Apoorva More (name changed) is 31-year-old copywriter from Pune.
Love at first sight
If you have watched the movie Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, you may find my story similar. I’m definitely not pretty as Aishwarya Rai and no one got married here. My story began in college. I fell hard and fast for my senior – it was love at first sight.
He was a shy guy, didn’t speak much and usually hung out with his close group of friends. My attempts to talk to him were quite unfruitful. He would nod politely, smile, make an excuse and leave. After about two months of this routine behaviour, I was ready to give up. I mean, how much rejection can someone face?
How I won him over
During this time his best friend (let’s call him X) had been observing us. They used to hang out together a lot. He must’ve noticed how dejected I felt at that time.
One fine day, X took me aside and had a long conversation with me. He spoke about how his friend is very shy and not used to all the attention he receives. He asked me to give him some time. He also promised me that he would help me win him over. I was surprised and very touched. We had barely exchanged anything more than a greeting before this incident.
Over the next few weeks, my new friend X ‘coached’ me on how to behave around the love of my life. What to say, where to hang out, what excuses to make to explain my presence everywhere around him, etc. It may seem a bit much in hindsight but at the time, I was madly in love and ready to do anything.
Dream come true
These sessions obviously meant that X and I ended up spending a lot of time together. We used to meet in between classes, have long chai chats in the canteen and even went shopping once. X and I were good friends very soon.
He was always willing to share advice, he was very intelligent and helped me a lot with my projects. He was also a captivating storyteller and a very understanding person. A lot of people thought we were dating, something that made me laugh!
And X’s advice worked. My crush slowly started paying attention towards me, relaxing visibly in my presence and even asking me out for dinner, finally. I was ecstatic. That dinner led to another date and soon we were a couple.
A seed of doubt
Our relationship lasted four years. After that, my boyfriend took a job in another city and we stayed in a long-distance relationship. It was tough but luckily for me, X was still around and I started leaning on him a lot.
One night, during a conversation with my boyfriend, he let slip that he was jealous of X and I, and the time we spent together. He said he always thought something was cooking between us. This doubt left a dent in our relationship. The next day, I broke up with my boyfriend. I couldn’t be with someone who didn’t trust me.
Right time, right place
I was heartbroken. I turned to X for a shoulder to cry on. It took me months to get over my past relationship. During that time, I learned the true value of a friend like him. He never took advantage of me. He never really told me how he felt about me but his behaviour towards me was enough for me to know about his feelings.
He waited for me for over eight months while I was slowly recovering. Only once he knew I was ready, he asked me out. I said yes instantly. I didn’t need to think about it twice.
It’s funny that I used his help to get to his friend. Six years later, I think it was because of his friend that he and I are together today.
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