Count On Me

6. Small Round Things

Will's POV

I rang the doorbell for the third time. According to me, Char should've already came home. But then why isn't she opening the door? I looked at the watch again. Yes, she should be home two hours before. I quickly opened the door and looked around. She's nowhere. Not in the living room, not in the kitchen, not in the balcony. I went towards her bedroom. The door was ajar and there she was. Sitting on the floor at the other side of the bed, clutching something in her hands and seeming lost in her thoughts. I called her but she didn't answer. So I went inside and stand beside her. She was clutching her phone in which a picture of her family, her parents, her dog, and she was celebrating some festival. All were wearing a big happy smile, enjoying the moment. There was a tear streaming on her face. I sat beside her, gently putting a hand on her shoulder and called her again. She jerked in a shock as if she's got current. She looked at me and instantly turned her face, wiping the tears that were threatening to fall.

"Will? When did you come? Sorry, I was a bit lost." She asked in a shaky voice.

"Just a few minutes ago." I answered in a calm manner.

"Oh. Umm.. you must be hungry. I-I forgot to make dinner. But, I think I will come up with some quick meal." She said so fast as if she wanted me to ignore her shaky voice, her expressions, her tears.
She started standing up but I grabbed her hand and pinned it on the floor to make her sit down again.

"I'm not hungry. But I'm curious." I said while taking my hand off hers.

"Curious?" She looked at me in confusion.

"I am curious about this picture." I pointed at the picture in her phone. "What are you celebrating? What was the occasion?"

"Oh! We were celebrating Diwali. It's an Indian festival.. festival of lights. I was in my senior year at that time, the year my dad.." Her voice faltered at the mention of her father. At first she seemed nostalgic but then she became sad. I changed the subject to divert her mind.

"I will order some pizza. No need to make something. I haven't eaten it in like ages, anyway." I said while ordering pizza online. I knew she love pizza and it's good to cheer the mood. "Come, will sit in the living room." She just nodded and followed behind me, taking a seat on the sofa.

"When is this fest?" I asked.

"In the next week." She replied with a smile.

"So, what's this festival.. Diwali? What do you do?" I sat beside her and tried to sound enthusiastic so that she can at least smile. But the results came more positive.

"As I said, it's the fest of lights. So we light up the whole house with a big lantern, small earthen lamps and decorate it with garlands. There are lots of sweets and tasty food specially made for Diwali. The fest continues for four days." She was talking with excitement, a beautiful smile was dancing on her face.

"Four days! It sounds fun. What do you do in those days?" Now I was also feeling excited about it. I always kind of had some fascination about India. It was interesting to know about their culture and people. Luckily I had an Indian friend and roommate now.

"It's a blast. On the first day, we have Narak Chaturdashi. It's when the Goddess killed the demon named Narakasur. We doesn't do much on that day actually. We just wakes up before the dawn, cleans up the house, massage with the hot oil, bath using the chandan powder or gram flour with milk, wear new clothes, decorate the house, make designs with coloured sand or flower petals and last but not the least, eat the special Diwali food. These all things remain the same for all four days. On the second day, we have Lakshmi Poojan in the evening. It's worshipping the goddess of wealth and prosperity.