Destiny's Gamble

Nandini's Sun

"What time are you going to be back by?" I ask, stepping out of the kitchen with a bowl of cake batter. 

"I don't owe you an explanation." Manik snaps, as he grabs his keys off the console, and pulls open the front door. It was worth a try. I turn around, ready to step back into the kitchen to finish baking my cake. "Um...By about twelve maybe." He says, stopping at the threshold.

"Two, gotcha." I offer Manik a smile over my shoulder, before I pivot on my heel and go back into the kitchen.

"Hey, I said twelve!" A complainer's whiny voice comes from the foyer. 

"And you simply do not know how to estimate time," I call back. "Punctuality isn't your strongest suit. Twelve means two for you, because that's the time you've been returning home every night for the past week or so." 

"Point!" Manik's head peeks into the kitchen through the side of the door. I watch as his eyes momentarily flit over the cake pans, and other baking equipment that I've strewn all over the kitchen counters.

"Flavor preference?" I ask, raising my eyebrows questioningly. "I'm making red velvet, but I can easily make another if you'd like." Had I blinked I would've missed it, but Manik surely just made a face at the sound of the flavor. 

"Make whatever the hell you want because in case you have forgotten, I don't eat anything made by you." Manik says, feigning nonchalance at once. His head disappears, as I hear him head back down the hall. 

"Have fun!" I call out, a knowing smile lighting up my face. Manik and I haven't gone back to being friends, that's for sure, but at least now he and I are able to hold decent - if short - conversations. I can tell that the sight of me doesn't repulse him anymore, and his anger is definitely draining at a faster rate than I expected.

Aiyappa, thank you for making my plan work. It definitely makes the injured foot, and embarrassing words that I uttered worth it. 

*****

"All finished," Farah says, handing me the bag of now empty cake boxes.

"As always," I say. "It's always a pleasure making food for the children when they enjoy it this much." 

"Oh please, you just do it so that you have another excuse to get in the kitchen and cook away." Farah teases, rolling her eyes. "Nandini, I need to talk to you about something."

"Yeah, sure, what is it?" We seat ourselves on the couch, Farah shifting in her seat to face me.

"As is common knowledge, we've been planning a day outing for the children to the fair for the past month," she begins. "And everything's on track, except for the fact that now Dan and I need to go to this charity event which has suddenly popped up. It will really benefit the children and the old age home if we attend, but if we don't then both these shelters will suffer a great loss. Nandini, we need the funding." I can hear the desperation in Farah's voice.

"Of course, so what do you want me to do?" I ask earnestly.

"I was wondering if you could, maybe, take over the reins for that outing. It would mean a lot if you could take the children for the day," she says. "They absolutely adore you as it is, and so I'm sure they'll cause you zero issues."

"Absolutely," I agree without a moment's delay. "The only issue is that there are over twenty children and I don't want to take the responsibility of them all on my own. I-I mean, could I bring a friend along, perhaps?" 

"Oh, don't worry about that. I've got someone else lined up to help you and they had the same issue about handling the children alone. But once the two of you are together, I'm sure you'll manage just fine." Farah smiles at me, relief radiating off her body.