I was 19 years old when I got into my first relationship. Call it ‘puppy love’, but we were crazy about each other. Since we lived in the same housing society, we found it really difficult to meet and spend quality time. In no way did we want either of our parents to find out about us. To keep away from all the drama and unwanted questions, I lied to my parents. Until I was caught one day…
Many a times, I would tell my parents that I’m meeting a few friends and secretly meet my boyfriend at a coffee shop or a movie theater. Wherever we met, we made sure that it was nowhere close to home. Forget our parents spotting us, we were worried what would happen if any of those aunties or uncles in the society would spy on us and tell our parents.
Meeting him required days of proper planning. Never in my wildest dreams would I think my mom would outsmart us in this well thought-out plan.
Before leaving for college, I would often go for a quick run in the park. The park was about 20 minutes away from my place, and since it was early in the morning, not too many people would be around. I thought that it would be a good idea to call my boyfriend and ask him to meet me at the park the next day.
He agreed, he got ready at 6:30 a.m. sharp, and walked to the gate of the park to wait for me. Just while I was going to leave my house, my mother held the door and asked me where I was off to. She knew I would always go for my run in the morning, but today, it felt different. It was as if she knew something but wasn’t telling me.
I told her that I’m going for a run with my friend, Pooja. I didn’t say anything after and quickly fleeted before she could ask any further questions. As soon as I got to the park, I saw my boyfriend aimlessly looking around. I ran towards him and hugged him from the back.
The park was quiet and very few people were around. We sat on a bench that faced a small, pretty lake. While we were chatting, his hand slowly moved towards mine and he pulled me towards him. While his other hand was wrapped around my waist, he came closer and planted a kiss on my lips.
Just when he was about to pull back, we heard a voice. It was my mom! Her face was red and she was walking towards us. Ignoring my boyfriend’s presence, she kept scolding me. Without giving me a chance to explain myself, she caught my wrist and dragged me home.
My phone was taken away after this and no one spoke to me that entire day. The next morning, I heard a knock on my door. It was mom, she apologized and told me that she wasn’t angry that she got to know about my relationship, but the fact that I lied to her face.
She even told me that she liked my boyfriend and his family. The only thing she wanted me to do was to take things slow with him and focus on our studies and career. She would have appreciated if I had told her instead of her coming to know in this manner.
It’s been a while to this incident, and my boyfriend and I are taking things slow. Now that all the cards are on the table, we’ve decided to focus our energies into our careers. Not rushing into things so soon, but taking it one day at a time.
*Names changed to protect privacy.
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