January 1930.
She walked down the lobby leading to her graduation hall. Wearing a red and white stripped gown which reached to her ankle, she looked nothing less than a princess. Her hair was finely done into a Chignon.
She walked into the graduation hall and the only thought that crossed her mind was the importance this place held for her. This was that place where she had lived the most important chunk of her life. This was that place which had paved the way to her future. A future she had always dreamed of was finally coming to life.
Today, she had finally become Dr. Khushi Gupta. She had finally gotten the identity she had worked for.
Walking into the hall, she looked around at the people who had played a very important role in making her what she was today. Her educators, her friends and most importantly, that one person who had been her pillar of strength through thick and thin.
She looked at him standing with a group of friends who were laughing at something he said, maybe a joke. Her best friend. She has known him since their diaper days.
They were both from rich families, their parents being extremely good friends since their college days. They were bound to know each other. They had grown up together, going to the same school, sharing the same likes and dislikes and having the same goal in life, they had gelled off pretty well.
They knew each other inside out. There was nothing in this world that they have ever hidden from each other.
Their friendship, however, was not taken very well by the society. A boy and a girl in today's world could not be just friends. It was nothing less than a crime in the eyes of the people.
However, they had been blind towards the dirty stares they received everytime they would walk down on the road. They knew what they shared and believed that it was only for them to know how much they meant to each other.
They didn't find it important to justify themselves because they knew that what they did and shared was very pure and by explaining themselves, they would only fall in their own eyes.
Now, they were only looking forward to know where their placements were. They had kept their fingers crossed, hoping for it to be together. They didn't want to be separated at any cost.
It was finally time for them to know about their placements. She felt her heart suddenly beat faster in anticipation. She was feeling excited but at the same time she was nervous. What if they don't get a job in the same place? What if they would have to change cities? How would they meet then?
Everyone was asked to take their seats and wait for the Dean to announce about their futures.
2 minutes after she had taken a seat, she felt a hand on her hand. She looked up to see the greek demi god looking at her with soft expressions. He was dressed up in a black suit with a white shirt and a bow tie. He had used a lot of cream to set his hair.
He knew she had been extremely jittery all week about their work place. She hated the thought of being separated from her best friend.
"Khushi, calm down. Its going to be okay." He said in an extremely soothing voice.
"I hope so too, Arnav. You're my only friend, I don't want to be separated from you." she replied back with moist eyes.
"We will never be separated. No one can do that." He calmed her just as they heard the Dean speak.
"A very warm welcome to all the students. It has been a wonderful journey having all of you with us these last few years. Today, I have come here to tell you all about your placements so without further delay, let me begin."
After a few names, came the name the two best friends had been waiting for. It was their chance.
"Now, Dr. Khushi Gupta has been allotted to Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston and Dr. Arnav Singh Raizada has been allotted to Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore."
Everyone clapped, happy with what they had gotten and how they had succeeded.
But in between all this banter was one person who sat still, numb. This is exactly what she feared. She, for the first time in her life was being moved away from her best friend. Her only friend, her strength, her weakness, her lover.
Ofcourse she loved him. He was her first and last love. He was the person she has loved since the day she got to know what love meant. He was her prince in the shining armor. He was the king of her heart, the face she always saw when she closed her eyes, the person she always thought about while reading her romantic novels.
She didn't know how things would work out for them anymore, she wasn't sure if he would remember her after they parted ways.
A small drop of tear left her eye just as she felt a warm hand moving on her cheek.
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Part 1: Above
Part 2: Pg 9
Ganesh Kartikeya
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