Lights of Love IV

Present day…

Arya was enjoying a cup of coffee while sitting in the café next to his school. He watched the traffic go by outside and could hear people talking and the coffee boiling in the background. He was completely unaware of everything around him due to his mental silence. From minor details like the woman trying to hold hands with the man in front of him but the other man completely ignoring her to more significant ones like the two car drivers who were continuously honking at the traffic, all of his focus was directed at the person who had called him there. In the café, Dev looked for Arya.

“Hey!" Dev sat in front of him and said, "Arya, it's been a while."

Arya set his cup down and said, "Yes, umm...What happened, why did you call me here?"

"It's about Jessica," said Dev as he placed his hands on the table with his fingers clenched and smile fading.

4 years ago…

While still fretting unnecessarily about Dev asking him if he liked Jessica, Arya's phone rang as he was looking up at his ceiling. She was on the phone when he looked at it. After taking a long, deep breath, his hands raised the phone gradually as he answered it, "Hello!”

"Arya, happy birthday!" Jessica exclaimed in a joyful tone. When Arya removed the phone from his ear, the time read 12:06 AM on December 30. Although he did not particularly enjoy his birthday, receiving a call from Jessica was already the greatest thing that had happened to him that day. He had entirely forgotten about it. "Thank you, Jessica!" he gently said as he gradually reclaimed his smile.

“I guess this is the first time I am wishing you your birthday right?” inquired Jessica

“Yes…but…”

There was a little pause in their chat after Jessica stated, "I know you don't like to celebrate this day. It's your birthday and I just wanted to acknowledge it."

"Should we meet the following day again? Like....It was interrupted" questioned Arya hesitantly.

"After the fireworks, we didn't have time to finish our talk" Jessica said as she started coughing suddenly

“Are you okay?” asked Arya

“Yes I am”

Once again smiling, Arya said, "Okay, let's meet tomorrow at Royal Gardens."

Arya put all of his anxieties behind him and dozed off happily, wondering about how wonderful it would be to wake up and see Jessica on his special day. “I am sure I’ll tell her and it’s tomorrow” and he closed his eyes.

Arya received an email notice the following morning, but he ignored it and went to the restroom to get dressed. He brushed his teeth, had a shower, and then joined his family for breakfast while beaming with joy. He was already quite eager to start enjoying his day. And that's when he saw his mail. It briefly caused him to pause. He got a mail from Birmingham City University informing him that he had been chosen for the semester exchange program and would now have the chance to study abroad in England for a semester. He was already joyful, but this made him even happier. He considered telling Jessica about this excellent news after he confesses to her.

Present day…

"Why is Jessica now?"  inquired Arya

Dev's eyes were wide open as he asked, "Why? Why are you behaving strangely, like ever since that day?"

Arya regarded Dev."  What are you saying?"

"Where did you go when you asked her to come to the gardens?," Dev asked almost out of his mind. " What kept you from returning?" He cried, "No touch, no trace of you anywhere for 4 long years."

Arya initially became concerned but eventually found composure. "I came but I saw something different there," he said.

4 years ago…

As he left his house and was waiting for a cab, he received a call from Dev. He gave the call some thought before ignoring it. Dev contacted him three more times after he hung up the phone, but Arya had his phone on silent so he didn't hear him.

He inhaled deeply and entered the gardens in search of her when Arya arrived there. He could see flowers blooming, birds flying around, and people strolling through the garden as the children played across the field because the sky were clear and it was a pleasantly sunny day. Arya already felt compelled to act however he believed to because to the atmosphere.

Arya noticed Jessica when he peered around him, but she wasn't by herself. Dev was accompanying her. He observed them both conversing with one another in what appeared to be an argument. He stood there for a while since he was interested in what they were talking about. When Jessica started crying, he noticed Dev trying to comfort her and he walked gently over to grab her hands. She soon appeared to relax and crack a smile. Arya was confused by what he had just witnessed. He observed Dev and Jessica leaving the scene smiling as Arya's eyes began to well up with tears. He could only react to what he saw. He lacked the guts to approach someone to talk to. “They both are back again” he thought and left the garden without even meeting her.

He returned home, unable to even cry at what he had seen. He no longer trusted her, despite the fact that she was still her friend at the time. He had no idea Dev and Jessica would reconcile. He was unable to discuss it with anyone, let alone Jessica. He wanted to get rid of it, but he chose not to, which made the situation worse. Following this, he was unable to view Jessica as her friend as well; instead, he appeared to be utterly envious of Dev and filled with hatred at Jessica for reconciling with that man.

He stopped returning her calls and texts, and he ignored her calls. Later that evening, he flew to England to concentrate on his research at the college of his dreams. He attempted to put Jessica behind him and concentrate only on his passion at this point. He witnessed the fireworks from all across the sky as the jet took off on new year's eve. This time, the lights caused him regrets, sorrow, and uncertainty that lit up the area all around him. He could perceive these as the lights of anguish.

Present day…

"Dev, it's all in the past" Arya Mentioned

Dev sat back down and regarded Arya with sympathy as he asked, "What..? You are really naïve. oh god!"

Arya asked Dev, "Why?  I understand your point of view. I'm not prepared to pay attention to any of the justifications. We have matured, and I believe we can move on."

"She liked you, that's what happened that day," Dev said as he turned to face Arya. " On that day, she was there for you."

“What are you saying? I clearly saw it, you both were so close, smiling and you two just left after that. How could I even meet after I saw that?” said Arya as he was confused

“No! You are not getting it. You are always good at assumptions, right? You think you can see the situation and judge it, so smart of you. Wow!” Dev yelled “Arya, listen when will you ever go learn to talk, that day if you have come to talk to us, no matter what you saw. It would be completely different now”

4 years ago…

Jessica was about to turn in for the night after wishing Arya when she received a call from Dev.

“Hello!”

“Hey! Jessica. Umm…what you up to?” asked Dev

Jessica took a pause, “What? I am not in the mood to talk right now”

“No, wait! I get it you didn’t like me coming today and interrupting you both but I just wanted to talk something” said Dev

“What now? Like… what is even left to” asked Jessica

“I know… I messed up things but I don’t think you should do this. Like, I have changed so much since then. I was immature, seeking attention from people but now…I feel all I have missed is you” said Dev

“Cut this emotional crap, Dev! I don’t even want to listen to your explanations, please” yelled Jessica

“What do you want then? Like… why can’t we settle our thing first” asked Dev

“because….” Jessica stopped

“because what?”

Jessica said, “I like Arya. Despite my best efforts, I've been wanting to tell him for a year, and yesterday, as I was ready to, you interrupted. Please don't meddle in my life once more since tomorrow is the day I am sure I’ll tell him” and she cut the call

The following day, Jessica met Arya at the Royal Gardens. That day, she was prepared to meet him. Jessica turned back assuming it was Arya when she felt a hand slowly approach her on her shoulder. Dev, it was.

“Why…? What are you doing here now? Again want to ruin another day of mine?” asked Jessica as she walked away from him

“Listen, I understand what you told me yesterday. You like don’t you?” asked Dev

“Yes”

Dev took a step ahead, “I am here to help you. I thought about it all night and I think I should stop wasting my time but be useful to your life once again. I want you both to be together now”

Listening to this Jessica started crying, “Thanks for understanding”

Dev approached her and held her hands, “Don’t worry it’s going to be okay, now go wash your face before he comes. This doesn’t look good”

Present day…

“That’s what happened that day,” said Dev

Arya stood up from his chair, “Let’s go for a walk, maybe”

They both walked towards the river, the clouds were still covering the night's moon.

“She continued to phone and text you after that. You didn't answer. You didn't even let us know you moved to England; no response. We expected you to at least reply when you return. She continued to wait for you. She eventually moved on from it and began pursuing her interest in photography, though it didn't seem that way at the time. She appeared to be cheerful, but she had changed during the previous four years. Despite the fact that I knew she could never be mine again, I was with her constantly thanks to this arrangement. I searched for you for a while before finding you on Instagram. Then I discovered that you had changed, were living the life of your dreams, and had completely forgotten about Jessica. She was there, happily living her dream life, but she was by herself and she really missed you. She often attempted to speak to you, but you were never prepared, so she gave up.” Dev narrated “Then, a week ago, she travelled to Kerala for client work and...her boat drowned in the river” and she started crying

Arya stood there staring at the clouds, “I am so…. ashamed of myself today”

Dev looked at him, “Why Arya? You never talked to her, I mean in these 4 years you never felt like asking her everything. Like… talking can solve complicated wars but this is just a small misunderstanding which you couldn’t acknowledge till the day she just left us”

Slowly beginning to cry was Arya. He cried out louder and screamed while he was on his knees. He spent all of his efforts lamenting his choices and the problems he had to deal with over those four years. He had the opportunity to question, discuss, and resolve the issue, but his insecurities caused him to lose Jessica. He would make things right for her and set things right before he never saw her again. He will never be able to listen to her confess her love to him or express his love to her again. Now everything came to an end. There is no turning around. As he sobbed, Jessica's face appeared in front of his eyes as he visualized all the sorrow she endured before passing away without ever being able to rid herself of it.

If the source is not always willing to burn brighter, the lights of love will never blaze brightly. When there is no end to receive the light, no eye to capture its brightness, and nothing to witness, there is no light. Arya made an effort to improve himself and get over all of his insecurities. Dev and Arya never spoke again, although Arya thanked him before he departed for England once again for being by her side constantly.

The End