Page 42 of Pillow Talk
Sen decided to play this differently. He was a cut-throat lawyer, for Pete’s sake. He was not going to be the uncomfortable one here.
‘What was your favourite part about our summers together, Shona?’
He looked her straight in the eye, waiting for an answer.
‘The Wishing Tree,’ she replied immediately.
Sen sat back and looked at her. She didn’t break eye contact.
‘I can’t believe you remember that. Gosh, we were so goofy. I wonder if it’s still there,’ Anni interjected.
‘What’s The Wishing Tree?’ Kaavi asked.
Sen turned from Shona and brought everyone into the conversation.
‘The Wishing Tree was…Let me rather give you the backstory first. Is that okay Shona and Anni? Can I tell them?’ he asked.
Both women nodded.
‘I know you won’t believe it but Shona, Anni and I were not exactly popular. We were outcasts. Anni and Shona took pity on me and allowed me to tag along. One summer when we were around 9 and 10, we were cornered by the popular kids, the bullies. They said some pretty nasty things to us,’ he stopped and looked at Shona and Anni. The emotions of that day were displayed on their faces now. Shona bit her lower lip and Anni’seyes glistened.
‘There was this one kid who hated me. He pushed me against the wall and beat me up pretty badly. At least, it felt like that at the time. When they left, we headed for the lake. I was furious. I wouldn’t stop swearing and threatening to get back at them. Anni tried to get me to calm down by crying herself. Anni, I have to ask, how was that calming me down?’
‘It was empathy, you fool,’ she replied, a big smile taking over her face.
Sen chuckled and shook his head.
‘I think I was pretty annoying and went on and on and then, when we got to the lake, Shona was so fed up with my whining that she pointed to a scrawny little tree and said, “Look it’s a Wishing Tree”. Of course, at the time we didn’t know that there was no such thing as a Wishing Tree. But Shona spun an elaborate tale to get me calm down. She said whatever you wished for at the tree would come true. I wished that the boys who terrorised us would have the worst summer ever. The next day they were all admitted to hospital for food poisoning after eating a bad batch of lollipops. They were confined to their beds and bathrooms for a while. Of course, we believed it was the power of The Wishing Tree,’ Sen explained.
‘Wow, what an enchanting experience. Did you ever wish for anything else?’ Kaavi asked.
Shona nodded. ‘We made wishes all the time. And sometimes for the most ridiculous things.’
She looked at Anni and they both giggled.
‘For my Maths teacher to retire,’ Sen said.
‘For that beautiful blue dress in the window of Dora’s boutique,’ Anni added.
‘For time off from the shop,’ Shona said.
Sen almost reached out to hold her hand, but he pulled back. The sadness on her face brought back so many memories thathe’d forgotten about.
‘I have to ask this and please don’t answer if I’m overstepping, but did any of you date Sen?’
Sen wanted to wring Kaavi’s neck for that question.
Shona looked away.
‘Sen was always like a brother to me. And I’ll never forget that,’ Anni said. She smiled at him. He knew she was remembering the day he untied them in her childhood house.
‘What about you, Shona?’
He was definitely going to have to wring Kaavi’s neck.
At first Shona looked like a deer caught in the headlights but then she sat up straighter.
‘I’m going to be honest because it makes no difference now…’ she began.
