Not A Simple Engineer Boy!

H' & Thirty Seven: Home Sweet Home (Part 3)

"Ah, tumach khup sundar aahe!", Sonali exclaimed cupping Krithika's chin in her hand and claiming that her future daughter-in-law looked beautiful. She snickered, "Mala samjath... Now, I get why my son is eager to marry you."

"Aai!", Xavier's neck and cheeks were completely red, "Stop teasing her."

"I am not teasing her, I am teasing you.", she added and pulled his ear, "It's working, isn't it?"

Krithika was feeling too shy to reply to anything. She didn't understand a word of Marathi. But the way Xavier was squirming and blushing made her realize that Mrs. Sonali Agnihotri was not a docile, sacrificial, and silent mother rather she was a hyper-active, aspirational, and blunt mommy who knew how to put any person in their place.

Xavier had recited a few anecdotes about his Aai, but nothing had prepared her for the real version.

Almost for four hours, Aai was busy on her onslaughts and no one did dare to stop her.

Except for Baba, who once in a while had tried to pivot discomfiting subjects but had miserably failed. Later, somewhere in his fifth attempt, he realized it hadn't been worth standing next to his wife and left the kitchen along with Dhriti.

She cooked some sweet delicacy- that Xavier loved- with Ponnamma. They both had become thick friends while exchanging recipes.

"Krithika kannukutti azhagu only.", Ponnamma smiled calling Krithika beautiful, "Thambi, also good."

Krithika wanted to run somewhere far. Standing in the kitchen with two old ladies- or the Siamese twins- was a little torturous. They both cooked food and stories proficiently, even with the language barrier. She looked at Xavier and found that he appreciated every gossip and taunt of his Aai, even with his pink cheeks.

Lunch preparation bound the two women and Xavier together as they worked in the perfect production line setup.

Xavier made rotis, flattening the dough with expert-level precision. His face was a picture of pure joy. She noticed how happy he was, his lips curled in a wide grin as he animatedly chatted with Aai in fluent Marathi.

Seriously, how does a supergenius enjoy such mundane tasks?

Whenever Sonali slapped his back, admonishing him, he laughed aloud making Krithika's toes curl. There was something about his laughter that made her eyes water with happiness.

"Xavier is a waste fellow, just tall.", Sonali dumbed down her English for Ponnamma, "Only good brain.", she pointed her index finger over Xavier's head.

Ponnamma giggled, "You come here more?"

"Sure... You here na, I'll come... Not for this boy.", Sonali assured Ponnamma that she'll visit Chennai frequently for her and not at all for Xavier. He chuckled like a kid.

"Mukesh, Puran Poli tayaar aahe!", Aai yelled and turned around to face Krithika, "Here, have some, taste it.", she extended a plate with two pieces of round rotis- Puran Poli. They looked like Tamil sweet delicacy Poli to her.

Xavier grabbed the plate from her, "I can take care of that.", and winked at Krithika.

She wanted the ground to split open and let her slip into the lava center. Xavier was flirting with her, in front of his Aai. Her face burned like a steaming kettle.

"You have become shameless!", Sonali shouted and hit Xavier's cheek, "When you were young at least you had a modicum of decency to stroll away from home to flirt with my students... With age, you lost that too..."