The Romance

A Single Rose

"A Single Rose":

It was a quiet evening in the small coastal town of Amara. The sky was painted in hues of pink and orange as the sun dipped into the horizon. In a quaint little café by the sea, Ayaan sat alone at his usual corner table, his fingers wrapped around a warm cup of coffee. The café was nearly empty, except for the faint hum of a love song playing in the background.

He wasn’t there for the coffee or the view of the waves crashing against the shore. Ayaan came every Friday to see her—Alina.

Alina was the café’s owner, a woman whose smile could light up the gloomiest day. Her laughter often rang through the air like music, and Ayaan found himself drawn to it, week after week. But he never dared to speak more than a few polite words to her.

Today, though, something was different. A single rose sat on the counter where Alina usually worked. It was delicate and deep red, standing proudly in a small glass vase. Ayaan’s heart skipped a beat. Was it from someone? A secret admirer?

As Alina moved gracefully around the café, serving the few customers present, her eyes caught his. She smiled warmly, and Ayaan quickly looked away, pretending to focus on the waves outside.

“Would you like a refill?”

Her voice startled him. She was standing by his table, her hands wrapped around a coffee pot.

“Oh, um, yes. Please,” he stammered, pushing his cup toward her.

Alina poured the coffee and hesitated for a moment. “You’ve been coming here for months now, haven’t you?”

Ayaan nodded, his throat suddenly dry.

“I always wondered why you sit here, all by yourself,” she said, her tone light but curious.

Ayaan opened his mouth to respond, but before he could speak, Alina gestured toward the rose on the counter. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” Ayaan said softly. “It is.”

Alina smiled again, a hint of shyness in her expression. “It was left here this morning. No note, nothing. Just the rose. I don’t know who it’s from.”

Ayaan’s chest tightened. He hadn’t left the rose, but he wished he had.

“You should keep it,” he said. “It suits you.”

Alina blushed slightly, her fingers brushing the edge of the coffee pot. “Thank you, Ayaan.”

He blinked in surprise. “You know my name?”

“Of course,” she said with a small laugh. “You’ve been coming here for months. I’d be a terrible host if I didn’t know your name.”

Ayaan chuckled, feeling a warmth spread through him. For the first time, he felt like he wasn’t just another customer to her.

Before she could walk away, he blurted out, “Would you like to take a walk by the beach after your shift?”

Alina froze, her eyes wide with surprise. For a moment, Ayaan thought he’d made a mistake. But then she smiled, her cheeks tinged with pink.

“I’d like that,” she said.

That evening, as they strolled along the moonlit shore, Ayaan felt as though the world had shrunk to just the two of them. They talked about everything and nothing, their laughter blending with the sound of the waves.

And as the night deepened, Alina stopped, turning to him with a soft smile. “You know, I think I finally understand where that rose came from.”

Ayaan raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

She reached out and plucked a petal from the rose he hadn’t noticed she’d brought along. “It wasn’t left by someone else,” she said, letting the petal drift into the wind. “It was waiting for you to find your courage.”

In that moment, under the stars, Ayaan finally understood. And with a quiet breath, he leaned in, closing the space between them.

The single rose had worked its magic.

By-: Diwas Tiwari