I panicked as I stood outside of my house with Reason, the puppy, in my hands. I named him Reason - as basically, he is the reason why I got to ride with Ryan.
My parents were not going to allow me to keep a dog in our house. My father could easily get convinced, but my mother would never. She was once bitten by a street dog after which she maintained a safe distance from dogs. It was long ago when I was five years old.
I pulled out my phone from my pocket and made a call to Appu to help me out.
"I need your help,"
"You are on call in front of Sahil," she whispered.
"Why are you whispering? And I am not with that douche. I am outside our house with a puppy in my hands."
"What the hell is a puppy doing with you?" she screamed.
"I'll narrate you the whole thing later. For now, just help me out in getting the puppy inside safely."
"You know your aai hates dogs,"
"I do know. But Reason is so cute and I already love him, okay? And even he loves me,"
"How do you know?"
"He is licking my hand,"
"Eww, that's gross,"
"That's affection, Appu! Now would you please help me?"
"Alright, I'll open the windows of your bedroom, climb up with the puppy."
"Cool," I grinned and hung up.
"Let's go home, Reason." I stroke his head gently.
Without letting my parents know, I kept Reason in my room with Appu's help. I climbed down again and entered in through the main door.
"How did you find him? And most importantly, how do you know it's a boy?" Appu asked.
"I kinda checked it's down part," I said hesitantly.
"Uh oh, and why Reason?"
I mentally grinned at myself. No one would ever know the hidden reason behind naming my dog Reason.
"It's unique. And guess who dropped me home?"
"Sahil," she said in a bit obvious tone.
"Ryan," I grinned widely.
"But you were with Sahil," she argued.
"Don't take his name, he is an idiot. He loves you, and wanted me to convince you to date him." I ranted.
"What the hell? How does he know me? I passed out from the college three years ago,"
"Trust me I had worse reaction than yours,"
"He doesn't deserve you, you will get the right person. By the way, what's up with this Ryan thing?"
"After I threw the water on Sahil's face, I walked out and found Reason roaming on roads. It was not safe for him so I picked him up and whoosh, out of nowhere Ryan comes in front of me in his car. He asked me if he can drop me and I agreed," I narrated with actions.
"Dude, the cafe is just twenty minutes away by walk." she laughed.
"I know, I was an idiot. I go numb when I see him,"
"So that's it?"
"That's it,"
"Great, I'll go to sleep then."
"Umm, can you please get milk for him? We don't know if Reason had anything,"
"Alright, he is anyways going to be here only for tonight. I can't tell if you will be allowed to keep him in our house." she shrugged her shoulders.
I had to convince my mother to let me keep Reason. I was not going to strand the little puppy anywhere.
Reason was drinking the milk that Appu had got him. I was writing my diary, like every day. I had a huge smile plastered over my face as I wrote about mine and Ryan's little imperishable moment.
My phone rang. I checked with the caller id, it was Atharv. I instantly hit the green button. None of us spoke. Me, because I was still partially thinking of Ryan.
"How was the date?"
I narrated him the whole fiasco. Atharv wouldn't stop laughing since I told him about my miserably failed date. No, I didn't tell him about Ryan since I was sure he would keep pulling my legs the entire week.
I wondered if Sahil must have told his friends about the date. If he had, my senior year would get more hard to survive through. I panicked.
"Atharv, do you think the whole college would learn about the date?"
"God, Dhvani. I bet Sahil won't even utter a word about the date. Dude, you insulted him and his love, he won't make fun of himself in front of his friends. So relax, you won't get viral."
"Oh yeah, I didn't think of that."
"You badly need sleep," he chuckled.
"Yeah I really do, good night."
"Sleep tight,"
I hung up. I turned to have a look at Reason, but he was not there where he was supposed to be. I rose from my seat to look after him. I sighed a relief on finding him wiggling his tail on the other side of my bed.
I couldn't hide Reason in my room longer. My parents had to know sooner to make it easier for me. Hiding Reason secretly in my room felt like I was hiding my boyfriend in my room.
My mother was not going to listen to me. Your siblings pay a big role at such times. Appu had already backed off and Ved was my only hope.
I was sure Ved would help me out in convincing our mother. He knew the tactics more than me. If my mother didn't get convinced with what I would say, I had to convince Ved for backup. My mother never went against my brother's wishes, since she knew he would never make stupid wishes unlike me. That's her point of view, not mine.
It was my turn to make breakfast for my family the next day. No matter how much I hated waking up earl in cosy mornings I'd to compulsory wake up on the day I was assigned for making breakfast for my family. Read of the days were split within the other family members. Before Ved left our city for his work, he used to cook on the days I was appointed to. Ved is one heck of a cook and I always love what he cooks. My menu was limited to basics since I couldn't cook at an extreme level like my family.
I always stuck to scrambled eggs whenever I had to make breakfast since that's the only thing I can cook while I'm half sleepy. Scrambled eggs and tea for breakfast, khichadi or jeera rice and dal tadka for lunch and dinner. Khichadi is a desi - lasagna that has rice, lentils and spices.
I had put my phone for charging in the living room while my battery pack charged in my room. I had a really long day ahead and wanted my phone battery to have a backup.
Reason was asleep in my room. Before coming down to make the breakfast, I promised Reason that I'll convince my parents to let me keep him with us. I had already started to love and treat Reason like my younger brother. For me, he was a family member.
My mother was awake and busy reading some of her religious books sitting on the couch. She didn't like if any of us disturbed her while she read the book. So I did my work in the kitchen making no loud noises.
I heated the tea until the eggs cooked. My father entered in. He would always go for jogging in the early morning and return in an hour. Once, when he had asked my mother to accompany him, she denied straightaway. So did I and Appu.
"Good morning," he greeted me.
"Good morning,"
My father looked into the pan and made a weird face.
"You really need to learn some other simple dish,"
"I ain't learning anything else. You've to deal with this,"
He huffed. I remembered Ved's words. Last night when I had called him for help, he asked me to convince our father first as he understands us kids more than our mother does. Once my father gets convinced, I would be half away to get my mother convinced.
"Mala kahi tari bolaychay," I whispered.
"I want to tell you something,"
"Bol," he whispered back.
"Tell,"
"Yesterday when I was returning home after my date, I found a puppy. And I got him home,"
"It's in our house right now?" his eyes widened.
I nodded my head and said, "In my room,"
"How did Meera agree?" he asked being surprised.
"I didn't tell aai, I want you to convince her to keep Reason at our house. Trust me he won't bite anyone, he is so small."
"You want me to help you in keeping a dog at our house. You must be joking,"
"I am not, please help me." my voice trailed off.
My mother came into the kitchen and greeted us a good morning. I looked at my father, gesturing him to speak with my mother.
"No," he mouthed me.
"Please," I mouthed back.
"Okay,"
"I'll do it, go and wake up Appu." my mother spoke.
I handed her the spatula and gestured my father once again.
"Meera, can I speak with you something important?" I heard my father speaking.
"Say,"
I paused at my place and looked at my mother.
"Dhvani has a dog in her room and she wants to keep it in our house,"
"We have what in our house?"
A/N :
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