Southern Avenue

Chapter #14

Chapter #14

Reaching her home, Sharanya entered her mother's room first. Seeing that she was still sleeping peacefully she didn't want to just wake her up yet. She wanted her mother to rest; her body needed that rest the most.

"Go, freshen up." She frowned, looking at Ranvijay, who was sitting on the couch of her house's living room as if he was there to attend an official conference or something. His shoulders were straight, as he sat rigidly, looking around at the living room. Sharanya almost chuckled to herself at this posture.

"It's your house...um... apartment." Ranvijay spoke making himself a little more comfortable, by leaning into the couch he was sitting in, than the stiff stature that he had held from the moment they had walked inside.

Sharanya chuckled at his antics this time, out loud, "Feel at home. I don't even see you sitting like that in your office."

"I spend my day at the office. How can it be uncomfortable exactly? It's likely my other relaxing place." He shrugged.

"Unless you have a meeting?"

He nodded, "Unless I have a meeting."

Sharanya rolled her eyes, "Just get comfortable."

"Better," Sharanya interrupted his thoughts, "The washroom is on the right, in that corner, freshen up." She smiled and changing her clothes to the ones she wore at home - casual sweatpants and a white shirt-she walked towards the kitchen.

Everything was already cooked, she had already done that before she had gone to office. So taking the food out, she heated it up on the gas than the microwave, because she thought that it tasted better that way. Then she tasted the curries again from the spanner, ensuring if all the tastes were still intact.

"You should've been a chef." Ranvijay chuckled looking at her, as he went in and smelled the food. They seemed to instantly allure his nasal buds as he stood there, checking out what all she had made.

"I'm good at what I do," Sharanya poked her finger on his arms as he went to taste the kheer, then she slapped his hands away the second time he tried to do the same with the spoon, "At the table."

Sharanya gave him a glare.

He sulked, "You get to taste it beforehand."

He rolled his sleeves up while taking his seat at the dining table, were Sharanya laid down the food. There was rice on the table with two types of curries, among which one was a vegetarian dish the other non-vegetarian one and for dessert there was Kheer.

Who would cook themselves a whole lot, when there was a sick person at home who wasn't allowed to eat everything? Sharanya wasn't that selfish. She had kept things simple and only had cooked whatever her mother was allowed to eat. Since she also made food for her mother's nurse sometimes there was enough food for this man whom she had not anticipated when she had cooked the meal that morning.

"I get to taste that's because I cooked it. I'm just warning you; in case something tastes bland just tell me, I cooked according to mom's prescription so it's simple." She chuckled and served him the food, which he started eating quickly giving her a nod.

He had been starving, as he had skipped the breakfast that morning. His pets had taken up all his morning time and he was for the first time he had been late for a breakfast meeting. He sighed remembering that he had to apologize to the Board for the wait that morning. He hadn't even done that before leaving. What was the chance that he would have to deal with some nagging from them the next day?

"You cook well!" He said serving himself more of the chicken because that was what he liked the most among everything else on the table. It still wasn't dessert time yet, else he would have tasted the Kheer first.

He remembered his time in Manchester when he and his friends went to have fried chicken and burgers every weekend along with their group of friends. It was their weekend thing before all of them went skateboarding or sometimes on a biking or diving adventure. Sharanya's food reminded him of her mother's and his grandmother's cooked food.

"Thank you, my lord," Sharanya chuckled at his direction as he licked his fingers. The sight itself made her feel content and feel happy. Her cooking being appreciated by someone else meant something to her, she barely got appreciated for it. "Something else you want?"

"Yes! The kheer, please," He grinned and Sharanya quickly used her other hand to pass him the kheer, as she was occupied having the lunch as well. Ranvijay had rather quickly finished his meal.

"Here you go," She said, passing the bowl in which she had passed his portion.

A smile adorned her face as she looked at how eagerly Ranvijay dived into having the sweet dish and how much he relished it while having.

"Have you never had kheer before?" The question came out randomly from her mouth.

"I have," He nodded taking another two spoonfuls of Kheer from his bowl and having a mouthful, "But only when I came here to live with my Grandma. She was one awesome cook."

"She indeed was," Sharanya smiled at the remembrance, "She was the one who taught me how to make Kheer."

"Figured. This taste can only be from her recipe. Your food tastes like that of your mom and Grandma." Ranvijay said thoughtfully, making Sharanya pout a bit as she finished her plate. Didn't she have her own specific taste into her food? Maybe she could try out new recipes; then she would make him a guinea pig and make him taste everything.

"Theek hai, abb jaldi karo. (Okay fine, now finish up fast)" She walked away with her plate making Ranvijay laugh a little more, looking at her sulking. He was way too smart to understand what had made her sulk in the first place.

Sharanya feeding Ranvijay was a gesture that the both of them had enjoyed. While washing the dishes, Ranvijay joked about it.

"Next time, I'm going to cook you an English breakfast." He said thoughtfully.

The sleeves of his shirt were folded up till his elbow as he helped her wash the dishes.

"You didn't have to help." She clucked her tongue, "Do you know how to cook?"

Ranvijay gave her a smirk, "My mom and grandma raised me well; when someone offers and cooks you food one's supposed to help them clean up. And yes, I know a little."

"That's not usually how things work here in India. Atithi devo bhava."

"What?" Ranvijay frowned. His Hindi wasn't good and here she was saying something in Sanskrit. How in the world would he understand something like that?

"You haven't heard about it?" She chuckled.

He rolled his eyes, "You know that even my Hindi sulks sometimes. I'm not too good with it."

"It means that a guest is equivalent to god," Sharanya shook her head, smiling down as she wiped her hands and kept the cutlery in their respective places.

"Just let me help, will you?" Ranvijay rolled his eyes and helped her reach the higher shelves, "When you come over to my place, I'll feed you and treat you like a goddess, okay?" He said with a wide playful grin on his face.

Sharanya laughed, "Sure, sure. Whatever sails your boat."