WHEN FATE BRINGS YOU HOME

CHAPTER 3

Time left for the confirmation : seven hours, thirty nine minutes, twenty seconds- nineteen seconds- eighteen seconds-

It's Sunday midnight. I can hear dad and Aarav discussing something about the time difference between India and California. Isn't climate change a better topic? And simultaneously mom speaking to my cousin Ridha, who is just an year older than me and lucky for me that she works in California for a publishing company. Mom already had a talk with my aunt in the afternoon and that did go well. Or I like to believe that it did.

"Hey? You still listening?" Daksh's voice echoed in my ears through the pods.

"Yeah. Yeah. Here. What were you saying again?"

"Is your mom still on call?"

"My mom is really taking good advantage of my cousin's lunch hour. I hope she succeeds in convincing her. Or... Why don't you talk to her, Daksh?"

"I think it's better to let your cousin do the talk about all the California stuff."

"Come on. My mom loves you. She'll listen to you. Moreover anyone living abroad would work for me right now."

"Hey. Sorry but I've got to go-"

The line soon became dead even before I got to say a bye. I lay down on my bed staring at the blank ceiling of my room thinking about Daksh Raag. My all time favorite high school bestie ever. We are friends for years now. We went to the same high school and same college although we picked different courses. I finally understood the difficulties of a long distance friendship after he flew to New Zealand for his masters. I get to meet him once a year or so when he comes back for vacation. He now works for a drug analysis something. I can't recall. I lift my phone from the far end of my bed and put on some music to calm myself down. It's been a long two days and I definitely need music to change my mood. Daksh probably called to check if I was still alive after all the panic attacks I was giving myself during our long and depressing video calls. It's work hours for him and he should be busy. The music faded in the background, the loud notification ringtone waking me up from my thoughts. Two text messages from Daksh.

Sorry. Something urgent came up at work.

I'll talk to your mother.

I smiled at that text. My mom will surely listen to him. She adores Daksh more than her own son. What were her exact words- "He's like a son I never had."  And the funny part, Aarav would be standing right next to her with a WTF expression oh his face.

I had been camping outside my mom's room for the last twenty four hours, with my phone ready in my hand so that even if I happen to hear a 'y' of yes from her mouth, I was ready to go running to call my professor. I was extra alert during the first few hours but now I am just tired and sleepy. The worst thing is that I can't sleep until I got my yes, even though I won't be able to call Dr. David at this hour to confirm. Maybe I'll watch something to keep myself awake. I take my pods off and log in to my laptop. I click on a random video from the YouTube homepage.

                                                                            ---

"No. No. No. NOOOO..."

These were my first words today. Dread seeps through me as I look at the clock on the wall reading 10:17 A.M. I fell asleep yesterday. Dammit. No. Maybe the clock is broken. I jump out of my bed, kicking the bedsheets, plastic covers of the chips I stress-ate yesterday and my laptop out of my way, throwing myself at my phone which is plugged in on the table. Who plugged it in for charging? Not important right now. The screen flashes open at my thumb's touch on it's sensor. 10:17 A.M. The clock isn't broke after all. There were 11 missed calls and 63 text messages waiting for me.