Happily Ever After

Chapter 4

Two years later.....

University choosing. It was not like ticking off a list. I didn't even get to choose. Neither did Adira. It all happened like this;

Me and Adira were called in to the drug lord's room. He told us that we would be attending the University of Cambridge. Adira was puzzled. I didn't understand why. I was planning to go to a University in India, and where was this University of Cambridge? Adira saw my puzzled look and said that the University of Cambridge was located in England and that is was a really good University. Good Universities cost a lot, so I asked him whether it was okay. He said it was fine, since I was now a son of his. Passports were made and visas were ready. I didn't want to leave Ma, but she insisted on me going, since she wanted to see me as a great doctor. The drug lord and Ma came drop us at the airport. Ma shed tears as I left. As soon as I boarded the plane, all of air inside me left. How can this plane be so beautiful? Adira had to drag me to my seat for me to get out of my stupor. I sat near a very old lady, near the window. Adira sat near a very fat, middle-aged man, also near the window. I didn't know what was going on. I wanted to know what was going on, so I told the old lady to call the next person near her. It took ages to get to Adira. I felt pretty stupid. I tried to gesture what I wanted to tell her, but suddenly, my ears started to ache. She clutched her ears. I felt my phone vibrate. I took it and switched it on, to see there was a message and it was from Adira. It read "Meet me at the rest room." I read the sign leading to the restroom and followed in the direction of it. She was there, waiting for me.

She asked me "Now what do you want to know?"

I replied," When are we landing?"

"At 2:45, at Stansted airport in England. 9 hours, and approximately 45 minutes. No, no and no. The Indian time will be 2:45 in the afternoon. The English time will be 10:15 in the morning. Don't confuse yourself now. The time difference is just 4 hours and 30 minutes. Add the time of England to your phone. It may be useful now. Any other questions?" she said, finally ending her lecture on time and places.

"Yes. Where are we going to live? I know we are going to live in the college hostel, but college doesn't start in another month or two. Where are we going to live until then?"

"Oh! I forgot to tell you! Dad told me that we were going to live in one of his friend's house, until college starts. As soon as the plane lands, make sure to wait until I come near you. Don't forget anything. And watch a movie if you like. Breakfast will be served at 9:30. So go now!"

She gave me a chewing gum to chew until the earache was over and gave me another one to chew when we were landing. Miraculously, my earache disappeared into thin air.

I felt empty as soon as she mentioned about breakfast. I went off to my seat, next to the old lady. I got breakfast as soon as I sat. I watched a Hindi movie called "Teri Meri Kahaani". It starred Shahid Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra in the lead roles. It was a story about two lovers in three different eras. It was lovely. In the first life, the boy takes form of a Punjabi Muslim womanizer and poet, Javed, and girl takes form of a daughter of a revolutionist, Aradhana. In the second life, the boy takes form of a musician, Govind, and the girl takes form of an actress, Ruksar. The second life story was filmed in a way that made it look like a colourful Charlie Chaplin story. In their third and present life, the girl and boy take forms of college students, Krish Kapoor and Radha Chopra. The film follows a series of breakups and reconciliations. As soon as the film finished, I decided to go to the rest room and stretch my limbs a bit. I went off to the restroom stretched my arms and yawned, and came back and sat down. I looked through the window. I can see the sky, clouds, and the green colour land below us. I checked my watch. 11:00. Enough time to watch another movie. I watched a film starring Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif in the lead roles, called "Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani". It was a story consisting of a love triangle, between the characters Prem, Jenny (Jenifer) and Rahul. It was pretty funny, considering about the pranks that the characters pulled on each other. As it finished, I checked my watch. 2:30. Better start packing. I collected all of my belongings that I had near me, and put all the things in its correct place. I started chewing the chewing gum Adira gave me, as to prevent another earache.

The plane landed, and I had to wait until Adira comes near me. I saw her and came near her, ignoring what she said. We got off the plane to avoid the rush and went to the luggage picking counter and picked our luggages. Adira dragged me to a money exchanging counter to convert her money. Ha! Why can't she do anything other than dragging me?! I checked out the airport. Wow! It was so beautiful. There were shops, cafés, benches, machines all around. It was all a beauty. So is this what we call an airport? There were a lot of boards and signs reading about flights, gates, and some stuff like that. Thank the Gods, I didn't go into a trance again. My legs were aching from all the standing. She was holding paper, which I realized that read a large amount of pounds. There was something like two lakhs over here, and I was I like, how did you manage this? She whispered, "Dad." We went to a café and bought drinks and short eats. "Its 10:30. Dad said that they would be here by 10:45," she told me. "So fine. Another 15 more minutes," I said. "It's not that. How do we get to the entrance?" she said, in a rather questioning manner. I looked around and spotted it. "It's there, in that direction." I said, pointing to the massive door. "Oh!" she said. It took us forever to get to the door, because we were dragging our huge luggages and carrying large bags. As we neared to the gate, we saw an old couple holding a board, reading Adira's name. The both of us ran to the couple. While panting, she said, "I am Adira. Pleased to meet to you!" The man worriedly looked at me. "Funny. My friend didn't tell me that he'd send a boy...." I had to tell a lie now. "I am her bodyguard, Sir." Adira glared at me. I knew she could look after herself, but what I just said would explain everything, even if it was a lie. We went out. The cold wind blew onto my face. It was breathtaking. Trees everywhere, and no polluted areas. We got into the man's car and drove off to a bank. While driving, he told that his wife was an Indian he met in a train (seriously?) and though that his son was half-Indian, he had never seen India. Soon, we reached the immense bank. The bank looked as if it were a hotel. The man handled all the affairs about making a bank account. We only had to sign. They gave us each a card (the one you make transactions with). So, the two of us had our own account now. We went to their house- ok, not house, mansion. It was constructed in a manner that made it look like a mansion in an old Hindi film! The lady showed us to our rooms. Mine was next to Adira's. I went inside my room, removed my shoes and lied on the bed. What a tiring day! I fell asleep.