Stuck. Unstuck.

 “Hey! I’m in town for a meeting. Will be free tomorrow, as it’s a holiday. Wanna catch up?”, read the message from her. He was pleasantly surprised. It didn’t take him long to respond in affirmative. Soon, they were discussing the watering holes to hang out at, and the food that would go with the drinks in the evening. 

Not too long back, and not recently either, he and she had dated. That too had happened serendipitously. They had connected on a dating app while he was on a work trip in a different city. It didn’t take long for them to discover loads of common interests, apart from fancying each other physically. To top it they lived in the same city, but surprisingly hadn’t come across each other. Just when he was thinking he might confess he loved her, they were forced to part ways. 

He had to move to his hometown due to a bereavement in the family. A short break became a long one as he had to disentangle a lot of succession and property related issues. She had in the mean time found a new job and moved cities. The goodbyes didn’t hurt, and there were no hard feelings, even though they both genuinely had wished they could’ve met before they went their ways. With time, their communication too had dwindled. 

They both followed each other across various social media, including professional networks and sports apps. He knew that she was now in a relationship with someone, from the frequent stories her partner updated, promptly tagging her. He had even discovered that they also had a couple account on Instagram, that had quite a following. Even as he had felt happy for her, there was this tinge of jealousy, seeing her with someone else. 

At the appointed time, he arrived at the newly opened gastropub - she had chosen it but it was a place he too had wanted to visit, but hadn’t. Not long after, she too made her entrance. After the casual banter over the first drink, and ordering for a refill, he said, “Congrats! I notice you’re hitched”. 

“I’m not hitched!”

“But, I see that you’re very visible with your guy on insta”

“Yeah, I’m seeing him, but not hitched”. 

“How’s it different?”

“Hitched would mean we are engaged. We aren’t yet”. 

“Oh! That way. I’m happy for you. All the best”. 

“Thank you!”

“How long has it been?”

“It will soon be two years”

“Wow! That’s awesome”, he paused but couldn’t keep his envy in anymore. “You never told me this”, he made a long face. 

She ignored his petulance and smoothly deflected the conversation to another topic. Soon, it was time to wind up, pay the bills - go Dutch - go home. 

She brought back the earlier topic, as they walked towards their waiting cars. “Aren’t you too seeing someone?”

“Yes”, he admitted sheepishly. 

“How long has it been?”

“Two years”. 

“May I repeat what you said earlier?”

He realised he’d lost this one. He muttered an apology. She brushed it off, and said, “Grow up, sweetie!”, smiled, and patted his cheek, and got into her car. He felt he was dunked in an ice bath.