The Fallen Rose

I boarded the train. It was a long walk from the railway station’s entrance till the platform. On any other day it would have been a cakewalk but today I had much heavier things to carry with me. It was not the luggage that was heavy. It was my body, my heart to be precise. My heart was heavy because of the various thoughts my mind carried in it. I did not know what would happen in the next 7 hours. The journey time is 6 hours and 30 minutes.

Life is very unpredictable. We will never know what will happen in the very next second. You live only once. You have to make the best of it. I am going to make the best of it. How? I am going to propose to the girl whom I fell for. Of course like any other story, the girl is not aware my feelings towards her. Hence, I am making this journey. The time now is 9:00 am. The time from 3:30 pm to 4:00 pm is going to be the most crucial. My entire future depends on how I perform in those half an hour and try to impress her.

It all started with an “hai”- I sent her this message in a dating app. Yes, I met her in a dating app. I was so desperate to be in a relationship that I paid four different dating apps. None of the dating apps was successful in finding me a girl. I never lost hope. I knew my girl was right around the corner. These were the things that kept me human when I broke up with my ex-girlfriend. That was the toughest breakup ever. The problem arose after that. I had no one to love.

I had so much love to give, but no one to receive. That is why I was chasing girls through a dating app. Some people might think that this is a cheap way to find a girl. Well, I say “fuck you! My life, my rules.”

I was swiping through profiles and I saw a picture-less profile where I found so many interesting things in her profile. There was no profile picture. The name of the girl was “, Aanchal” I wanted to see the face. I typed a message

“Interesting bio!, I would like to see the beautiful face behind this beautiful soul”. I was about to hit send, but then I saw the last sentence in her bio. It read. “ Love me for my internal beauty, not my external” I hit backspace. I typed “ hai… interesting bio! I would love to have a textual coffee with you. Ping me if you feel the same”

She texted back on a positive note. Just as I thought she is a person who is tough, bold, frank, straightforward. We became good friends. Till this day I didn't even know how she looked. One day I asked her about the last sentence in her bio. She texted me this.

“Marriage and life are all about love. External appearance and getting physical is just a tool to get a baby. You can get physical with someone, but for how long will that physical desire last? In a marriage physical desire lasts only for 5 years maximum. After that, for the rest of the lives, its just love which will be alive. That is why I say love for the internal beauty and not for the external as it will last only for 5 years.”

I was surprised that Aanchal was much wiser and mature than girls of her age. Of course, she goes crazy like a kid when she ends up in a playing arena or when she plays video games, but she is serious about the things to get serious about. No wonder I love her so much.

Three months later, good friends became best friends and best friends became even more. Until today I have not seen her face nor have I asked. Surprisingly, one day she asked whether I wanted to see her picture. I had huge respect for her. I told her that I value her belief and that I will see her face when we meet. She was so happy to see that text of mine. She sent me a kissing smiley. I replied back with a hug smiley and she hugged me back with a smiley. I asked her whether she would kiss me in real or just a virtual kiss. She replied with kiss smiley. My heart skipped a beat. I wanted it to lose another beat. I asked where would you kiss. She replied with a blushing smiley.

I woke up with the opposite train’s usual honking. I fell asleep. There was a knock on my cabin door and a girl emerged. “Yo,” said the girl. It was a similar face. I smiled. I began to remember the face. I regretted meeting her on my big day. She wore a top with a grey muffler around her neck and very long earrings and a bindhi on her forehead. She is Neha Aggarwal, one of my arch enemies from school. She and I never used to get along. We used to fight verbally fight all the time, even physically once. She deliberately brainwashed a girl who proposed to me at that time.

The girl who proposed never spoke to me again because of Neha. That was when the physical fight started. I met her at the school basketball court. I slapped her and in return, she gave a roundhouse kick and I got knocked out. She had a black belt in karate. After that incident I joined karate, just to return back the roundhouse kick she gave me. I have received a black belt later in my life but she was nowhere to be found in my life.

A girl, once upon a time, who used to be a total bad-ass and who never used to smile is now standing there with a smile on her face, more beautiful than her childhood days. I thought how much I wished at this point to wipe off that smile with a good old roundhouse kick. Her beauty stopped me from starting a fight with her.

We exchanged a smile and asked about each other's life. I felt so annoyed that I met her during the most crucial day of my life.

“Where are you going?” she asked. I said I am going to meet my friend.

“A girl, right?” she asked

She must have found out about that by the way I dressed and the way I styled my hair.

“Yes,” I replied.

She asked, “Are you going to propose her?”

I started to sweat now. I replied with a yes but I asked her how did she know.

She pointed at the rose I got for her. I wrapped the Rose in a paper and she could see the tip of the stem.

“Is she cute?” she asked

“She is the best” I replied.

I got annoyed by her questions. I felt that she is invading my space by asking about my love. I pretended to fall asleep. I feel asleep for real after that. After sometime Neha woke me up from my sleep. I asked her in an irritating tone “What?”

She asked, “Isn't this the station you need to alight?”

I got petrified. The last thing I want is to be late. It would have been a nightmare if she had not woke me up. I was grateful to her, however, I did not have the time to say thanks. I quickly got my luggage and made an exit from the train. I heard her shouting from the cabin “All the best”

I was standing next to a tea stall. I kept my bag down and was all ready. I took the rose outside and immediately put my hand's backside to hide it

I was very nervous to see Aanchal. I got a text from her.

“I will be there in 10 minutes. I am getting excited!! Can't wait to meet you my BFF”

I got nervous seeing this message. I was first happy that I saw the “BFF” as “BF” which stands for “boyfriend”, but then soon it came to my realization that there was two times letter F. BFF means best friend forever. I kept on thinking about the same and it freaked me out.

I was nervous now that she mentioned me as a best friend. More than that, the word “forever” hurts me more. As I began to analyze more about the text my heart got heavier. My heart was shattered into millions of pieces. I confirmed that she sees me only as a best friend. I hurriedly dropped the rose down the garbage bin nearby. I thought “There was no use for a rose now, or maybe forever….”

I was waiting for quite some time now. She texted in between saying that she is caught up with something. I thought that maybe she saw me and thought I was ugly and walked away. After some time I received a text from her.

“I found a rose lying waste in a garbage bin”

My heart raced. I thought she saw me doing it. I was so ashamed to meet her now. I went near the garbage bin to look inside. As soon as I peeped into the garbage bin the guy from the tea stall gave me a letter. He told that a girl told to give the letter to a person who peeps inside the garbage bin. I felt so embarrassed and uncomfortable. I wanted to catch another train, go home and pretend none of this happened. I started reading the letter.

 

Dear BFF,

Meet me today at 7 pm in the cafe near our school. I will be upset if I see another rose thrown away!

P.S A boyfriend can also be a best friend to a girl.

 

Yours,

Neha Aanchal Aggarwal