You have heard of the girl next door? Imagine that and then some more. She was really smart, well read, funny, articulate and God was she pretty. Legs that went on for days, flawless dark black hair that fell a tad over her shoulders, perky li'l nose, a sexy mole on her right cheek near the eyes, a smile so beautiful that it would light up any room she walked into and those big doe eyes...those always spelt trouble for me. She had a figure that was right out of my wet dreams.
Needless to say I had a massive crush on her growing up but never really acted on it cause a. she was my senior in high school, b. I was too much in awe of her and most importantly c. she was my best friend's cousin so obviously she was off limits. So, even though we grew up pretty close to each other, went to the same parties, and moved in the same social circles, we hardly spoke. I mean ofcourse she knew I existed but nothing more than that. I, on the other hand was absolutely smitten by her. So ofcourse I spent quite a few nights having the kind of 'A' rated thoughts that every hormonal teen has. But that was about it.
Anyway, within the next few years we both graduated from high school and went to different colleges in different cities. We lost touch and never saw each other after high school. We went on to complete our higher studies, got jobs, made careers, got married...got separated. Basically life happened, and we did the whole adulting shtick for the next 15-20 years.
And then, one fine day just like that I found her on Facebook under the 'people you may know' section after what felt like a zillion years. I couldn't believe how beautiful she looked! I sent her a friend request immediately, half expecting her to not recognise me and ignore the request. But well, she added me back and I did a li'l victory dance in my head when I saw that notification.
Soon we got chatting and it was evident that she obviously knew and remembered me from our school days. We were in different countries now. We exchanged numbers and moved our conversations to WhatsApp within the next couple of days and had some really deep conversations. Topics ranging from emotional strength, religion, politics, dirty jokes, good recipes, what went wrong in life, to good music, movies, who's seeing who and stuff like that.
During one of these long talks over a weekend, I ended up telling her how I had a massive crush on her in school and still have a soft spot for her. She laughed it off first as a drunken joke, but soon realised that I wasn't kidding. We both move on and act like adults about it as there's nothing that we could do about it now anyway what with us being settled in different continents for a start! However, we do make plans to catch up once I'm back to the country next time. I had the Christmas vacation coming up and ask her if she's really serious about the meet-up and she says ofcourse she is. So I go about planning, booking my vacation with a couple of days reserved just for the meet-up.
Eventually, the day arrives when we're supposed to meet. We had chosen this really cozy little place which boasted of some amazing seesha and had the best live band in town. She took my breath away the moment she walked in. God she looked unreal in her snugfit black polo-neck tee and blue jeans. The lighting in the bar, and the fitting of her shirt made her look like a beautiful silhouette as she walked towards me beaming ear to ear. I got up and went for an awkward hug or a shake and froze in between both not knowing how to proceed. Thankfully she found that hilarious and salvaged the situation with her unassuming laugh and a warm hug. We caught up like the long lost pals we were and got on like a house on fire. Booze flows, and so does the food and seesha. We're both enjoying the music and the discussions, and before we even realise it's pretty late in the evening. I offer to drop her home and call for a cab. She offers me to stay back at her place for the night and watch some old classics together as we had always planned to do. That's all set then!!