In Her Company

It was the late hours of a dark cloudy evening. The raindrops raced down my window, their melancholic sound lulling me into a trance. My car crawled through the rain-choked traffic, inching closer to the airport. I hugged my backpack tightly, my only companion for the rest of my time at this unknown destination, from which I had no return ticket home.

At the airport, I hugged my family goodbye and went on to check in my baggage. After successfully convincing the immigration officer that I would be back someday, I was directed to the security check. Some 20 – 25 people were waiting in the queue ahead of me. I saw this young couple with a restless kid standing behind me. I was trying to be courteous by letting them go past me. But then, I saw this young Canadian lady standing right behind the couple. And it was “Ladies first!!!” 😅. She passed me with a thankful smile on her face. A couple of minutes later, it was her turn to unpack her bag on a tray to send it for security screening. She fumbled with her belongings, trying to convey something to the security officer, who spoke only the regional language. I swiftly stepped in, and she explained to me that she was on medication and that she couldn’t let this healthcare device that she was holding onto, through the scanner. The officer understood the situation once I translated it to him and let her have the device with her. She sighed in relief and thanked me profusely. We just kept smiling at each other while we were waiting for our bags on the other side. I felt a sense of camaraderie with this stranger, connected by a chance encounter in a bustling airport.

“WHAT ARE THE ODDS?”

Out of all the other bags, ours were the only ones that were withheld for additional screening. We looked at each other and laughed it out. During the hiatus, our legs involuntarily moved toward each other, and we instantly struck up a conversation. And in no time, we were sharing our life experiences. I instantly fell in love with the way she perceived my culture during her time here. She was returning home after attending a friend’s wedding here. She was excited that she got to wear an embroidered lehenga for the wedding. After realizing that it was just a bottle of water and a couple of braided cables, the screening officer let us go.

At that point, she already made me feel as if I had spent the entire wedding with her. It all came crashing down to a moment of silence, that is when I (maybe we) realized that I was never going to see this person ever again in my life. We sighed and looked at each other for a second. She just winked her eyes, smiled, and left with a goodbye. Oh lord! I must admit, I have never missed a stranger so much in my life.

What just happened?

Why did I freeze?

Those 35 minutes felt like a glitch in my timeline. I knew I was overreacting, but I couldn't help it. I took a moment to compose myself. Since I had a couple of hours remaining on my boarding pass, I started walking towards the resting lounge. After a five-minute, dazing stroll, I reached the lounge only to find that indelible face again. Her curly hair partly obscured her face, and her eyes glowed in the table lamp's light. She immediately noticed me and wore a bright smile. She kept looking at me, it looked as if she was waiting to see what I was going to do next. Since you know am a man of manners, if you thought I would’ve sat on the couch right next to where I was standing, you’d be miles away from what happened. I walked towards the empty couch next to her’s, without any shame!

At that point, not only her, but everyone in that lounge would've seen me blushing AF. Boundaries and borders dividing us were blurred. She was such a cute little child when she kept asking me what every dish on the menu was all about. I told her that I love cooking my favorite dishes for the people I love or feel comfortable with and that I/she was so unfortunate that there was no opportunity for that. We spent some 30 mins on getting her comfortable to eat Indian food the way it should be eaten, with hands! I don’t drink, and for that reason, she kept baby-zoning me.

After the food was done, (am damn sure she wasn’t high) she calmly explained to me about her situation. Sadly, she was diagnosed with a rare blood-related disease that doesn’t have a cure yet. For some reason which I don’t have the knowledge to understand, her blood becomes incompatible with her body every 3 weeks or so. So, she is prescribed to monitor her blood regularly with the help of the device that she had in her bag. Every once in three weeks the device throws a warning after which she goes for a session of dialysis. But fate has been very cruel to her, this 3-week deadline has continually been reduced for the past couple of years. I felt so bad and empathetic. But she was such a courageous soul that she asked me not to feel so. Even though I quickly diverted the conversation to another topic, that thought kept biting my inner peace. We spent the next few hours talking about everything and nothing. I vaguely remember her debating why one should put cereal in the bowl first, followed by milk, and not the other way around 🤣.

The moment they announced that my flight was going to start boarding in 10 more minutes, the happiness that had filled the air, disappeared. We sat in silence, neither of us looking at the other. The silence was deafening, and I knew that it was time to go. I packed up my things and stood up from the couch. She stood up as well and walked over to me. She patted my head and gave me a tight hug. My eyes welled up with tears.

"Good luck", she whispered.

That was it. I turned and walked away without looking back, knowing that I would never forget her.

Those 3 hours felt like a lifetime. I am not going to give this… this thing that we had, a name. Tagging it as friendship or anything for that matter is simply an act of vilifying it. It felt good until it lasted, I guess that is all that matters. It's funny how we bonded so quickly, yet we never even exchanged our names.

*The story, all names, characters, and incidents portrayed in this production might be fictitious.

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