Manjari's could not believe her ears. She had been so clear in her instructions. Did he even listen to her? She slowly turned around, not trusting herself to not kill him. The site before her eyes made her heart beast amazingly fast. Her brother was staring at her with questions in his eyes. She cleared her throat ad answered," They are Fulbrighters too. We had our orientation together they live on the first floor." Her brother nodded, the slight apprehension on his face clearing. She was so glad that Imran made the introductions. There was no way you could fake that accent.
She turned to face the two miscreants and said in a tight voice, "Hi Imran, hi Neel. Nice to see you.". Her eyes were burning holes in their bodies. Neel and Imran noticed and said hurried goodbyes and left.
Only then did Manjari's allow herself to breath. She opened the front door and admitted her brother. She took Amaira and laid her on her bed. She showed her brother the "guest" bedroom. A wave of nostalgia hit her the moment she entered the room. Memories of time spent with Neel hit her again. She covertly looked around to see everything as in "order". She had spent almost half a day cleaning the room to make sure that there was no sign of a man having lived in this room! Her brother looked at the room and said, "Nice."
Manjari's asked him to rest promising him to wake him up for dinner. She showed him the en- suite restroom, just in case he wished to freshen up. She went to her bedroom and looked at her sleeping daughter. She hugged her sleeping form, took out Amaira's presents and hid them in plain sight for her to 'find' and then went to the kitchen to start preparing dinner. She was adding tempering to her dal when her phone buzzed. She quickly checked it to see that it was her supervisor asking about her daughter. She replied to her message and promised to bring Amaira to the office once she had settled down. After preparing dinner, she checked a few assignments and planned for her upcoming classes. He also caught up on her readings so that she could spend more time with Amaira. It was almost 5 in the evening when she woke up Samar. After waking up Samar, she went to wake up her daughter.
"Wake up baby girl. Time for some food."
Amaira just stirred and went to sleep on her other side.
"Wake up, wakey wakey up"!!!!!!!!
"No!!!!, I want to sleep more", said Amaira in a sleepy voice...." I am missing you, dear girl...wake up" ...said Manjari's peppering her face with kisses.
"I want to sleep more".
"Ok. Sleep...I won't wake up now...but what to do with all these presents...what is this....let's see...new colours and drawing book...and what do I see her....new dresses...."Manjari's checked to see if this was having any effect on Amaira. She noticed that Amaira's head we are speaking from under the bed covers. So, she continued with her charade." What is this....new pencil box and lunch bag with Ana and Elsa and Olaf... who wants it????????????"
"Me, me me..." said Amaira, literally jumping off the bed...
Manjari's smiled to herself...the magic of Frozen...works like a charm every time.
"First shower, then presents". Amaira made a face at the name of a shower but agreed quickly when she saw Manjari's face. After a nice long shower, Manjari's helped her in a fresh set of clothes. She spread out a rug on her bedroom floor for her to sit and play on and began unpacking her suitcase. After quickly putting away her stuff, she took Amaira by her hand to the kitchen. She helped her sit on the breakfast table and began serving dinner. Her brother woke up at the same time. They had a quiet dinner and retired to their bedroom. Manjari's was exhausted by new, her body craving rest. But Amaira was not having any of it. She was full of energy and wanted to play with her new toys. Manjari's gave in to her desires and the two played with her new dolls for the next two hours. Amaira would have played throughout the night but Manjari's had to put her foot down and drag her to the bed where Amaira fell asleep immediately.
Instantly her phone began to ring. She checked to see who was calling her this late. It was .... Neel. She had missed him today...missed talking to him. But she was also very tired and terribly upset about the trick her and pulled. Sleep or talk to him. Sleep or scold him for what he did today? hmm.... decisions, decisions.... She should give him a piece of her mind, she thought. She closed her bedroom door and locked it from inside. just I case. She picked up her phone to tell him exactly that.
"Hello, amore"
"Do not call me amore! And I am terribly upset with you", she said in a whisper.
"It comes from a place of love."
"Hmmm.... if you say so."
"How was your day?"
"Exhausting and terrifying. You scared me today. I hate you".
"No, you do not. You are head over heels in love with me."
"In your dreams."
"Always babe! And in my dreams, you are...."
"Do not even finish the sentence."
"You are no fun."
"Yet you insist on spending time with me...."
There was a slight pause and then Neel spoke again.
"Seriously, how are you?"
"I am fine."
"Did no one tell you that you should not lie?"
Manjari exhaled, not surprised that Neel had picked up the subtle nuances in her speech. He could indeed read her like a book. "I am exhausted", she said, finally being honest. "I have not eaten properly since the last time we met. I had warm milk for the headache, major headache and I almost had a heart attack this afternoon. My eyes look sunken and I have dark circles. Most probably, I will have nightmares today in which we have been found out...."
"Want some advice?"
"No... your advice suck"
"Still giving it", he said without missing a beat." I am feeling generous. Sleep. Now. Have lunch with me tomorrow. I will have Imran and your brother invite over for lunch. You cannot die. I just got you. You look gorgeous. I can't wait for the day when we are found out and I can hold your hand publicly."
Manjari's blushed at his candour and took a deep sigh. "That's going to take a while. But now, I have to sleep, "she said. "I will talk to you tomorrow."
"Goodnight a more."
"Goodnight."
Manjari's smiled to herself as she cleaned up her bedroom and tidied the kitchen. She made a glass of warm milk for herself. After finishing her milk, she brushed her teeth and went off to sleep with a smile on her face.
The next morning, she was woken up to a knock on her bedroom door. She checked her watch. It was not 7 a.m. She got up to check who it was. It was Samar. She opened her door and looked at Samar with questions in her eyes.
"Sorry to have woken you up BUT your neighbour is here"
"My neighbour?", She repeated, confused.
"Yes...those guys we met yesterday".
Instantly all sleep fled from Manjari's eyes." Both are here?" She asked.
"One. The tall one. "
"The tall one??????????" Neel, she thought to herself, remembering the phone conversation last night and mentally face palmed herself for not stopping him from making lunch plans.
"Yes."
"What does he want?"
"No clue".
"Right. Give him a minute."
Manjari's went back to her room and quickly brushed her teeth. She also asked her face and ran a quick comb through her hair. She went out an opened the front door to see Neel sitting on the stairs patiently.
"Hi," she said. "Come in."
"Hello", he said, has gaze going up and down her body. With a smile on his face he continued, "I am fine. I am here to invite your family for lunch at our place".
Manjari's glared at him and replied, "That is every kind of you", she said, "but we already have plans."
There was no way she was putting Samar ad Neel in the same room. It would be recipe for disaster!
"What about tomorrow then? "Neel asked as Samar came into the living room.
"Samar? Right?", said Neel as he extended his hand for a shake. "Neel."
"Yes. Hello Neel. How are you?"
"Good, good. We, as in me and my roommate would like you to join us for lunch today or tomorrow".
"Oh! sure", said Samar, as Manjari said, "no, we can't", She looked at Samar meaningfully," we have plans...."
"That is ok. We can cancel them", said Samar, knocking the wind out go Manjari's sail. "Will 1 pm be fin?", he asked Samar.
"Perfect."
The two shook and Neel left leaving Manjari's to wonder what had happened here.
Manjari looked at her brother, aghast. " They are bachelors... the food is going to be terrible... why did you say yes?", thinking of what else she could say to dissuade her brother.
"It can't be that bad", he brother replied shrugging off her concerns. "Can I have some tea? The headache is killing me.."
"Sure.
She went into the kitchen and started to make them some tea. Samar sat down on the couch and smiled to himself.... perfect. The lunch would allow him to check out these guys. This Neel was too smooth for his liking and Manjari too nervous around him! What were the two hiding, he mused? He was sure to find out over lunch!