A Few Feet Away

There is a girl from Texas who is just a few feet away from me. She is in the next room. My parents picked her and a friend up from the airport. And now she is in the next room, sleeping. If she is awake, she probably thinks I am sleeping, but here I am at 3 am awake.

My parents made this plan to bring this Texas girl for me to meet, and perhaps marry. Of course, they made the plans and then, after all the plane tickets were bought, they came to me to tell me. I told them no. I was not going to meet anyone. I am in love with my girl and I will not meet anyone else. So they were pretty upset. And so was I. How am I supposed to study when I have to balance this with my girl. And then think of how I should avoid the Texas girl. But I have to show some civility. She is also a human being that feels. I asked my parents if I could call her up and tell her that I am involved with someone else. My parents didn't feel that was a good idea.

So nothing was done. Friday morning, I woke up to find that my parents were gone. Then the phone rang. It was the Texas girl's girlfriend. They were at the airport waiting for my parents. My parents didn't have a cell phone. So I told them to sit and wait. My parents would arrive. After a few minutes, I called my girl. Here was my chance to tell the Texas girl's girlfriend what was really going on. So I called back, and briefly explained the matter.

I said that I didn't know why they were coming, but my mom had wedding plans on her mind. I also explained that I didn't know what they were thinking, but I was in love with someone else. And that someone else was chosen by my parents. And that it would not be fair to anyone involved to meet. She understood and stressed that they would be there just to visit for the weekend. There were no other intentions. I was relieved. But at the same time I felt some empathy towards the Texas girl.

So if I see them, and I probably will--I will be friendly, but I will remain neutral in the presence of my parents. They would definitely get the wrong idea if I showed a hint of happiness. They would interpret a smile as "lowe." (That is the way many indians pronounce the word "love.").

So now I will sleep and dream of the one who is 160 miles away, and the one who is 16 feet away will have to wait for someone else. Not that she is interested in me. She probably isn't. Which would make things a lot easier.

Most of the time in life, people are afraid of the unknown. They are afraid of changes. But when it comes to love, to women, why are people ready to take such chances? Why do they leave wives and family--to run after their passions? Why do they take risks, and almost always regret it?