My arms are hurting

Ding dong.

My heart was racing up like never before. I could hear my heart beat louder than the doorbell ring. I knew it's her standing out, we just texted each other. I had met her in the office cafeteria less than 3 hours back. Still I had the strongest butterfly feeling in my stomach. 

Ding dong. 

Was that the sound of the doorbell again or was it my heart pounding? How do I look? Am I looking okay? How is the hair? Ohh there is no time for checking myself now. She is waiting outside. Come on, just open the door. Wait, what are you wearing? Doesn't matter, you are fine. Just open the door already. Wait, don't forget to smile.

With thousand thoughts going through mind, I unlocked the door and slowly swung the door to a side. It was her! Standing with a shy composure. Our eyes met and we both smiled. She stood there, staring the ground, hands folded behind, slightly swinging her shoulders side by side like a shy kid. Moving aside the door, I tried saying come on in but all I could manage was to signal her with hands to walk in. She swiftly walked in, turned around facing me and stood. I closed the door and stood facing her. For the first time we were standing face to face inside a room without anyone else around, without people waiting for us outside, without any mental pressure, inhibition or any time limit. The last few weeks were very stressful. Everyday felt like the last day we might be talking over phone. But somehow we survived. The stress had taken a toll on her. She had lost several pounds. In the mellow light of the bed lamp, I could not help but notice how pale and fragile the stress had made her. The usual pink glow from her cheeks was missing. Her beautiful deep eyes looked tired. I felt sorry to put her through this. An uneasiness started to grow in my chest. I stood there looking at her with mixed feelings. Worried to see her in this fragile, weak state. At the same time admiring that in spite of all the turbulence of last few weeks, how she still looked gorgeous. The long, smooth dark silky hairs, the naturally red lips, long slender neck and the tall figure. I just stood there perplexed, not sure what to do. 

We stood frozen, 3 feet apart in front of each other, occasionally glancing at each others face, our

eyes would meet and immediately we would gaze away. Suddenly something happened. She leapt forward, almost in a flash of moment, and before I could understand she hugged me. Her long thin arms tightly wrapped around me, as if she is afraid of letting go. I gently hold her with one arm while keeping the other hand behind her head and took a deep breath. I could smell her sweet hairs. All the thousand thoughts vanished from my mind. I was truly in that moment. I don't know how long we remained standing like that. I slowly lowered my head and kissed her forehead. She tightened her arms more around me and dug her face deeper into my shoulder. I could feel the moistness of her tears through my shirt. I tightened my one arm around her and softly patted her back with the other. Almost together, we both took a deep sigh.  Our heart beats had synchronized by now.  There was a kind of calmness, a feeling of relaxation and peacefulness in that moment. We  lost the track of time. We stood like that in silence, soaking in every bit of that blissful moment. Sometime later, she broke the silence in the most innocent voice saying, "my arms are hurting now". We both laughed. 

That was our first hug :)