Can love be arranged?

Philosophers and poets alike often ponder over the profundity of love. Millennia have passed echoing the celebration of love and to this day it holds a salient position in our lives. One who embraces this love begins a story. However, the story remains a story by all means and can take whatever course it wills. Unfortunately, quite a few love stories come to a screeching halt. In situations like these, one muses over the intricacies of love. One such lover threw this troublesome question at me while I was gulping down steaming hot chocolate. “Can love be arranged?” she asked.

My immediate reaction was to analyze my ongoing relationship with the cup of chocolate. I gazed at it lovingly. The rich brown liquid with the melting marshmallows floating on top just waiting to give me that foam-stash drove me euphoric. The deep desire that elevated me when I breathed in the sinful aroma was bliss. I was truly in love. Although, this wasn’t the love I had had in mind when I entered the café. It was the waitress who had recommended the hot chocolate. She arranged this love for me. I was about to blurt my conclusion to her when I remembered my neighbor. She was a cheerful, chirpy bird when she moved in with her new husband. “We’ve been in love for ten years!” she’d say. As the seasons went by and the good old planet spun her way around the sun, the love next door bid the couple goodbye.

It occurred to me then. As in a play, while the path to the stage is insignificant, it is the show from then on that matters. Enlightened, I refused to answer her question and romanced my beverage while it was hot.