Love Short Story – A Flawed Reality
Photo credit: godidwlr from morguefile.com
She was sitting on the side of the coffee table at the far end of the room. Dawn was just breaking and in that vision, she looked quite breath-taking. The sun kissed her face gently as she casually flipped her hair back.
Karen almost stopped in her step as she walked into the café. She suddenly realized she was staring at the woman. She checked herself in time and walked to the opposite end of the room. She was trying to calm her heart but she found a flutter she couldn’t simply get rid of. She looked up… she wasn’t trying to steal a glance but she did anyway. She looked up and saw her smiling at her. My god, she is gorgeous. Karen felt a sudden ponging; her heart was beginning to sink. She looked away.
***
Anya was aware of all the eyes peeking at her. She was used to the attention. She had inherited her mother’s beauty. With hazel eyes, olive skin and long, smooth black hair, she had a certain kind of an exotic charm about her. Many men had approached her since morning and she had gracefully told them that she wasn’t interested. Even when she was rejecting them, her eyes melted away the anger rejection brings. She remained a mystery to them.
She was reading her book when she saw a woman enter the café and stop dead in her tracks. From the corner of her eye, she noticed her staring in her direction. And as if suddenly she realized something, the woman walked to the opposite end of the café.
Anya couldn’t help wondering what was going on in that woman’s head. As she stumbled on to a chair and tried desperately not to look up, Anya felt compelled to keep looking at her. She projected a kind of innocent charm, a genuine beauty. She met her gaze for a moment and then just as quickly looked away. A strange sense of confusion and curiosity was building up in Anya’s head when a man walked up to that woman. Where had she seen him before? Suddenly she realized it was the same guy who got drunk last night and was hitting on her. Her face crinkled in response to that memory.
***
Rohan seemed very excited. Childlike in his expression, he grinned ear to ear. Karen looked at him fondly as she realized how much she cared about him.
“Karen, they promoted me! I’m a big shot art director now. Can you believe it?! I’m so damn happy”, he said.
She was truly happy for him. All these years they had been friends and she’d always been by his side. And so had he. She was happy, but something was gnawing at her. Like something bad was about to come.
“You’ve been my best friend for years. I know we never dated but I always thought about it. It’s so easy being with you. I can never be with anyone else like this.” He got down on his knee, and said, ”Karen, sweetheart, will you marry me?”.
She felt like she was crumbling inside. Her head was clear, her heart knew what she wanted and in that knowledge stemmed her misery.
“Yes”, she said. Yes she said.
***
The man bent down on his knee. Anya knew instantly what was happening. She kept looking at the woman, hoping she’d say no. From afar, she could see the woman nodding her head. Yet in that picture, she saw the woman had no happiness a bride-to-be would have. Or maybe it was all my imagination. I read all the signals wrong, she thought.
Anya drank the last of her coffee in dismay. She picked up her book, paid the check and walked out of the room. Many eyes followed her out, but she felt one particular gaze burn into her back. It’s all just my imagination, what I want to think. She shook her head and walked on.
***
Karen murmured something as her fiancé hugged her. She wondered if she could break it off. She thought about it but she knew she lacked strength to do it. It was true she cared about Rohan. She loved him; she was just not in love with him.
No one would understand. No one she knew would support her. Even if she could stand up to everyone in her life, it was illegal now. What was she supposed to do?! In the echo of her shattering heart, she felt stripped of all control in her life. Her dignity as decreed by society, now remained in her silence and misery.
Rohan glanced at the woman on the opposite end as she got up. “Wow, isn’t that woman gorgeous? ”, he exclaimed. Entrapped in his hug, she looked wistfully at the gorgeous woman as she remembered how their eyes had met. She gazed at her longingly while she walked away and replied,
”Yes she is.” Yes, she was.
***
Beauty is not picture-perfect. Forcing beauty into something thought of as appropriate will just result in a flawed reality. Opinions may vary, but ultimately the person who lives it, knows the cost. Maybe, just maybe, we should let them decide what makes them happy.
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