The year was 1999.
I was studying for my Masters degree, waiting to graduate, fling my cloak and my hat as high as I could, and move on the greener pastures that awaited everyone who dared to dream.
My dreams and my college
I definitely had my dreams. I wanted to make it big in the real world.
I wanted to be a business consultant or a VP or something along those lines.
[Read: How to be successful in life]Somehow, the thought of walking around in squeaky clean suits and grasping firm handshakes felt like the perfect way to lead my life.
My friends just wanted to graduate, and quite frankly, so did I.
The professors weren’t too happy to let me reach out to my dreams the easy way.
My friends and I were all jocks, or at least we pretended to be, each time a bunch of girls passed us by the basketball court. And if no one was around, we hung out at the dorm or at a favorite corner in campus.
Every morning started the same way for me and my roomies.
We had to set alarms in our cell phones in snooze mode, set the alarm in ten different clocks and hide them in places we just wouldn’t be able to reach without opening our eyes wide. As annoying as it could get, the effect was good.
Our mornings started with a stream of swear words, followed by the sounds of crashing clocks, but we did alright to scrape through the doors before the professor made it inside.
A late start and a great day
One Tuesday morning, I was late. I grappled within my lump of clothes, and threw something over myself and ran out, contemplating over the elusive perfect excuse to babble as I stepped through the doors of class.
I half ran and half trundled to the right class, and stood near the door. I held on to my stitches, and waited for the familiar annoying voice that would kick me out of class while I was already outside. The irony of education.
But it didn’t come. I looked up, and saw a lady near the wide blackboard. Well, she wasn’t exactly a lady as such, because she looked as young as any other student in class. It could have been a presentation. But the students were taking notes, and that definitely doesn’t happen in presentations.
I looked at her and waited, wondering how to address her. I didn’t have to say anything, because she just smiled at me, and her eyes told me to step inside. I just stood there for a few seconds.
Her eyes were so pretty. Pulling myself back together, I walked to my seat somewhere towards the back of the class. I nudged my friends and asked them who she was. They were too mesmerized by her to even realize that I was there.
Eventually, after communicating in a manner that a four year old would understand, I got to know that she was an assistant teacher or a substitute who was supposed to take our first hour’s theory classes for three weeks. She was apparently in a business development program where she had to give presentations and seminars for a certain number of hours to be eligible to complete her whatever-it-was. I couldn’t understand what my friends were saying anyway.
I love my class!
I just stared at those pretty eyes, the same ones that were so defined and doe like. Just about everything about her accentuated everything else in her. She was gorgeous and it wasn’t just me, but everyone in the room had a hard time taking their eyes off her.
Watching her was like watching a tennis match. All eyes moved from left to right, and right to left, each time she took a walk across the board. I found out that her name was Sophie.
Wow… that name melted in my mouth each time I repeated it, just like cotton candy. Sophie… Sophie… Sophie… And yet, even the sweet sickness of the overdose of cotton candy couldn’t stop me from repeating her name again and again.
As the days passed, I really didn’t need the alarm to get up. And I was in class, a good ten minutes before she even walked in. I tried holding on to the front bench in her class, and I just stared at her. There were too many of us, and she couldn’t really stare at anyone in particular while explaining something I didn’t bother listening to. [Read: How to look good while trying to get someone’s attention]
All I wanted to see was the way her lips quivered when she said a few words. Watching her was like watching a romantic French movie. I couldn’t really get what she was saying, but I liked listening to the way she sounded. I tried establishing eye-contact with her and on that rare occurrence when it happened, it would linger for a few seconds and then vanish. [Read: 10 subtle tips for eye contact flirting]
The stare would almost always follow with a smile that showed her beautiful teeth, so perfect and so well set. I used to catch up with her after class and chat a while, on the pretext of understanding something. We used to talk about just about anything. And as long as I didn’t remind her that I had a crush on her all the time, it was all just fine. Her usual smiling retort to just about any statement of mine which had the words “…you look great today…” or “I wish you’d come out to have lunch today…” was a “Don’t make me beat you with a stick now. Remember, I’m still your professor, you!” [Read: Tips to flirt with a guy without really flirting]
Losing her before dating her
If she was another student, I knew I would have dropped down on my knee and proclaimed my undying love since forever to her. Even though she was around my age, she still was my ‘teacher’.
It didn’t matter though, I knew that three weeks later, once she’s done taking classes we’d be friends. But alas, just like everything else, one early morning, she didn’t make it to class. Our regular slob of a professor had resumed his duties, and we were told that Sophie had to leave immediately due to some personal obligations. And that happened one week before she was scheduled to leave. I couldn’t even get her number! [Read: Things to say to a girl you like]
Moving on with my depressing life
Life was depressing at first, but after a month or two, the high of hoping to see her, and the low that followed each time she didn’t show up overwhelmed me, and I hit back to my earlier routine of several alarm clocks and the rivulet of morning curses.
The classes got even more annoying, because the thought of a fat ugly slob of a professor who took those classes replacing the beautiful Sophie was repulsive. She was still the topic of conversations over many lunch hours. We asked around to see if we could get any inside stories on her, or hopefully, her phone number. But we weren’t lucky. The next few semesters passed by at a snail’s pace and finally, we graduated. [Read: How to stop thinking about someone you still like]
I forgot all about the hottest ‘professor’ I’ve ever seen in my life. Sophie became a thing of the past, and I moved on.
Life gave me its share of ups and downs. I fell in love, and barely lasted there. Somehow, most women that I dated could never understand my passion to make a mark in life. They just thought I didn’t want to be with them because I wasn’t spending every waking hour with them. I couldn’t help it really, because I’ve dreamt of making it big all my life and I just couldn’t see a reason to change my life because a woman wanted me to work nine to five and watch movies with her every single day! [Read: Movie date tips for a successful date]
I achieved my dream
I joined a business firm as an apprentice. The odds were all falling into place. I was in an organization I had always wanted to be in.
Slowly, I started climbing the ladder, with different presentations and winning pitches. The years flew by, and I stuck with who I wanted to be. In the year 2008, I was asked to be the Senior VP of Operations. I was pretty young for my credentials and was getting to places faster than most others. I was called to make big pitches and I was known for pulling them my way. [Read: 12 tips to change your life and be happy]
In the same year as my promotion, I was asked to make a business proposition to another rival organization.
The details don’t really matter anyways. On the morning of the meeting, I ran through everything I needed to do in my mind. I was ready to blow their marketing head away, and get my point across.
I reached the lobby of the office. I walked up to the receptionist and asked to meet Mrs. Myers. “Miss Myers…” the receptionist corrected me with a smile. I smiled back and wondered why their VP wasn’t married. Too busy for a love life, or maybe she’s too ugly.
I sat down on the couch and waited as I sunk deeper by a few inches. And then I got my tablet out and started looking through my proposal. It was a few minutes before I heard her.
Meeting Ms. Myers
“Mr. Rowland… Hello!” I saw a hand stretch out, and I immediately grasped it even before I saw her face. Business ethics had taught me enough to know that a handshake should never be delayed.
I looked up, and barely had I said the words “Hello Ms. Mye…rs…” when I saw the most beautiful smile and a pair of eyes that pulled me back into another life. A life I had last experienced almost a decade ago. The intense rush of emotions struck me and I was numb. She looked at me mildly surprised.
“Is anything wrong, Mr. Rowland?” she asked.
“No, no really… I’m sorry about that Soph… I mean, Ms. Myers. My mind was just in the middle of something!” I jabbered.
She asked me to follow her into her cabin. I followed her dreamily, my mind rushing and swirling with different conversations and thoughts. I couldn’t believe it, the same ‘professor’ who taught me was right here, in front of my own eyes. I had hoped this day would come, but I never actually realized that it could ever come true.
I started smiling as another thought struck me. She really didn’t know who I was, the same guy who sat drooling while watching her each morning for two weeks, before she vanished out of my life.
Making the happy introductions
We sat down, and I just looked at her. I had waited for almost a decade to see her again. I didn’t want to talk about the proposal. It wouldn’t have made a difference anyways. I didn’t think I could do anything but grunt or mumble right now. I was utterly speechless! She looked at me too.
“Have me met before, Mr. Rowland, it feels like I’ve seen you somewhere.”
I spilt a bit of coffee over myself, and spluttered, “I’m sorry, you think so…?”
“I’m not quite sure, but you seem familiar,” she said, though it was almost like she was talking to herself. I grinned at her. I was quite overwhelmed by the fact that she could recollect my face after such a long time. It was, well, flattering! [Read: 20 signs of attraction in the first conversation]
I looked straight into her eyes and asked her, “Would you be surprised if I told you that we’ve known each other, Sophie?”
She was surprised to hear me call her by her first name, “How do you…” she started. “Well, let’s just say we knew each other from an educational world. But you were in my existence for an hour a day, for two weeks, and then you vanished!”
“Dave…” she gasped. I just grinned and said, “You don’t know how happy I am to see you, Sophie.” She just started laughing in hysterical giggles. “Dave, look at you! All dressed up. And you were such an idiot. Oh my gosh…”
Both of us just started laughing, and she walked across the table and hugged me. And I hugged her back. “It’s good to see you too”, Sophie added after a few seconds of silence.
“Wow, I don’t believe my college crush just hugged me!” I said to her with a mischievous smile. [Read: Easy tips to charm any girl]
She socked my ribs as she said, “That was supposed to mean ‘I’m happy to see you’, you pervert!”
“It’s all about how I take it, isn’t it? Anyways, it’s a lot better than being threatened with a stick!” I shot back in jest.
We just sat there talking and laughing for a while. I told her how I became who I was, and she explained why she had to leave teaching in a hurry. We caught up with everything we wanted to know about each other. The only problem was that we still hadn’t spoken one bit about our organizations working together. I told her that we could meet up over dinner and talk about the proposal.
“Are you hitting on me, Mr. Rowland?” she asked me tauntingly.
I laughed and held her hands, “Of course, Ms. Myers, but you know, you could always call me Dave.” [Read: 15 obvious flirting signs between a guy and a girl]
Taking a teacher and student romance further
We met up over dinner that night, but we didn’t speak about work. We met the next morning, and spent the lunch hour together, and eventually by the third day, we managed to work something out that would keep both our companies happy.
Our bosses were happy with the outcome of our meeting, but Sophie and I were the most happiest.
A month later, we started dating and we were so in love. I felt happiest when I was around her, and she said the same when I asked her about it.
It’s been four years since we met each other in her office. And just three months ago, I did what I’ve always dreamt of doing. I went down on one knee and proposed to Sophie. [Read: What is the best age to get married?]
It was all so perfect. And we still share a perfect relationship.
There are still the odd instances when she bosses around me, but I’m fine with that. I mean, really, isn’t it a much better option to have my fiancé bossing around me rather than having a crush on a college teacher who’d threaten to beat me around with a stick?!
Dave and Sophie are truly in love and happy in each other’s arms. But they still can’t help but wonder what the odds were to meet each other a decade later! Call it coincidence, or should we call it fate?!