Not-So-Girly-Girlfriends #MissionDesi #YourStoryIndia

Late Night Long Drive

Myra

The discussion about all the points gets over in an hour or so. 18 little points taking an hour of discussion is weird, I know. But we were pouring every little thought of ours over it. So now that it is over I am left alone in the room while the rest of them have gone to the kitchen for food hunt.

I have always wanted to go on a trip with these girls. We all have traveled solo (this is one of the points from the 18 things) and we have traveled in other groups but, the for of us travelling together has not yet happened. Except for all of us visiting this place. This is like another home.

We all are never free at the same time. Because of something or the else every plan was cancelled.

Maybe, this is the chance. I mean, why not? We all are here, together. We can all decide the places and strike all of the 18 things off the list. Plus, Alisha is about to get married. This has to happen now or it will never take place in the future.

"Birdy, get up, we are going on a late night drive," says Zara as soon as she enters the room.

"It's 2:30 a.m," I say looking at my wristwatch.

"That's why it is called as 'late night drive'," she says. Makes sense.

"But nobody is allowed to leave the house after 11 pm till 6 am. That's a rule mom made," I said recalling Alisha's mother's house rules.

"You are 22 going on 23. Break the rules already," she yelled.

"But-" before I could say any further she cut me off.

"Coming or not?" well, the idea is appealing.

"I'm in," I said getting of the bed when Zara has a grin on her face.

We tip toed downstairs and closed the door shut behind us. Vicky and Alisha were quietly pushing the car outside the gate so that no one in house can hear the engine getting started. We both joined them so the job is done faster.

The car has passed through the gate. It is quite and effort but we have done it without letting anyone know. I take a minute to look back at Alisha's ancestral house. This house where we had several weekend trips after our boards and also during our college life. I take a look at mom's balcony and I feel glad that the light is shut off.

I turn around to find that the girls have pushed the car to the highway already.

"You coming or what," Alisha asks.

"I am," I say and jog to the where the car is. It is a Mini Cooper convertible car. Just what you need for a late night long drive. It just clicked to me that everything done late at night is so fun. I mean, late night party, late night movies, late night outings, late night long drive, it is all fun because it is 'late night'. Well late night has its own thrills. Late nights mean breaking a rule and doing it on your own risk, with constant fear of getting caught by your adults. Late night is so fun!

I hop in the back seat with Alisha. Vicky took the steering wheel while Zara sat next to her.

"Where are we going," late night curiosity at its best.

"Dhamapur Lake," Vicky smirked. So long Dhamapur!

Its a really long drive. The weather is chilled up. We all take a nap except for Vicky. If she took a nap, I guess we would have been put to sleep permanently. In another half an hour Dhamapur lake arrived.

Vicky tried waking us up but her calls were unheard. It's freaking 3 in the morning. We all are tired with the whole engagement thing. So there was only one thing she could do. Sprinkle water. But no. She wanted to splash bottle full of water on our faces.

"Shit, Vicky!" Alisha screamed.

"You did not do this," Zara said.

"Hell no," I said rubbing my eyes.

"Sorry girls, I tried waking you all up," she said.

Alisha jumped out of the car. "Really," she asked.

"Yea," Vicky said. True enough.

"Then why don't to taste the Dhamapur lake as well," she said and pushed her in the water. Oh wow! This night is going to be amazing. And Vicky cannot swim. Shit! Vicky CANNOT swim!

As realization struck us, Zara and Alisha dived into the water and helped Vicky stay above the water and got her to the side from where I pulled her up. It wasn't really that deep but Vicky has her own fear of water. It is called something as 'aquaphobia'.

She gave a few coughs and laid her back on the grass looking straight up to the sky while we all stared at her.

"Bitch, if you weren't my best friend, I would have accused you of murder," she said. We all knew for whom this was.

"I am so sorry, I forgot, for a second, that you cannot swim. I am sorry," she pleaded.

"It's okay,"Vicky said.

"You know I hate it when someone wakes me up in the middle of night by means of water, don't you?"

"And you know whose idea it was to come out here in the middle of the night, don't you?"

"I'm sorry bitch."

"Its okay bitch," and that's where the bitchy conversation came to an end. Best friend shit.

Alisha gave her shawl from the car to Vicky so that she can wrap it around her while Zara and herself zipped the jackets on them which they had removed prior their little stunt.

We all sat around the lake. Everything was quiet and peaceful. The photographer in me wanted to click so many pictures but the nature-lover in me just wanted to take in all the beauty and click the pictures in my head.

I can see all of us, a little younger than now, when we used to come here during the day to take a boat ride or just a swim. Vicky usually was the boat person and whenever I didn't swim, we both chose the same view from our places and sketched it out on paper. Well, if we are friends, I would thank both of our sketching skills. That's what brought the both of us together in the first place.

"We need to complete this shit," I said.

"Complete what?" Vicky said.

"18 Things To Do Before You Die, we need to complete all of it," I told.

"We have done some of it," Zara says.

"Then why not all of it," I ask.

"I dunno. When can we? We are all busy," she says.

"Now is the ideal time. I did not sign up for any expedition now. Zara, you cannot make shitty excuses of having work. It's your own company and I am sure dad wouldn't mind sending you with us even if it means handling a few of your files till your gone. And Vicky, you can always pass on your message to your assistant and she can convey it to the various departments. And Alisha, for heaven's sake, you're getting married. You deserve this break. Trust me, you will regret this for the rest of your life if you reject this plan," I said.

"Birdy has got a point," Vicky says.

"So when do we leave?" Zara asks.

"In two to three days, maybe, because Alisha will need a lot of time when she comes back for preparing for the wedding," I tell.

"Okay, but what about the thrill of it. We all know what we have to do. There is no suspense. And without suspense there is no exact fun," Alisha says.

"Well, we know what all we are left with, right? So we will make chits out of it. We will pick equal number of chits and hence we will be responsible for the chits which we pick up. Thus you get to decide the destination for that point to be completed. So by tomorrow night we all will be ready with the destination and by next night we will do all the bookings. This is going to be fun."

"So this is it, then," Alisha smiles.