Tiger's Beginning

Chapter 6: Invitations and Muffin Disputes

I wonder who that could be.

That had to be Anik. He was still stuck in my mind, and I kept replaying his expression. I had never seen him before, but I saw recognition clearly in his face.

I gripped my tea mug tightly and gingerly made my way to the front door. As subtly as I could, I looked out the side window and saw Kamala on the doorstep bouncing on her feet. I smiled and opened the door.

"Hey! Kamala come on in."

I brought her into the living room and she sat down across from me on the armchair. For some reason she seemed kind of nervous, and was twiddling her thumbs. I reached out and touched her knee, and she flinched.

"Kamala, are you ok?"

She glanced up at me and smiled slightly, though it seemed forced.

"Yea, I'm...fine, just some family drama this morning."

"Oh, yea your brothers sure seemed mad."

Her eyes widened in shock and she sputtered out,

"You...you saw them?"

I look at her oddly and said,

"Yea, I think it was your brothers. Anik is in town now isn't he? They were yelling about all sorts of things in Hindi."

She visibly relaxed and said carefully,

"So you saw them...speaking to each other, not in any other way of communication?"

I frowned slightly.

"Yea Kamala, they were arguing, unless you count beating each other to a pulp working things out. Am I missing something here?"

She answered a little too quickly.

"No! I was just...making sure you didn't see the worst of the fight."

I raised my eyebrows.

"That wasn't the worst?"

She laughed nervously.

"Yea, they can get a little...rough. So anyways, the reason I came over is because we, meaning my family, wanted to invite your family over for dinner tomorrow night. We are leaving for the summer, and didn't want to leave without meeting our new neighbors!"

She gave me a wink, and seemed like she forgot the "family problems" that were bothering her earlier.

"I also invited that cute elderly couple next to you guys. They seemed up for it. Listen, I have an appointment, but text me later what your parents decide."

I nodded and walked her to the door. She gave me a smile and hug, before waving as she slip her sunglasses back on and back out of the driveway in her Porsche. I shook my head and smiled.

Kamala is something else. I know being her roommate will be interesting.

The rest of the morning I busied myself by watching a couple of movies on Netflix before writing a little.

Around 2:30, I heard the door open downstairs and my mom's voice. I set my journal down and made my way downstairs to where my parents were unloading groceries.

"So, did you get more muffin mix?"

My dad gave me a look and my mom turned around with her hands on her hips.

"We did not, because it seems that their next shipment comes in on Tuesday! We will have to make do with Cinnamon strudel muffins, which obviously aren't the same but will have to do."