Incomplete love story: The clock that went forward...

I am standing at a station, but I am not in India. There are people around me, some of them waiting for their train, some waiting for someone but what I am doing here, I ask myself. I am standing behind a pillar, I peek through the side of the pillar and what I see leaves me surprised for a few moments.

I see myself, sitting on a bench with her. I am wearing a black color overcoat and I look a bit older than I am right now. I blink twice. “It can’t be,” I say to myself. She is sitting by my side, she is wearing a white color jacket over her black color top and black trousers. She is wearing a necklace, it has a golden snitch attached to it. It is a Harry Potter themed necklace.

“Am I in the future?” I ask myself and look around. “But how far into the future?” I ask myself again.

“Can these people see me?” I hide myself behind the pillar. I am trying to overhear the conversation both of us are having. But I am at a distance and I am not able to hear anything due to the murmur of crowd.

I walk a few steps closer to where both of us are sitting and I hide myself behind the next pillar. Now I can hear us.

“So have you finally decided how the entrance is going to look like?” she asks me (the future me)

“Yes, see I have these designs. We can go ahead with the Hogwarts theme or you want any house specific themed entrance?” he asks her

“Slytherin,” she says and jumps out of joy. There is a glint in her eyes. I make a face.

“Okay… let us go with Hogwarts theme but where we get married one side should be Slytherin and other side should be Gryffindor themed,” she says and waits for my answer.

“Yes… I like that,” I declare.

My heart is thumping my chest from inside. “Are we planning our wedding?” I say to myself in excitement. Yes, we always had wished to have a harry potter themed wedding and I am here to witness the discussion between us. “Wow!” I exclaim.

“People should be given a wand, when we complete the rituals; they should lift the wand at once in air,” she says.

“And the food should be named after spells, drinks should be named after potions and,” he says as she intervenes

“But what about desserts?” she asks me

“Ummm… I have no clue about the desserts,” he says

“How about we name the desserts after death eaters?” she says and start laughing.

Her hair has grown just above her waist. She looks mesmerising. I have a strong urge to hug both of them tightly but I don’t know what this is all about, so I calm myself down.

“What about invitation cards?” he asks her

“Ummm… how about a letter from Hogwarts themed?” she says and I think she saw me. I hide myself behind the pillar and wait for some time. My heartbeat is racing like a Ferrari. “Can anyone see me?” I ask myself again and look at the crowd, who seems to be oblivious about my presence. I peek through the pillar again.

“It should be like the letter from Hogwarts with a few more things combined in one. And and and listen na,” she says excitedly as he is checking his phone.

“Haan tell na… I am sorry. No phones,” he says and keeps his phone in his pocket.

“The entrance of the venue where we get married should also have Platform 9 ¾ written with big bold letters. Wow, I can’t believe we are actually doing this and doing it exactly how we had thought,” she said and held his hand. He holds her cheek and plant a kiss gently on her cheeks.

“And Always….” He says

“Yes… Always should be written too. I am getting too excited. Wow!” she says and jumps out of joy. We may look older but we are still the same. The craziness is still there like it was before. “Few things cannot be changed,” I exclaim.

“I need to go to the loo. Be right back,” she says and excuses herself.

I have a strong urge to go and talk to future me. I don’t wish to know about the future though but I still wish to talk to him. I continue to stare at myself from the future. “I have not gone bald yet,” I say to myself and smile at him.

“You bastard, I never thought looking at you from a distance would be so great especially when you are with her,” I say in my mind and I feel a sudden pat on my shoulder. Oh my god! It is her. The future her.

“Hello,” she says and her face glows

I am taken aback. “You can see me,” I say to her

“Yes, idiot! I can see you,” she says and makes a face.

“Can he?” I ask her pointing towards his direction

“If he spots you them maybe yes. But let him be, lets walk this way,” she says and waits for me to follow her. I start walking with her to the other side.

“You didn’t change your hairstyle? And I didn’t go bald? You wanted your hairs to be permanently straight,” I say and look at the ground.

“Oh yes. I didn’t and you don’t go bald at least not yet,” she says and smiles at me. “From which year you are coming from?” she asks me

“2017,” I say and continue, “Which year is this?”

“2027 November,” she smiles.

“Wow! Did I just jump 10 years into the future?” I say out loudly.

“I guess yes,” she says

“So we made it till here. Wow,” I said

“You had any doubt?” she said and her nose flared

“Hahaha… Not yet but you know how life throws tantrums at us,” I said and touched her nose.

“I know. So 2017 huh, which month?” she asked me

“July,” I replied

“Must be tough out there,” she said and we both burst into laughter.

“It is good,” I said with a big grin on my face

“Do I make it as a writer? We are living in which country? Are you a filmmaker? What we are doing? And how are we?” I start asking too many questions.

“Hold on... hold on… I am not going to tell you anything about the future. Remember, I can’t ruin the party for you guys. You have to figure that out by yourself. But I can tell you one thing that yes we are happy,” she said and looked back at the future me, who is waiting for her while reading a book. We stop walking.

“Listen, I know in the present time I am a mess right now. And you will have to be patient with me. I am telling you this because this means a lot to me and just be a little patient with me for some time. There will come a time when you will be completely lost soon, and then I will have to find you but before that you need to ensure that I am sane enough to go in your search. Because where you come from and what are we into, is kind of messed up. But it will be fine. I am not telling you anything more than this,” she said and her eyes turned moist.

“So can I talk to him?” I asked her

“No. Don’t talk to him please. You only say na it is okay not to know the future,” she said.

“By the way, you look beautiful,” I said

“Are you flirting with the older me Mister?” she said and hugged me tightly.

“I wish to see you soon. He is waiting for me, I should get back. Take care and see you,” she said and started walking towards the future me. She looked back and I waved back at her.

I stood there for some time. I saw them fighting like two crazy idiots in the middle of a station, making faces, punching each other, holding hands, pulling each other leg and their eyes. Their eyes had everything they had to say to each other.

I read the station name again. “I will meet you here. Ten years down the line, I will meet you again,” I say to myself and start walking back.