Dear Pat

Letter 1

Dear Pat,

I should have known you knew everything. Why do I even bother arguing with you? You told me to write about things that I found interesting. So here goes...

I landed at the precise hour I was supposed to land. That was thankfully uneventful. Do you remember the time I flew in terrible weather and the plane took a nose-dive for five seconds? Worst five seconds of my life! I shudder when I think of it.

Anyway, moving on. My drive to the guesthouse was easy breezy. As I walked up the stairs to my guesthouse with only my handbag, I watched the guesthouse caretaker lug up my suitcases. I asked him to give me at least one. He replied, "Arre madam, I will do it na. Why you take trouble?"

I gave up and said, "Haan bhaiyya. You only lift the bags."

He was curious to know where I was from. He asked me, "Madam, you know Marathi?"

I replied, "No bhaiyya. I can speak English, Hindi, Tamil and Bengali but no Marathi."

Bhaiyya shook his head at me and replied, "You should know, Madam. Very helpful in Mumbai."

I smiled and replied, "Definitely. It's just the beginning."

He didn't like me calling him bhaiyya. So he said, "And don't call me bhaiyya. Call me dada. Everyone calls me dada here. Okay?"

My grin only grew wider and I watched Dada set the bags in my room. For the next three weeks, this is going to be home. Pat, it is a lovely room with light yellow walls and huge French windows with pure white frames. There are two single beds with brilliantly colourful carnations set up on the bedside table in the middle.

I looked around and asked, "Okay dada. Are all the rooms in this house just as colourful?"

Dada got a gleeful expression on his face as he gave me a wide grin and replied, "Arre yes madam. Full colourful. All three bedrooms are mast colour. All different, different colours. You want to see?"

I didn't think I should go around poking my nose in other people's rooms. That would be weird, right? So I shook my head hastily and said, "Some other time dada. Now I have to get to work."

Dada nodded and said, "Haan right now toh..."

Just then, a door opened from outside and we heard a deep voice.

I just picked up my bag and smiled at Dada, gesturing that I needed to leave. He handed me the keys of the room and smiled back sweetly.

I could still hear the voice. I got curious so I looked at the room from which I could hear the noise. That's when I heard:

"Space is the need of the hour. How can you take up an entire room to yourself?"

I stopped and frowned. I didn't know what to say. So I just turned and looked around.

Then I heard, "Yes, I'm talking to you."

I just stopped short in front of the door and saw a guy who was looking directly at me.

I felt odd. So I voiced it out loud. I said, "Excuse me?"

Why is this guy suddenly accusing me of occupying a room? The company paid for it. What is his problem? Then Pat...Then I took a closer look at him.

He was dressed in a maroon t-shirt and black shorts and had a beanie clamped on his head. His hair was slightly longer than usual with curls peeking out of the cap. He was sitting on the edge of the bed in his room. I also realized he wasn't looking at me but was just staring into space. When I came into his focus, he blinked and tilted his head slightly to see me better. He then broke into a lopsided grin that was as quick and sure as a camera flash. I almost smiled myself, Pat. He then pointed towards his Bluetooth headset and then towards me and shook his head. He was talking on the phone and not to me. I nodded and gave him a thumbs-up. He then raised a hand and mouthed "hi!"

This time, I couldn't help it. I let out a full-fledged grin and waved back. With that, I slowly turned around and started walking towards the door and he continued his conversation.

I have a flatmate, Pat. A cute one!

Why are you always right?

Much love,

L.

P.S. Start watching Gilmore Girls on Netflix. It's really cute.

Author's Note: Yes, this is the character that smiles in my head. Will he smile in yours too, now? Do tell. I am all ears. :D Until the next letter, 

Much love,

S.