The life of a withering flower [COMPLETED ✔️]

Chapter 4

"Oye.... Wait up", I heard her call me. I turned around to face her. "What?", I asked, cold faced.
"Should we go in?", she asked pointing to the left side of the road which had a cafe.
"Go in and ?", I cocked my right brow as I asked her.
"Be happy", she answered showing her all 32 teeth in full view.
"Sorry... I am out", I said refusing.
"Oye... I am dying, literally... Don't you want to have memories with a person who is about to die?", she said dramatically clasping her hands together and putting on her puppy eyes.
"So you want me to help a dying cow make memories?"

"I am not a dying cow"

"Anyways, in that case, I might help"

"Couldn't you use any other metaphor like pretty withering flower?", she said with her sparkling eyes.

"You coming or not?"

"Wait up"
...
We sat up by the window. "The cheesecake here is one of the best ones in the city", she chimed.
But as she enjoyed herself, I had something troubling my insides.
"Why are you doing something casual rather than going around to find a beautiful place to die?", I asked.

She fell quiet but the smile refused to go away from her face.

"What good would it do to die in a place to which I am foreign to? I mean it can be the most beautiful place in the world, but this is a place full of memories. Even in my last days, I want to live normally. If I didn't have to die, if I weren't too certain to die, I might have come here with someone and have had a normal cheesecake, even if it meant I would be dead the next moment. Life is full of uncertainties. That's why, I want to enjoy it as it is", she said taking a dig into her cheesecake.
Surely, she had a thing for life.

"Then, why wouldn't you come here with your friends? Why did you choose me?", I asked digging into my cheese cake.

"Well... This is something I can't answer. It is only that... I found you more interesting than them", she smiled.

It can't be.

She is lying.

I am not interesting.

"What about you? Why don't you have friends?", she asked me breaking the chain of thoughts I built.
"Because I have an idea of what each one of them thinks of me", I answered taking a sip of my black coffee.

"Means?", she pressed on.

"Every relationship I have had starts and ends in my head", I said closing my eyes.

"Seeing everyone around me, I can understand what they think of me. You can call it a sort if mind reading.", I explained.

"Then what do you think I think of you?", she asked.

"Maybe a boring classmate who is hanging out with you in your last days", I estimated.

Her lips curled up.

"Well... It's close enough. But, I said already, didn't I? I hang around with you because... You are interesting", she smiled wide as she faced me.

Is she sympathizing me?

I don't like pitying eyes.

"On the other hand, you precisely think I am a clingy person, don't you?", she asked with a blank expression.
Before I could say anything, she said, "it's because... It has been difficult for me to let go"

Is it true?

Then how come is she so calm about dying?

"Where should we go next?", she asked, taking out her purse for paying bill.

Well, I don't want to seem like a gentleman here.

"You are dying, so you decide", I answered.

"Is it only me? Aren't you dying, too?", she asked.

I looked at her.

She averted her gazes.

Yes. I am dying, too. Because, thoughts kill... And I have been overthinking. Every person in this world is dying without expressing how much deadly it is getting. He just keeps walking ahead. With a sore soul.

"Ah, look there", she said pointing to a bunch of puppies.

"Aww... They are so cute", she said in pleasure.

I looked at her expressions. I rather, observed her.

Her expressions were rather, honest... In-and-out.

"I guess... I have left overs from my lunch", she said taking her tiffin box out.

She digged out a pair of sandwich as she laid it out for the pups.

She looked contented and happy.

Why does it seem all of a sudden, that I know her?

She stroked the pups and let them lick her face.

She was happy. They were happy.
What does it take to make a person smile? To keep up with the expectations he puts on me, right? That's what I think.

"Listen", I called out once she stood up to leave, " Why does it seem like I know you all of a sudden?"
She blinked at me for a few seconds. It is one of the dumbest question I have asked.

"You don't remember at all, do you?", she looked kind of disappointed.

"What do you mean by 'I don't remember'? ", I asked.

"I wish you got along with my older sister, Kavya", she said turning back.

Kavya.

Kavya.

Kavya.

Shit.

"You are... ", I trailed off. She looked at me and gave me one of her smiles.
"Your brother and my sister broke up.. So you don't need to worry, now", she said and walked ahead.
How did she remember me?

We had met once in our lives. It was when Bhaiya and Kavya didi threw a party. For some reasons, I didn't quite like her. I decided to go since I had no better thing to do. Turned out, Kavya had brought her younger sister with her.

She was not half as acknowledgeable as she is now.

She was a shy personality, then.

The whites in her eyes, so plain that they looked like oceans and the brown pupils looked like, the only island in the oceans. Long, smooth hair and forced, unnatural smiles.
She was one of the most unforgettable people of my life... Yet, why did I forget her?

That's right, after things took a turn, I had lost the power to acknowledge everything that I had gathered. I was afraid of turning towards my memory. I had turned into a coward.
I was all but someone like, her.

// It is truly saddening to bear the loss of yet another soul this year. I don't even have words to express rn... He left us too soon... You are already missed Sushant Singh Rajput... We all love you.. 😢😢//