Not a love story

“Hey, Gwen.” 

Ron called out, standing right behind Gwen with a cheerful smile and eagerness to hug her. Gwen turned around instantly as she felt the voice familiar. 

She turned around only to be startled.

“Oh my god, you’re seriously here. Ron Collins is here after a whole year. Oh my god.” she exclaimed in surprise. 

“I had to, after all, I cannot forget my hometown right.”

“Man, I missed you so much. I hope you’re not going back in a week like last year”

“Nah I’m leaving tomorrow”

Gwen softly punched him, “I’ll kill you if you are serious right now”

“Woah, woah that hurts okay. Chill, I’m just kidding. Don’t worry, I’m staying here permanently now. All my architectural studies are completed now it’s time to make use of it.”

Gwen Reynolds and Ron Collins were childhood friends and neighbors. They’ve stayed with each other through thick and thin right from their birth. Their friendship was immortal and seemed to extend beyond life too. Though Ron looked at Gwen as her best friend, Gwen had developed feelings for him at a very early stage.  With each passing day, Gwen’s feelings for Ron intensified and finally, she confessed it to Ron but he looked to her only as a friend and nothing more so he immediately put down her proposal. Gwen was shattered into pieces and it wasn’t soon when her feelings of love turned into a rage but she didn’t cause harm to Ron, instead, she decided to prevent Ron from getting any other girl, in the hope that one day he’ll finally accept Gwen as someone more than friend when no girl is allowed in his way. Gwen prevented any girl from getting even close to Ron, either by threatening them or by using her skills to break into Ron’s social media accounts and ruin the relationship. Yes Gwen was pursuing Ethical hacking at a professional level which enable her to ruin Ron’s relations so she could have him all for herself.  Gwen could control his life only till he was still in his hometown. Ron had gone to another country for studying Architecture and this is where the story takes a drastic turn.

“So what did you bring for me?” asked Gwen

“Well, not much but I have something for you coming tomorrow.”

“Oh, another surprise, I see.”

Gwen acted as if she didn’t know but her hacking skills had revealed Ron’s chats to her. 

The Next Day

Ron had received his Girlfriend Annie from the airport and he was heading to introduce her to Gwen. He didn’t know what a big mistake he was going to make. He was heading straight into the eye of the storm. Ron had called Gwen over to a cafe so that he can make Gwen and Annie meet each other. Gwen had already read about his plan in Annie’s and his chat. She was blind by the fury of jealousy. She tried her best to keep other girls out of her way but Annie was built differently and she broke past Gwen’s filthy traps.  

“Hey Gwen, so you’re here already. Let me call your surprise inside. ANN come in.”

And Annie walked in with all womanly elegance and a pair of bright red flaming eyes glaring at her. Gwen had tried innumerable times to break Annie and Ron’s relationship by hacking into Ron’s social media accounts and sending messages that were aimed to create misunderstandings between them but every time Annie suspected it as someone’s trick and turned the tables against Gwen.  Annie was from an IT background and so it was obvious that she could easily see that Ron’s account was under someone’s control. After getting to know about Gwen from Ron, she was certain that the one trying to break their relationship was none other than Gwen herself. She still hid it from Ron till she was sure that it was Gwen.

“So? You’re Gwen Reynolds correct? Ron had told me a million things about you, it’s my pleasure to meet you in person.”

Gwen was a master of deception. She hid her rage with a mask of calmness and affection.

“Nah, the pleasure is mine. Ron has not stopped talking about you over chat, the whole year.”

Ron’s face turned pink.

“Not like I talked about her the whole time. I did talk about other stuff” said Ron 

“You did? Name some, I wanna know” said Gwen in a teasing voice

After an hour of chit-chat and gossip, Annie stood up and announced that it was time for her to leave and as she expected, Gwen invited her for a one-on-one meet which according to Gwen was for getting to know each other better but reality was too dark.  Gwen was a mastermind who found a way before anyone could tread on it. She had already planned something. 

“So tonight? 8 PM” asked Gwen

“Works for me” replied Annie

“Alright then, Ron will drop you off at Greg’s Club. See ya tonight” 

“But why can’t I come along?” Ron cried

“Because it’s a girl meet-up” was an instant answer

At the club: 

Gwen had reached the place an hour before to set things up. She was definitely thinking of something beyond talking things off. 

“Hey! You’re here” Gwen said waving at Annie 

Annie came up to Gwen and said, “Yeah, Now you can begin telling me the stuff you planned to say”

Gwen’s lips curled into an evil smile, “You’re smarter than I thought. Alright then if you want to, let me come straight to the point. I’ll give you just one chance, leave Ron and go away back to the place you came from”

“And what if I don’t follow your order,” said Annie with a confident tone

“You will regret it if I have to repeat my words once again”

“As if I am scared” and Annie held up her hand showing her phone which was recording their conversation. 

Gwen’s eyes filled with fear, she tried to grab Annie’s hand but Annie dodged and started to run Gwen caught hold of her and Annie fell to the ground with the phone which shattered into pieces. She kicked Gwen’s knees which made her fall too. Both of them stood up. Gwen rushed in with force toward Annie but she dodged it and instead kicked  Gwen hard on her back. Gwen landed on the bar counter due to the blow. She fell down. Unconscious. 

“Enough of your dramas, now it’s time to put that mask down. Get up” said Annie in an angry tone but Gwen didn’t reply. 

“Gwen?”

No answer.

“Oh no!”

The next day:

Ron’s phone: 

Annie: Hey Ron. I’m heading back home, got some important work to do. Will meet ya soon.

Ron: What happened? Anything serious?

Annie: Don’t worry. everything’s fine. 

Ron: But you should have told me at least. 

Ron: I’m coming too

Annie: No, You don’t have to. I said it’s nothing, I’ll be back in a few days. Don’t worry. 

Ron: You sure?

Annie: Yes Ron. Goodbye.

Ron: Alright.

Ron went to Gwen’s house but found out her whole family was in chaos. They were all panic-stricken because Gwen had not returned home since last night.  Ron tried to call her but the phone was switched off.  Ron filed a police complaint but the police achieved no success too. Days went by and Gwen’s family had given up hope to find their daughter. Ron texted Annie if she knew where Gwen was or anything about her because she was the last person to be with her before she went missing but Annie didn’t reply. Ron called the receptionist of the apartment where Annie lived and he was startled to hear that Annie never came back to her home.

Both of them were missing. Ron’s agitation grew, he was confused as to whom to search, Annie or Gwen. 

Suddenly as an answer to his question, he received a video from that day when Annie and Gwen met at the club and the fight between them which left Gwen unconscious. The video showed everything correctly except their faces. Their faces were swapped. It seemed as if Annie was trying to get the phone from Gwen’s hand. Ron instantly fell into the trap, he trusted only his eyes and believed Annie was the murderer of Gwen. 

 It wasn’t over yet. He got a call from Gwen’s father who said that he had received the same video as Ron. He believed that Ron was with Annie in this whole thing and he cursed him for that. He threatened him that he will file a case against Ron for murdering Gwen. Ron tried hard to make him understand that he didn’t even know about all this till now but it was of no use. Ron went to Gwen’s house to try and make Gwen’s father understand the whole thing. But when he reached there, he was haunted. Gwen was already sitting there, with her face covered in blood, and looked too weak as if starving for days. Her family was all around her sobbing and showing tenderness. Ron stepped in but Gwen’s father prevented him from entering. He said he did not want to see Ron’s face again. 

Gwen called out to her father and spoke softly, “Dad he didn’t do anything, that girl, she did all this and ran away, dad don’t do this to Ron, please”

Ron finally got the order to come inside. He sat beside Gwen and asked what had happened that day. Gwen answered, “Didn’t you see that video? I sent it to you. Your love, Annie, she is playing on you, I had gone through all her chats and records before the day when I first met her and thus I invited her to that one on one meeting so that I could find proof to reveal her true identity but she… she tried to kill me and after realizing that I was still alive she asked a Gravedigger to bury me since I was dead. But that nobleman saw the fraction of life I had left and he took me to the hospital. All these days I was in the hospital, unconscious, and today when I regained consciousness I sent the video which I clicked with my secret camera that night. I feel sad for you Ron, you fell for a traitor. She must have gone away right? No messages, no calls correct? “

Ron had no words to speak. 

Gwen sighed and hugged Ron. “Don’t worry, I am here with you, I’ll never leave your side.”

Ron’s eyes filled with tears and he hugged Gwen back. “I’m sorry, I’m so so sorry, I should have accepted your confession that day, at least I would have never felt for that girl, a criminal, how could she try to kill my friend.”

“Let it be Ron, that wasn’t her fault. It was the Circumstances that are to be blamed.”

“You have a heart of gold, but I cannot forgive her, the day she is in front of my eyes, she’s dead.”

“Anyways you don’t worry about her, get some rest, I’ll try my best to find her, she cannot escape this.”

So this is how Gwen turned the tables around and made Annie the villain. But the story doesn’t end yet. 

“I am so sorry,” said Gwen kneeling down and placing flowers on the grave named ANNIE D Millers.