Ride on Time

Chapter 88

"So what is this about again?" Mitsuo asked, now seated with the rest in the living room. He spooned some of the kesari into his mouth before continuing. "Also, this stuff is good. What's it called again? Ke... kesavi?"
"Kesari," the rest corrected.
"Ah," Mitsuo briefly placed his bowl on the table before pulling out that little notebook of his, jotting down the name of the dessert. "Thanks. This will come in handy later."
Shruti smiled, being reminded of her brother again.
"So Auntie, why are we here?" Shree asked.
"Ah," Shruti smiled. "Okay, so here's the thing. There's this event tomorrow, in our company... and the emcee called in sick just this morning, on the last minute."
"Okay?" Shree nodded, prompting her to continue.
"So the MC took MC lah?" Vasu cut in.
Shruti ignored the young man's play on words and continued. "And I was thinking maybe... Mitsuo can replace him since he has a good voice and speaks very good English."
The Japanese man nearly dropped his bowl of kesari in surprise. "What?! Me? You want me to be the emcee?!" He placed the bowl down on the table and gripped his head with both hands. "But I haven't got any experience, I don't even know what an MC stands for."
"Medical Certificate," Vasu remarked, much to everyone's dismay.
Shruti sighed, feeling so done with her brother as she shook her head. "Master of Ceremonies."
Mitsuo shook his head. "Whichever it means, I'm neither one of it."
"Oh come on, you're not gonna be doing it for free, you'll be paid," Shruti quickly said. "How does a thousand dollars sound?"
"Dollars?" Mitsuo repeated in surprise. "You mean... USD?"
"No, Ringgit," Shruti quickly said. "I'm sorry, the Malaysian Currency was called dollars up until the nineties. But yes. One thousand ringgit. Is that good?"
Mitsuo frowned. "I'm not sure if I'll be able to do a good job, I haven't done anything like this before."
"Oh, but I've seen your interview," Shruti smiled. "You seem to have great charisma, even though I cannot understand a thing you said, but I could see that you were good with your words."
Mitsuo's eyes widened in surprise. "You watched my interview?!"
"So can you do this event for us?" Shruti asked, completely ignoring the question. "It's only for three hours."
A few moments of silence passes with all eyes on Mitsuo. He didn't seem to care, or at least pretended like he didn't, as he silently sat as if in thought.
"How much is a thousand ringgit in yen?" Mitsuo suddenly asked.
"Around thirty thousand five hundred yen," Shree said, checking on her phone.
"That's a lot of money for a three-hour event..." Mitsuo slowly nodded. "I'll take it!"
"What?!" The siblings gasped.
"Really?" Shruti grinned. "You will?"
Mitsuo shrugged. "It's an experience, I guess."
Shruti was so excited and started talking business. The siblings felt like extra wheels to their conversation.
"Question," Shree suddenly piped up. "Where do we come in, Auntie?"
"Ah, you," Shruti seemingly just realised. "I wanted to tell you the other day, but forgot. Can you perform for the event also ah? Not enough performers."
Now it was Shree's turn to be surprised. "Uh... what? I have to perform tomorrow ah? What to perform? Perform what?!"
"Madhavi suggested some routine the other day, go ask her," Shruti shrugged. She looked around for her older daughter but was dismayed when she was nowhere to be found. "Aiya, where that girl went lah?"
She got up and started calling for her. Shree turned to her brother, who seemed more interested in grinning at his phone, then turned to Mitsuo who looked almost as anxious as she did.
"So... you're gonna be the emcee for this event thingy," Shree said. "Okay ah for you?"
Mitsuo shrugged. "I guess. Well, I am getting paid. That's a lot of money for a three-hour event."
Shree shook her head, amused. "Wonder how much she's paying me." She groaned. "Aiyo... what to dance also don't know lah..."
Madhavi soon came down and started discussing about what dance she should perform for the event. The younger woman wasn't much of help and Shree ended up deciding on a dance herself.
"I don't know how I'm gonna practice lah..." Shree groaned. "Tomorrow some more, the performance."
"You remember the dance or not?" Shruti asked.
Shree nodded. "I remember. But it's been some time since I performed it."
"Try lah, we see," Shruti suggested. "If you forget means choose another one."
"Now?" Shree asked doubtfully.
"Now lah," Shruti urged.
Shree sighed and got up. She looked around for a moment and went to a clearing in the living room to dance, starting with the greeting step, thanking the Mother Earth before starting the dance.
Shree danced gracefully, her movements fluid and sophisticated. No one could say a word, not even Vasu who always searched a moment to poke fun at his sister.
Mitsuo was the most awestruck, even gaping. Shruti noticed and suppressed a giggle as she turned back to the dancer.
Shree finished by pressing her hands together in front of her chest and bowing in front of everyone. To her surprise, she received applause, and a standing ovation from Mitsuo.
"That was amazing!" Mitsuo exclaimed. "Hey, I think I'll add a character like you in my book!"
Shree was baffled. She didn't know what to say as she just stood there, head slightly lowered as she smiled shyly.
"I don't think you need to practice for tomorrow lah, Shree," Shruti finally broke the silence as she stood up. "You're good enough already."
Shree smiled and bowed slightly as she spoke. "Thanks, Auntie." But then she thought to herself. 'But how much will I get paid, though?'
Well, her doubts were soon cleared when Shruti began taking business again, chasing away her daughter away, and boring Vasu. There goes his chances of hanging out with Madhavi, the only one who was closest to his age.
He looked over at Mitsuo, who sat silently listening, occasionally nodding as he nibbled on his kesari. Vasu wondered how even had that much left from lunch earlier, seeing how his and Shree's were long gone. The dessert was really tasty, made with a generous amount of ghee and roasted nuts.
Vasu sighed and turned back to his phone, his only companion that couldn't ditch him at this moment.