“Here, over here”, she screamed from a distance.

I ran towards her faster than I have ever before. It had been almost a year since I had last seen her.

“Wow, that was some Olympic race you won there”, she laughed.

“You know, Aditi, distances contract when things move fast”, I sarcastically pointed out.

She laughed, without understanding the science joke that I had just cracked.

We spent the evening together. Her flight to return to Pune was in two days. I wanted to scoop out every last amount of time I had with her before she would go back for another eternity. We went to a movie, a park, and then to the place we used to go every day before she left — the nursery. I know it is unusual but she understands I don’t like expensive places and how much time I love to spend in nature. On the way back, as we walked through the footpath, my right arm moved back as she suddenly stopped in front of a fashion store.

“Oh my God, this dress, I can’t believe it. It was twice as costly in Pune. The exact same one. God knows how badly I wanted to buy it. I am buying it right now. Please, Rohan, I want to buy it”, she said as she breathed heavily.

“Um… you know... um right now..”, just as I tried to explain to her my financial situation,...