Five More Minutes

20 | summer fling

SITTING with Everett on the top of a hill was truly magical. It had been a long time since she last visited there with her grandma alone. It was like a goodbye to this place but with Everett by her side, it felt easier to let go of the memories she always cherished. 

Her grandpa was unlike anyone she had ever met. He was a paradox. Strict but fun. Mysterious yet known. She wanted to be like him. Besides, her maternal grandparents were her only family here. Others lived in India and were unwilling to move anywhere else. When she missed her cousins or friends from her old life (which now felt like a different era), her grandpa would bring her here. 

"That would be great. I'm looking forward to working with you," she heard Everett say as she walked out of the bathroom in her night suit. After the sunset, they directly came back to the hotel and had dinner. He insisted on not doing anything else since he had some work to do. 

He hung up on the person whom he was talking to and scribbled something down on his diary. He was seated on his bed with his cross folded legs. 

"Who were you talking to? Parents?" 

He glanced at her for a millisecond and shook his head. Despite his glasses and standing a few inches away from him, she could notice the corner of his eyes darken. He shook his head again.

"Nah. A company wants to sponsor me," he deadpanned. 

Aahana's eyebrows pinched. "Why do you sound so disappointed?" 

He finally looked at her. "I'm not disappointed, just a little preoccupied to react to the sponsorship. I'm happy, if that's what you want to hear." He half-smiled and took his laptop out of their shared nightstand.

"Preoccupied with?" 

"Planning." He wore his Harry Potter glasses that she had grown to like. "I'm supposed to meet my sponsors at Southern Rock City next week which means..." he paused as he punched some keys on the keyboard. "I'll have to leave on Sunday morning." 

Aahana plopped on the edge of her bed. "Sounds good. I'll leave for Oakview on Sunday to be on time for my birthday." When he nodded, her eyes fell on his phone. "Um, do you mind if I borrow your phone?" 

He bit his lips while reading something on the laptop. His eyes were fixed on the screen as he absentmindedly searched for the phone. Once he got a hold of it, he tossed it to her. 

"Something wrong with yours?"

"I just don't want my parents to track me down or read their Oh, I'm so worried texts and voicemails," She muttered.

"You should give them a call. I'm sure they have missing posters by now." 

"Yeah no I called them from the PCO that day but now I'm calling aai so that she can calm them down." She dialled her grandma's phone and walked to the other side of the room.

Two rings later, she heard her aai's voice. "Who's this?" 

It felt good to hear her voice again. "Aai, it's me, Ana." Aahana grinned and felt Aai smile, too. 

"Hey, Deva. Kashi aahes?" Excitement laced in her voice. It took Aahana longer than one minute to translate what Aai had said. (Oh, God, Ana. How are you?)

"I'm mast. How are Ma and Papa?" (Great.)

"They're so worried. Leaving the letter was a good move but you should give them a call again. I'm pretty sure they'll try to track you down if you don't respond to their texts or calls." Aai sounded serious which was extremely rare. 

"Tell them I'm doing fine. If I call them, I won't be able to enjoy here. Please, Aai. I don't want to spend my remaining summer regretting the only fun trip I had because my parents couldn't be a little less overprotected." 

Aai sighed. "Okay. I'll let them know but at least tell me how the trip is going? Is he behaving and keeping his hands to himself?" 

Aahana coloured. "Yeah, he is fine. Behaving." His eyes met her when she mentioned him. He mouthed "behaving" with a perplexed look. She chuckled. 

"When are you coming back? That would perhaps soothe your parents." 

"I'll take a bus back on Sunday." 

"All right. That sounds fine. Also, give a call to Rae. She is starting to get worried too. She called me and asked something like...um, I don't remember the words. She used the words... summer fling. What is that?" Aahana coughed. 

Oh, God, Rae!

"Never heard of those words." She answered in one breath. "Anyway, I should go. E—He needs my help making the bed." 

"You two are in the same roo—" she hung up, hoping Aai wouldn't call her again. She had forgotten to mention not to call on this phone but she hoped she thought that Aahana called from a payphone. 

"I'm behaving? Really—Aahana? Couldn't say anything better?" He closes his laptop and keeps it in his bag. 

She laughed. "Well, Aai asked if you're keeping your hands to yourself. What did you expect me to say?" 

"Behaving, it is." He yawned. He stretched himself. "We should go to bed." Aahana nodded and plopped on her bed. Everett shook his head and got up to switch all the lights off. He closed the curtains and plopped on his bed. 

She closed her eyes but opened them again. The lamp standing on the nightstand that separated the two beds was lit. She watched him take his shirt off.  His back facing her. He threw it away and was about to turn around when she closed her eyes again. A clicking noise reverberated in her ears. Aahana assumed that he switched the lamp off. 

Despite the hot summer weather, a shiver ran down her spine. The room was blacked out completely. She pulled the covers even when she knew she'd be soaked with sweat. She looked around and swallowed. She shuffled. 

One, two, three...she began counting, hoping she'd sleep. 

One hundred and one, one hundred and two,...sleep had vanished away. She shifted to her other side. 

One hundred and twenty...she shifted to her right. She could notice the shape of his back facing her.

"What's wrong?" He asked in a low, throaty voice as he turned to face her. 

"Wh-what?" 

"You've been shuffling so much. It's disturbing. What is going on?" 

"I, um. I'm afraid of the darkness. I can't sleep if I don't have anything to, ah, hold on." 

"What about yesterday? You slept fine." His voice was husky. He was struggling to stay awake and talk. 

"I, ah, I had you around." Her voice was softer than ever.

She heard him groan. He switched the lamp on and yawned. He extended the pinky finger of his left hand. She furrowed her eyebrows. She assumed he wanted to make a pinky promise, so she interlaced her pinky finger in his. He rested his hand on the nightstand. 

"Now you can sleep?" He asked. 

Her heart swelled with warmth. "Yeah."

"Nighty night, coward." He winked. 

"Do not call me that!" She complained and pulled her hand away from his. 

He laughed. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Hold my hand and sleep." She narrowed her eyes before interlacing her finger again. A small smile crept on his face.  

With the image of him smiling at her, her eyes felt heavy and she fell asleep.