Years later, sipping coffee at her favorite coffee shop, a book and cigarette in hand, she chanced to look at her fingers. The barren wrinkles made her recall how the most-awaited ring had eventually slipped out to become another piece of jewelry in her closet. She remembered how strangers had clapped as she said "yes" at the airport at the crack of dawn. She reckoned the fantasies of building a home and growing old with him.
The grey of her hair smirked as she stubbed the cigarette and tipped the waiter. Walking down the deserted footpath, she still couldn't determine whether being with him and feeling lonely inside would have been better than going home to an unaccompanied dinner table for the rest of her life.
Art by: Abir Choudhury