Still Waiting Part 2

It was a very normal morning for Laya's family. Her mom, Radhika, woke up at 5:00 am as usual. She took a quick shower and entered the kitchen, chanting her regular shlokas. Radhika filled the idli vessel with water and started pouring the idli batter into the idli plates with utmost precision as always. Idli sambar was her family's favorite breakfast. The house was immersed in the aromatic smell of South Indian filter coffee and the appetizing smell of sambar. The morning newspaper was at the doorstep. Laya's dad, Anand, just came back with fresh flowers for his daily pooja. Today, being Friday, he had to prepare for a special Devi pooja.

Laya's grandma was sitting in the front room and complaining about how Laya and Maya were getting lazier day by day. "They never get up early in the morning. Both girls have not seen the sunrise for ages. What will happen when they marry and go to their homes? Do they plan to sleep till 8:00 am in the morning? Their in-laws will complain that we did not teach them anything." Muttering to herself, Grandma went to wake them up.

As she rose from her reclining chair, she felt a grueling pain in her knees and realized that the pain was getting worse with each passing day. Old age was definitely catching up with her. The tough life that she had lived till now was heavily reflected in her deteriorating health. Her granddaughters were her lifelines. They were the only reason she lived for.

Maya was already up, tossing and turning in bed. She was too tired to wake up and start the day. The two back-to-back lectures on economics in college today prevented her from leaving the cozy bed. She hated the subject, and the professor was definitely not helping in nurturing her interest in the subject. She had semester exams in a few weeks. She had a lot of assignments and projects to finish but was too lazy to get up and complete her assignments. She just kept lying on the bed, looking at the fan above her moving in concentric circles.

Lights in the bathroom were on, so Grandma thought that Laya was in the bathroom... so did Maya. Laya is generally very quiet and slow in the morning, so Maya was not sure whether she was in the bathroom or out for a walk. Maya observed that surprisingly Laya's book was not on the bedside table. She was reading a book on mythology last week. She reads every night before going to bed. Laya, being a voracious reader, always had one book or the other on her bedside table. Maya thought Laya must have been too tired to read last night. She did look a bit exhausted this past week.

Anand settled down on the sofa in the living room to enjoy his hot cup of refreshing filter coffee. He couldn't start his day without the piping hot coffee with a small dab of sugar. He liked it with less milk and sugar. He was mentally planning his day at work and remembered he had a meeting at 9:00 AM, so he better get going. "Radhika, is the breakfast ready yet?" Anand called out to his wife.

Radhika came rushing out of the kitchen with hot breakfast for Anand. She placed the hot pot of idli and the vessel full of sambar on the dining table and asked Anand, "I haven't seen Laya and Maya since this morning. Where are they? Aren't they getting late?"

Laya was still waiting where Praveen had asked her to wait. Her hands were sweaty, and her heart was racing. She had called him innumerable times in the past

 hour. She could not fathom why he was not responding. Ironically, the same guy who used to call her every hour and pick up her call in one ring. She thought well and went through her conversations with him in the past few weeks. Did she go to the wrong location by mistake? No, that was impossible. Their discussion and plan finalization were etched in her memory very strongly. She was definitely waiting at the right spot.

Laya started worrying about 101 things. Was Praveen sick? Did he meet with an accident after he ran away from home? Was he caught when he was trying to run away from home? She had no clue. She did not know who else to call to check on him. Laya knew that Praveen would never leave her alone like this. He was a responsible guy who was deeply in love with her. Laya kept convincing herself that Praveen would be there soon. People at the bus stop were giving her weird looks since she had been waiting there for a long time now.

Laya watched people around her starting their day. Some were opening up the shops, some were rushing towards the bus to reach their destination, and some were alighting from the bus since they had already reached their destination. Laya was stuck at the crossroads, not knowing whether she had reached her destination or not. Laya was thinking about the lovely red saree and jewelry she had in her bag. She was looking forward to wearing it just before their registry wedding today. She had dreamt of wearing the same and marrying Praveen.

Praveen sat in his backyard with his morning cup of coffee. He kept gazing at the white rose plant right in front of him. He felt as fresh as the dewdrops on the white rose petal. He grabbed his phone and saw 17 missed calls from Laya and 9 unread messages. He felt happy and contented. He felt proud and successful. He could not believe how his plan had worked out accurately. He knew with certainty that Laya would not return home. He knew she would be waiting for him at the bus stop. Laya was head over heels in love with Praveen. Praveen was so proud of himself. He had a deep sense of achievement and was basking in the glory of success.