invisible string ✓

two

• ISHAAN •

Her baby-like face looked as if it was dipped in a ray of sunlight, complimenting effortlessly with her lemon yellow kurti. The lotus pink lips of hers looked as though it was a painting finished with thick honey. She flipped her short hair behind and adjusted her black-rimmed spectacles while smiling like a doll does.

“Hello, all! So, my unpopular opinion is related to You Belong With Me. I guess, everyone knows it, so that I won't be guilty of the crime of dropping spoilers.”

The other people, sitting in a circle along with her, nodded a yes in unison.

“Haha, that's great! Unlike other people I have come across, including my best friend, I highly believe that Maahi Sharma is a big red flag.”

Though the room fell to total silence, cryptic whispers were heard from the rest of the people.

“I mean it. We all have witnessed that in the initial stage, she romanticised Enzo as her soulmate. Then, as she was dating Ishaan, she made herself believe that she was truly in love with him. But then, she left him high and dry, and left for India to marry her family friend. And? She blocked his contacts, so that he would never be able to reach her and convince her.

Fine. Let us assume that Ishaan was her endgame and her soulmate. We all grew up believing that the power of love is the greatest of all time. It was believed that love can make anyone into anything who they are not. If she was very sure about being with him till the end of her life, she would have fought against her parents to get with him. No matter what happens.

But, instead, she surrendered to fate like a coward and was ready to marry that Indian guy. Why? She wanted a risk-free commitment, which is something nobody would wish to see in their life partner.

Life is all about taking risks over anything and everything. And, love? It is where we all need to take risks. After all, it is about someone with whom you're spending the rest of your lifetime, voluntarily.

So, according to my point of view, one of the important tropes of Ishaan and Maahi is Green Flag X Red Flag, where the red flag is, of course, Maahi.”

***

I opened my eyes with a startle as I realised that I was dreaming of a random (cute) stranger discussing about my fucked-up love story amidst a group of other strangers.

It was when I realised that she had given me delusions, along with many others like depression, anxiety, loss of sleeping cycle, and more.

I sat upright from my gymnastic position and looked at the most cursed person's face: Me. And yeah, I looked like someone who I claim to be lately, with a two-months-old beard, hundred-days-old moustache, three-months-old dark circles below my eyes, and my messy hair that resembled an amalgamation of plastic coil springs.

Throwing off my bedspread that was the representation of my life recently, I strolled to my toilet to do the duties Nature had forced me to do.

The moment I stepped out of the restroom in my velvet blue bathrobe synchronised with the sound of my ringtone Maahi had customised for me. I walked comparatively faster than I always do and carried my mobile as if it was my baby, only to build the urge to break it into pieces.

Yet, I found myself answering the call like an automated machine.

“Yes, I'm successfully alive today as well,” I informed Ved, the bastard of my life, who always calls at the same time to check whether I was alive.