Yes, "I do". A story by Twinkle Kondepogu from B.A III.
They say love is in the air — somehow everywhere — and when the time is right, it finds a way to make two hearts meet, even when both have stopped believing.
“Do not stir up nor awaken love until it pleases.” – Song of songs 2:7
Vinnetha hailed from the Garden City of India — none other than namma Bengaluru. She was an old-school, hopeless romantic wrapped in the fast-paced life of a corporate girlie. Between meetings, deadlines, and endless coffee cups, love was the last thing she ever thought about.
But one day, fate had other plans.
During a corporate seminar, she accidentally bumped into a guy named Jay.
“Hey, I’m sorry! I didn’t see you coming,” Jay said, steadying her before her coffee spilled.
“It’s fine… my fault,” she replied, brushing it off with a polite smile.
That was the beginning. Six months later, they met again at another work event. Jay smiled, “Hey! I know you! The girl who almost dropped her coffee.”
She laughed lightly. “Oh yes, that embarrassing moment.”
“Well, maybe we can make better memories this time?” he said with an easy grin. Hesitantly, she gave him her number.
What began as a polite exchange soon grew into something deeper. Their conversations became longer, warmer, and full of care.
Good morning texts turned into late-night calls. For the first time, Vinnetha felt something she couldn’t explain — a quiet happiness.
One evening, Jay confessed, “Vinnetha, I know this might sound crazy, but I think I’m falling for you.”
Her heart skipped a beat. “Jay… I don’t know what to say,” she whispered. “You caught me off guard.”
He chuckled nervously. “You don’t have to say anything. I just wanted to be honest.”
She didn’t respond then. But her heart knew something had changed.
A year later, she finally gathered the courage to express what she felt. Nervously typing, she wrote:
“Hi Jay, how was your day? I have something to share. Are you free?”
He replied:
“Yeah, hectic day, but tell me. What’s going on?”
Her hands trembled as she typed again:
“Jay, this feels strange. I’ve never felt like this before. I think you’re the one for me. I love you.”
The screen stayed silent for minutes that felt like hours. Then came his reply:
“Vinnetha, I should have told you this earlier, but I didn’t have the courage. I do love you — truly — but there’s something you don’t know. I’m already engaged.”
Her breath caught. “Engaged?” she typed, heart pounding. “What are you saying, Jay? You told me you loved me!”
“I did,” he wrote, “but my engagement was arranged by my parents. I didn’t know how to tell you. I’m sorry.”
“Sorry?” she typed back furiously. “You played with my feelings! You built dreams with me, Jay!”
“Please, don’t hate me,” he replied. “You mean so much to me, but I can’t break this engagement.”
Her tears blurred the screen. “You already broke me,” she whispered, deleting his number that night.
Months later, just as her heart began to heal, a notification lit up her phone — Jay. Her hands trembled. She opened the message and froze. It was a wedding invitation.
His message read:
“Hey, Vinnetha. I know I don’t deserve your forgiveness, but I wanted to tell you I’m getting married next week. You were a special part of my life, and I hope someday you can forgive me. It would mean a lot if you could come.”
Tears rolled down her face as she typed back,
“Jay, how can you even ask me that? You broke me, and now you want me to come watch you marry someone else?”
He replied quickly,
“I didn’t mean it that way. I just wanted you to know I’ll always wish you happiness.”
Her anger burst through the pain.
“You don’t get to wish me happiness, Jay. You destroyed mine.”
There was a long pause before he sent his final text:
“I’m sorry, Vinnetha. Maybe this is how it was meant to be.”
She stared at the screen as her vision blurred. “Then why did love find me only to leave me empty?” she whispered, clutching her phone to her chest as tears fell endlessly.
That night, she cried until her pillow was drenched — praying for peace, praying to forget.
Six years passed……
Time dulled the ache, but it never erased it. She smiled again, focused on her work, and kept moving forward — but her heart remained quiet, guarded. One night, after another long day, she knelt by her bed and whispered through her tears,
“God… You’ve seen my pain. You know my heart. Do You still remember me? Will I ever find someone who loves me the way You intended?”
Her tears slowly gave way to sleep. That night, something divine happened she saw a dream — a man standing in soft light, smiling gently at her. Then she heard a calm, loving voice say,
“This is the man I have chosen for you. He is the one you will marry.”
She woke up startled, her heart racing. “It’s just a dream,” she told herself, trying to brush it off. But deep down, she couldn’t forget that face.
Three days later, stepping out of her office, she froze. Standing across the road was the same man from her dream. Their eyes met briefly, but neither spoke.Her heart pounded, her hands went cold. “No way,” she murmured. And she had a war between her soul and mind. Not knowing how to believe it.
A year later ,one day suddenly she returned home from office to find guests in the living room. Her parents smiled as she entered. “Vinni, meet Andrew,” her father said warmly. She froze. It was him — the dream guy.
His family came with a marriage proposal.”
Vinnetha stood speechless, her heart pounding. “What… how…?” she whispered to herself. She couldn’t believe it. She rushed into her room.The families talked, and within a few days, the proposal was accepted.
The wedding was simple, elegant, and full of peace — something her heart hadn’t felt in years. As she walked down the aisle in her white gown, holding her bouquet, her eyes met Andrew’s eyes. His warm smile made her heart melt.
When she reached him, he whispered softly, “You look like the answer to every prayer I’ve ever said.”
Tears filled her eyes as she whispered back, “And you look like the promise God never forgot to keep.”
The pastor’s words echoed through the church: “What God has joined together, let no man separate.”
And the church said, AMEN.
For the first time in years, Vinnetha’s heart felt complete.
A week after their wedding, Andrew noticed she was still a little distant. One evening, he planned a candlelight dinner on their balcony. That evening, the world felt unusually still — the sky painted in strokes of rose and gold as twilight slowly melted into night. Their little balcony overlooked the whispering trees, the faint hum of the city fading into the rhythm of their hearts. Candles flickered gently between them, their light dancing across Andrew’s face.
Vinnetha sat quietly, the scent of jasmine and warm food mingling with the ocean breeze that carried distant laughter and the promise of peace.
Andrew broke the silence first, his voice soft.
“Vinni… you know, when I prayed for my wife, I didn’t ask for perfection. I just asked for someone who had known pain but still chose to love deeply.”
She looked up, eyes glistening. “And you found me?” she asked with a faint smile.
He smiled back. “No,” he said gently, “God found you for me.”Vinnetha smiled, resting her head on his shoulder. “Funny,” she whispered, “God showed me the same thing… even before I met you in my dream.”
Her heart fluttered, and tears began to form, blurring the soft candlelight.
As they ate, Andrew gently took her hand. “You know, Vinni… I always prayed that when I find my wife, I’d know she’s the one. And when I saw you for the first time, I just knew.”
Tears welled up in her eyes.
He smiled tenderly, reached into his pocket, and pulled out a small velvet box. “I know we’re already married,” he said softly, “but this… is for every day I’ll choose to love you again.”
He opened the box to reveal a delicate ring — a symbol of a love that wasn’t found by chance, but by grace.
Vinnetha gasped, tears falling freely now. “Andrew…..you have no idea what this means to me.”
But tonight, I want to give you this — not as a promise of forever, but as a reminder of the One who held us together when we were still strangers.”
He smiled, sliding the ring onto her finger. “yes I do,” he whispered. “Because God didn’t just give me a wife — He gave me a miracle.”
Andrew …” she whispered, her voice breaking, “I once thought love had left me. That God forgot my story.”
He took her hand, pressed it to his heart, and said, “He never forgot. He was simply waiting — shaping both our hearts in silence.” And started reciting by looking into her eyes,
Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is strong as death, jealousy is fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the Lord. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it. If a man offered for love all the wealth of his house, he would be utterly despised.(Song of songs 8:6,7)
Tears fell freely now, warm and sacred.
Andrew leaned closer, his forehead resting against hers.
“Every heartbreak you carried,” he murmured, “was God’s way of clearing space for me. Every tear you shed watered the soil for what we have now.”
She smiled through her tears, whispering, “And every prayer I thought went unanswered… was being woven into this moment.”
The night wrapped them in its quiet blessing. The sea breeze carried the faint sound of waves, the moon glowed like a witness, and time seemed to pause — reverent, holy.
Vinnetha looked up at the stars and whispered, “You kept Your promise, Lord. You wrote beauty from ashes.”
And as Andrew held her close under the silver sky, she realized —
Love was never lost.
It had only been waiting at the end of surrender.
