Time is a mystery

Life is a mystery everyone says, but if you ask me Time is a bigger mystery. When you want it to go slow, it just zooms like a roadrunner. And when you want time to go fast, it just crawls like a snail.

I did not realize two weeks had gone past since I last spoke with her. Only a text message enlightened of that fact that neither of us spoke or even made any attempt to break the silence. It is very unusual of me to remain silent especially with certain people.

I decided to break the ice and called her up immediately. But as luck would have it, there was no response. Being the tech savvy person, I sent her a text message

"Hi, its been a while since we talked. So, if you are free tomorrow lets meet over a cup of coffee."

I was not expecting an immediate response, but within 10 minutes the reply popped in to my inbox.

"Hi, sorry I was in a meeting tats why could not attend your call. Lets meet for lunch today. I need to talk to you. bye."

Probably I would have been ok if she had not responded. But talk to me???

That left me perplexed and confused with questions. Why? for what?

The clock said only 10am and still a good 2-3 hours  before I can expect uncle’s phone call.

As I engrossed myself in the day’s work, this nagging question refused to go away. After what seemed a long time, I left my desk for a late breakfast. As I left the desk, I took a look at the clock and to my amazement it was only 10:30am!

The next 2-3 hours was the longest in my recent life. Time just slowed down so much, that I even had time to go to the bank, wait in the queue to complete my work and from there I went to pay my mobile bill. But even after doing this, the time was only 12pm!.

My patience got the better of me and before I knew it, I was on my way to the restaurant where we agreed to meet.

As I entered the restaurant, I was very much surprised by what I saw.

Surprise is not the correct word, I suppose shocked would be more apt!

Sitting in the corner table, there she was 30 minutes before our agreed time and next to her was Uncle!!!

Now my heart started beating at hyper speed. Wondering why uncle is here and for what reason was something that was eating me.

"Hello uncle, its a surprise to see you here."

"Hi, you didn’t tell me uncle would be coming"

"No, it was supposed to be a surprise and we had planned to see you at home today evening. But since she has to go and once she told me you are going to meet her now, I decided to talk to you now!" he replied.

"Where is she going? What are you going to talk about?" still not sure what he was referring to.

"She is being transferred to bangalore. She hasn’t accepted it yet. She called me today morning and I only asked her to call you out".

While I am generally not that dumb, at times I can be very out of sync that I do not understand even the simplest of things being said to me.

I guess my face said it all. Without waiting for me to reply, he added "She wants to know what have you decided?"

"About what?" still being a bit clueless about what is being asked from me.

"Do I have to make things very clear to you? She wants to know what have you decided about her?"

"Oh!" was all that I could mutter.

As the food arrived, this was temporarily pushed away while we concentrated on what was on the table.

"So"

"Well…"

"I do not know what to say. I guess things are going too fast you know. She has been a good friend to me in the last few weeks I had known her. While I do like her, I need more time to decide. This is something that I cannot rush into, you know. I have to think about my life and even more about her life."

"Ok"

"So, I need more time to decide."

"How long"

"I don’t know. Maybe another month or even 2"

"That’s too long. Let me know by 3pm today"

"That’s too fast and too soon. I cannot decide about this right away."

"She cannot wait for you forever"

"I am not asking her to wait for me. I do not want anyone to wait for me. When I think its time and if she is still around and willing, lets do it. Till then I do not want to rush into anything nor want anyone to wait for me."

Maybe the manner I said it was harsh. But I did not know any other way. I would not say this was totally unexpected, but it was quite out of the blue at-least today.

All the while, she has kept quiet.

"Uncle, do not force him. What he is saying is correct. Let me go to bangalore. If he changes his mind, let him call me or you call me. Otherwise it is fine."

As she said this, an awkward silence descended on the table.

With nothing more to say, we finished the rest of the lunch in silence.

And that was the last time I saw her. She went to bangalore and last I heard she got promoted, left India and is now happily settled in life.

Uncle was very sad that I did not agree to his plans and he stopped talking to me. And he also went to live with his son, somewhere in Delhi.

As for me, I did not want to rush into making a decision. It was my life. And I get only one life to live!

Thinking about it now, I still do not know whether I did the right thing or the wrong thing. But I guess I cannot worry about it now. I had made the choice and I do not have any regrets about it.

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"Life is all about timing… the unreachable becomes reachable, the unavailable become available, the unattainable… attainable. Have the patience, wait it out It’s all about timing." – Stacey Charter