This is a story of my friend Aryan.
My friend Aryan, who was head over heels for Snigdha.
[According to Aryan]
She was smart, funny, and the perfect texter. You know, the kind who replies within seconds and adds just the right number of emojis to make you smile ;)
And it took them like a month or 45 days to get into a relationship. But here’s the catch — it was a long-distance relationship. And if you’ve ever been in one, you know it’s like signing up for a roller coaster of emotions: like CrossFit. Lots of endurance, plenty of sweat, and occasional moments of wondering why you’re doing this to yourself. Jk, Jk.
At first, they were nailing it. Aryan would wake up to long good morning texts, and they’d chat about everything from their favourite Netflix shows to how annoying their coworkers were. It felt like they were in the same room, laughing and sharing moments — minus the physical proximity. He was convinced this was it. His heart was in it, her heart was in it, and their phones were practically overheating from all the messages.
Until, one day, the replies slowed down.
Aryan noticed it first when Snigdha didn’t reply to his usual “Good morning, sunshine!” text until the sun was almost setting. He shrugged it off. Maybe she had a busy day.
But then busy days turned into busy weeks
“Hi, how’s your day?”
… 12 hours later …
“Sorry for the late reply. Busy day!”
The conversations went from instant replies to the equivalent of mailing letters by pigeon. Aryan, being the ever-optimistic fool, held on.
“She’s probably stressed,” he reasoned to himself.
The silence grew, though, and Aryan’s patience started wearing thin. Their daily chats became every-other-day chats, then weekly ones. He couldn’t ignore it anymore.
So, he asked her point-blank:
“Hey, is everything okay? You’ve been replying really slow lately.”
Her response? A masterpiece. “I just want to be thoughtful with my replies. I don’t want to be casual about us.”
Thoughtful? Casual? All Aryan wanted was a “Haha” or a “Miss you too!” instead of what felt like the email equivalent of “Dear Sir”
“It’s texting, not the bar exam,” Aryan joked when he recounted the conversation to me. But deep down, he knew it wasn’t funny.
Look, the thing is that if someone wants to talk to you, they will.
They won’t need time to craft each text like it’s a Nobel Prize speech.
Day before Yesterday, upon a long discussion with me, Aryan let it go.
And guess what? She hasn’t noticed it until now. That was all the closure he needed, I guess :(
This evening, he laughed about it. “You know, maybe she really is drafting a reply until now” And I burst laughing to make him feel good because I cannot see him crying for such a cruel human.
So, here’s a lesson buried under all that humour: relationships, especially long-distance ones, thrive on effort from both sides. And,
When one person starts making excuses instead of memories, it’s time to step back.
In case we are meeting for the first time, come over here, it’ll be worth the roller coaster of articles that are gonna come up in the next few weeks.
Enjoyed the read? You can support my writing journey here — Buy me a coffee?
If you want to join our community here on medium must join this publication