Love Story...maybe not....

"The Distance between two people, keeps growing till they vanish into each other's memories, just a dot, maybe not even that....unless............................."

Kimberly was having a great time. It was summer or rather the start of the monsoon. Almost time for the arrival of the festive season, starting with the festival of the holy elephant. This was one of Kimberly's most favorite seasons. She loved the monsoons. The rains, the smell of the mud, the beautiful lazy weather. She called it the "Blanket Weather". A time when morning comes with soft droplets of water waking you up and you just don’t want to come out of your blanket.

It was an evening sometime in the month of July; Kimberly was coming back from her favorite tea house after meeting Samantha. Now Samantha and Kimberly did not meet every day. But they still made it a point to meet as often as possible. So while leaving from the tea house Kimberly and Samantha realized that their gossip wasn’t finished yet and they wanted to talk a little more about something they had forgotten! Girl Talks!!

Kimberly decided that she would drop off Samantha and then head back home. So that their "gossip" wouldn’t be left halfway. Finally, Kimberly dropped off Samantha and was going back to her house. Suddenly, she felt that her 'mobile telephone' was ringing inside her bag. Before she could get it out of her bag it stopped. None the less she got it out to see who it was. When she saw, she was almost about drop the mobile telephone. She was shocked. It was so unexpected. She called back.....

"Hello Kimberly!" said Douglas. Kimberly replied. The only thought going on in her head was, "why is he calling me now?". She was used to not having him around. Not expecting calls from him. She was just shocked and that wasn’t even pleasant. They exchanged the usual pleasantries. Then Douglas asked Kimberly where she was. Kimberly told him that she was heading home after meeting Samantha. Douglas just said an 'ok' and then hesitated while he was saying something. Kimberly asked him what happened and he asked her to meet him. Kimberly almost fell off of her carriage. It had been almost a year (besides the wedding of course) and he wanted to meet her NOW!.

He was sounding unsure about calling her. But then again he asked her if she would come. Kimberly at first decided to say no. But then her friendship took over. She wanted to know how he was and why after such a long time he wanted to meet her. Suddenly! Curiousness got the better of her and she asked him where he was. He told her he was waiting near a subway beyond infinity. At first she didn’t realize it, but later she understood it was somewhere close to her house.

She went there. This one year had been a little kind to her. She had transformed if not entirely then at least a little compared to the year before that. She was blossoming, a "work in progress". Under thorough experimentation. She looked different. While she was walking towards Douglas, she noticed though he was smiling it just didn’t feel the same. Though she was happy to see him, she wasn’t feeling it. He looked different. She couldn’t point out the difference though, but nothing was the same.

Her first instinct as soon as she reached him was to slap him, just give him a tight slap. Instead she gave him a hug. They exchanged pleasantries and then found a place to sit. Suddenly they had a lot to talk. Suddenly that one year seemed to vanish. Kimberly was talking about what had happened in her life. Douglas was talking too. His usual jokes, his usual madness but it still wasn’t the same.

Kimberly then asked about Rachael. Douglas told her she was fine and doing well. But something didn’t seem right. Something was wrong. But Kimberly didn’t want to pry. She anyway had met him after long and it wasn’t like it was. It was time for Kimberly to go back home. Douglas told her that he would drop her and then go home. They were talking on the way. The conversation not so important. But they were talking. Kimberly lived in a palace, the Link Palace. When they bade farewell, Douglas was still not ready to leave. He asked her to meet him the next day too. She said she would.

The next day, they met at the same place. Today was again different. They were feeling the friendship brewing again. They remembered the trust that they shared. Somehow it was much less awkward. This time Kimberly wanted to find out what the change was. She wanted to know why it wasn’t the same, why he wasn’t the same. She asked him...Somehow he didn’t avoid the question. He started talking....

Everything was not okay, actually it was far from okay. Douglas and Rachael were going through a rough phase and that is what was affecting Douglas. That is what was missing. He was still very much in love and that hadn't changed for either one of them. But something was missing. Kimberly now realized what made him call her. He needed a friend. He called everyone he considered one but maybe Kimberly was the one he needed. Kimberly saw that he was in need of a friend and she was ready to do whatever she could.

They again started meeting more often. Though not as much as before, because again it still wasn’t the same but yes they did meet. Douglas started pouring his heart out to her. Started telling her things he may not have told anyone. In turn, she listened to him. Showed him the positive point of view. She mostly told him about Rachael's point of view. Helped him understand her better. Though she didn’t know her. But she was a girl.

Slowly time passed. This would go on. Douglas started talking to Kimberly more often and Kimberly from her heart tried to save whatever was left of their relationship. She wanted it to work. She was a firm believer in long lasting relationships and working as hard as you can towards saving them. But this time she was lying to herself and to Douglas. She knew this relationship was going to end. Why she couldn’t say this to Douglas? She also knew that if this would happen, he would break. He would become something of a stone hearted man. Someone who didn’t care about anyone. She couldn’t let that happen to her friend.

Time passed by and it was again time for the festival of the Holy Elephant. This time Kimberly was invited by Douglas. Just 2 days before the festival Kimberly was talking to Douglas on the phone. Douglas was agitated about something. He was screaming. Kimberly was trying to calm him down, but it wasn’t working. Instead she decided to help him find a solution. Suddenly it came out of his mouth that he felt like ending this. Kimberly was shocked. She couldn’t let this happen. Instead she started talking about the positive things. The previous year at the festival Rachael was accepted into Douglas' family. So this year was going to be no different, she told him. She told him that this time there was going to be double the celebrations! It was Rachael's birthday on the same day as the festival and that would obviously rekindle whatever was dying in between them.

The day of the festival Kimberly was positive that Douglas and Rachael would be together all day. So she didn’t even call him. She had just informed him that she would come to his house later in the evening that too the previous day. She didn’t want to be an interference in an already shaky situation. That night when she went to Douglas' house she was expecting Rachael there. She was surprised when she wasn’t there. When she asked Douglas he just said she had to be somewhere. There was a little bit of sadness when he said this. He was again surprised at how Kimberly looked that night. She had learnt to dress according to the occasion now.

The next day was the day when they bade farewell to the holy elephant until the next year. It was a huge ceremony. Kimberly wasn’t a part of this ceremony. So she went out shopping. While she was out shopping, she called Douglas up cause she was somewhere near his house in the massive Iron Market. Douglas called her over and they spent the evening together. Talking, Listening and basically finding solutions. This went on for a long time too....

One evening a few weeks later Kimberly got the phone call that she was dreading. It was Douglas. He told her he had severed ties with Rachael. Kimberly knew he was broken, though he was trying to be fairly strong about it. For the next few days Douglas was left alone, Kimberly was one of the very few people who knew where he was and probably the only person he spoke to and met during that time. He was shattered, she was just there to help him.

Slowly he started becoming his old self again. Slowly, very slowly. Kimberly still kept him a little soft. She didn’t let him let go of his sensitivity. One evening a few weeks after the dreadful week Douglas and Kimberly were as usual at Kimberly's favorite tea house. Sitting and enjoying themselves. Douglas was also friends with Patricia, Kimberly's friend. When they left, as usual Douglas came to drop off Kimberly. But something was different. He looked weirdly happy. Smiling, goofing around. Douglas had to go see some other friends. So he said bye to her. They hugged, there was something different about this hug. He held on a little too long than usual. She was stunned. When she got home, she received a message on her mobile telephone, " I think I am getting attached to you". It was from Douglas. Kimberly was alarmed. Douglas said that they should stop meeting because he was afraid of attachment. The only thing Kimberly was afraid about was that if she let go, he would become a stone. Not caring and hurting people intentionally and unintentionally and not caring about that either.

He asked her if he could talk to her for some time. It was the wee hours of the morning and Kimberly thought it was safe to speak to him at her own house. As they sat there in the darkness they started talking. First time in a long time, Kimberly was talking about herself and her life. Her past and how a certain thing still affected her. She cried a little and laughed a little and this time Douglas listened. It was time for him to leave. Time flew by. When he left he gave her a hug and told her about his fear...and that it would be best if they didn’t speak to each other for a few days. Kimberly had no option but to agree....

Was this the end of this wonderful friendship? Was this attachment the end of everything or was it a new beginning.....

We'll find out....

Such is life's diaries.....