───────── ⋆⋅☆ Jessy

Sunburn café. The newest café opened near our university. Anish and I had agreed to meet to finalise on how we will be going ahead about the contest. I stood there, outside the café, fiddling with my sling bag, questioning myself whether I should go in or not after what I did this morning.

I freaking sneaked a letter and rose on his desk. A train of questions railed my mind. Did he read the letter? Does he want to know who that is? Or worse, did he already find that it was me? Oh God, will I ever get a single day in my entire life where I don't mess up something?

Taking a deep breath, I entered the café. My gaze roamed around to find the particular person and once it did, my legs willingly took steps in that direction. Traitor legs!

He was talking to someone over the phone. As he noticed my arrival, he signed with his hand to wait for a minute and gave an apologetic smile. I nodded as I took the seat opposite to him.

“Bro. Please! Help me find her. I need to know who gave me the letter and the rose. Put your detective skills into use. Why else do you have the skill if not for me? I will buy you your favourite chicken roll,” Anish pleaded.

That was the first time I saw him talking in that tone. Usually he's the type to irradiate a cool vibe. And this was the first time I’m seeing this side of him. Cute.

But, wait. Oh. Oh, shit. Oh my fucking shit. It's about the letter which I had written. He wants to find who it is. No, no freaking way. It can't happen.

I don't know why the heck my palms were sweating. It was as if I had murdered someone and the court was on the verge of approving the witness and putting me behind the bars. I know, it doesn't make sense. Nothing in my life makes sense.

After a minute or so, he hung up the call, turning his attention towards me. It took me an ounce of effort to put on a calm ‘chill girl’ face. And yes, I don't know who put the letter on his desk. Oh hell yeah, I don't even know that he got a letter. Sure.

“Hey! Sorry to keep you waiting. There was just something that I had to settle.” He said, giving a smile.

Oh God. I don't know what he would feel once he knew it was me.

“No worries,” I faltered. It was hard to lie on his face.

“So, tell me, you’re sure, right?” he questioned.

Huh? Sure of what? Sure about my crush on him? I blinked vaguely not getting his question.

“I mean, you’re sure you want to participate in the contest, right? I don't want you to join in on my compulsion.” He stated.

“Ye-” I stammered. “Yeah. I'm sure”

“Cool. So, if you don't mind, can I share my idea for a song?” He asked, rubbing his nape. I concluded that he rubs his nape or the side of his neck whenever he's nervous. Cute.

Focus, Jess!

“Oh. Go ahead,” I said, curious about his idea.

“Umm… So basically, it's about how a boy loves a girl. He’s got a thing for her since their first year in college. But he’s just too shy and timid when it comes to her. So he decided to go write a song for her describing everything that he couldn't say to her directly.” He said in a single go.

I was dumbstruck and didn't know what to reply. The same series of questions ran through my head for the nth time in the last fifteen minutes.

Why does it feel like a male version of my story? Could it be that he already found my crush on him? No way, right?

“Hey. You seem lost somewhere. Are you alright?”

His voice made me come out of my reverie. “Uh. Yeah, I'm fine. I was just thinking about the lyrics,” I said something, convincing him and myself that I was alright.

“So, is it good?” he asked, looking at me with hope.

“Of course. It is. I’ll start working on it soon.” I said.

“Cool. What would you like to have? I heard that croissants here are pretty good.” He said, passing the menu to me.

“Sure. Anything is fine with me.” I replied.

He called the waiter as he ordered a croissant and two cappuccinos after asking my preference in drinks.

“So, how's life treating you lately?” He asked to avoid the silence between us.

“Umm… not bad I guess. It's just practice, classes, and rest. As you know the sports fest is almost near, it has been quite hectic.” I sighed.

“Oh. You don't have to start working on the song immediately. Take your time. We have three more months.” He assured me.

I gave him a little nod. “What about you?”

“Nothing much. Just some academic stress and on top of that my roomie is planning to move out. He’s looking for some apartments nearby. Something happened between him and my other roomie. So, he wants to move out ASAP.” He stated as the croissants and cappuccino arrived.

I simply nodded.

“Oh, yes. And another interesting thing happened today. Someone wrote me a love letter.” He stated, grabbing a bite on his croissant.

I almost spit out the cappuccino when he said that. Shit.

“When I went to my class this morning, I found a letter and a rose on my desk. It's nice to know that there exists someone who admires me because it's always the other way round.” He said, locking his gaze with me as though he wanted me to understand something more in his words.

It took me an ounce of self control to not fall for his eyes anymore and break the staring competition. I looked everywhere but him.

“Yeah. It's nice to have someone admire you,” I said. A bittersweet taste erupted on my tongue and I’m not very sure whether it was because of the drink or the fact that he just said that there exists someone whom he admires.

🌹💌🍫♥️