FALLING IN LOVE AGAIN

Recipie for disaster

Manjari's could not believe her ears. She had been so clear in her instructions. Did he even listen to her? She slowly turned around, not trusting herself to not kill him. The site before her eyes made her heart beast amazingly fast. Her brother was staring at her with questions in his eyes.  She cleared her throat ad answered," They are Fulbrighters too. We had our orientation together they live on the first floor." Her brother nodded, the slight apprehension on his face clearing. She was so glad that Imran made the introductions. There was no way you could fake that accent.

She turned to face the two miscreants and said in a tight voice, "Hi Imran, hi Neel. Nice to see you.". Her eyes were burning holes in their bodies. Neel and Imran noticed and said hurried goodbyes and left.

Only then did Manjari's allow herself to breath. She opened the front door and admitted her brother. She took Amaira and laid her on her bed. She showed her brother the "guest" bedroom. A wave of nostalgia hit her the moment she entered the room. Memories of time spent with Neel hit her again. She covertly looked around to see everything as in "order". She had spent almost half a day cleaning the room to make sure that there was no sign of a man having lived in this room! Her brother looked at the room and said, "Nice."

Manjari's asked him to rest promising him to wake him up for dinner. She showed him the en- suite restroom, just in case he wished to freshen up. She went to her bedroom and looked at her sleeping daughter. She hugged her sleeping form, took out Amaira's presents and hid them in plain sight for her to 'find' and then went to the kitchen to start preparing dinner. She was adding tempering to her dal when her phone buzzed. She quickly checked it to see that it was her supervisor asking about her daughter. She replied to her message and promised to bring Amaira to the office once she had settled down. After preparing dinner, she checked a few assignments and planned for her upcoming classes. He also caught up on her readings so that she could spend more time with Amaira. It was almost 5 in the evening when she woke up Samar. After waking up Samar, she went to wake up her daughter.

"Wake up baby girl. Time for some food."

Amaira just stirred and went to sleep on her other side.

"Wake up, wakey wakey up"!!!!!!!!

"No!!!!, I want to sleep more", said Amaira in a sleepy voice...." I am missing you, dear girl...wake up" ...said Manjari's peppering her face with kisses.

"I want to sleep more".

"Ok. Sleep...I won't wake up now...but what to do with all these presents...what is this....let's see...new colours and drawing book...and what do I see her....new dresses...."Manjari's checked to see if this was having any effect on Amaira. She noticed that Amaira's head we are speaking from under the bed covers. So, she continued with her charade." What is this....new pencil box and lunch bag with Ana and Elsa and Olaf... who wants it????????????"

"Me, me me..." said Amaira, literally jumping off the bed...

Manjari's smiled to herself...the magic of Frozen...works like a charm every time.

"First shower, then presents". Amaira made a face at the name of a shower but agreed quickly when she saw Manjari's face. After a nice long shower, Manjari's helped her in a fresh set of clothes. She spread out a rug on her bedroom floor for her to sit and play on and began unpacking her suitcase. After quickly putting away her stuff, she took Amaira by her hand to the kitchen. She helped her sit on the breakfast table and began serving dinner. Her brother woke up at the same time. They had a quiet dinner and retired to their bedroom. Manjari's was exhausted by new, her body craving rest. But Amaira was not having any of it. She was full of energy and wanted to play with her new toys. Manjari's gave in to her desires and the two played with her new dolls for the next two hours. Amaira would have played throughout the night but Manjari's had to put her foot down and drag her to the bed where Amaira fell asleep immediately.