Never say good-bye...

Santosh felt very happy and excited that day. It was Valentine’s Day and he was going to propose to Nikhitha. He had been waiting eagerly for this auspicious day to declare his love for her as it was a day to forget heartbreaks and mistakes and ask this magical question, “Will you be my Valentine?”
Falling in love with Nikhitha was accidental.
Santosh had met her a few months before….
Nikhitha was waiting for her bus to pick her up in order to go to office and Santhosh was also there sitting on his bike and waiting for his friend who had gone into a shop to buy something.
He did not notice her first. Nikhitha was not strikingly beautiful but she had something in her which made a guy look at her again.
Santosh was actually looking on the other side, waiting for his friend to come out when suddenly he got a feeling of being watched closely. He turned his head swiftly, to find Nikhitha staring at him wide-eyed.
“Who is she? Does she know me? Have I met her somewhere else? “He was trying to place her but he felt that it was a new face he is coming across just now. He was too puzzled. However he tried to ignore her and continued looking on the other side.
Her bus came and she left that place.
He forgot about her that day. But when it was fate that he should meet her the next day, who can prevent it?
His friend requested him to give him a ride to that shop again to buy something else. Santosh was sitting on his bike and waiting while the friend went inside the shop. He looked around. Suddenly he remembered Nikhitha staring at him the previous day. “Think of the angel, there she is” he said to himself as he saw her walking slowly towards her usual waiting place.
She stared at him again with an amusing and a puzzled look on her face. He could not control himself that day. He was too curious to know why she was looking at him so intensely.
He walked towards her and said.” Hello...”
She did not reply but looked at him with a questioning look.
“Do I know you?” Santosh asked.
“No…”
“Excuse me, but you seem to look at me as though I am familiar to you. I was just a little curious. I am sorry...” Santosh walked back to his bike.
Nikhitha looked at her watch and noticing that she has ten more minutes for her bus to pick her up, she walked towards him and said, “I am sorry, I didn’t mean to look at you this way. You resemble my friend…replica of him....my friend Pradeep..”
“That’s ok...” Santosh shrugged as if he would forget the whole incident.
A lump formed in her throat as she continued.
‘Pradeep died in an accident a month back..There is a striking resemblance between you and him. I was too stunned and thought for a moment that it might be him…We were supposed to get married next month...”
Santhosh felt a sympathy wave sweeping him over.
“Sorry to hear that. But you can face it and move on. That is life..isnt it?.” he said. Though it was a mechanical reply, he realized that he had spoken beyond limit. Would she mistake him? He looked at her face. No, she didn’t react.
Her bus arrived and she just waved at him and left.
He started meeting her everyday at the bus stop. He did not know why he wanted to console her and brighten her mood. But it was just what he was doing. He was too puzzled about his feelings for her. Why should he think of her again and again? After all, she was a total stranger..
Santhosh never realized that he would start loving her gradually.
But then he decided to give her time to get over her grief and come back to the present.
At the same time, he tried to find out what was in her mind too.
“Given the chance, if I meet a right person, I would consider marriage...” she said.
That day, Valentine’s Day, was a suitable day to declare his love for her, and he felt he was making the right move.
He bought a card and a gift, expressed all his thoughts in a paper, placed it along with the card. Then he called her up and said he would like to meet her.
Nikhitha was there in their usual meeting place.
He was straightforward and started right away..
“When you told about Pradeep, I felt the grief. I’ve felt something for you for quite sometime..”
Nikhitha should have guessed what was coming…She did not allow him to continue..
Then abruptly she said,” I have always and will always love Pradeep..Thanks for sharing my grief. Your striking resemblance to Pradeep hit me first. I do hold you in high esteem as my good friend…But I loved him not for his looks but for what he was…It is difficult for me. Please understand...”
Santhosh was not perturbed.
He smiled and gave her the gift and retained the card with him..
“Accept a gift from a friend...” he said.
Nikhitha gladly accepted the gift, talked with him for sometime and left.
She has found her way back or the best was yet to come.. Will she ever love again, or will she live out the romance of her heart through memories?
Santhosh went back with a heavy heart yet full of hope because he has not yet lost her. He was happy that he did not express his love for her still. It was not the end of the world.
Perhaps she would change her mind in future….