𝔽𝕀𝕃𝕆𝔽𝕆𝔹𝕀𝕊𝕂

ℕ𝕠𝕥 𝔸𝕟 𝔼𝕡𝕚𝕡𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕪

"You realised that only now?" 

What Zinnia asked took me aback for some minutes.

I wasn't sure whether I was being delusional or not. I mean, it was true that I always had a doubt lingering on my mind about this but I didn't expect my doubt to be true to life. 

"What?" I asked Zinnia to confirm that I wasn't just hearing things.

"I asked whether the fact that I have a crush on Amy struck you only now? An epiphany?" Zinnia asked me again with both her eyebrows up. 

I was silent for a few more seconds until my lips curved up into a grin like a Cheshire cat.

I knew it. I knew that my doubts weren't unwanted. I knew that my jigsaw wasn't fruitless.

"Oh my fucking God. So you do?" I smiled like an idiot. "Why didn't you tell me this before?" I asked as a wave of anger flashed over me.

Zinnia just grinned and went to take the bread from the toaster after that 'pop' sound was heard.

"Well I was waiting for you to ask me."

"I always had a doubt, like always. But then I just brushed it off, telling myself to stop imagining things," I continued. "So all this time, you had eyes on Amy?"

"Not had, I have. Yeah I do. I mean, she's cute and shy. Just like my type. And I know as a matter of fact that she's not a clingy one," said Zinnia.

I chuckled. 

"Yeah, you are right. She's not at all clingy with Ash. She gives him his space," I said after taking a bite of bread. 

When I looked at Zinnia, she was gazing at me. I realized what I have said right now and mentally face palmed myself. 

"Oh...so that's why you haven't made a move? Because she's dating Ash?" I asked her after gulping down the bread. 

"Well grounded," replied Zinnia. 

I nodded my head. 

"But she just started dating him like two weeks ago. You had enough time. Wait, when did you start crushing on her?"

"Well, maybe like two months ago. I wasn't sure whether it was just an infatuation or crush. But when she started dating Ash, when I saw them together at college, I was literally boiling with jealousy. And that's when I realized it's neither infatuation nor crush," said Zinnia, sitting beside the counter and taking a bite of her bread. 

I tilted my head as a sign of both confusion and curiosity. 

"It's love, Elka. I love her. I love Amy."

I was taken aback again.

Gosh, this girl is giving me a lot of surprises this morning that is making me nonplussed. 

"Are you sure, Zin?" I asked her to make herself realize what she was saying.

"Never been sure," she muttered those words with certainty. "I don't know when this bud of love began to bloom in me. It's just that whenever I look at Amy, my heart flutters like butterfly wings. I always wonder how it would be to spend time with her, to laugh with her, to hold her hands and all. And yesterday, when I saw her with that new haircut, I swear my heart skipped a beat. But, I obscured it."

She looked at me and her eyes held so much of sincerity and love, something I hadn't seen for the past seven months. It was definite that she wasn't playing with me.

"Did you notice that it's been like two months since Sandra came here?" Zinnia asked me.

Sandra was her partner. Zinnia met her at a nearby bookstore as Sandra was working there. And it was true. It had been two months since I saw Sandra.