They walked down the stairs. He was slightly behind her. She glanced back just to make sure he was there. They were both feeling awkward. And their awkwardness manifested itself in opposite ways. It was another way in which they were perfect complements. She became hyper and boisterous and ran ahead, while he became a subdued version of himself and started a staring match with the floor.

She grabbed a basket and rushed into the first aisle. He slid up to her and stood behind her. He made her feel safe. But at the same time he flustered her. She started rambling about the different kinds of cookie mixes to cover up the effect he had on her. He looked into her eyes and told her she could pick the one she wanted. What he said wasn’t out of the ordinary in anyway. It wasn’t phenomenal, but the way he said it, made her heart melt. Yet she scrunched up her nose and made a face at him. She sprinted away again.

He caught up with her and smiled in that lopsided way of his that made her knees go weak. She cleared her throat and tried to concentrate on her shopping. She thought back to all the times she had been grocery shopping with others. About how she had thought it was fun; when she had gone grocery shopping in the middle of the night. When she had raced trolleys in the abandoned parking lot. When she had her nephew sitting in her trolley chatting away incessantly as she shopped. When she had walked 45 minutes to the store just to buy ice cream. But this was different. Those things were fun, but she didn’t really want to do them forever. This she wanted to do for the rest of her life.

They walked up to the snacks section and debated on the merits of different kinds of chips. She didn’t feel the need to restrain herself when she filled the basket with her favourite snacks (and a few of his). She knew he loved her just the way she was. She no longer needed to hide behind a mask. She no longer needed to pretend to be something she was not.

They walked up to the check-out counter wondering if people thought they were married or siblings. They both knew it was most likely the latter since they were both very young. But they shared a secret smile at the thought of the former.

She paid, though he insisted on doing so. He wouldn’t let her grab the bags though they had ended up buying more than planned. She grabbed the car keys from his pocket and bounded up the stairs and out of the store. He patiently followed again. They walked the short distance to where his car was parked. She had to open the car from the passenger’s side as the lock system was messed up and he hadn’t had the time to get it fixed. But she loved opening the car for him. It made her feel special. It made her feel needed.

As they stood facing each other, on opposite ends of the car. Him laden with the groceries and her opening the car, with a mischievous look on her face and teasing words on her lips; their eyes met. They both smiled. They both knew this was perfection. They both knew they were meant to be. Because grocery shopping was a mundane and at best, tolerable task.

Today it had been magical.

I had my life planned out. I had worked out exactly what I’d be doing in January 2012.
This was not it.
This is better.

What I’ve learnt in the last very painful, yet profound year is that you can’t plan life. You can’t mitigate the risk of things going wrong just by anticipating it in the dark recesses of your mind. You can’t arbitrarily decide that your future will be a certain way and expect the universe to bend to your will.

Sometimes you’ve got to sit back and let the reins loose; let yourself be surprised. “Stop and smell the roses” as they would say. You just might find that what turns out; may be unplanned, it may be unanticipated, it may not be what you were looking for, not what you ever expected to find but it may just be exactly what you needed. It may just be perfect.

Unplanned yet perfect.
Perfectly unplanned.