❝it's okay, we're the
best of friends.❞
JUN 24,
one month and twenty-five
days after the funeral.
THE
next few days had been nothing but torture for jude, who had endured every physical contact with nisha almost as a punishment. it wasn't the girl's fault, it was his. yet, every time she smiled, laughed, twirled her hair, woke up in the morning looking adorable —every time she was just a little too beautiful for him to handle— jude would want to yell at her to stop, to think just for a few seconds of his heart beating far too fast.
it was their last night in ibiza and although jude still felt a pinch to the heart, a part of him remembered the weight he would be relieved of on his first night without the young woman by his side. it wasn't the relief of not seeing her anymore, no, just of finally having a normal heartbeat and being able to concentrate for more than a few minutes without being distracted by the perfection that was nisha.
the perfection she was showing right now after ordering two italian ice creams for their last time at the beach, knowing it was jude's favorite flavour. after all, they were best friends, and best friends knew this kind of thing about each other.
sitting down on the warm sand, the two young adults bumped their two ice creams together to test the first taste —a ritual that lasted since their early childhood. a melodious sound came from between the lips of the girl who seemed to enjoy the taste of her snack with a smile that made jude giggle.
"i'm going to miss it here, it was so nice," nisha breathed with an adorable pout that jude looked at with far too much emphasis despite himself, "thank you for bringing me here," she turned to him and the rays reflected glitteringly in her pupils.
"thank you for coming," jude replied and she smiled tenderly at him in silent words filled with gratitude, "we'll do this again next summer, i promise," he held out his pinky and with a laugh, nisha caught it before sealing it vigorously, a small pout still present on her lips.
"a year is a long time," a pall of sadness found its way over her piercing gaze to the sea and a wave of panic rose around them, especially on jude's side who hated to see his best friend stray from her happiness to sadness.
"we'll make it go by quickly," and jude gave her a wide smile that immediately revived her own, which had been unfortunate to be extinguished. but biting her cheek, the corners of her mouth fell back quickly as nisha thought about his departure for dortmund, which was getting much too close to them, faster than she could have imagined.
summer was as much a curse as a blessing for the girl since her best friend had climbed the international football ladder. on the one hand, it was the most time in the year she could spend in his company thanks to the holidays. she also loved the fact that he was freer than during the rest of the year in terms of his strict diet, allowing them to enjoy their italian ice cream on a beach together.
on the other hand, at some point, the boy was torn away from the young woman without any say in the matter, his duties as a professional footballer calling him back. although she tried to put it into perspective, seeing him leave for another country still hurt, especially this year. with the loss of her father, jude had been like an anchor to hold on to when everything went wrong, therefore, it was almost impossible to imagine herself without him to face all the obstacles of her grief.
