Chapter 5
They spent a few
hours shopping for the things Keerti had in mind...not because there
were many things to but, but because Keerti just couldn't make a choice
and kept going round and round with her dilemma and kept confusing
Simran too. This particular Ikea was huge and there was much more
variety compared to the other ones and Keerti being the confused soul
that she was, could not make up her mind on anything. She wondered what
she would have done were she to shop alone. She would have probably
spent all day had Simran not given her a push to decide faster. She
hated to keep people wait and that was one reason she was able to get
just what she needed.
Once back to the apartment, Simran helped Keerti set up her room. By the
end of it, they were too tired to cook so they walked to the nearby
diner to grab some pizza. Just when they entered their apartment
building, they saw Rohan approach them.
"Hey ladies. Mere ghar mein sugar khatam ho gayi hai. Kya mujhe thodi
chai mil sakti hai?" he said with a wide grin making it obvious he was
just being silly.
"Chai ki kya zaroorat hai. I'll get you some sugar. Ghar jaake khud bana
lena chai." Simran threw back at him. Keerti thought it a bit rude of
her to say that but after a few, she picked up on their apparently usual
banter. They had picked up on this style when Simran got her a month
ago and they apparently spent a lot of time together. They would make a cute couple I think, she thought to herself.
All three sat chit chatting for an hour or so before Simran pushed him
out the door. Once he was gone, she turned to Keerti to bid her good
night. "Good night Sims" after a moment's pause she asked "Is it okay if
I call you Sims?" She simply nodded with a smile and went back into her
room. Keerti continued unpacking and setting things in her room. It was
almost 2 by the time she got to bed. She again prayed to her Babaji for
another great day away from home.
The next few days were spent attending to orientation and on-campus job
interviews. Rohan had helped her with getting an interview at a few
places and got offers from 2 places - a cafe on campus and library. To
everyone's surprise, she chose the cafe. When questioned on her choice
she said " I'm going into Education but my patience level is really low.
I think I will get to learn from this experience. If nothing else, I'll
surely get to see you guys more often when you come to grab a coffee"
she said with a wink.
Classes were not going to begin for another week so she wanted to take
this time to see around the city. She went to the library to access one
of the public computers to check out places she could visit nearby. In
doing so, she happened to check her email and was pleasantly surprised
to receive one from Mira Malhotra which read
Dear Keerti,
I hope you have settled in well into your new apartment and that you
have made some friends too. If you need any help, please let me know. I
also wanted to give you a piece of advice - no matter how good a person
looks from outside, please take your time to share your intimate details
with them. You are in a school and you need to be outgoing, but it is
best to be careful when interacting with people. You never know when
things happen. I hope I am not sounding too interfering. Take it as a
moms advice.
And once again, if you need any...any help, please feel free to contact me. You have my email and my cellphone too.
Take care beta,
Mira.
By the time she finished reading the email, tears had welled up in her eyes. Where does she get so much love to share with others? And what did she mean by intimate details?
She was tempted to write back to her but resisted it. She wanted to
think through her reply before she sent it out. And then all of a sudden
it started raining and she didn't feel like going out. She went through
a few books in the library and loaned 'The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho'
for a good read. With a cup of tea and The Alchemist in her hands, she
sat on her newly purchased recliner to enjoy her first rain in Boston.
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