• Second Chances •

27. Pukekoo Poo

"What?" Ram stared at the campervan. "Are you serious? This was the surprise you were talking about?" 

Aditya hopped like an energizer bunny. "Yes! A Mercedes campervan.  It's the best. We will just use this for travel. We do have hotel bookings. This is just for the feels." 

"You are crazy!" remarked Ram dismissively and started to load their bags in the van. 

"Or so I have been told!" laughed Aditya and rushed towards the driving seat; his happiness palpable from a mile.

With a soft smile on her face, Priya watched Aditya celebrate. Happiness suited both Brinda and Aditya so much. At the same time, she looked at Ram struggling to keep their bags in the campervan's boot. He clearly wasn't used to doing this.   

"Here..." Priya turned a bag around so that Ram could accommodate another bag. "Now try putting that blue one." 

Ram was so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn't notice how he was placing the bags. He was struggling but a simple turn of a bag from Priya had created so much space that they could now fit it at least three more bags. He was amused. He placed the blue one like she had said and closed the shutter. Priya was something else, he had to agree.

Then like the thorough gentleman that he was, Ram held the door open for Priya and motioned her to sit. Ram slid in on the passenger seat and asked, "Where are we heading first?" 

"Grocery shopping!" replied Brinda. 

"Oh my god, yes!" Ram nodded in all seriousness. "We need chips. Life essentials." 

Brinda slapped the back of Ram's head in jest. "Yea. So if we get attacked by a wild animal, we can wield a bag of chips in its face and save ourselves. Life essentials." 

Ram showed her his tongue. "Oh genius, there are no such predators in New Zealand. At most, we will get attacked by a spider or a Kea."  

"What's a Kea?" asked Priya curiously.

"A big parrot that has a dangerous mouth. It can eat anything. Even car seats..." filled in Aditya.  

"Oh!" Brinda looked at Ram with gleaming eyes. "That suspiciously sounds like you, Ram." 

Priya cracked up on listening to that. She was surprised by herself. She was laughing up more and more these days. And it wasn't even two days since she had got married. Their jokes were silly but she enjoyed them for some reason. The other thing that she truly enjoyed was how much it surprised Ram when she did little things for him. Like now, he had stared at her with amusement when she had helped him arrange the bags. 

She would never forget how grateful he looked on the flight when she held his hand. Perhaps, they really were going to strike a great friendship with each other. Maybe, her married life was not going to turn out that bad.       

"Take a left..." Ram instructed Aditya. He pointed at a decent-sized convenience store. "We can park the car in the lot."  

As they were entering the store, Brinda warned Ram. "Okay. Half an hour. If you take more than that, I will drive off with the car." 

Then she told Priya. "You have to be strict with them." 

Shaking his head at Brinda, Ram vanished off in the store like a child let loose. It was Priya's turn to shake her head. He really had managed to keep the child in himself alive. She didn't know if it was annoying or endearing.  

Priya eyed Brinda and Aditya as they walked towards an aisle. She thought that it was better if she gave them a little bit of privacy and wandered off on her own. She silently walked around the store, looking at the different kinds of groceries that were on offer. She observed how different their seasonings were, how their essentials were milder. She walked through the fresh produce aisle and got attracted to the luscious looking cherries. Wondering if she had enough money in her purse to be able to buy it, she looked into her purse. And then hit her head. She hadn't exchanged money yet. How was she going to buy anything?