Red Roses - Part 21

Rajeev still wandered in his mind like ghost of past. Whenever he met Lucy, he would speak more often about Rajeev. Lucy would get annoyed sometimes. Later she accepted his bad habit of replaying the past moments as part of their conversation. She rarely stopped him. She understood how much he loved his friend.

In these few months, he learnt so much about her. Unlike him, she was strong and brave. She had accepted the fact of his death and looked forward to life. She didn’t sink into depression like him. Yes! She still loved him. She thought about him. But she rarely spoke about him. Arjun was happy but surprised. Did she really love him?

He had tried to ask her the same question- Did she love Rajeev? But the words never remained in his heart. What surprised him was about her secluding Rajeev from her life. He didn’t want her to moan about her dead love. However she would have at least spoken about him for few minutes. But he had never seen her speak about Rajeev. It was like as if Rajeev was just a page of some god forsaken chapter in her life story.

Maybe she was private person who hardly show emotions out. Maybe she was crying out for him secretly. Whatever it may be , she was definitely not the type of girl who would sulk all day. She looked at him with curious eyes. “ What are you thinking so much?”, she asked him. “ Nothing ! Just that.. Do you love him?”, he replied with a question. “ Love.. Indeed! I loved him with all my heart. But not as much as you think I love him. He wasn’t my life. He was just a friend like you are.”, she said.

Arjun was shocked. No wonder, she didn’t seem to be in love with him. The kiss! That day when she had professed love to him still played in his mind. Was she in still love with him? No! It can’t be. Though his friend wasn’t there, Lucy still was his friend’s girlfriend. He respected her but he couldn’t let those hidden feelings surface on his face. He had thrashed them into deep ocean of his heart. He didn’t want them to come back.

He walked away from her while she called his name loud. He didn’t turn back and stopped only when he reached home. He sat idle for long hours with his mind only thinking about her. His phone vibrated and he didn’t want to look at it. But he did. The message was from her and it read - “ Hi Arjun! I know why you left me alone. Yes! I do love you but I won’t force you to love me. I will wait for you. I won’t give up on you.”

( To be continued)