Chapter -6:
...Indrakshi's Birthday...
Just as I thought the celebration was over, Father came up to me, “There is still one little surprise in store,” I looked up at him, confused, “Seriously, why are you doing all this?” I ask. Dad smiles and says, “I know how much you miss Thiruvananthapuram and that you wanted to go there during this vacation, so we decided that since we couldn’t go there, we’d bring a piece of it here for you on your special day.” I smile and give him a hug, my dad is the best I could ever ask for. I know all of this wasn’t even his idea, but I still want to believe it was. Arienne comes up behind me and places her hands over my eyes, “don’t peek, this is the big surprise,” I laugh, “alright.” I hear a bunch of noises telling me that stuff has been moved around. I hear the sound of someone turning a few switches and after everyone quiets down, Arienne whispers in my ear, “You can open your eyes now,” and takes her hands off my eyes and I can’t believe what I see once I open them. The living room lights are all turned off but the place is lit by what looks like a galaxy of divine stars. They cut star patterns on paper and put them in small jars with fairy lights all around the room. There’s a big one right in the centre.
Wow,
that is literally all I have, wow. The sight was one to behold, it
seemed as if time stopped for a moment when I opened my eyes to see what was in
front of me. It reminds me in every way of the clear sky full of stars back
home in Kerala. I have absolutely no thoughts right now, my mind’s been
brainwashed and I’m blank. I just feel at home. Yeah, that’s how I feel, at
home. my heartbeat stops and I hold my breath as I soak in the sight.
. . .
The celebration is over, and everyone is about to
leave, I thanked Theo for planning this celebration, it was his idea after all.
“Don’t thank me, most of it was your brother’s idea and besides you were happy
and got a little sight of home and that’s all that matters,” he said, making
his good old face with a stupid smile. I smile, “Good night.” Wave him and
Arienne goodbye and turn to my brother and his friends, “Even though you may
act like idiots and lose all sense of logic half of the time, thanks for
coming.” My brother huffs at me and I just shrug and walk away; leaving him to
handle the situation with his friends. Sarah waves goodbye as she gets into the
car with her father.
I wave back and Twyla gives me a hug before saying
goodbye and I turn to the last person there; Sawyer. “Looks like you have some
good company, you may not open up much to people but you’ve chosen your friends
very wisely,” he says with his hands in the pockets of his jacket. I smile, glad
that it’s dark, “thanks, I may not have much company but the one I have is
enough.” He takes his hands out of his pockets and says, “I must say; I was
right, you look insanely beautiful when you’re happy. That smile of yours is
one I would kill for.” Now I’m really glad it’s dark, I’m absolutely sure I’m
blushing. I’ve been told that I’m beautiful many times before, but I never got
embarrassed like this. There’s just something about when he says it that makes
me blush. “Thanks for coming, your presence made it better, and happier,” I
say. He smiles and then opens his mouth to speak, he hesitates at first but
then says it anyway, “You free anytime? I was kind of hoping that … well, you
know…” he grabs the back of his neck and it takes me a second to understand
what he’s trying to say. I suddenly feel warm and sweaty, I’m trying to hold
back a smile, “How about this Saturday?” I say quickly. I just hope I don’t
regret this. He tries to hold back a smile, “Sure, I’ll still see you at the café,
right?” “Of course, you will. No other
place in town has better coffee and that just so happens to be where you work,”
I say. We both laugh. I then wave Sawyer goodbye as he leaves.
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