Her Flawed Love

Arni's POV I stare at the ocean before me. What seems like endless. It's all blue as far as I see. Blue is a soothing colour to me and I don't know why. I also love to just stare at the ocean or sea instead of playing in the water. Today is my last day of the break. I gotta get back to my place and start my job hunt. I am twenty one. From Hyderabad. South India. Just out of my college. Ready to face the adulthood. I don't know what life has in its bag for me. "I don't want this to end" Riya says. She passes me a coconut with a straw and I gladly accept. We just sit there in silence. Just taking everything in. Riya is my best friend. We moved to Hyderabad, a city in South India, as soon as we were done with highschool. We really struggled a lot at various stages. While applying to Universities, trying to manage the roof on our heads on our own because living away from parents can actually be shitty! Now we are fine, well adapted to this lifestyle. We still struggle here and there being only two girls living alone but that's part of life. Struggles and scars define us. "So I need to ask you something" Riya whispers. I smile to myself. I know what she is about to ask. I mean, we have lived together since 4 years every second. We got in same college so it's just both of us every minute everywhere. "Dhruv?" I ask her. She just looks at me and smiles. We then go back to staring the ocean again. The sound of waves as they move forward. The echo as the waves crash against the shore. It's all something we just gotta admire and take everything in. Nature is incredible. I take another sip of my natural coconut water and look at my best friend again. She is soo lost in thoughts. Riya is of average height standing around 5'5 and fair complexion. In India you see more of wheatish complexion and in South India it's either Wheatish or Dark. So riya being fair often attracts people. She is always into dying her hair. Like always.. even right now her hair is black with blue strands here and there. She often tries to teach me about fashion and all but meh, it's just not my cup of tea. "I guess I like him" she shrugs. So coming to Dhruv.. he is someone she met at her part time job. She mistook him for a customer since he showed up every day. One fine day he straight up confessed her. She yelled at him and then came to know he is the owner of the cafe. She got so embarrassed she didn't attend her work for a couple of days. Then another fine day I didn't know from where she got her backbone back, she went to her work, did her job well without paying attention to Dhruv. Dhruv is like twenty five I guess? He bought the cafe when it was in nothing but losses when he was just twenty three and made it one of the best in the city within no time. He is actually amazing. I spend some time with her here and there when I visit the cafe for Riya. He is fun to hang out with. And he is absolutely head over heels for my best friend. Slowly I guess even Riya fell for him at one point. She used to glare at his lame jokes but now she is rolling her eyes with a smile. That's a huge sign right there.! "I guess I like him?" she says which sounds like a question to me. She looks at me with confusion filled eyes. "So this break helped you sort your feelings out on that weird man?" I say. She laughs in response. I join her with a giggle as well. "I'll just wait for him to ask me out again. Only this time, I'll say yes" she says with a blush that is creeping all over her face. It's very rare to see her this way. "Wow! So I guess I gotta practice on being a third wheel huh? I'm so not ready" I scoff as I put my empty coconut on the soft sand. "Third wheel who? Oh yeah Dhruv!" Riya chuckles. We look at each other with smiles again and take our time watching the beautiful sunset. Our break includes a four day and three night trip to Vizag. A city close to nature which is just in our neighbouring state. Oh by the way Dhruv is from the same state as well. The air got a tad bit chillier and this is exactly how I like it. I just don't want this to end. Not at all. Riya found her happy place. I personally saw the way her eyes lit up and her smile that gets wider when he is around. I can't help but wonder if I will ever find mine? I am a nobody. When a boy passes by, he is more likely to get attracted to Riya than me. I am of average height as well. But wheatish skin and not an epitome of beauty. Riya is exactly opposite though. "Earth to Arni!!!!!" Riya yells. Oh yes! I zoned out again. Finding true love is such a sensitive topic to me. I mean, how amazing will that feel be? When someone holds you close at the end of a tiring day and whisper that you did well. And kisses you slow that pours out all the love he got on you.? I can totally live in that particular moment. "Argh!!!! Time to leave" we both say at the same time and laugh again. We both just walk to the other end of the beach feeling the soft sand under our toes. Our footsteps made their mark on the wet sand only to get erased by the ocean water just seconds later. Even watching that is soothing as well. Ocean takes everything in. Your presence, memories... Plastic... Everything you can name. People throwing plastic into the oceans are no less than monsters. Please don't start a debate on it. That's a fact and imma stick to it! We soon reach our hotel and quickly rush to the room. We share a room that has two beds in it. We can share one but Riya here has a habit of tossing around in sleep. She sometimes turns 365 degrees through the night, which I somehow find cute about her. "I'll even miss this hotel room too" I say. "Copied" Riya responds. We order food delivery to the room itself. In no mood of going out. Just want the beach vibes to resonate through our heart and souls. Our room is in 7th floor and we can see the city through the window. Pretty lights everywhere. Vizag is an absolute beauty. I mentally note to visit this city with my love next time if possible. I turn around and Riya is no where in sight. She then comes out of bathroom with an irritated expression. "Fuck! I just got my periods" she grits her teeth. If there is any one thing that almost all girls around the globe absolutely hate... Then it's periods. Dear Mother Nature, you can simply send us a text like "Hey girl! You aren't pregnant. See you next month" instead of torturing us for five days. "Good thing at least your trip went peaceful" I say as I shake my head. I quickly take a shower and change into my pajamas. The food has arrived by the time I'm done. And the door bell rings again. I look at Riya and she smiles. Ok! Not dangerous. I open the door and a guy in hotel uniform stood there with a box. "Here is your order of chocolate cake" He smiles handing it out to me. "Thank You" I smile in return taking that box. "Cravings!!!" She shrugs. We enjoy the meal in peace just talking about all sorts of non sense. I quickly text my dad a good night and then join my best friend to pull our girls night. The trip has to end that way. Just staying up all night. Snacking and talking about the trip. It's just like adding a pinch of seasoning to your pasta. It fills you up. "So how do you know Dhruv is the one?" I ask her. "I just smile real around him" her answer is simple yet so deep. At the same time her phone rings and I know it's her sister. She answers the phone and share her memories of the break with such excitement, I smile as I look at her. Riya really does smile real when she is around Dhruv. He unknowingly brought the best out of her. So I would be happy if they make their love official. And without my consent my soul asks me again. Will I ever find the one that can make my smile be more real?