That night, I finally slept like a baby. When I woke up in the morning and looked at myself in the mirror, I saw that my face was glowing like never before. The world’s timeline may be divided into bce and ce, but we all have that one impactful day in our personal timelines that changed our lives forever. It could be the death of a loved one or when you got that dream job, but they split our timelines. For me, it was the day I left India, and then, the day Liam left me. In both instances, the older version of me died and a new warrior emerged, one that was ready to fight every battle and weather every storm.

In the months that followed my break-up with Liam, I realized that neither does life come with a survival manual nor does it give any guarantees that it’s going to be fair. And that’s the only truth about life. It might feel scary, but it’s also what brings the excitement to live life. If life were to become absolutely safe and predictable, you might just end up pleading to God to let you die rather than continue living a boring life every single day.

‘Ma’am, would you like another coffee?’

I snap out of my reverie and find the waitress standing in front of me with an enquiring look on her face.

‘Oh, yes! Get me a refill of the same pour-over, please,’ I reply.

I look outside and realize that it has started to snow. I step out of the café and stretch my arms as I look up and feel the flurries land on my face. I breathe in deeply. And I’m reminded of Neer. It would’ve been so magical to share a cup of coffee with him on a snowy day like today. I can’t wait for our next meeting. It surprises me that while I’ve just relived the memories of a very dark phase in my life, I can still feel happy and excited about Neer. I want to share all this with him when we chat next! But he must be asleep right now.

When people talk about love, they mostly talk about heartbreaks. But associating love with heartbreak alone is to compartmentalize it. Love is omnipresent only if you choose to see it. Love is acceptance. Love is not judgement. What if love is the joy waiting for you to recognize it?