Playing with fire
She helped in the kitchen all day on July 10th after returning to the restaurant after TAing.
She fried, roasted and sauteed all evening long, the flame as high as her emotions.
The stir frying got to her, literally more than a few drops of oil...
She wasnt sure how to do it right
She required a million instructions from the one remaining cook Rao Anna
Her hair was too short the hair net was sliding off frequently
She had helped her Dad 100s of times in the last few years
This was no different
But usually she waited tables and cleaned the floor and did dishes.
She rarely cooked because she sucked at it.
There were leaks and spills
None of it unintentional... she just couldnt plate the food quite like Mr Pai
She texted Jayadev to come help, since she had said no to sex, he didnt respond.
She chopped brinjal furiously hoping the orders for "Thai eggplant" would die down
This time it was her left arm, the oil splattered from the fried spring rolls
The kitchen was 500C according to her she had no time to think about a marriage proposal in her back pocket
Well until, she saw her father clean vomit kneeling down under the table near the front of the restaurant, near the tall check in/check out table
Under the pictures of Udupi Krishna and Lakshmi photos, the giant gold coins flowing from her palm each marked with its own haldi and kumkum spot
One waiter had gone missing so they only had three, one of them didnt work dinner shift
so there were only two waiters and Dad out front
Trisha and Rao Anna in the back
The steam from the freshly cooked pot of rice completely made her dizzy... as it hit the burn spot
One of the waiters Sumant told her about her Dad cleaning spit up
She ran out front to stop him
But it was already cleaned up
"You burned your hand again?" he asked
"Just my arm" she corrected him
"Be out, Rao Anna can use Sumant" he ordered
It smelled really bad
She guided him to the back and rinsed it off and helped him wash up with soap and water and clean up with bleach
"I cannot bear to see spit up right under the God photos" he told her
She nodded quietly...
They locked up and walked home at around midnight
It had rained all day... and now it rained again
"How come your man didnt show up" he patted her back
"Umm.. I dont know" she said quietly
"He will so upset with me if he knows I made u burn your hand" he chuckled
She rolled her eyes
"I mean arm" he corrected himself
She opened the gate and the heavy wood doors with ring like handles stuffed in a lion's mouth all over the center console
The brass gleaming gold from many tamarind polishing sessions during weekends
They changed and she made bournvita
"I will just go to bed tonight, tell my easy chair I will miss him" her father winked
She nodded sadly and watched him go lay down
She went to her room and dialed for the longest time...
When it went through she sent an email after laboring over the wording for an hour, the end product was one sentence
"I will agree but I dont know what I should do" she wrote honestly
She "knew" him by now?
She waited...
Sure enough!!
"If thats a "yes" as it seems like it is...Can I call you?" he asked
Her intestines snaked up through her insides and slammed into her chest..