Silently Falling in Love: Race - #Wattys2017

Chapter 4 - November 1989

As promised here's the next chapter.  Please comment and give me feedback! I love hearing your thoughts.  Am looking for a video for this chapter and I searched for quite a while but I couldn't find one that I liked.  Would love any suggestions you have.

Anjali

I hung up the phone after speaking to my parents. I sat on my bed, content that my roommate was out. It was hard to get any alone time when you shared such a small room with another person. I had my own room at home and whenever I needed to get away I could enter my room and I loved having that privacy. I missed my privacy.

And to be honest, I missed home too. I was tired of dorm food; what I wouldn't do for a plate of mom's food. I'd even eat bindi (okra) right now.

My privacy was short lived as I heard someone knocking on dorm room door.

"Come in," I said as I wiped away the tears from my eyes. I didn't want to be caught crying.

"Hey, it's me," Arjun said softly as he pushed open the door.

I must not have wiped the tears away quickly enough because within seconds he rushed to me, "Hey, what's wrong?" he asked with such concern.

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Everything is okay," I smiled as I stood up.

"Liar," is all Arjun said as he looked into my eyes and waited quietly for me to respond.

I looked away from his intense stare and finally confessed, "I'm homesick, that's all."

Arjun laughed, "Well then I have just the remedy for you," he said as he pulled my hand and made me sit back down on the bed. He pulled a package out of a bag and unwrapped the package; "I thought I'd share some homemade paratha with you. My mom just dropped some off for me," he said as he tore off a piece and held it up to my mouth.

I took the paratha from his fingers and took a bite. I chewed slowly savoring the soft bread filled with mashed up potatoes. The homemade food brought a flood of tears that I couldn't hold back.

"Hey, Anjali," Arjun said as he put his arms around me, "I didn't know paratha could make someone cry. If I'd known you were going to cry I would have eaten all of them myself," Arjun teased.

"The paratha just made me more homesick," I sobbed, "and plus Diwali is coming up and I'm not going to be home for Diwali. I've never been away from home for Diwali." I put my head in my hands.

"Well that can be easily remedied. Come home with me for Diwali," I said.

"Really, I can come home with you?" Anjali asked finally looking at me with the tears still on her cheeks.

"Of course you can come home with me. My parents will be delighted," I said. God I hope my parents wouldn't be mad at me for bringing a girl home for Diwali. But, I hated seeing Anjali crying.

"Can I have some paratha too?" Anjali asked smiling through the tears.

"Only if you promise to not cry while you eat," I said as I handed her the foil package of parathas.

Anjali tore another piece of paratha and shoved it into her mouth, "You know what?" she asked with her mouth half full.

"You want some raita with those paratha? Cause I really wished my mom had packed a container of raita with them. They're kind of dry without the yogurt," I say.

"That's not what I was going to say, but you're right, some raita would have gone well. And while we're making requests some mango achar (pickle) would be good too. That would have just made these paratha out of this world. But, you're distracting me..."