Ride on Time

Chapter 134

Mitsuo received a message from Shree, saying that they were on their way to pick him up, and panicked since he was still on the way back from Vaishali's shop. He quickly looked around him and found a high-end Mamak shop and rushed over, quickly telling her that he was having a drink at the restaurant in Jalan Barat.
He went over to the counter and quickly ordered a cup of Yoghurt Lassi, something he didn't really recognise, and waited while nervously peeking at the entrance. Mitsuo quickly folded the large yellow plastic bag he was holding so that it would fit around the package and took his hoodie off to wrap around the package so that the name of the shop wouldn't be noticeable
Mitsuo's drink was readied just as the red Viva pulled up in front of the restaurant. He went to it and got into the back beside Vasu, who gave him a knowing look as soon as he closed the door. Mitsuo held a finger above his lips as a signal to not say anything about their last encounter.
"So what you ate at Saed?" Shree asked as she drove down the road.
"Nothing much, just this drink," Mitsuo said, holding up the cup he was holding. "I'm not actually sure what it is, it's called Yoghurt Lassi, apparently."
"Oh! It's a good thing you bought it," Chandrika remarked from the front passenger seat. "It's really good, very refreshing."
Mitsuo shrugged and took a sip, his mind literally being blown as soon as the cold liquid hit his taste buds. "Oh my gosh! This is so good! It tastes like a cultured milk drink, only a lot thicker and creamier."
"And tastier," Vasu added. "You go to Gigantic means can get bigger carton."
Mitsuo nodded. "I'll keep that in mind. Anyway, where are we off to?"
"Home because we're gonna have a Valentine's gift session," Shree chuckled. "I don't know about the others, but for us, our family is our Valentine."
"Yeah, same," Mitsuo smiled. "Speaking of which, I have to give my parents a call later. They seem to be enjoying too much without me."
Shree snorted. "You better."

Vasu sat reading the flash cards for Pengajian Perniagaan on his phone while his family busily went about bringing down their gifts. He, on the other hand, already had the big bag of his gifts right beside him.
The others eventually returned and started distributing their gifts around. Mitsuo was touched since all of them had a little something for him, however small it was. It was a good thing he didn't forget them as well.
But he still felt bad for giving Shree the biggest gift while all of them received only small trinkets.
"What's this?" Shree asked but stopped short when seeing the logo of Vaishali's. "Is this...? Was it you just now in the shop?"
Mitsuo pretended to be confused. "What shop?"
"Vaishali's," Shree looked at him closely, holding up the bag.
Mitsuo just shrugged again. Shree shook her head in amusement and handed him a slightly smaller package than the one she just received. He carefully tore it open and looked at it in awe.
It was a nice red jippa with small white designs towards the bottom. He gasped and got up, cheerfully holding it in front of himself.
"Test and see first if correct size," Devi suggested, pointing towards the room. "Can change if notGo lah, go try first."
Mitsuo bowed and excused himself to the room, ignoring the unmade bed and pile of clothes. He tried it on and was glad that it fit perfectly and came out to show them the result before changing back into his regular clothes.
"Thank you, I really like it," Mitsuo bowed again. "It's really nice."
Shree smiled. "You're welcome. Now, what did you get for me?"
"Open it," Mitsuo grinned.
Shree did and was surprised to see a red cotton saree with gold designs. She looked at it in awe before turning to him.
"This is really beautiful," Shree smiled. "Thank you. How did you know my favourite colour?"
Mitsuo simply shrugged, pretending like he didn't realise how red was the colour she wore most, her car was literally red too. He just smiled and sat down on the sofa in front of her.

Vasu still peered at his phone to look at flash cards for his upcoming exam. He sighed and lowered his phone when the waiter arrived with the menu booklets.
"You should give yourself a break, buddy," Mitsuo remarked, patting his shoulder. You've been studying the whole day."
"Business is easy lah," Chandrika added. "You just have to goreng a lot."
"Easy for you to say, you're a teacher, Mom," Vasu sighed. "This stupid exam, one word also cannot be wrong. Must write exactly from the book."
"That sounds harsh, dude," Mitsuo said.
Shree nodded. "It is. I somehow got through it five years ago."
"Then why don't you teach him?" Mitsuo suggested.
"Like I said, five years ago," Shree reminded. "How you want me to remember?"
Mitsuo nodded. "Yeah, that makes sense. Anyway, what shall we order? I still have no clue of half the stuff written here."
"Same, dude," Vasu admitted. "I mean, I recognise the South Indian stuff but the north ones..."
"What's Keema Naan?" Chandrika asked, pointing at it in the menu.
Shree frowned thoughtfully. "I think it's Naan stuffed with minced chicken."
"Oh!" Chandrika lit up, her mouth watering. "Actually, I wanted to take Biryani, but... it's a lot lah..."
"Then take the naan lah," Devi suggested. "Looks nice, what."
"What's an Aloo Chapati?" Mitsuo asked.
"Potato chapati," Shree explained. "They mix the dough with chunks of potato. Very good, and very filling."
Mitsuo frowned slightly. "Well, I'm still a little full from that Lassi, though it was hours ago. I think I'll take this Keema Naan instead."
"What about drinks?" Vasu asked. "Definitely not coffee since... well, it's dinnertime and I wanna be able to sleep later."
"Wanna take milk again ah?" Devi asked. "Good what, pasumpal."
"Can also," Shree shrugged. "Wanna try the bajji?"
"Chilli bajji ah?!" Vasu gasped and turned to Mitsuo. "You can ah?"
Mitsuo gulped slightly. "I think... should be fine?"
"You sure or not?" Devi added. "Later happen like in Baba means how?"
"Baba ah...?" Shree frowned thoughtfully, slightly surprised.
"Oh yeah, that Japanese feller!" Chandrika nodded. "Yeah, he ends up in the hospital with a food poisoning, on his wedding some more."
"You know that scene or not?" Vasu asked, giving Mitsuo a slight nudge.
Mitsuo ruefully nodded. "I do... I watched most of Rajini-san's movies at this point."
Shree snorted. "Rajini-san. He really is famous all around, isn't he."
"Well, he's amazing, let him be famous," Mitsuo added. "And as for this chilli thing, let's try it."
"Eh, Rajini also got eat chilli and suffer, you know," Devi pointed out. "He got do in two movies, I think."
"Make that at least two," Shree added. "But yeah, you sure or not?"
"Positive," Mitsuo nodded. "I'll try it."
"Don't regret later," Shree warned before calling the waiter to order.

Mitsuo gulped at the fried chilli fritter in his hand. The others didn't seem to mind much, even dipping it in the chilli sauce that came with it.
"Come on, try it," Vasu urged. "I'm sure you'll like it."
Mitsuo said a silent prayer in his heart and took a tiny bite off the tip, his eyes squeezed tightly as he awaited the burning sensation on his tongue.
But nothing came.
Mitsuo slowly opened his eyes and looked at the bitten chilli bajji as he chewed. "Hey, this isn't that bad."
"See, it's nice, right?" Shree smirked. "It's green chilli, sweeter and not as spicy."
Mitsuo nodded and took a larger bite.
It stung him instantly.
He quickly grabbed his glass of water and downed a large amount of it before stuffing the entire thing into his mouth, chewing in agony. The others exchanged concerned glances as they watched Mitsuo, his eyes watering as he just sat there and munched the rest of his bajji.
"Are you okay?" Shree asked, a little concerned.
Mitsuo nodded and swallowed before letting out a soft yell as he grabbed the water and downed it.
"Maybe that wasn't such a good idea..." Vasu remarked, earning nods from the three women.