Page 35 of Pillow Talk
Carrying the plate and a glass of juice to the dining room, she sat down and ignored the pit in her stomach as she remembered Sen. Two weeks. No contact in two weeks.
Shona took a bite and as the food went down her throat, she sighed. She hadn’t had a proper meal in days. Noodles, rice crispies, toast and even crackers were on her menu. This was no way to live. She could cook, so she should cook!
Her mind ventured back to Aruna. Where did they go wrong? Aruna was two years younger than her. She’d wanted to be a professional traditional dancer and open her own school. She’d put her heart and soul into it. As children, while Shona was designing wedding dresses, Aruna was always at dance practice. She was graceful. She was beautiful. She was a perfect dancer. And then one day she came home and just said she never wanted to dance again. She never gave them a reason and no one probed her. Looking back, Shona realised that her parents should have probed. She should have probed. But she was a couple of months away from leaving for college and that was her focus. It shouldn’t have been; her baby sister’s dilemma should have been.
But Aruna and Shona were not close. Their grandmother always pitted them against each other. Who was better with the customers? Who could work the till better? Who was more dedicated to the store? It became an unwritten competition. Aruna had no time for Shona and Shona had no time for her. Their sisterly bond was lost long before they even knew who they were.
Shona washed up and tidied the kitchen. She should get some work done. She was about to sit at her sewing machine when thedoorbell rang again. She sighed and reluctantly went to answer it.
Who was this blond, blue-eyed hunk at her door?
‘Hi, I’m Sven – your neighbour. I figured I should formally introduce myself since I’m going to be home a lot more nowadays.’
‘The FBI let you go?’
Shona realised what she’d said and blushed.
‘FBI. Good one. What else do you have?’
‘Travelling salesman?’
He grimaced.
‘Travelling circus?’
Sven let out a hearty laugh.
‘Let me put you out of your misery. I’m a doctor. I worked for an organisation that travels to remote areas around the world to provide medical services to impoverished communities.’
‘Impressive,’ Shona responded.
Sven peeped over her shoulder. ‘Your boyfriend home?’
Shona raised an eyebrow. ‘Boyfriend?’
‘Tall, wears a suit, looks like a lawyer or CEO of sorts, drives a sports car,’ Sven replied.
Shona looked away. ‘Sen’s not my boyfriend.’
‘Okay. Sol gave me your number this morning when I called him about the smoke alarm. He doesn’t really like to be involved, does he?’
Shona laughed. ‘Yeah, Sol is the caretaker who simply doesn’t care.’
Sven grinned. ‘I’m glad we met, Shona. I’m looking forward to seeing more of you. I’d better get on my way.’
‘Bye Sven,’ Shona said. He took the few steps to his door, waved and disappeared into the apartment.
Shona closed her door and plopped down on the couch. It was Friday. She missed Sen. She thought back to Sven’s question.Boyfriend. What would Sen be like as a boyfriend? Shona lay down on the couch and looked back at the last six months. Sen was not a fling. He was a boyfriend. And now he was no longer in her life.
Chapter
Seven
Sen read the document but was absorbing nothing. He was too distracted. It was 7pm on Friday. He reread a paragraph.
‘You don’t have to do this, you know,’ his father said without looking up from the document he was analysing.
‘I’m okay,’ Sen replied.
