The Guests. #1

× The Guests ×

Two Years Later

I took Tara's words seriously, I moved on. I began to spend time with Sahil along with Tara who had left a month later from her stay. She had to go back and handle her business, as it was her main responsibility. Ma immediately became depressed as soon as she left. So did I.

Though she did leave me a friend behind. Sahil. Yes, we were only friends. I didn't exactly heed to Tara's advice, because we both realised how good we were as friends. And then later I found out that Sahil had feelings for Tara. And to be honest for the first time, I was glad that someone liked her over me. He wanted to tell her before she left. But he knew how hardworking and ambitious Tara was, which felt had reduced his chances a little.

It had been two years since the night she had left, as I always taunted Sahil about it. We were walking through the mall, particularly through the clothing stores. It was my last year of nursing school, while Sahil had landed a promotion at the advertising agency he was working at. We decided to celebrate tonight, as we were scouting for outfits to wear for our big night out.

We walked through the brand stores, searching through various racks. Sahil was trying on shirts, while I stuck to the pretty sparkly dresses. We went to a few more stores, till we finally found an outfit that appealed to us. Sahil was in the changing room, while I walked to the cashier. I had bought a shimmery dark green bodice dress that accentuated my small curves nicely.

I waited for Sahil who then purchased a navy blue shirt. We walked out of the designer store, till I went past a book store. Although I wasn't fond of books, there was still something so peculiar about the store. What caught the corner of my eye were the large posters slapped across the windows. It read out in bold white letters, the title.

"The Guests."

It wasn't the title that garnered my attention, but the picture of a blue bungalow in the cover. I decided to peer closely at the poster to see the author's name. When I saw it, I suddenly stood rooted to the spot. I realised it was a name that I was expecting, yet not hoping. My eyes grew wide, as the name stood out to me. I could feel my eyes tearing up, when Sahil noticed that I had strayed from our path. He looked at me with concern, as his eyes wandered to the poster. He was equally shocked, placing his arms around me.

"Should we go?"

I didn't listen, as I walked inside the store.

I walked up to the front aisle which displayed a ton of copies of the novel. I picked up a copy and went forth to purchase it. Sahil was waiting for me, as he looked at me intensely.

"Are you okay?"

I held the novel tightly in my hand.

"Let's go home."

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We reached home much soon, as Ma opened the door for us. I asked Sahil to come home instead, following me inside.

"You guys are back soon. I thought you were going to have lunch at the plaza. I didn't prepare anything."

Ma was looking at us worried.

"Were not hungry. And we've got what we needed."

Although Sahil's stomach was growling. He knew why I called him inside. He was curious about what happened in the bookstore.

"It's okay, Aunty."

Sahil smiled.

"Are you sure? I can whip up something quickly."

I could tell how badly Sahil wanted to agree. But for me, he lied. I actually did feel bad about it.

"Actually Ma. Sahil and I wanted to come home and eat. He loves your cooking way too much."