It's raining in my backyard

3

I am staring at the half cooked half raw spaghetti, watching it sink further down into the water when my phone rings. I reach for it instinctively, tapping and searching for it without breaking my stare. But I have to look at the caller ID. Impolite or not, but I don't always answer a call. ‘Why should I speak with you just because you felt like speaking with me right now. ’ I normally imagine my mother standing in front of me when I say that as I slide my finger towards the tiny little red phone sign when she calls.

But it is not my mother who is calling me. It is Nathan. And I can't decide whether to answer it or not. It's not like he's on my ‘red phone list’ he is actually the younger brother I've never had. But it's hard to talk to him when I know his dear beloved cousin must be with him. Sprawling on a comfy bed in some cozy hotel even when she knows that Nathan is talking with me. Or maybe she's standing besides him, silently, listening my voice when I yearn for hers.

Yet I pick it up. And Nathan's ever so enthusiastic voice booms from the speaker of my phone. 

“What's up man!”  Man and bro and dude are new words in this kid's dictionary. And he practices to put them in use anywhere and everywhere he can. Or maybe that's what any normal fifteen years old teenager does. I have never had any experience of what is normal, unfortunately, or fortunately, I don't really know.

“I'm so bored!” he says. How he always manages to say that with a high spirit is always a wonder to me.

“Sad! Even Switzerland is unable to hold your interest?” but before he says anything I know he was not in Switzerland. They are supposed to land there tomorrow early morning. He is supposed to be on a plane right now and if he is calling me, then that means, he is not.

“I couldn't give it a chance actually. ” he says a bit irritatedly.

“Why not? ”

“Something important came up. Mom had to be here, so... of course we couldn't go without her. ”

“That's bullshit!”

“I don't know... I think something is really up. ”

“These trips are important for Kathy, you know... ummm ...why...”

“Yeah...  I know why... But she genuinely seems worried right now. ”

“Well... If you guys are not going then... Is she...”

“What? No, she'd rather be with Freda. ”

“ Ohh”

“Yeah...”

“Yeah... So... Bye then”

“Wait!”

I wait for him to go ahead. He doesn't for a second or two, but after a moment of hesitation he speaks up.

“Can I come over? Mom is acting, I don't know, a bit weird...”

“Weird?”

“Yeah like, she said to me, why don't you go and meet up with Chris and she is pacing like a maniac and keeps glancing at the watch...”

“Someone is gonna come... She's waitin'.”

“ Whoa! Sherlock!”

“Why don't you be there and see who is coming?”

“You want me to spy on my own mother? ”

“Why not? Not that you'll get caught in your own house. ”

“Who do you think would come, huh? You're showing  much interest!”

“Just be there okay, and call me if Samantha comes there. ”

“ Samantha? Why would she - ”

“ Just do it... for me...”

“ Eric she'd never - ”

“ I don't know. Just call me if she comes there, alright!”

“ Eric -”

“ Bye. Just call me. ”

The spaghetti had sunk down and started to stick to the pot by the time I was able to concentrate back on my dinner, or my now failed preparations of it.

It was hard not to think about her, to ponder upon the possibility of seeing her once again. To find out all the plausible reasons behind she not wanting to meet me or even be in the same city for that matter.

What did I do, where did I go wrong? Those are the questions I keep pondering upon. My dear therapist, Dr. Sharon Gerbes, tries to make me believe that maybe it was nothing to do with me. And maybe it's not, because I know she has spoken with Katherine. But still every time I try to answer my questions all I can vaguely remember is the way she kissed me that night when I last met her.

The memory, a memory so special like that, not remembering it clearly to every detail makes me feel more like a shithead than I already am.

________________________________
Hey,

Well I did say soon, didn't I?
Soo... here is the new chapter of  IRIMB

How do you like it?

Do you think Katherine is waiting for Sam? Or is there  some other reason for canceling the trip? A trip to Switzerland!!! Why would she cancel it?

I'm eager to hear from you all!! Vote Comment and share this story if you like it!

Lot's of love,
Sai :)