Cercil (continued)

Remember My Crush IV? I bet you do, right? It was a surprise for me last month through a mutual friend to find out that Cercil resides in the city with me now. Yesterday I went up town to meet her on her campus. We have not seen each other for 18 months, so there was a lot to catch up.

We met in a coffee shop at 3pm. Since the weather was nice, we walked along Charles River and chatted as any other long-time friends. She told me that she had some retina problem in her left eye about 1 year ago, so she had to go through a surgery. While recovering from it, she decided to apply for graduate schools, putting the dream of a dancer aside for now. Of course she got into some top programs, and here she is, in the same city with me. I was thrilled to see her, as you can imagine. We are two long-lost friends who are separated and reunited by fate, and I felt such ease just talking to her, finding out what she went through, imaging her new life in a new city, and of course, fantasizing the chance that the fate has so favorably bestowed on me.

we finished walking along the river and then she showed me her office. It was cool to revisit a graduate student life, from which I just escaped happily but for which I inevitably missed from time to time. She was in an art program, so there was designs, models, drawings, portfolios and junks all over the place. We chatted about the past, our dancing career, whereabouts of our favorite persons we both know, facebook, travel plan, anything. Once a while, her classmates (it was a giant open space and everything sees everyone from a distance) would stop by and have the most random conversation. Two of her classmates show obvious affection towards her. Not a surprise to me.

We chatted about 2 and a half hours. It feels short, and I really want to see her again some time soon. Needless to say, my feeling towards her is rather complicated. On the one hand, we are still very good friends, and I hope this friendship will last forever. On the other hand, I cannot stop thinking about asking her out for a date soon. But regardless, meeting with her today yesterday instilled me with a purpose, big or small. I remember a line from a movie and here is the paraphrase, "knowing you makes me want to be a better person." That is exactly how I feel today.