When I moved to Australia I made a promise to my girlfriend that I would be back in two years. I told her at the airport that long distance is for a little while and I held her tight like that would make the distance go away. We both cried because we thought our love was stronger than being in time zones.

The first few months were really tough. We were on schedules and missed each others calls. We would fight about things. I was trying to handle my job and the pressure of getting a visa and paying rent and dealing with loneliness. My girlfriend was dealing with questions from her family about when we would get married. Slowly our phone calls became shorter and less romantic.

Then I met this girl. She was a coworker of mine from India and also living alone in Australia. We started talking during coffee breaks complaining about how expensive rent was and laughing about how we both pretended to be happy on Instagram. She understood how I felt without me having to explain it. She knew how tired I was of pretending to be okay.

One night things changed between us. It was not a romantic moment or anything. We just stayed back at work talking about how hard long distance relationshipsre. I told myself that it did not mean anything. That was a lie.

It did mean something. I did not break up with my girlfriend home. I did not tell her what was going on either. I started living two lives. In the mornings I would send my girlfriend in India texts. In the evenings I would have dinner with this girl in Sydney. I told myself I was confused and needed time to figure things out.

Then my girlfriend found out what was going on before I could do anything about it. She did not find out through text messages or social media. Her cousin had moved to Australia. Came to my workplace for some paperwork. He saw me and the other girl together took a photo. Sent it to my girlfriend.

I still remember the video call we had after that. My girlfriend did not. Cry. She just asked me one question: was I ever really in love with her or was she just convenient for me? I did not have an answer that would not make me look bad.

My girlfriend blocked me on everything that night. The other girl in Australia left her job a couple of months later. Moved to a different city. It turned out she was not looking for anything and I was just someone to hang out with for a little while. I was not special to her.

It has been three years now. I have a job, a permanent resident visa, a nice apartment and a nice car. On paper my life looks great.. Sometimes when I am alone in my apartment, at 2 a.m. I realize that I gave up a girl who loved me for no reason for a moment of weakness that did not even last.

People think that Indians who move abroad lose their culture.. Some of us just lose our values.. The worst part is, nobody back home knows what really happened. They all think that my girlfriend. I broke up because we both wanted to.. That is not true. It was not mutual.