Forget-Me-Not: Taste of Freedom

Chapter Twenty Seven

Chapter Twenty Seven

The line for the payment counter was long and grueling. Kaira stood somewhere in the middle, waiting for the people before her to finish their billing. All she could see from here were huge bags of grocery, and way more food than anyone should ever buy. Her own purchases were trifling; she looked down at the sparing amount of apples she'd bought and sighed. This was going to take a while.

Before her, a fat lady with beefy arms and a pink face bent down, trying to silence her wailing kid in the stroller. From somewhere above, speakers poured out those disgusting jingles they always did in supermarkets. These jingles were punctuated by a woman's irritating voice at regular intervals. The cash register beeped, and a small murmur of people's voices reached her ears. Even on a Tuesday afternoon, it was crazy in here. She couldn't wait to get back home.

And what after getting back home? the thought popped involuntarily in her mind.

The prospect of lying in bed with a book, eating apples, seemed like a plan for now, but what was she ever going to do after that? She couldn't spend all her days like this. Sometime, she had to get back to her life.

What life? The sneering voice inside her said. You don't have a life anymore.

Her teeth clenched. She tried to push those images back from her mind. It had been months now... it was over. There was no reason why she should think about what happened in London. She'd left it behind... she'd moved on. Or maybe, she was still stuck, even after flying back to her home country.

Unwilling to pursue that train of thought anymore, Kaira resumed looking around, distracting herself by noticing other people and trying to figure out their lives. It had to be more interesting than being miserable over her own life, that was for sure. For instance, what would the woman before her, with the kid, do when she got home? Kaira thought that she probably had a husband who was too busy to care, judging by her tired expression. She probably prepared both the day's meals together to avoid any further hassle, and did her grocery shopping in advance. Maybe she had another kid who went to school, a family who was as uncaring as her husband.

Jeez, Kaira thought to herself. I've become so negative. As she stood there, contemplating about other people's lives, her thoughts turned to her brother and what had happened between him and Vidhi; she frowned. She hadn't heard from Vidhi after she went to her place yesterday-hadn't she got her message? Perhaps she should call again. Digging out her phone, Kaira dialed her number and waited patiently for an answer. After a few rings, Vidhi's bubbly, cheerful voice said, "Hello?"

"Vidhi, it's me... Kaira."

"Oh, hey! Sorry, I completely forgot to call you back. Dad said you had come over, but I got caught up. What happened?"

"Uh, actually, I was wondering if I could see you. You know. I... had a few things to talk to you about."

"Oh." Her voice turned hesitant. "I would have met you, but... I'm on my way to Goa."

Kaira blinked. "Goa?"

"Yeah. Me, Geet and Dia are going to Goa. It was pretty last minute. We didn't have time to tell anyone."

"Oh. Okay. You did surprise me. I was hoping I could maybe see you this evening..."

"I'm so sorry. Is it important? I mean, you can tell me now. Do you need me for anything?"

Kaira hesitated. Tell her now? Over the phone? No, it made no sense. "No, no... just, it's not important. We can talk after you return."

"Okay," Vidhi sounded doubtful. "Are you sure it isn't something urgent?"