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I had just finished my first year in New York City. It was finally Summers . A summer of possibilities , of new experiences and also realizations. I was moving to Cambridge , MA for a summer job . I wasn’t happy. I wanted to go boating in Central Park , or just watch people doing yoga . I wanted to buy myself an ice-cream from Morgenstern’s while gazing at the sky scrapers in downtown . But in a weeks time , I landed myself in a quiet neighborhood in Cambridge . A neighborhood with colorful houses and strange silences . Occasionally me and my neighbor , a gawky teenager with round glasses would exchange glances from our attics , lit by neon lights . On weekends , I would go to bars , order myself drinks and just think of my life back in New York . But thats it . Something was missing . With a lot of gumption , one Friday night , I thought of installing a dating app on my phone . Quickly exhausted at the Hot or Not game ,I decided to call it off for the night.

The next morning I woke up to a notification from someone . On closer observation ,I found that the geographical distance is more than the permitted limit on the app. Few pleasantries and one liners later , we decided to Facetime. This was more like an informal interview minus the first date nervousness. I had mentioned my address not knowing that I would have a guest from DC that night. An unexpected , but funny surprise except for my perennially embarrassed pajama clad self not knowing how to react. “You make me smile” he said . The rest of the weekend , we spent kayaking in the Charles River , ordering food from Thai takeaways and listening to Frank Sinatra. He spoke , how growing up in Multan was during the 80’s and made me well aware of our territorial and age differences . The following few months were spent figuring out imbalances while sipping vanilla latte in a small cafe in Harvard Square . Three months later as I was finishing my internship , excited for my summer trip , I realized I am leaving behind the city , a loved one and memories I wouldn’t trade for anything else.

The summer romance of course did not last . I received a text last night from a familiar number asking me about my whereabouts. I typed a 200 character text but did not send it. The text said “I guess I am trying to fall in love, happy and confused. Confused because a close friend said the day before that love is amorphous ” .

                  Seems my love is up                   And has left you with no warning                   But it's not always going                   To be this grey                  All things must pass
                  All things must pass away