The Flower You Didn't See | Mystery

Chapter 17

Ruby needed Lee at first. To find a way in, and to gel with the group. Now that she had almost completely mixed in well with the other two, she didn't need Lee anymore. The fact that Lee was just an egoistic masochist nut job, must have also helped Ruby take her decision to get rid of him.

May Flower was always involved in holding major events to attract crowd. They would hold competitions and games like a bake sale, beauty pageant for men and women from all universities across the whole country, puppy parades, cultural fests, sport sports events and so on. A major portion of collections from such events went to charity.

One such event was the annual surf festival that was to be held the very next week. The nearest beach was a small one, but during the festival all surf enthusiasts would gather and spend three days and two nights. It was targeted mainly on the tourists who lived in the country. They would come carrying their surf board. On top of enjoying the sport, they also enjoyed having an audience who would watch them in awe.

There would be live music, dance, variety of food, countless number of contests and lots of games. Lee was always open to chilling and he didnt need much convincing. It was Ruby that Sara found was difficult to convince. But once she told her about the live performances, obvious weakness, Ruby had agreed. The girls had discussed and decided all plan, went on a massive shopping spree, good enough to last three days and stuffed everything into their bags.

The four set off around five in the evening to the beach. They wanted the hot sun to make way to a rather cooler weather, but also watch the beautiful sunset. Five seemed like an apt time.

This time again, Lee drove. Laksh shared the backseat with Ruby. Throughout the ride, the two girls made jokes and clicked selfies. Sara was glad that someone was keeping Laksh distracted, and away from her. On the other hand, it was clear that Lee didn't like back seat commotion, even one bit.

After parking the car, Lee began unloading the luggage. That's when he noticed the extra guitar. When Ruby came to get her bag, he began his quesioning.

"You brought your guitar?" Lee asked her. "Yeah. I can see that you did too," answered Ruby.

"I plan to perform," said Lee, his voice rising again.

Ruby sighed and almost pleaded, "Lee, I just want to enjoy this weekend without any drama. We all are. Please don't ruin it for us."

Her voice really was tired. She took her luggage and dragged it behind her as she walked away.

The breeze from the sea was quite strong that day. Their hair disturbed their face and the fabric of their dress clung to their body on one side and fluttered away from the sea on the other, as their feet dragged through the fast cooling sand.

Ruby and Laksh walked ahead, while Sara and Lee followed from behind. Sara thought of the last time they were at the beach. She remembered how sure she was that the two won't last. She sniggered.

Walking ahead, Ruby laughed at something Laksh had said.

"I want to smack her head," said Lee.

"Are you going to resort to violence now?" asked Sara. Lee ignored her and said, "I hate even seeing her face. I don't understand why she needs to stay in our group. Let's just kick her out."

Sara sighed. She fixed a long strand of hair that fluttered onto her beautiful face, and said, "She fought her way in. She is smart and she has proven it. And about what happened between you too, well... Can you blame her? She was dating you!"