The Lethal Keepsake

Back to the Burrow

After 7 hours of traveling and changing flights, the trio reached B city.

Margaret handed her luggage to her husband, "See you guys after the weekend". She waved goodbye to Martin and Minerva and hopped onto the passenger seat.

"She sounds as if we have another couple of days till the weekend is over", Martin said with a light chuckle.

Martin and Minerva bid their farewell to Margaret and hailed a taxi as they were traveling in the same direction. In a few hours, the taxi stopped in front of a huge gate, with a grand arch bearing the words, "Whitefield Homes".

"This is me. See you tomorrow Martin"

Minerva stepped out of the taxi and picked up her luggage from the boot. With a genuine but tired smile, she bid farewell to Martin and began to walk towards the high-rise buildings.

She climbed the elevator and pressed the button 5. Minerva's house was situated on the fifth floor. A simple house with two rooms, along with a kitchen and a living room. Every window was adorned with cyan-blue curtains and two pairs of matching bean bags in the living room.

Being back from a long travel, she decided to take a shower and then sleep. It was around 3 pm when she finally woke up hungry.

"I wish Mom was here. I am craving her food", she said sitting up on her bed. Living alone in her own space was what she wanted, yet there were moments when the quietness of the house made her feel lonely. Having just returned from a foreign country after being away for so long, the yearning for the familiar taste of home was more intense than ever.

"Hmph... Everything comes with a price. If you choose to live alone, be prepared to confront the associated shortcomings as well."

She tied her hair up and freshened up before entering the kitchen.

As she was too hungry, she decided to make some instant noodles. She rechecked her mobile but was disappointed not to find messages from certain someone.

"Why would he even message me? Am I his girlfriend? Or am I even a normal friend to him?"

"Yeah, he helped me with the Eqypt research, but maybe that's normal for him."

"But he doesn't go out of his way to help everyone, does he? Maybe he did it just because I requested it and he had enough resources."

"But he checked on me during the last trip....."

"Still, that could be because the translator was someone he knew."

"Arghhhh! Why am I thinking all this?", she sighed, tapping repeatedly on the kitchen slab.

Her mind was flooded with all these thoughts and the hunger only made it worse.

Larry, her colleague from the IT team, was an introvert who rarely engaged in conversations with people or helped people beyond his scope of work. Initially, they started talking when she needed help with her new recording application in her system. Larry not only resolved her issue but also recommended additional applications and shared innovative ideas.

Before that encounter, she had only observed him from a distance - engrossed in his computer or silently tackling the technical issues, never uttering more words than necessary, almost robotic. He seldom engaged with others, preferring to eat lunch alone. However, during the week helping Minerva with the research and ideas for the Egypt project, he shared his lunchtime, and sometimes his food, with her for the entire week.

Minerva admired his work and out-of-the-box thinking at first, but over time she found herself drawn to him. Unsure if her feelings were mutual, Larry's occasional displays of care contrasted with moments of aloofness, leaving Minerva in a state of uncertainty.