“Once in a while, right in the middle of an ordinary life, love gives us a fairy tale.”

He opened the glass door, as I walked through it. Whatever that I had imagined for a chivalrous man, he was every bit of it. From head to toe, drenched in the characteristics of a knight. A perfect masculine man, any woman could dream of. His signature cologne. His beautiful hands. Athletic built, and being a sportsman, he also knew his way quite well around words. Words that swept me off my feet. Every single time he spoke.

He pulled out a chair, so that I was seated, and sat opposite me. I felt a little self conscious. Adjusting my hair and earrings, while he intently looked deep into my eyes. I could sense so many questions lingering around him, but he voiced none. Instead, he ordered my favourite drink, on remembering one of our previous conversations. His eye for details was exceptional, as also was his will to walk an extra mile (quite literally) to make me comfortable. Someone, who would walk me home, just to make sure I reached safely. What more could I have asked for?

I still remember his first sight so vividly, as if it was yesterday. That broad beautiful smile, I felt mesmerised looking at. That tall and strong built. Broad shoulders and crisp gait. I found myself smiling, just by his sight from a few rows behind him at the prestigious event. It was rather surreal, the way I got invited and landed up there. Needless to say, I was instantly smitten by his charm. While a hundred pair of eyes were wandering far and wide, mine were fixated only on him.

He greeted me with his gallant and the most gentleman-like ways possible. Dressed to impress in a crisp white shirt, and denims, his looks could kill. I tried to look through his wayfarers into his eyes. As if drunk on some Divine drink, I could barely be still in one place. I couldn’t wait to go back home and tell my best friend about him. But later that day, I chose against it.

Those few hours, separated by a distance which felt like oceans apart, I could feel a strange pull towards him. In spite of being right in front of me, he seemed way beyond my reach. I wanted to talk to him, and get to know him more. Which man in these times and age behaves in such gallant ways? At least this was my first time witnessing something so magnificent. While the world talks of equality and all that jazz, there is some strange charm about the olden ways of masculine and feminine chemistry. And trust me when I say this, it was magical.

That day was mere beginning of a beautiful friendship. Eventually love which set that friendship on fire.

We started spending a lot of time together. Speaking with each other on random calls, and beautiful text messages that were shared between us. He eloquently spoke the language that seemed to diminish from most of the people I had met before. The respect and care that he showed, made me feel giddy with joy. I had been touched by a feeling that was so new. For the first time I didn’t have to be the man of the relationship and make things work. He made me feel like a Queen. And I unknowingly started filling up the spaces with immense happiness, love and laughter.

We visited different food joints every time we met, making it a point to try out new cuisines and variety of flavours that tickled our taste-buds. From street food to fancy restaurants, he took me to wonderful places. With him, I learnt to receive with love, and allow him to pay for the food. He didn’t believe in splitting the bill, and I know it felt weird to begin with, but soon I got used to it. I learnt that what I brought to table was unique in its own way, and need not always be in exchange with money. With food, fitness and joy, I learnt how simplest of meals could turn extraordinary, just by sharing them with the right person.

“Meals make the society, hold the fabric together in lots of ways that were charming and interesting and intoxicating to me. The perfect meal, or the best meals, occur in a context that frequently has very little to do with the food itself.”
-Anthony Bourdain