The Twist

Theirs was another whirlwind college romance. They bunked all the classes they could without getting into trouble and spent time together. Holding hands, just talking endlessly, sharing an ipod, sharing ice creams, sharing milkshakes and sharing cigarettes. They also shared a passion for Night Shyamalan movies. They loved the director's convoluted narration, and drank in every twist in the tale with great enthusiasm. And their romance was intensive. Like the course they both took in college. Lasted all of two years. Before his father found out about her, and disapproved immediately. He had no desire to see all of his ancestral property in the control of a tempestuous (they invariably were, with their multi-coloured "bobcuts") young woman with a facial piercing. And so he put a stop to this nonsense immediately. He was sent away to live with an aunt in Australia and do a post graduation in something or the other, just to distract him. Life continued for her, as it inevitably does for everyone, and she went on to get a mediocre job in a mediocre company for a mediocre pay. They lost touch after a while, although both of them in their individual minds knew there would be a twist in their tale, just like in their favourite director's movies. She dreamt he would swoop down from nowhere and they'd elope. He dreamed of (nearly, as nearly as soulmates would think)the same thing.

Five years later, she saw him in a mall, with a not-unattractive young lady, pushing a baby-laden pram. She had paused for more than a moment mid-conversation with her friends as she saw him, and they asked her if something was the matter. She shrugged it off and said she had just seen someone she thought she knew.