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Just when Nicola had given up on love, a stranger called Rudra walked into her life, inviting her to join his challenge. Claiming that he could restore her faith in love with just 27 bowls of ice cream, he takes her on a metaphorical jou...
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00/27: but the ice cream always melts
It took Nicola too long to realise that everything in life came with an expiry date. Be it the last scoop of her favourite ice cream that was now melting away or her faith in love which was slowly slipping out of her hands. It pained her to come to terms with the fact that all she had once wished to cling on to, was no longer here to stay.
If only someone could have warned her sooner about this seemingly innocent four-letter word that was going to lure her into a game impossible to quit. Taking a leap of faith and placing a bet on love ended up costing her way more than the ones she loved.
For before she could open her eyes to face reality, she had already wagered away pieces of herself to trick time into giving her more moments with the people she lived for. But who knew in this game of no winners, Nicola would end up losing herself in the process?
The girl who dared to dream. The girl who dared to love. The girl who dared to hope.
All Nicola longed for now was to be able to picture her old self again without feeling like a piece of some puzzle, too broken to ever be whole again. Like a smear of paint dried on the palette, never making its way to the unfinished painting discarded in the corner when the artist got bored.
Cursed to suffer as the gaping empty space on the canvas of her heart just grew with passing time. All because she chose to fall in love. All because she picked him.
Loving him was a whirlwind roller coaster that filled Nicola with anticipation of reaching the top, an exhilarating high that felt a lot like floating in the clouds. With butterflies leaving her breathless in anxiousness, a secret smile growing on her face whenever her phone would chime with a notification in his name and the way her cheeks would turn red whenever their eyes exchanged glances in secret.
At the peak of euphoria, logic flew right out of the equation and all that stayed was passion and hope. That maybe this is the time it all works out, maybe he is the one who wouldn't get away. And Nicola did everything in her power to hold this possibility close to her heart. Because beyond the rush of excitement and skipping heartbeats was the happiness she was so scared of. Just one step closer and it would be right within her reach-
The scene before her changed to a moment of bliss before the sudden fall, too scared to close her eyes as she witnessed the roller coaster of her emotions rushing right to the ground. After all, it is a theory well-established by the ghosts of her own experience that nothing lasts forever.
She loved him once...
But the ice cream always melts. But the pain never ends. But sooner or later, everyone leaves.
Her resolve to be strong and brace her broken relationship shattered each time his voice would ring in the back of her mind. All those words of him confessing his love for her, promising to be there for her forever and breaking them the first chance he got made her loathe herself and her naïve heart for trusting a man in the name of love.
