Malayali in London ~ Part-18

Chapter -5:

...Winter Break...


I come home a quarter to five and put my new books on the table. I grab a book and sit down on the couch. I finish reading the first chapter when the bell rings. My mother opens the door and William comes in. He sits down on the couch I’m sitting on cross-legged and takes off his coat. Mother brings him a glass of water. “Bought new books for vacation?” He asks me as he downs the water. I nod and continue reading. William takes the books onto his lap and goes through them. “Nice selection, mind if I take one?” He says holding up a book and placing the rest back on the table. “Sure,” I say and go back to my book. Willliam and I sit there reading, half an hour later Mother comes over and says that she’s heading for the grocery store. I looked at the time, Theo would be here soon.

I just go on reading like I don’t care until around six o’clock the doorbell rings. William turns to me, “Is mum back already?” I shake my head and go open the door. “Good evening,” Theo says. “Who is it?” William calls out from behind. “Someone’s here to talk to you,” I call back. I turn to Theo, “Good evening to you too, William’s in the living room, you two can go about whatever you want to talk about,” I show him the way to the living room. I grab my books from the table and snatch the one William’s reading right from his hands. Yes, I do not respect my brother at all. I take them to my room and place them on the shelf. I came back down and asked them if they’d like some chai since I was going to make some for myself, William said yes and Theo just asked what chai was. I went over to the kitchen and set the chai to boil on the stove. Once it was done boiling, I sieved it into three cups and took them to the living room along with some biscuits.

Theo and William stop talking about whatever they were discussing when I come in, “sorry but it’s a surprise,” Theo tells me. I set the tray on the table, “I have no interest in any spoilers anyway,” I tell him. I hand each of them a cup, sit down beside William and sip on mine. “You’ve got a nice friend here,” Theo blushes as William says that, “I know, my choice of friends is way better than yours,” I tell him. William huffs at my comment about his friends. I met them once, and they’re idiots. “Never had chai before?” William asks Theo as he looks at his cup with disbelief. Theo nods, he takes a sip of it and says, “Wow! That’s amazing! What’s in here?” William grins and looks at me, meaning I should be the one to tell him. “Nothing much, one part water and one part milk with tea leaves, sugar and some ginger,” I explain. Theo nods and takes another sip.

Theo probably stayed for about two hours, we all chatted and he took my brother’s phone number for God knows why. Mum came back just after he left. William and I help her put all the groceries in their place and then sit down on the couch again. Mother starts preparing for dinner and William turns the TV on. “Want to know something?” William asks me.

“I’m all ears.”

“Well, I’ve got a girlfriend!” I’m left in utter disbelief, who was my brother able to impress? “What?! Who?” I exclaim. William laughs, “Remember Dad’s old friend? Mr. Dumas?” My jaw drops, “Sarah? You’re dating Mr Dumas’ daughter?” He nods. Well, Mr Dumas and Sarah have been regular visitors ever since we moved here in May and yes my brother has flirted with Sarah quite a few times, but still. “Since when?” I ask. William looks up at the ceiling trying to remember, “Well, I took her on a date on Tuesday, got a chance to tell you today.” He looks at the disbelief on my face, “Oh come on, Akshi! We work in the same hospital, I meet her every day, she’s beautiful and I’m smart so what’s so unexpected?” I make a face that explains it all. He huffed at that and changed the subject, “Which movie do you want to see?”

Comments

Bharat / Villain said…
Hmmm.... Interesting getting single brother some respect are we