MIRA

38. Good Bye... Boston✈️

To Mira's relief, Vikranth's phone rang as soon as she looked away. He blinked and stood up to attend the call. It was then that Mira realised that she had forgotten to give Vikranth his gift. 

''Hey, sorry about that.'' He said as he sat back down with Mira.

''It's cool, also I have something for you.''

''For me?'' he asked frowning.

Mira took out an A-5 size gift wrapped in red crepe paper with a green ribbon knotted lightly, and handed it to Vikranth.

''Oh...and what's this?''

''Not much compared to your surprise, but a small gesture to say thanks and a reminder of me when I'm gone.'' Mira realised that this sounded a bit too cheezy when she said it aloud.

''May I?'' Vikranth asked before unwrapping it. Mira nodded. He unwrapped the gift to find a cardboard desk calendar style photo album of 5 pages, with the first page displaying a quote,

A True Friend doesn't just help you in tough times, but teaches you to help yourself.

-Mira :)

The quote brought a small smile on his face.

He flipped over to the next page, the sight of which made him throw his head back and laugh. It was a very old photo of  Vikranth and Mira in their school uniforms, with Vikranth flashing a bright smile and Mira giving a timid pose while holding his hand. 

''Wow...how old is this?'' He asked as Mira chuckled. He flipped to the next three pages which had images from when he first took Mira around Boston, then when they went to the Forest adventure park with Sri and Guava, and finally one from the Diwali bash (which was Mira's favourite photo as Vikranth was looking dapper in his kurta and shades on while Mira flashed a pout-like smile.)

''I know you must be thinking that I'm probably some creepy person for hanging on to the first photo but-''

''It's great!'' Vikranth exclaimed.

Mira stared at Vikranth to confirm his face was in line with what he had said.

''You don't have to say that just to be nice.''

''No. No! Really Mira! You know what, I don't think there could've been a better present than this! Geez, how long did it take you to make it?''

''Hmm...not that long..haha!'' Mira said humbly as she thought about spending almost the whole weekend putting it together.

It's just-just that...'' he looked at Mira and said softly, '' now...I think -I'm gonna miss you a lot more than I thought I would...''

Mira felt something inside her ache at Vikranth's words. It finally struck her that in two days time, she would be at the other side of the world, half-a-day ahead of him, and she won't be able to ring him up to meet or visit the park to watch him play with Guava. She wanted to tell him that she would miss him a lot too...but her words betrayed her thoughts. She swallowed and said,

''I think it's almost time...''

Vikranth blinked before he said,''Oh...yea.''.

They stood up. Vikranth jumped down from the balcony to the first level, then helped Mira back down. They went down the stairs in silence. As they came out through the back door and waited for the man to come and lock the entrance, they both passed quick glances at each other and smiled warmly. When the man came, they thanked him, wished him goodnight and left for Vikranth's car.