***(Disclaimer: The author earnestly insists that the following is a work of pure "fiction!" Any resemblance to anyone - living or dead - is entirely coincidental. The place, time, and incidents are most probably fictional as well.)***

Five years back:

He calculated the distance, the people between them, and kicked the football with perfect precision at her - that haughty one - gliding with her nose in the air - as if she owned the campus! It was a challenge he was more than willing to accept. Boys will be boys, after all! Present day:

Two droplets of semi-solid wax on her paper-thin skin while playing with a candle. Seeing the nearly non-existent scars, he practically emptied the entire candles section of Aarong.

Time changes everything, they say.

II.

Her: Best kind of relationship?

Him: Probably the one where the whole wide world knows that you are in love even before you do!

Ill.

His laughter is like a supernova.

Hers, an ocean.

When they smile together, the whole universe pauses for a while.

IV.

Her: When is your flight?

Him: This evening.

Her: Abhi naa jao chhod kar... ke dil abhi bhaara nahi!

And right there, under the inky grey, swirling storm-clouds - in the middle of a rainy dusk -stuck in a never-ending Dhaka traffic, the shy girl (who cannot and does not sing even in shower) crooned for the very first time.

V.

Looking at the display, the amateur photographer sighed longingly. Why are these damned cameras so heavy? And then her costume was not very convenient for her endeavours either. But, she did not mind much. The outcomes were worth it!

There he was - the groom - those eyes - those limousine eyelashes...

Someone's call broke the photographer's reverie. Music, lights, flowers, colours, people - everything swam back to her vision. It was time for those Sabyasaachi-esque royal bride-and-groom poses, time to stop playing the "photographer" and start being the bride.

She caught his eyes, and both of them started giggling without any reason. Yeah, some photos are going to look really ■formal!"

T. S. Marin is irrevocably in love with books and movies - preferably the ones with happy endings. She is also Lecturer of English at Primeasia University and is the Sub Editor of Star Literature and Star Reviews pages of The Daily Star.