would surely be a part of Kristen's wedding in the winter.

That winter Kimberly received and invitation to attend Kristen's wedding to her high school sweetheart Patrick. Kimberly was very happy for Kristen. The past few months she again had no contact whatsoever with Douglas. But somehow that didn't bother her so much anymore. That day she got dressed in one of her best red dresses. Flowing and beautiful. Through all this time that had passed there were a lot of changes that occurred in Kimberly. Mainly physically of course. She has started blossoming into a woman and slowly she lost a little bit of her 'puppy fat' as we call it.

Kimberly set out for the wedding in her purple carriage. When she got there she realized she didn’t know anybody. Except Douglas and Kristen of course. She entered the beautifully decorated room where Kristen and Patrick would take their vows. As she entered she saw Douglas. He was surprised to see her, pleasantly of course. She spoke to him for some time. Where he gave her a compliment and then joked with her about the pact they had made a year or so back. The pact said that Douglas would take Kimberly out on a date on the day on Love if she would become a little thinner. Got rid of her puppy fat. Douglas joked that now he will have to take her out. Kimberly asked him if Rachael would mind. Douglas said that Rachael would accompany them if she wished to. But a pact was a pact. They joked around for some time and then of course Douglas had to go attend to the other guests. Kimberly was fine though....she loved weddings. The little ceremonies. Everything.

It was now time for Kimberly to leave. The ceremonies were over. She wished Kristen and Patrick a beautiful married life and bade farewell. She then said Good bye to Douglas and exchanged a few other pleasantries. Then she left....

Douglas and Kimberly have parted ways again....

But this time it didn’t feel like anything...

It had become a way of life...

Both of them were used to not having each other in their lives...

They were a distant memory and just that...

Was that all that was there for Douglas and Kimberly?

Were they going to be a distant memory in each other's lives and just fade away one day?

We'll find out soon...

Such is life's diaries..........