A Thousand Kilometer’s

“Don’t forget the cologne, the red one, not the blue one”,

“Oh and the present too, carry it with utmost elegance” I reminded myself

Too cliché to carry a bouquet?

Oh No! Should’ve worn the flats, Or shall I go with the sneakers,

“Don’t mess it up, please, act normal!”  Exclaimed my brain

Should I experiment? Or Should I not?

And the next thing I found myself googling was “How not to mess up the first meet?”

Like this would do.

Wasn’t about meeting someone whom I knew for years,

Wasn’t about not being myself,

It was about the expression, a note of gratitude for being there,

Carefully going through the Menu,

Reserving the entire place for two of us,

This was all new to me,

Igniting the chopper expecting to reach in one piece,

I gave it a go.

And, the brake pedal gave up on me,

Not the right time to wait for the fix,

The crease made it to the stick and the next thing I knew was flying with a creased trouser,

Crosswinds, Can’t land!!

“Runway 22-Echo-Right-Charlie, requesting clearance to tap in” I commanded over the radio,

“Negative, airspace is busy, proceed with 22-Echo-wait-15 mins” The ATC responded,

With brake pedals giving up slowly, maintaining a low blade speed,

I got lost in how it would look like,

The perfect date as I imagined, Things were falling in place and out of it the same time,

Reimagining each bit piece by piece,

Gazing over the venue to ensure I don’t mess it up,

It was tough,

The anxiety kicked in,

And a buzzing sound in the cockpit had me on my nerves,

It was the brake fluid, 45% left, 

The robotic voice in the background and the zeal to make it to the venue,

I was sure that there was no way I’m gonna give up on a 2 door Heli,

The worst way to die,

And then I hear the 3 words that I was longing to hear the entire time

“Proceed to land”

Touchdown, I launched myself to the showrooms in search of something beautiful,

Ah, not the jewelry, wrong time probably,

Handmade art sounds perfect, but they couldn’t do it in 10 minutes

Yes, beautiful things take time,

And finally reaching the venue in one piece was an achievement,

It was windy and wholesome, The Sunset,

It was a perfect time,

The wait – gets you on your toes,

And there she comes,

And my brain goes “Do the chair thingy, be a gentleman”

And my leg goes “Just push the chair with your foot, you are wearing flats anyway”

And my brain goes “Really bitch, you wanna stand up in front of everyone”

And finally ended up with “Let’s eat”

Probably not the best way to start, But this was unique,

The brain goes “Should’ve been a business meet at least, I would have nailed it”

The 2nd part of the brain goes “Oh No, don’t talk about the golf course nearby, it has balls and holes, the last thing you wanna talk on the table”

And amidst the battle between the brain and myself,

I found peace,

And it was 7:45 already,

Awaiting for the cab as we sat on the pavement,

I unwrapped the gifts, excited as a kindergarten kid,

I realized,

This meet was different,

Usually, it was a formal attire and a projector screen,

This time it was a pavement, me and her,

Notes were taken “How not to bring a person from a luxury dining experience to a pavement”.

The cab arrived,

The brain goes “This time, have some sense, open the door, and don’t hustle in like you’re the only person left on Earth, wait for her to be seated”

And voila, you don’t have an armrest in the back seat for separation,

I started calculating of objects in hand to use as a separation between two seats,

Well, this was an abrupt end to a saga.

Or

Was it a gorgeous beginning?

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