Chapter 3: Unrequited Love

Max's favorite time of the day is evening. He likes to walk around the neighborhood at that time. Sometimes he would visit the local library and read some stuff. He really enjoys his evenings. But he never really liked afternoons. Afternoons make him restless. He hates the silence during this time. This afternoon today is lazier than ever. He's lying on his bed like there's no soul in his body. Something doesn't feel right. He opens his laptop and checks his social media. He found nothing new. He got 10 new followers on Instagram though. Well, that's something.

He takes his earphones and leaves the room. He's going for a walk. That's what he does when he's bored and has nothing to do. He's wearing three-quarter pants and a grey T-shirt and listening to his favorite songs. That's the thing about Max. When he's listening to music everything else fades away. He would close his eyes and fantasize about being in love with a celebrity and doing romantic things with him. Sometimes he would end up smiling out of nowhere like an idiot. He does that most of the time. When he's being like that everyone else around thinks he's in love. He doesn't care about what other people are going to think. The only thing that matters is that he needs to feel the music. He doesn't know where he is now where he's going to go. But he ends up finding himself in the children's park. Seeing this park empty makes him sad. When he was a kid this place was full of laughing children and their parents. He spent most of his time of the day playing here with other kids. He was looking at the empty playground when someone pulled out his earplugs.

"What the..." He was about to yell at the person who did it but suddenly his eyes widened.

"Riya!" He was surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"What do you mean? I used to live here, remember?"

"I know! How long has it been? 8 years?"

"Yup. 8 years. God! I missed this place"

"I missed you!"

"I missed you too!"

Both were so happy to see each other.

"Tell me how's New York? Found yourself a boyfriend yet? Oh, I forgot. Who would want to date you?" Max teased.

"Huh! You were the one who used to beg me to be your girlfriend, remember? And now you've got the guts to ask me that?"

"That was before. Now my brain works fine. By the way, you gonna stay here for a while?" Max couldn't help but ask.

"Probably. Tell me how's life at the BNU? I saw your post on Instagram. You really going to Thailand, huh?"

"Life's good. And yes. I'm leaving in a few days"

"Oh! Oh" Max exclaimed

"What's the breaking news? Tell me?"

Riya is excited to know. Whenever Max used to say "oh-oh" he would always give some exciting news. Riya knew this news would be interesting as well. Eight years yet both haven't changed.

"You remember Rohan?" Max asked

"That silent kid? Yes. why?"

"He's not silent anymore plus he's got a girlfriend!"

***

Since Max is leaving soon Riya wanted to catch up with him and also she wanted to meet Rohan and his girlfriend. Rohan, Max, Riya were really close to each other. But somehow things changed when Riya went to the US. Riya invited all three for dinner tonight. When Max told her that Rohan has a girlfriend, it was hard for her to believe. Max might know all about Riya but there's one thing he doesn't know. In her heart she always wanted Rohan. She liked that he didn't talk much that he's a good listener. He'd always be with you when you need him. Riya found all the qualities she wanted in an ideal boyfriend in Rohan. Knowing about his relationship with Nadia made her happy and sad at the same time. All three met at Riya's place. Riya's parents were still in New York. Riya had visited her home town to sell the property her parents left here. Once all things are done they'd never return.

"Well, well, well," Riya said "Rohan with a girlfriend. Who would have thought, right?"

She may look normal from the outside but deep within her heart is weeping. She wishes she had told Rohan about her feelings when she had the chance.

Listening to Riya, both Nadia & Rohan's face turned red.

"All credit goes to me. If it weren't for me he'd still stay single"

Riya badly wanted to know how they ended up together so Max started to tell the entire story. He didn't even miss a single detail. He said every word with proud. In her mind, she cursed Max several times. Why did you have to do all that you idiot!? If you hadn't done anything I still had a chance! of course, she couldn't let anyone know about what she feels so finally she says,

" you both look so cute together"

in her mind, she thinks What does she have that I don't? Then  she adds

"You know,Nadia. When we were kids Rohan spent most of his time with us. But he didn't talk at all. When I first met him I thought he didn't speak"

And just like that, she started telling how they were as kids to Nadia. Nadia was surprised to know all that. Riya drank coke and turned to Max,

"what about you?" She asked, "when will you have a girlfriend?"

"I'd date you but you're not really my type" he teased. Riya slapped his hands real hard this time.

"Get lost you," she says.

"So you'll stay alone in here?" Nadia asked

"Well, my job here is done. I'll leave tomorrow so there's no problem" Roya replied.

Actually, her job here was done this morning and she was about to fly to New York if she hadn't met Max. The reason why she invited all of them tonight was to see how Rohan was doing.

"Tomorrow? But you said you're gonna stay for a while"

"No, Max. I said "probably". My flight's tomorrow night. I'll have to take the bus to the airport. Do you guys want to drop me off at the airport? I'll hire a car for us"

Everyone nodded.

After the fine dining with her close people, Riya felt restless. She kept thinking about Rohan and Nadia. There are things she still regrets. But she didn't have any choice. She knew she'd go abroad eventually so even if she confessed and Rohan accepted, things wouldn't be easy. Tomorrow is the last time she's ever going to see his face again so she intentionally asked everyone to drop her off at the airport. But she was happy for Rohan. She really was. Rohan is a nice guy and Nadia is also nice. I shouldn't worry about it so much. I'll find someone new Soon.

It takes an hour to reach the airport. And all along the way, all four didn't stay quiet. There was pop music playing very loud. Before meeting Max and Rohan, Nadia didn't like this kind of music but Max insisted she should give it a try so he gave her his music collection, and eventually she fell in love with the genre. It's ok to say all four have the same taste in music. Since Riya was going to the US, Max put "Party in the USA" by Miley Cyrus. They all knew the lyrics so they all sung the song at the top of their lungs. Max played all the hit songs of the '90s and 2000s. This short trip to the airport was sure fun.

Closing the car door Riya says,

"This is it"

And then she sighs dramatically.

"I'm going to miss all of you so badly. You too,Nadia"

she says and mimics fake crying.

"Call me some time ok?"

Max sighs dramatically as well.

"What's up with you? I'm the one who's leaving. Stop trying to steal my spotlight" she says.

"Well, I'm gonna be you in few days," Max says "I'll say the same things to these two too"

Riya smiles at this. "What about your mom? You think she's gonna be ok?"

"I have no idea what she'll do. Let's just hope she doesn't start crying"

Max laughs while saying so. Inside, he knows his mom's gonna cry and he'll cry as well

Riya hugged everyone and took the last photo with them. She kept staring at it.

"This one's come out great" she breathes "I'm gonna keep it forever with me"

she says the last goodbye to them and goes inside the Airport. As she walks past the big doors and the scanners, tears start to fall on her cheek. She smiles to hide the true emotions. Finally, she stops and wipes off the tears, and looks back. Three people are smiling ear to ear and waving her goodbye. She waves at them back and her body disappears in the crowd of people waiting to land at their destination. Max is just about to cry when Nadia teases.

"awwwww, Max is going to cry"

"Shut up. I'm not" he says.

If she hadn't said so he really would have. No matter how grown a person becomes it's still hard for them to control their emotions. After all, you don't control your emotions, they control you. For a guy who cries over movies and series, it is actually as hard as climbing a mountain to stop himself from crying. Max always tries to avoid movies and shows with sad endings, but he can't convince himself to not watching them. In the end, he would watch them and would end up crying like a little baby.

It doesn't really matter if the movie didn't have a sad ending because he would cry even if they had happy endings. Anyone would think that he's crying because the actors didn't end up together somehow or someone died in the movie but the real reason why he cries is because he doesn't like endings. Be it a movie or a book. If it's actually good then it hurts, even more, when it's come to an end.