Life gets in the way of love
'Hello?"
"Hey Sharoda, how are you doing?" A familiar voice from the past. Though we hadn't seen in each other in years and hadn't really kept in touch other than a phone call once in a while, it felt good to hear his voice.
[Intelligent Male Friend] and I had grown up in the same small town and he had always been part of my social circle, though we were never close friends. We went out a couple of times in high school but never really hit it off romantically and ended up in relationships with other people in college. However, we kept in touch through the years via email and saw each other when we were back home from college. It has always been an 'intellectual' friendship.
"So how are you? Its been ages?" Atleast three months since we last spoke. "How's the Master's coming along?"
[Intelligent Male Friend] joined a multinational back home after college while I travelled halfway across the world for a PhD. I knew he had always wanted to take up graduate school in the US but had stayed back to be near his girlfriend who was still finishing college. An ambitious person, he seemed to have finally found the woman who was worth the career sacrifice. After a year though, not satisfied with his job, he quit industry and took up a PhD at a prestigious computer science program on the East Coast. She continued her last year of college back in India.
We reconnected after he moved to the US and earlier this year he had talked of converting the PhD into a Master's and marrying his girlfriend. Done with college, she had followed him to take up grad school at one of the top schools on the East Coast. They were a mere 4 hours away now. My long-time friend seemed ready to settle down in life. I was happy for him, though I really thought he should have continued onto a PhD.
"I'm good. Do you have any plans for Thanksgiving?" He obviously had something on his mind.
"Not really. I've got work I need to finish before the end of the semester. What about you?" I have felt too tired with all the research travelling to want to go anywhere this Thanksgiving break. Besides I need to get things out of the way before my year-end trip back home to India.
"Well I don't have any plans either. I've always wanted to visit New York City. How about we get together there? Its the same distance to drive there for you and me." While we had talked frequently about meeting up since he came to the US, I wondered why he was not visiting his girlfriend over the break. I am usually suspicious when committed friends show interest in wanting to spend time with me when they could've been with their better halves.
"How's [Smart and Pretty Girl] doing?" I sort of knew what was coming next.
"She's doing well. We're not doing so great. Infact its over. About two weeks ago." I was shocked because he had seemed so certain this was the woman for him. They were even talking of getting married this December. He seemed matter-of-fact about it, like most men.
I didn't ask him any more. We made some tentative plans about seeing each other this weekend at Thanksgiving. It will be nice to see a familiar face from the past.
"Hey Sharoda, how are you doing?" A familiar voice from the past. Though we hadn't seen in each other in years and hadn't really kept in touch other than a phone call once in a while, it felt good to hear his voice.
[Intelligent Male Friend] and I had grown up in the same small town and he had always been part of my social circle, though we were never close friends. We went out a couple of times in high school but never really hit it off romantically and ended up in relationships with other people in college. However, we kept in touch through the years via email and saw each other when we were back home from college. It has always been an 'intellectual' friendship.
"So how are you? Its been ages?" Atleast three months since we last spoke. "How's the Master's coming along?"
[Intelligent Male Friend] joined a multinational back home after college while I travelled halfway across the world for a PhD. I knew he had always wanted to take up graduate school in the US but had stayed back to be near his girlfriend who was still finishing college. An ambitious person, he seemed to have finally found the woman who was worth the career sacrifice. After a year though, not satisfied with his job, he quit industry and took up a PhD at a prestigious computer science program on the East Coast. She continued her last year of college back in India.
We reconnected after he moved to the US and earlier this year he had talked of converting the PhD into a Master's and marrying his girlfriend. Done with college, she had followed him to take up grad school at one of the top schools on the East Coast. They were a mere 4 hours away now. My long-time friend seemed ready to settle down in life. I was happy for him, though I really thought he should have continued onto a PhD.
"I'm good. Do you have any plans for Thanksgiving?" He obviously had something on his mind.
"Not really. I've got work I need to finish before the end of the semester. What about you?" I have felt too tired with all the research travelling to want to go anywhere this Thanksgiving break. Besides I need to get things out of the way before my year-end trip back home to India.
"Well I don't have any plans either. I've always wanted to visit New York City. How about we get together there? Its the same distance to drive there for you and me." While we had talked frequently about meeting up since he came to the US, I wondered why he was not visiting his girlfriend over the break. I am usually suspicious when committed friends show interest in wanting to spend time with me when they could've been with their better halves.
"How's [Smart and Pretty Girl] doing?" I sort of knew what was coming next.
"She's doing well. We're not doing so great. Infact its over. About two weeks ago." I was shocked because he had seemed so certain this was the woman for him. They were even talking of getting married this December. He seemed matter-of-fact about it, like most men.
I didn't ask him any more. We made some tentative plans about seeing each other this weekend at Thanksgiving. It will be nice to see a familiar face from the past.
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