Plus One...

"I have always been a loner and perhaps that is the reason why I am too afraid to commit to someone and settle down with them. The idea of spending my whole life with someone is scary. Because love is not only about cute and romantic gestures but it requires compromises as well." I said to my mother.

My mother smiled and said, "I used to be just like you. I was also afraid to fall in love and commit to that one person for the rest of my life. For me, my only love was going out on solo trips and enjoying my own company. I always feared that if I fall in love with someone then I would not be able to enjoy my me time and all my individuality would just fade away. But then one day I met him, your father. I was out on a solo trip and he was out on a trip with his friends. Eventually, we both were on the same bus and his seat was just next to me. He tried to talk to me but me being me, I tried to ignore him as much as I could. It was not because of his behaviour that I was ignoring him but maybe because I was trying to run away from love. Skipping this, after some time our bus stopped for lunch, I was not much hungry so I went to explore the natural surroundings around the place and unfortunately ended up missing my bus. Now, I was at a place where I was all alone, standing without any clue of how to escape from that place and with the setting sun my fear was rising. Suddenly I heard someone walking towards me, I took a deep breath and turned around to see who it was, by the time I turned, your father said, "Oh! You also missed the bus?" I said in a frustrated and angry tone, "You came here as well, following me!" And he said, "Excuse me! I was not following you. I just went to the washroom and by the time I returned, the bus had gone away." I didn't say anything, he was looking at my face, noticing my fear said: "I guess that we are heading to the same place then why not take the same path together?" I looked at him with a sarcastic face and he said: "Only if you are comfortable!" I smiled and asked him, "You wouldn't kidnap me, right?" He chuckled, came close and whispered in my ear, "Actually that's the plan." We both smiled and continued the rest of our journey together."

I smiled and asked my mom, "What happened next?"

And she said, "Next, I realized how important it is to have someone by your side always. It was just a small distance that I and your father had to cover to reach the destination but then also deep inside we both knew that it would not have been possible without us being together. Now think about life, it is such a long distance that you need to cover, of course, you can live it alone and that would be good but at the same time if you live it with someone who you love then that good gets converted into great. Everything was easy but it became easier with him. All my life I was going against the waves but with him, I was swimming towards the shore. And also, your father never tied me down, I used to go out alone after marriage as well but now my solo trips had a plus one. What I am trying to say is it's okay to feel that love is not made up for you and also it might not be. But you are young, keep your heart open and just don't be too difficult to love."