One Cuppa Chai

°4°

Somehow I felt exhausted.

All I did was resting my backside on a bench and strumming some strings.

Maybe it was just school.

After all, I was forced to attend PT.

Sanya had tried her best to teach my sorry self how badminton was played in human civilization.

How the cock refused to fall on my racket was beyond me.

I popped my head into the house while wriggling my shoes off. My sister perched on the sofa with her physics book.
Her face was caked with some green goo.

The TV was switched on, airing a repeat telecast of Full House.
After changing into my pyjamas, I hit the bed with a bag of Cheetos.

Usually, it was only both of us in the confines of our home because my dad went on a lot of business trips and my mum usually came home only at night because of her hectic schedule.

I was engrossed in my Marvel comics when the landline began to ring insistently.

It rang a few times while Siya blissfully ignored it
as she usually does when I'm around.

I stuffed my face with more Cheetos and picked it up.

"Hello.Kumar residence,"I greeted in my sweetest sanskari voice.

A chuckle resounded on the other end making me almost spit the junk in my mouth.

"So, Shyla..."His deep voice greeted me."Did you come up with a good nickname for me?"

I almost died.

"Nickname?"

"Don't people who date keep nicknames for each other? I don't know the trend now. You tell me."

I ignored the angels singing Heavenly Calls with their harps behind me.

1....2....3...

I waited for him to laugh but nothing came.

Though I heard him loud and clear, on the safer side:
"What did you say?"

"What do you want to hear?"

I toyed with the wire, heat rushing to my cheeks.
"My sister must have told you that...you know,"

"I don't know."

"That you...I mean..I--"I was stuck there for 6 seconds.

He laughed."Save it. We need a topic for our lunch date anyways."

"Lunch date?" I repeated, just in case I heard wrong.

Siya's physics book flew in the air and the next moment she was beside me and grabbed the phone out of my grip with unnecessary force.

"OMIGOD!I'm so happy!"She squealed into the telephone.

Whatever he replied for that made her grin.

"You're the luckiest person Kabir! My sister is a gem. Though she's a little butt lazy, completely inefficient and cuckoo in the head she's actually a wonderful person!"

"Gee, thanks, sis. What would I have done without you?"I commented dryly.

She spoke for another half hour with him and occasionally she would decline his request of giving the phone to me.
And my sister loved to chat over the phone.
A remarkable resource for call centres in India.

That Saturday afternoon, everything went according to plan. Our parents left when we were half groggy in our pyjamas.

Siya stared at me and I at her, all in silent communication.