Our 10 hours in London: First Time We Met

After endless amazing online conversations, the day finally came when I was waiting outside those double doors in Heathrow arrivals for him. I arrived over an hour early and kept my eyes on the arrival boards with overwhelming excitement with a pinch of ‘is this really happening?’. Once the flight from Newark had landed I couldn’t keep my eyes off of those swinging doors where he would be soon appearing.

As I waited, I witnessed so many emotional reunions between lovers, families and friends. Airport arrival gates are definitely an amazing place to be, a place filled with love and excitement. *Cut to the opening scene of Love Actually*

That scene always brings tears to my eyes!

It would soon be time for my reunion and I was ready for him to arrive. Although I didn’t always know it, I had been waiting my whole life for this moment.

When he finally walked thought those doors I was filled with happiness and I felt the love radiating from my heart. I can still see the picture in my mind of him coming through those doors. I couldn’t stop saying “you’re here!!”. It was unbelievable. This was 8.30pm and we had 10 hours together before he had to catch his connecting flight to Mumbai and I had to return to university for my presentation.

We took the Piccadilly line on the underground to central London. It felt as if we were old friends, meeting after a long time but with a life time of memories between us, completely comfortable. I couldn’t believe how beautiful a human being could be until I saw him (and he had just endured a long flight). The brightness of his eyes and the softness of his voice, I was so in love. Every moment felt like magic. We seemed as if we were the only people walking around London that night.

We walked from Piccadilly circus to Buckingham palace and as we walked back down the mall it started to rain. It wasn’t a nasty rain , it was a soft subtle rain that made everything feel more romantic, everything glistened as the light from the street lights reflected on the fallen rain drops. This felt so natural and there was a voice inside me confirming what we felt whilst we were first typing to each other online, “this is your husband”.

We walked passed Big Ben and the houses of parliament, sat on some steps and ate some coconut and jam cake. Big Ben struck eleven, time was going too fast. This night in London should have lasted forever. We walked along the Thames talking until the last tube train back to Heathrow.

On the train back to the airport I fell asleep on his shoulder for a while, so happy that he was here and we were together. We then sat in Heathrow talking through the rest of the night. I have never been so open to anyone else, talking to him is so easy- it is just like I am talking to myself- I can say anything without the fear of being judged or being misunderstood. Some of the best hours of my life were spend sitting on those uncomfortable chairs in London.

Soon the airport started waking up again and people started coming through those arrival doors once more. We sat and had a cup of tea in the cafe, Frank Sinartra songs playing on a loop in the back ground: “somewhere, beyond the sea…”. Those hours past by so quickly and soon it 6.30am and time for us to separate. I had a feeling of panic in my stomach, how could we go our separate ways now? Tears started to fall down my face as we walked to the coach station. We had a magical hug, I felt like I was walking on air, full of bliss and I could feel my heart telling me just to never let go of him.

I boarded the coach and he went to his departure terminal. I cried hysterically on the journey home, the kind of ugly crying that gives you stomach cramps. I could see concern in the faces of the other passengers but I didn’t care that I was making a scene. I would have done anything to board that plane to Mumbai too.