Silently Falling in Love: Again (Edited)

Chapter 44 - A Proposal

Alex – May 2008

The weeks flew by quickly from the time Anjali announced her move to London. We returned to our routine of play dates, Hindi classes and carpooling, but there was a quietness that wasn't there before. The end was looming and each of us could felt it weighing on our shoulders.

On Friday morning, Anjali had volunteered to help during the book fair, so I added my name to have an excuse to be with her. They assigned me a station on the other side of the library making it impossible to speak with Anjali. As soon as my shift was over, I raced over to the cash station.

"Do you need help?" I asked as she bagged a child's purchases.

"No, I'm almost done. My replacement is here she just went to the restroom."

"Good, then as soon as she arrives, we can go to lunch."

"Oh, would I like to go to lunch? Hhmm that's so nice of you to ask. Let me check my calendar," Anjali responded sarcastically.

"Come on, you know I didn't mean it that way. We haven't been to lunch in a while. If you don't come to lunch, I will think you're avoiding me. Are you avoiding me?" I discretely whispered in her ear. You could never be too careful with the number of gossips running around this school. I swore most of these women nourished their body with gossip so they could avoid eating and keep their svelte figures.

"Thanks Anjali, for giving me a few minutes," Amy her replacement said.

"No problem. The sixth graders are almost finished, you'll have a ten-minute break to tidy the books before the next group comes," Anjali stated.

"Thanks, Anjali. I can't believe you're leaving. What are we going to do without you? You're such a pillar in our community. I will miss you so much," Amy gushed as she gave Anjali a hug.

"Thanks Amy. I will miss you too. We'll keep in touch," Anjali said in her perfectly trained voice showing her manners. She was lying through her teeth. She could care less if she ever saw Amy again.

Amy looked over at me. "Is your shift starting Alex? We can keep each other company."

"My shift just ended," I said but Amy's prying eyes kept staring through me demanding an explanation.

"Alex, we really need to go through the postmortem of the gala since you'll be the one left to pass it onto next year's committee," Anjali said saving me from Amy's curious looks.

"You two should do that. You did a wonderful job this year and we will need your notes and tips for next year. And hopefully, we'll convince Alex to head up the committee another year in a row. Maybe we can partner together," Amy offered.

"My wife might kill me if I keep missing so much time with her two years in a row," I quickly said trying to remove any thought of her implication that there was anything but a platonic relationship between Anjali and I and to remind her I was married.

"Yes," Amy said artificially, "well enjoy the postmortem."

"Thanks. Enjoy the book fair. It's such a delight seeing the joy on the kids' faces," Anjali responded just as artificially. We all knew Amy was one mom who was least interested in her kids or anyone else's. She had kids to ensure her financial stability with her wealthy husband.

I grabbed Anjali's arm and escorted her out to lunch. It had been too long since we had a leisurely lunch.

"Do you mind if we go to the Vietnamese restaurant near here?" I asked.

"The one where we had our first lunch, and you surprised me on my birthday?"

I nodded yes.

"It seems appropriate that our goodbye lunch be where our hello lunch started," Anjali breathed as she looked into my eyes.