Crazy, beautiful life.

"Eyes on the road."

"Yes, Dad."

"Foot on the clutch."

"Yes, Dad."

"Keep it slow."

Gosh. "Yeeesss, Dad."

Trust me, it sucks to drive with your family along. I mean, it's been almost two years since I drive and Dad still gives me perpetual instructions which makes me feel I am back to a driving school. I tried not to get irritated and spoil my excitement. It was going to be an exciting afternoon after all.

After an hour and some fifteen minutes more, we finally reached our destination. Dream House. Well, it was a quaint looking building with four stories and appeared kind of worn out and old. I hope the house is not the same. I made a quick call to Lovely informing her that I was downstairs with my parents and before I could ask on which floor the flat was, she  said, "Yeah, yeah, I'm coming downstairs to fetch you, wait." 

In a minute, there was a figure walking towards us, maybe two inches shorter than me, short hair with red highlighted fringes covering half of her forehead, not exactly lean but fit and with a hundred watt smile. Lovely Lovely, I chuckled to myself.

"Hey Shikha, nice to see you."

"Same here."

"Namaste!" she gestured to my parents. Strike one. Parents half impressed with the roommate. Yay!

We quietly entered the old building, climbing the stairs. Please let the house be good, I was praying.

"Aaannndd, we're here! Welcome to the dream house." Lovely said, flashing another toothy grin that revealed her perfect set of teeth. 

What? Had I told her what name I had given to this house? We entered the house and it smelled of strong, feminine perfume, probably Lovely's. I made my way into the room, shoving Mom and Dad aside with my hands and gasp!! Here I was staring at the cutest living room I had ever come across. There was a soft, bouncy red couch facing an LCD television set which was laid on a modest table with shelves and drawers underneath. I could see that the shelves were filled with books and magazines and I somehow controlled my impulse to let out a sharp cry of joy. The room was clean, hopefully reflecting my roommate's cleanliness. There was a balcony on one side of the living room and Lovely ushered us there. It was a modest-sized balcony with one side having a teapoy and two chairs facing each other. It almost like one could have a romantic date here. The balcony overlooked the street which provided the view of numerous shops and people working there while the citizens came to shop there.

Next we were led into the kitchen. It was tiny with a small window above the stove overlooking a neighborhood building. The stove was rested on a small granite station with a sink on one side which still had a dirty coffee mug. There was a huge steel shelf which was filled with utensils of different shapes and sizes. The transparent cupboards displayed several jars having basic, necessary spices used to prepare food and some printed plastic jars enclosing biscuits, chips, instant-food packets and what not.

Next came her bedroom. It looked sweet with a nice bed and little cushions and a pillow. There was a dressing table and a huge cupboard which took up most of the space. There was also a window with simple yet beautiful red curtains shoved to the side. There were little things like the furry rug beside her bed, the million photos stuck around everywhere that gave her room a casual feel.

On the right sided wall of the corridor came my room (okay, my future room!) and it was so endearing! It had a bed already and a window too, without any curtains though and gave a view of the nice cafe across the street. Apart from that the room was empty but I had a feeling I could turn this into a cozy, sweet little haven of my own. 

We were led into the living room. "Would you like to have something to eat?" Lovely asked to which we politely refused, my Mom explaining her that we had had our lunch and come. 

"So Shikha, how'd you find the place?"

"It's pretty!" I smiled.

"How much is the rent?" Dad asked.

"Twenty thousand a month, Uncle, light and water bills included. Ten thousand each."

Boy! That was a steal. This area was pretty much in demand always and I knew that the rents are always shooting up. But apparently, Lovely explained that this was an old building so it was really not that preferable by the people and that secondly the landlord was an old and retired folk who actually did not have the need of money because he was a veteran in his field of work and had a hefty pension to sail him through his expenses. 

"Well, this is a sweet house Lovely and I must say that you keep it very clean and tidy." Mom said with a polite smile to which Lovely practically blushed.

"We'll let you know about our final decision by tomorrow. Okay?" Dad asked.

"Will do."

We said our goodbyes and this time I asked Dad to drive us home because I had to make some serious little calculations in my mind about how I would manage the expenses with my salary. It was evident from my face that I had loved the house and I prayed to God that my parents say yes. It was evening by the time we returned home after Mom's grocery shopping trip. 

We reached home, tired. Raj had gone out with is friends, poor guy deserved it, after all today being a Saturday. Riya excitedly asked me to narrate the whole thing which I was happy to do. I loved my sister and we shared a very nice sisterly bond but there were our own shares of bitter fights too.  Though if overlooked the seldom fights, Riya was my favorite sibling.

"Sounds great, sis! I hope parents say yes" she said happily but inside her beautiful brown eyes I saw a hint of sadness which was always impossible to miss.

"Hey, something seems wrong, what's up?" I was concerned.

"Ah! Nothing. Had a quarrel with Saee."

"Okay."

 It did not exactly seemed true to me but I stayed quiet. I think it was important to give her space and let her figure out stuff for herself.

I slept that night, with anticipation and hope waiting for tomorrow to dawn with a pleasant surprise for me..