BREWING MEMORIES...

Sneha was blankly staring down at the cup of mocha in front of her,stirring it aimlessly.Another cup of coffee was getting cold in front of Rohit,at the opposite side of the table.They were sitting across the same corner table of the coffee shop,where they used to spend hours of togetherness,specially after bunking the boring afternoon session of college.
Had it been a few years back,there would have been a kiddish fight over a single cup of mocha,favorite to both of them,as to who would sip the froth on it.
“So,how has life been?”Rohit broke the silence..”Gud”,Sneha faked a smile.
Sneha was married for 3 yrs now..And they had not seen or spoken to each other since then.The only connection they had were in their midnight dreams.And today,here they were again,in that same old place,was nothing more than serendipity.
“U stil look like a Diva”,Rohit said after long minutes of staring at her. She indeed did.She looked even more beautiful wrapped in that pink saree and with that small dot of sindoor on her forehead.Rohit had always wanted to see her like that. Today his wish was fulfilled,only that,the sindoor was for somebody else.She looked just the same,except that the shine of her eyes were lost,probably lost forever.
“And you look handsome for a change”,she said.
“I ought to.You had spent long hours improving my dressing sense those days”,said Rohit.
Sneha smiled again,this time a genuine one,remembering how stupid he looked in his college days.
She closed her eyes.Her mind raced back in time,to the campus,the day she had first met him.And it was not a month before she realized how deeply she had fallen in love with him.Since then she had never neede a better reason to live and to be happy.He had meant the world to her.He was the end of her quest for love.He was her destination.He was the face of her dreams.They had started spinning their
world of dreams until life ditched both of them,once again proving that dreams are never meant to be real.”
“Your coffee is getting colder Princess”.Thats what he used to call her.She was indeed the princess of his
dreams.And though he desperately wanted to be the lucky prince,but somewhere at the back of his mind he always knew that he was just the knight,taking care of her until the prince actually owns her.
“So when you planning to get married?”asked Sneha.
“Im not.Dont wanna spoil a girl’s life.”he replied sipping at his coffee,”do u still like gol gappas? Lets have a competetion again”.
“Not today Rohit,may be some other time”
“Theres no some other time Sneha.Im flying to States next week with a project.You know Im well settled
now.Settled enough to deserve a princess.But look at the game of life,my princess already belongs to somebody else.”
Sneha could see the drop of tear at the corner of his eyes fighting to roll down.
They kept looking at each other and both could feel the excruciating pain within them,the pain they had felt 3 yrs back.The devastating silence was broken by the ringtone of Snehas cellphone.
“I have to make a move,my husband has come to pick me.My phone no...”
“I dont want your no Sneha.Just be happy.Thats what I have always wanted for you.”
Sneha faught back the lump in her throat and looked at Rohit.Then turned back and started walking towards reality.