Malayali in London ~ Part-51

Chapter -15:

...Smooth Sailors...

Urmi leaves with William and Aksh, and Theo and Jennie won’t be home until another hour so Diego is going to have to stay here. I lock the front door and turn to Diego, “You can watch TV till your parents get home.” He acknowledges me with a nod and just sits there. I can tell he’s a little down. “What's wrong Diego?” I ask him as I sit down on the couch beside him. I immediately understand what’s bothering him, but I let him tell me anyway. “I just feel like… I don’t know. Like I’ll never get her to like me back.” His voice sounds a little broken. I smile, I know that he really likes Urmi and I know that Urmi has feelings for him too, even if she doesn’t want to admit it. I stroke Diego’s shoulder and try to console him, “Well, don’t be so down. I don’t think I should be telling you this but Urmi sort of has this time fixed, when I’m making dinner, she comes to me telling me all about her day and her opinions about stuff. It’s her bonding time with me. Trust me when I say that she talks about you more than half of the time. I know she likes you; she just won’t admit it, not even to herself. You could take the risk and ask her out, I’m positive she won’t say no. I am the author; I could help you write a love letter if you'd want.” Diego immediately lights up, “really? But I think poetry would be more appropriate, Urmi loves poetry. She says it’s like lyrics you don’t sing.” I smile. Urmi does love poetry and writing lyrics. She is really gifted in the field of music. She is the songwriter for her band, the Ocean Roars. The band’s name was her idea, she named it after the ocean. She says that it was a tribute to me and my childhood by the shore. It was really touching. She is the female lead singer and bass guitarist for the band. She also plays the drums. She is the only girl in her band. She’s more of the bad girl type to be honest, unlike either of her parents; I’m a stubborn introvert (at least her stubbornness is justifiable) and her father is kind and diligent, so I don’t understand where she gets all that rebellion from. Boys find it intimidating, but she’s always been indifferent to guys. I don’t blame her, all the guys that ask her out are stupid anyway.

I just pulled out vegetables to cook for dinner and Urmi is already in the kitchen. She usually doesn’t come for our mother-daughter bonding time until I’ve cut all the onions. She says the sting in her eyes is unbearable. It’s been a few days since I gave Diego a tip that could actually help his situation. I guess he did ask her after all. She sits on the counter of the bar and swings her feet. “Hey, did you actually tip Diego about me?” she asks. I guess Diego also mentioned me so I nod. I don’t know what to expect from her, even though I’ve raised Aksh as a teenager before, but it seems like every teenager is more unpredictable than the last. Urmi looks down at her feet and smiles. I immediately know that she’s about to say something that her pride and stubbornness won’t let her say, but she doesn’t listen to them, she doesn’t listen to anyone, “Thanks Maa. Thanks for helping me accept something I couldn’t admit to myself because of my stubbornness.” I smile at her. I walk up to her and lift her chin up so she’s looking at me, “don’t downgrade your stubbornness, you get it from me.” She laughs when I say that. She pulls her arms around me and says with her voice muffled, “Thank you.” I run my hand through her hair and kiss the top of her head, grateful that my daughter isn’t distancing herself from me during her teenage unlike other kids her age but rather coming closer. I guess I didn’t do such I horrible job parenting her after all.