One sided love

I have just finished dinner and getting out of the place. On the right is a CCD that is empty and to the left is a petrol pump that's also neatly empty. A car comes to a stop in front. A girl comes out of the car. Her parents come out after her. She would be about 22. She looks around quite agitatedly and again looks at her mobile as a message dings in. Instinctively, I know there's a boy somewhere. Oh, he's certainly there. About fifteen metres away. Under the shade of the CCD awning. He's appeared from nowhere. He's managed to raise a hand from hip to chest level. Meekly. And swiftly has taken it down too. The parents are oblivious. The girl is irritated. So, I try and guess what's happened thus far. He is an ardent "one sided" admirer. He lives in the town. She's done well in studies. And then gone over to the city for further studies. And now she does not really want him around. Him, now the small town boy who does not have much more than empty handed love. But can the boy really forget? Lonely. Scratching his arm. Jeans and Tee shirt. Tee shirt with Mahindra Holidays imprinted on right side. Trademark yellow. Shirt standing out more than the man. Desolate face. Crumpling by the minute. A few last hopes and possibilities extinguishing by the second. In a jiffy she will be boarding the bus parked behind in the lot. She's moved ahead, already in the shadows, her parents talking to her. He cranes his neck and stands on his toes. She may wave. She may. Or so he wishes. She may. A hope. Fervent. I want to go and pat the boy. But then, he has to face rejection chin up. This will make him a man. He faces. Keeps looking at the bus for a while and when he knows there's nothing else for him in the offing at all. He walks away. Into the dark. The walk is loose and faulty in the beginning but he gathers pace. He regains strength. It's why he is a man, he is facing it, like all of them before. But women, it's not really fair, is it?