Just in Fifteen Days

28. The Orphanage

He's so handsome. And cute. And magical. And crazy. Took my heart. Of course, I'm talking about Ashton! I can't even think about anyone else. :P

***

Ashton's POV

“Okay, so now are you done with all the hugging and that snottiness?” Talie had hugged me for exactly five minutes now.

After waiting until the last minute of visiting hours and brooding the doctor on her dad’s condition, Talie finally agreed on leaving. While she was drawing Sandra’s twenty-eighth picture for her dad, she told me how he had always encouraged her to do extra curricular activities more than the academics. She told me how he was the most energetic one, the optimist of the house and the one with the solutions for every problem. She also referred him to as their “life-saver”.

“Yes. I’m done. And it’s not snot. Don’t talk gross with me,” she said as she wiped her face with her palms, putting her hair strands, which initially were stuck on her wet face, away.

“Hey, I just noticed this bag kept behind when I was keeping your guitar there. It looks like lot of clothes. Planning to run away, huh?” I asked. A playful smile peeked from the corner of her lips.

“Run away? With you?!”

“I didn’t say with me.”

She looked at me and chuckled. “You’ve never flirted with anyone, have you?” Woah! That really made me defensive of myself.

“And yeah, those are my clothes. I had almost forgotten about them. I need to drop them in this orphanage around the corner. Mom had been donating my clothes to them since I was little. I have some friends there.” She looked so happy just at the mention of the orphanage.

The car was back on the road. I noticed Talie sighing heavily, trying to compose herself at the sight of something. That was when I saw out of the window. Someone had died. His body was being carried into the ambulance. It probably was an old man - his wife and children crying profusely. I chose to not ask her anything.

Without a word, she drove away to the Blessings Orphanage.

***

As soon as the children playing in the park saw Talie, they ran towards her and almost pounced on her. She was hugged from all the possible sides and I could just stand at the corner with awe. She looked genuinely happy. It made me smile. There was another thing that was common between Talie and I, other than the music.

Kids. I had always loved them. Myra had many friends at her school due to her over zealous nature and the loquacious tongue. She sometimes called them over to our house, with their moms completely sceptical about handing over their children's responsibility to a mere teenage guy. I couldn't blame them. But, I was really good at it.

When Myra was born, I would always trail behind mom to see all the things that she did. She would be awake almost all night because of Myra’s crying. She would sleep the whole day and stay awake like an owl the whole night. It was a headache.

She used to oil Myra right in the morning, get her to a nice, scented bath with the squeaky toys floating in the bathtub, and the poems playing in the radio in the background. When I used to have holidays, it would be me giving Myra her bath. And I wouldn't boast but she would really love it. She flailed her arms in front of me, as if she wanted to get hold of my hair and I arched my back so that she wouldn't reach me. Mom would feed her every two hours. And she would sleep for the next two. The cycle went on. It was fun.