"Geez, I'm so excited for this trip Rish !" Kiara squealed while placing her head on her fiancé's shoulder. "Our first trip after our engagement !"

Rishaan, her boyfriend of over a year and fiancé of one month, smiled in response and intertwined his hand with hers. 
The two of them were presently seated in the waiting area of the Mumbai Airport, awaiting the announcement of their flight to Goa, where they were to spend the New Year holidays.

"Babes don't forget that I'll also be there," chirped a new voice from beside Kiara ," and my innocent eyes wish not to witness your PDA."

"Oh c'mon Diya! You and innocent? In my dreams," Kiara said rolling her eyes. Diya, the mature girl she is, stuck her tongue out at her bestie.

"You two can continue this later on, let's board the plane for now," Rishaan said.

The girls nodded excitedly and the three of them boarded the flight, with Diya occupying the window seat and Rishaan the one to the aisle. Kiara rested her head on Rishaan's shoulder and closed her eyes, taking a nap while the other two opted for some in-flight entertainment.

In the middle of the flight, Kiara woke up to go to the washroom. When she returned, she was too lazy to push her way into the middle seat. And with Rishaan readily offering to shift seats, the seating arrangement changed. With 20 minutes still remaining for the flight to land, a sleep starved Kiara took another power nap, this time holding Rishaan's right hand more firmly. Rishaan's other hand, though, nervously moved to touch Diya's. Her heart skipped a beat. Diya pulled her hand away. But a defiant Rishaan held her wrist again, this time firmly and more reassuringly. The changing behavioural dynamics between the three perhaps gave a foreboding of what was to come in Goa.

When the flight landed at the Dabolim Airport, Rishaan felt uncanny.......his excitement seemed replaced by an unknown fear that he found very difficult to decipher.

The trip to their hotel in Colva wasn't a silent one, with the girls chatting incessantly about anything and everything. Rishaan kept quiet through most of the ride, keenly noticing the way Diya's lips moved as she talked and giggled, reminding him of his last trip to Goa. With Diya.

"Rishu look there! You see that small island? That'll be our secret abode, away from this world. It's so beautiful!" Diya exclaimed, pointing her forefinger in a vague direction.

"Where Diyu? The only beautiful thing I can see is standing beside me," Rishaan said kissing his girlfriend's cheek.

"Stop flirting Rishaan! The college authorities are just here, we'll  be reprimanded," Diya said nervously.

"I don't care about anything till you are with me, Diya. And I mean it," Rishaan said kissing her knuckles.

"Rishaan! Come here and have fun instead of just sitting there!" Kiara shouted pulling him into the water with her, breaking his reverie.

He sighed and glanced a look at Diya, thinking of the time spent with her ten years back, at their annual college trip.

The time when he and Diya were best friends.

The time when he and Diya were together.

The time when he and Diya were inseparable.

The time when none of them knew Kiara.

He had stayed away from Goa all these years. It reminded him of Diya, the girl whom he had to leave for his further studies in the USA, and after whom he never dated anyone.
But two years ago, he met Kiara, and fell for her bohemian ways. A year ago, they entered in a relationship and a month ago, got engaged officially. It was then Rishaan realised that the Diya Kiara always talked about was his Diyu.

Diya was disturbed emotionally. She knew the Rishaan her best friend was getting engaged to was her Rishu, the one she loves madly till date. But she didn't dare tell Kiara about it. The best friend she found in Kiara after Rishaan's departure stopped her from doing so. Kiara was genuinely happy after a long time, after the many failed relationships she had encountered, and Diya wasn't so cruel to snatch this happiness from her.

Kiara was more than happy seeing Rishaan and Diya get along so well. After all, which girl doesn't wish her fiancé and best friend to be cordial with each other? She had been a carefree girl before meeting Rishaan, which changed for the better after getting into a relationship with him. For her, Rishaan was perfect even with his flaws. But she couldn't deny that he had behaving detached from her since the last few days.

In the two days spent in Goa, Rishaan did everything to be close to Diya, almost ignoring Kiara most of the times.
Kiara used to sense something amiss but used to ignore it. She once noticed how Rishaan held Diya's hand, which was in no way casual.
She'd be lying if she said that she wasn't jealous of the close proximity between them. But she always had a surety that Diya won't do this to her. She trusted the two of them very much, probably more than herself.

One day, she got a call from her workplace, stating that she had to accompany a colleague for capturing the picturesque locations around Goa. Being a journalist wasn't easy, especially with the untimely demands of your department head.
Sighing, she informed Rishaan and Diya of the same and left the hotel. They weren't delighted to hear that, which gave her some hope.

In the evening, as Diya was relaxing on the beach, she received a short message.
                              Meet me at our place.
                             ~Rishu
She looked around, trying to find him in the crowd of tourists.  She wasn't too happy with the advances he had been making towards her, though her heart swelled each time he did that. Contemplating for a while, she finally decided to meet him, and clear it once for all.

Leaving the shack, she made her way towards their place, a hilltop on the beach which overlooked the entire area. The hilltop was beautiful too, with some tall coconut trees swaying in harmony with the sound of waves crashing the rocks.
Carefully, she reached the place, looking around to find Rishaan, when he appeared from behind her. Taking her in his embrace from behind, he rested his head near her neck, placing a small kiss on her nape. " So finally we are together," he mumbled snuggling closer to her.

Diya squirmed under his touch and tried to get out of his strong hold. "Leave me Rishaan. What are you doing!"

"I'm doing what is right and is supposed to be," he replied raising his head.

"This is wrong Rishaan. You're engaged to be married, that too to my best friend!" She said dishearteningly. She had accepted that fact, but it hurt to actually admit it loudly.

"But does this feel wrong?" He asked caressing her face.
"Or this?" He placed butterfly kisses all over her.
"Or this?" He said before capturing her lips into a tantalizing kiss. He kissed her with full vigour, his one hand on her neck and the other one caressing her cheek. She didn't respond at first, too shocked to react. But then, she lost herself in him, and found her hands in his hair, pulling them in pleasure. What started as a slow, demanding kiss turned into a passionate one.
Under the view of a breathtaking sunset, they had the kiss they'd longed for all these years.

Slowly, they pulled away, still in each other's embrace. Rishaan kissed her forehead and said," Diya, this isn't wrong....I love you. I regret that we had to end our relationship due to me, but it's never late. We can always start again, exactly the way we were before." He looked at the tear-stricken face of Diya and wiped the fresh ones which were flowing uncontrollably.

"No, no we can't....we can't start again," Diya shouted before running away from there. She couldn't imagine being the cause of Kiara's emotionally disturbed state.
Rishaan went behind her and tried to stop her, all in vain. He cursed at the way things were taking place, running a hand through his messed hair.

But he wasn't the only one there to be heartbroken. There was someone else too, who had silently watched the exchange of words between them. She had gone there for her project, but little did she know that she would witness another heartbreak, another traumatising incident.
Kiara had witnessed the whole scene which took place between Diya and Rishaan. The place she regarded as the most beautiful location in Goa, turned the site of her betrayal.

"Hey! Why are you crying?" Her colleague, Jai, asked her.

"Umm..nothing, let's go back," she replied in her cheery voice, wiping the tears which had made their way down.

Jai gave her a nod before accompanying her to her hotel.

Kiara made her way towards her and Rishaan's room, the incident from earlier constantly playing in her mind.
"Hey love, you're just in time. Get ready, we're going out for dinner and then the beach. They've some amazing things planned for tonight," Rishaan said, hiding the dejected tone in his voice.

Kiara gave a curt nod and went to change. Mistaking it as her tiredness, Rishaan ignored her gloomy face. She had decided to wait until dinner before confronting him.
The dinner went fine, with only the two of them.
They were supposed to meet Diya after returning from their dinner, for the celebrations held at the beach.

As they returned to their room, Kiara looked at him and bluntly asked," Rishaan is there something that I should know?"

Rishaan was confused by this. "What do you mean, Kiara?"

"Is there something you've been hiding from me?"

He was shocked by her question. 'Does she know about me and Diya? No, that's not possible."
Maintaining a neutral face, he said," Of course not Kiara. Why would I hide something from you?"

"No....I just ......leave it. You go to the beach, I'll come in a few," Kiara said hiding the disappointment in her voice.

Rishaan felt that Kiara was behaving weird. Not thinking much about it, he shrugged off the thought.

Kiara was heart-broken. She entered the bathroom and started the shower. The cold water drenched her, masking the fervent tears which were incessantly flowing. She slumped to the ground, disappointed by herself. She had decided to forgive Rishaan if he had confessed everything, but sadly, that didn't happen. To say that she was hurt would be a huge understatement. She felt betrayed by the people closest to her. She cried thinking about the happenings. She cried thinking about her failed relationships. She cried cursing her inability to find true love. She was an emotional wreck once again. The sensitive girl in her shed profuse tears, cursing her fate for the disappointments in her life. She cried and cursed till there was no energy left in her. She felt her life to be worthless, devoid of any reason to live. And then, something struck her. She made up her mind to do that thing, no matter what happens.

Diya was already at the beach when Rishaan found her.
"Hey beautiful!" He whispered huskily in her ears.

Startled, Diya looked back at the voice, only to find Rishaan grinning widely.

"You scared me Rishaan!" She said to which Rishaan chuckled.
"Where's Kiara?" Diya asked him, worried for the whereabouts of her friend.

"She was in the room when I left. Said she's coming in a few. I guess she must be here by now," Rishaan said moving his eyes here and there in scope of spotting Kiara.

"What do you mean she must be here! She's your fiancée for  God's sake! Couldn't you accompany her? How could you be so casual about her!?" Diya said exasperated.

"Because I care for you more than her!" Rishaan said raging, grasping her by her shoulders. The emotions he had bottled up long ago had slowly started coming out again, and at this point of time he couldn't keep it inside anymore. " It's you I care about. I love you Diya! I have always. There was not one day I hadn't thought about you after going to America. Every small thing reminded me of you! Yeah, I did like Kiara but never had my love for you decreased, never! And I know you still love me, I know Diya you do! Then why, why are we pretending, huh? Why?"

"Because you are engaged to Kiara, Rishaan! And nothing can change that," she replied, her voice breaking at every sentence," We can't do anything about it! Why don't you understand?"

"We can Diyu, we can. We can explain all this to Kiara, I'm sure she'll understand. And then we can live together, just as you wanted, in our secret abode!" Rishaan said reassuringly.

Diya shook her head frantically. "No Rishaan! We can't do that..... Kiara, she'll be, she'll be.....devastated after knowing this. We can't do this to her, I can't do this to her! I already feel guilty about whatever happened there." She looked everywhere but him.

"Diyu, look at me please. I.. I will make this right, for us. And I'll make Kiara understand our love Diyu. She can't keep two lovers away, she isn't that heartless ," Rishaan kept repeating over and over again.

Seeing this vulnerable state of Rishaan, Diya hugged him tight. He too, reciprocated her actions with equal affection.

"Will.....will everything be alright Rishu? Will we be alright? Will Kiara understand our situation?" Diya kept on asking.

None of the two had an answer to Diya's questions. Maybe yes, maybe no.

"I don't know the answers to that Diyu, but I promise. I promise that I'll confess everything to Kiara as soon as possible. I promise that from now on, we'll be together, till eternity. Hmm ?" Rishaan said, kissing Diya's forehead.

Diya just nodded her head in response, unable to say anything.

Where these two lovers were trying to reassure each other about Kiara's reaction, she lay lifeless in her room. Beside her, was a bottle of sleeping pills which she had overdosed on.

With ten seconds left for the new year to begin, people scampered off to their better halves, wanting to commence the upcoming year with them. Rishaan held Diya really close to himself, wanting to start afresh with her. He vowed to protect them from any difficulty that they may face. The two of them joined the crowd, shouting out the last few seconds left for the New Year.
As the countdown reached zero and fireworks covered the sky, people rejoiced and wished each other.
As a new year begun, two individuals promised to be with each other and make a new beginning, unknowingly murdering a third one.