UNCONDITIONAL

VII

That night Noor and Harleen arrived home to see a brand new sports car delivered outside of the house. It was a car Noor had ordered to donate to a fundraiser which collected money by selling lottery tickets for an opportunity to win the car. The new, just delivered, car sat untouched in the middle of their path and blocked their access to the front door. The front of her home was structured in a way that the cars entered from the large metal gates up front and followed the circular driveway around a luscious green garden to the covered front doors of the house. This was the stone drop off and pick up area in front of the steps to the main entry of the home. The cars then had an option to carry on the in the circular path and exit out of the same main gates up front. Towards each end of the front side of the house, sat spacious garages, deep enough to hold 15 cars each.

Noor asked her driver to let them out where they were and also to find a place in her garage for the new car. Harleen followed her inside and watched as Noor's butler handed over some paperwork related to the new car. He was in the middle of explaining the delivery details when a deafening crashing sound followed by a sharp alarm going off filled their ears. Startled, Noor and her staff dashed out the front doors at once to see what caused the sound.

From the initial panicked look of it, Prem's Rolls Royce had crashed badly into the new car. As Noor's eyes settled on the scene, however, she noticed Prem get out of the driver's seat of his car. He brushed off his shoulder and his sleeve as he threw the keys over to his driver standing helplessly to the side. He eyed Noor in an expression that spelled out destruction as he made way up the stairs to towards her.

"It was in my way." He said as he passed her.

Noor walked over and examined the brand new car now in its totaled condition.

"There might be a problem in getting a new car delivered in time for the fundraiser." Noor's butler stated nervously.

Noor looked Harleen. "Make it happen. Pay them twice, three times the money. Get the new car here in time."

Noor walked in to see her bhuji standing there. "It's the month of October." Her bhuji had tears shining in her elderly eyes. Noor closed her eyes and threw her head backwards for a moment at the realization.

"I'm gonna go change, okay?" She told her aunt softly before turning around to leave. She let her tears fall once out of her aunt's sight.