"No, no, no," the girl whispers in hushed Hindi, "Where is it?"
Tucking a strand of curly, black hair behind her ear, she recalls where she could have left her journal.
"Welcome to La Vie En Rose," the cashier says in a too-bright, obviously faked voice, "What can I get you?"
"Just a mocha cappuccino, please," she tells the cashier.
Shreya scatters her books across her desk. Not there. Panic grips her as she tries not to wake her sleeping roommate. There's no sign of a hand-made, leather-bound journal anywhere. Tears coat her eyes. Her journal was her only reminder of home. Home. The place where she grew up, the place where she came from. Home was the place where she had good, happy memories, but it was also the place that served as a reminder of what her family had lost.
"And who's this cup for?" the barista asks her.
"Shreya," she replies, her eyes never leaving her phone, even just for a moment to reply. The time on the word search is almost up and she's not going to loose this round, "S-H-R-E-Y-A."
People usually spelt her name incorrectly.
"Lovely name for a lovely girl," the barista remarks, smiling, "Have a seat, Shreya. I'll call you over when your cup is done."
Her eyes widen. The table. The table she sat at was the only place where she could have left her journal. She was writing before she left.
"Oh God," she says again in Hindi.
What if someone stole it?
Calm down, Shreya, her mind rationalised, If someone stole it, they wouldn't be able to understand it because you wrote everything in Sanskrit.
"Is everything alright, Shreya?" her roommate, Jasmine, asks sleepily, no doubt awoken by the cluttering and scattering of books.
"I lost my journal," Shreya sniffs.
"Don't worry," Jasmine smiles reassuringly, "You'll get it back."
That's when her phone vibrates.
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pronunciation guide (just in case)
shreya - shree-yah
priya - pree-yah
devika - dave-ee-kah
and yes, shreya is an indian girl :)
Each "text " chapter will have a number and each "written" chapter will have a title
YOU ARE READING
La Vie En Rose
Short StoryThe story of a girl who leaves her journal in her favourite café and the boy who finds it.
