Falling in love- again and again!

She waits at the airport's car park, seated restlessly in her car. The hand- held mirror works overtime, depicting flaws in eye shadow and powder coat missing in her nose. As she powders her nose, her thoughts go back to the last time she saw him, pushing the luggage trolley towards the exit gates. She has the grit to smile and wave till the last moment his perfectly chiseled face disappears as a distant blur. Then sting the tears that she successfully hides behind her sun shades that trail down her cheeks, crossing the barriers. She is nocturnal- her nights are always longer than her days. Not clubbing, but just reminiscing, weaving myriad dreams of future with him. 

Days are always busy with chores that extend beyond horizon to be finished. It is the nights that bring back memories, memories taken out of a few happiest chapters from her life. Her first walk holding hands with him in the rain drenched evening, the early morning coffees with her swinging in the bamboo swing and him sitting on the patio steps- all remain etched somewhere in her memory that boasts of volumes of sweet nothings through the past nine years. The rough stubble on his chin, the contours of his crafted face, the eyes that always twinkle with love...she does miss him, alright!

Her thoughts are broken by the announcement from the PA system. Its time. She smooths her frizzed hair and steps out in the scorching sun. Tens of anxious faces wait outside the entry and she joins the troupe. The roving eyes narrow down on that shock of dark hair and weather beaten face. Her face lights up like a lone lamp in the dark. Was he so tall? She tries to search her memory card for data and fails. He does look very drawn and thin, she thinks to herself. As he draws near, she can feel the magnetism drawing her to him, she wishes she were just a kid. The children dash towards him shouting- " Appa!" and she holds her back tightly holding on to the hand rails. She mentally snaps his smile, to be stacked away in the Memory folder for use later and slips her hand to hold his strong, work calloused palm. 


The car is booming with the kids' baubles and laughs. The duo exchange a few knowing glances and smile in silence. Her hand still holding his, they revel the silent togetherness. The thirty days granted as life rushes by in fast track, with numerous trips and travels. The day of packing arrives and the pickles and powders sit silently, watching the last few hours of muted packing. The stuffed suitcase is heavy like her heart, ready to explode any moment. She is hard as a rock, never breaking up in adversity. Calmly resigned to affliction, the last night ticks by. All she can hear is the peaceful snoring of him- her man and the slow piling of tears in the corner of her eyes. 

Eleven months of wooing, skyping and yahoo chats for hours together...she discovers and rediscovers love- once a year. She longs for that cup of coffee on the swing, that long walk holding hands, that gentle snoring on the other side of the bed, the strong shoulders that she loves to lean on, the slow heart breaking smile every morning on waking up and the occasional stolen kisses. All she now has in store for her are eleven more months of solitude- to fall in love again. Hopelessly falling in love again and again, she is now resigned to her fate. So are the tens of thousands of women who send off their husbands to deserts in the Gulf every year, after a month's leave. Cupid strikes every year, falling in love was never so painful, yet beautiful...