Mixed Masala

Chapter 6

The following week flew by quickly. Meera was back at work as planned on Wednesday morning and found that a clutter of new files was awaiting her attention. She worked diligently throughout the next three days, even refraining from leaving the office during her lunch hour. Instead, her secretary would get her a sandwich or some other light snack ... and plenty of coffee. Normally, Meera would only leave around six o'clock in the evening (although her office hours officially ended at five o'clock) to avoid the after-office traffic that predictably occurred every single day in Kuala Lumpur.

However, Meera didn't want to waste any more time than she had to while Vidhya was around, so she had spoken to her superiors who had readily agreed to let her leave a little earlier for the next few days in order to beat the rush hour. Meera would leave the building by half past four o'clock and head towards Ampang where she had finally relented and agreed to stay with her aunt, but only while Vidhya was still there. Meera intended to go back to her own place as soon as her cousin left for Chicago.

Meera had promised to take Haresh to a popular water theme park on Saturday and so early that morning, with Will and Vidhya in tow, Meera had expertly driven them through the "crazy traffic" (as Will called it), stopping for some nasi lemak for breakfast on the way and by noon, the foursome were thoroughly enjoying themselves splashing around a man-made beach. They had a late lunch at a Chinese restaurant before driving to Jayashree's place in Kajang where they were staying the night.

"My God!" Vidhya exclaimed as Jayashree's three-storey marvel came into sight. "That's not a house, it's a bloody palace!" She immediately bit her lip as Hari gave her a puzzled look.

"Did you just swear, mommy?" the little boy asked.

Vidhya nodded shamefacedly. "Yes, I suppose I did, and I apologise. Okay?"

Meera tried to hide her amusement. She knew how hard Vidhya was trying to shield her son from all the "swear words" that most young American children seemed to use so easily, and yet, it was sometimes funny to see her loud-mouthed cousin fumble once in a while.

Hari looked at his mother a moment longer, then said, "It's okay. You're right. It is a bloody palace!"

*****

"So it's just you, Ravi and the maid, right?" asked Vidhya as Jayashree gave her the grand tour of the house.

She had already been shown around the ground floor which comprised a large living room and separate TV room, a dining area, a guest bedroom and connecting bath for "when Ravi's parents stayed over" (and which was now being occupied by Raj), another smaller bedroom and bathroom for Lina the housekeeper, a massive kitchen, a large pantry, a laundry room and a store room. Jayashree was now showing Vidhya around the first floor which was made up of a large master bedroom and a lavish bathroom, and two smaller rooms each with its own bathroom.

Vidhya had to admit that Jayashree and Ravi had very good taste, from the bold colours of their walls and the beautiful fabrics that decorated their windows to the tasteful furniture that was arranged so meticulously around the house.

"And this is our study," said Jayashree, leading the way up another short flight of stairs. The second floor comprised a large room with bay windows along one wall and ceiling height bookshelves along two others. Two writing desks sat side by side with identical computers on them. His and hers, thought Vidhya smiling to herself. Cute.

There was also another very much smaller room on this floor which Jayashree had converted into the prayer room.

"You have a beautiful house," Vidhya said to her cousin as they walked back downstairs to join the others. But it's still a big house for just the two of them, thought Vidhya reflecting on her own three bedroom single-storey home back in Chicago.