Adjusting some loose fringes of her hair, she looked here and there confusedly. This was her first flight experience, and she never thought it would be alone. Someone who never even went to market alone had today traveled miles alone, from Lahore to London.
Taking a deep breath she stepped further in the Immigration line, holding her passport tightly in her hand. The Heathrow Airport was the busiest airport of this world, but she wasn't really impressed with the interiors. The airport was congested and the roofs were on a very low height which increased suffocation for her. Anyways, shrugging all this, she counted the number of people again in the line. They were still 3 people ahead, and then it would be her turn.
She was prepared for this process numerous times. She had to remain, calm, confident and alert. The officer was expected to scrutinize her more strictly because of Asian origin, and also for a girl traveling alone, and her reason for traveling to London was a very common excuse used by people to enter London illegally.
She was here to live with her husband.
Biting her lip, she smiled slowly. Her husband had done a lot of effort and had spent a lot of money to call her to London, to live with him. In Asia, there were numerous examples of couples living separately due to husband's job in some overseas area. This fear kept her awake for a dozen nights when she knew she was getting married to someone living and working in London, but fortunately, she happened to be one of the few lucky girls, who instead of waiting for their husband for a year to meet, was here to start their new world - together.
The marriage was simple, and she could only see a glimpse of her husband that day. Her wedding night was postponed as her husband had to leave for London right after the marriage. That night she thought maybe her fate had written wait for her, but she was proven wrong when within two weeks, she was packing for London, and now here she was ' in London, and will be with her husband in matter of hours.
As a result of remembering all this, her heartbeat was audible and cheeks were pink. Her sister and best friends had sketched the possible pictures of their first meeting, first night ..
Shaking her head, and completely smiling by now, she just couldn't wait to finally meet her husband. He was a stranger ' but still he had that feeling of protectiveness, which she could feel, still away from him.
Back in Heathrow airport, it was her turn now, quickly stepping forward, with the smile already gracing her face due to the recent thoughts she had. She handed her passport to the middle aged woman who also welcomed her with a smile.
"Mrs. Nupur Mayank Sharma",
The officer authoritatively pronounced her name, reading her passport, and Nupur nodded proudly.
"So, here after marriage, just like so many other Asian girls?"
Nupur smiled and back, as the officer started punching her passport, and handed her back to her. Nupur was taken aback for a moment with the quick process, but grabbed her passport quickly and left the counter with a smile, while the officer saw her walking by and said smiled at the innocence and dreams the girl had in her eyes.
Finally she was allowed to enter England, she had cleared the immigration, and now grabbing her luggage, she would be on her way out of this airport, where he would be waiting.
Smiling under her breath, she remembered how her father in law assured her that he would be waiting for her at the airport. During those days, she was too shy to even talk to him on phone, although she was here, screening the luggage belt for her bags, within 2 weeks of her marriage, but those two weeks it felt like a journey of thousand miles.
Checking her trolley for all the bags, she grabbed the handle firmly and pushing it slowly forward, Nupur started walking towards the exit. Her heart started thumping with fear, hesitation, shyness and expectations.
She was to meet her husband for the first time, no doubt she knew his face well, she would recognize him a blink of eye. Feeling a shiver of hands she walked towards the carpet of exit. Many people had already started waving to their relatives and friends waiting at the fence. This increased her heartbeat further. She tried to screen through the people standing there, and no face felt familiar. She swept her eyes towards the other corner of the fence and still couldn't find him.
All of a sudden she felt sweat droplets on her forehead, and taking a deep breath, she looked back at the previous side of fence .. and there he was.
Edited by Fantasia. - 11 years ago