Again (PUBLISHED!)

Chapter 42.

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It simply was the best Skype call that I ever had with my Papa. I was grinning from ear to ear. I was so happy that I was hopping around the entire house like a mad chimpanzee. I felt so enthusiastic, so energetic and so exhilarated that I honestly didn't know how to calm myself down and most importantly, breathe.

The joy and gratification was unexplainable. My Papa had given me the best news ever.

The news of his return.

Yes.

My Papa was returning from his European business tour. He would be back in Crawford Lane tonight. He spoke to me minutes before boarding the aircraft from England.

Could that get any better? Of course not!

The entire morning before the Skype call, I had been extremely upset and gloomy and depressed 'cause I was missing him so badly. But now I was on cloud nine!

I would be seeing him after so many months. Can't wait to see him! Can't wait to hug him! Finally I would be living with my Papa just like before. Finally he would not be a part of just my laptop screen but my life.

"My dad is coming back tonight!" I rang up Devon to tell him about the massive news.

"That's great! Can't wait to see him," he responded from the other end.

"Aren't you supposed to be nervous about getting my father's approval to be my boyfriend?" I asked teasingly.

"Of course not," he said casually. "You father seems to be a very sensible man who has never taken puke worthy decisions unlike my father," he chuckled dryly.

I felt a certain kind of stress in me since I didn't know what to tell him in response.

"I, uh, told my Gran about us," I said quietly.

"What did she say?"

"At first she thought it was a big bad joke."

"She needs to get her sense of humor operated then," said Devon bluntly. "Something as serious our relationship can never be a joke. I've got to say that in person to her."

"NO!" I said at once, terrified by the very thought of Devon speaking to Gran with a callous attitude.

"I've got everything under control. I mean Gran hasn't been speaking to me since then but I'm sure she will understand," I said gravely.

"She has to," he said matter-of-factly.

I sighed. "The thing is I find her behavior quite strange. Like ever since she heard about us, she is deeply shocked and blabbering a lot of things which makes absolutely no sense to me...."

"I don't think there is anything to it. She is a conservative woman so she is bound to react like this."

"I think you're right," I said in agreement with him.

***

When I arrived at the neighborhood sports club to catch up with my friends, I found just Josh and Adam at the basketball court.

"Papa is coming home tonight!" I beamed at them.

"That's cool!" Adam said. "Would be great to see Mr. Sanchez after so long."

"Amazing!" exclaimed Josh. "Now that he'll be back, do you think he can get me a free membership for golf?"

Adam shook his head with a sigh. Josh gave a goofy grin. And we all laughed. I went on to babble how excited I was for Papa's return. I told them how I'd make sure he spends most of the time with me. I listed out to my friends the things that I would do with Papa such as playing soccer and going for a trek out of lot of other stuff.