by Renee Hart
Chleo laughed out loud and Arjun held her face and kissed her dimples.
“I have a better idea,” she offered after he kissed her. She stood up from the couch and extended a hand for him to take. His fingers intertwined with hers and she heaved him up from the couch. She put her hands up as if to tell him to stay.
“I need you to close your eyes and count to one hundred…”
Arjun closed his eyes and started to count aloud.
“Slowly,” Chleo said. Her voice was a little above a whisper. She moved away from him, walking backwards so she could watch him count. She slipped into her bedroom and shut the door. Arjun had gotten to twenty one when she started to light candles around her room. She looked into the full length mirror in her room and cursed silently. She wished she hadn’t been wearing ‘I’m-not-going-out-tonight’ sweatpants. She tore off her clothes and rummaged in her closet for something a little more inviting.
“82, 83, 84,” Arjun’s voice had grown louder. He was giving her a heads up that he was almost finished counting. Chleo kicked her sweatpants under her bed and put on baby blue silk negligee with matching shorts. She opened the door of her bedroom and stood in the door frame seductively.
“97, 98, 99, 100,” Arjun said. “Can I open my eyes now?”
Chleo thought about it for a moment, and then giggled.
“Yes you may,” she said in a sing song way. Her voice was as silky as her negligee. Arjun cracked open one eye, as if to check and see if it was safe. He focused his gaze on her for a second and then opened the other eye.
“Wow,” he breathed when he looked at her. He ran his hands over his bangs and rested his hand on the top of his head. “Baby, you’re gorgeous.”
“You should see me without this on,” Chleo laughed. She beckoned him with one finger and he moved slowly over to her, his eyes floated to different parts of Chleo’s body. She was unusually calm, and when he was close enough to her she grabbed ahold of his shirt and pulled him closer to her for a kiss.
“Wow,” he said again when he came up for air. Chleo wrapped her arms around his shoulders as he wrapped his arms around her waist and she stepped clumsily back into her bedroom, and shut the door behind them.
Chapter 6
“How is it that you look so bright and chipper in this weather? You almost look happier every day,” Petey said when Chleo stepped into Any Blooming Thing the next morning. He was in his signature all black with a white cotton scarf wrapped around his neck. Chleo was wearing a yellow jacket and a deep plum skirt with a black and white checked blouse.
“I’m definitely happier today than I was yesterday,” Chleo said. Jessica stepped out of the back room when she heard the jingling of the front door.
“I thought you were a customer,” Jessica grumbled.
“Nope. Just late,” Chleo said. She was practically grinning from ear to ear.
“You’re beginning to look and sound like Jessica,” Petey said. He had a disgusted look on his face. “Are you in love or something?”
“As a matter of fact, I am,” Chleo replied. Petey tried to stifle a smile, but he couldn’t help it. He was going to remind Chleo forever that it was because of his little kitten that she was so happy now.
“There’s something else,” Jessica said. She eyed Chleo and crossed her arms over her chest. Petey looked completely confused, but folded his arms across his chest too.
Chleo looked around obliviously, but the front door jingled, and she was ever so grateful that it did.
“Hi! Welcome to Any Blooming Thing, can I help you?” Chleo said in her cheeriest voice. Petey and Jessica shuffled behind the front desk, watching and waiting.
“Just lookin’ around thanks,” it was short man with glasses. He seemed a little nervous, and Chleo was sure she knew him from somewhere.
“That’s the guy with the science teacher,” Jessica grabbed Chleo’s arm and yanked her across the counter to let her know. “He came here ages ago looking for flowers for his pink haired art teacher girlfriend.”
Chleo remembered. She always thought he was awkward and would head to the backroom when he came. One day when Jessica had stayed home sick, he came into the store with his girlfriend, a tall and thin black woman with pink streaks in her almost straight hair.
“I’m proposing to my girlfriend,” he said just then, grinning up at Jessica. He must have remembered her as the one who helped him, even though her hair was straight and black at the time. He sounded more confident than the last time he was there. That was almost 3 years ago.
“The same one with the pink hair?” Jessica asked. She sounded like she genuinely cared.
“The same one. Only, her hair isn’t pink anymore. It’s shaved at the sides, kind of like his, but the rest of it is long and back to its natural dark brown. She’s a wild one,” the man said. He laughed and pushed his glasses up on his nose.
“Congratulations,” Chleo, Jessica, and Petey all said in unison.
“I wanted to do something really special. I want petals of her favorite flower all scattered to ask her if she’d marry me. We’re supposed to be going away for the weekend, and that’s when I want to propose,” the science teacher said. Petey made an aww sound.
“That is really sweet. Were stargazers her favorite?” Jessica asked from memory. The man smiled at that.
“No actually. Stargazers are my favorite. Because of her. Well, because of you really. Her favorites are verbenas. I won’t be able to take them now. I just wanted to know if you had enough purple ones.”
“We have a lot. And we can have them delivered to you too if you’d like,” Chleo offered. The science teacher nodded.
“That would be really nice,” he thanked her. He left his address and number with Petey and Jessica let him know that she would take care of the delivery and the arrangements for an extra bouquet for his future fiancé to be able to have and hold.
“Ughhhh,” Petey half groaned and half shrieked after the science teacher left the store.
“What’s the matter with you?” Chleo asked.
“The world is falling in love and I’m just living in it,” Petey wailed.
“What happened to that guy Joel you were seeing?” Jessica asked. She pat Petey’s back as he rested his hands on the counter and plopped his head on top.
“We’ve only been seeing each other for a week and a half.”
“That’s something! You usually find some random flaw about them and would have dumped him by now,” Chleo said, finding the positives.
“Don’t think I haven’t forgotten about you, ma’am,” Jessica wagged an accusing finger at Chleo. “I recognize that cheeriness.”
Petey made another attempt at a groan before Jessica spoke up again.
“You had sex!” Jessica pointed. Petey’s head shot up from the counter as if someone had jabbed him. His eyes squinted, and he looked back and forth from Jessica to Chleo.
“Maybe I did,” Chleo said. She wiggled her body a little and grinned. Petey put a hand on his chest, recoiled, and made a dramatic gasp.
“Am I seriously the only lone wolf in here?”
“You have Joel!” Chleo and Jessica said at the same time.
“I thought we were in this together Chleo.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Chleo said, “but…I’m meeting Arjun’s mom later today for dinner. She still doesn’t exactly know about me. Arjun just told her that a guest would be joining them, and I’m supposed to head over to his place at 7.”
“That sounds so legit! I’m happy for you,” Jessica said. Petey whelped in the background, but they ignored him.
“I’m happy for everyone too,” Chleo said. Petey wretched. He was trying so hard to get their attention. “I’m even happy for Petey and Joel, who I’m sure make a beautiful couple, and I can’t wait to meet him.”
Petey perked up and smiled.
“Thanks Chleo. I’m so glad you noticed that I needed someone to console me.”
�
��How could I have ignored the calls of a banshee?” Chleo scoffed.
Petey recoiled again and frowned.
“Don’t forget that I’m the sole reason for your happiness,” Petey hissed and adjusted the scarf around his neck.
“How can I forget? You remind me…every day…”
Chapter 7
Chleo didn’t know what to expect that evening. Arjun had barely given her any details. She didn’t know how she should dress, or if she needed to bring anything. Arjun didn’t even tell her where they were going out for dinner. She decided to look presentable but not over the top, and she brought home a small bouquet of multicolored flowers.
It was 6:51 when her cab pulled up in front of Arjun’s apartment. She was in a long black dress with a loose fitting belt and nice gold sandals to match a gold head band that looked like something from an old Greek epic. Her hair was wild and curly around her head and shoulders and she covered herself up with a dark jacket. She told herself it was because it was getting cold, but she knew it was also because she wanted to appear presentable to his mother. She didn’t want to admit it, but she was still very nervous. She hadn’t met a lot of the parents of her exes, and since Arjun was the most important person in her life, she didn’t want to mess it up or embarrass him…or worse, embarrass herself.
“Hey. I’m here,” Chleo said to the small camera at the entrance. She heard a buzz and a click and she opened the door and stepped inside. Arjun lived on the third floor, and she hurried onto the elevator so that she could see him and finally meet his mother.
Chleo knocked on the door and adjusted her jacket. She knew she looked great, but she wished there was a mirror or a window close by for her to be able to give herself another quick once over.
The door opened a crack and a short woman [even shorter than Chleo herself] peered through the open crack. She squinted her eye as she looked Chleo up and down. Then she opened the door and turned around.
“Arjun! Your friend is here!” the short woman called. She was plump and wearing a white cotton blouse and faded blue jeans. Her hair was wrapped in a bun, with a few tufts at the front revealing some grey and white strands, and right above her eyebrows directly in the center of her head was a bindi.
This must be Arjun’s mother, thought Chleo. She had a very thick Indian accent, and she paid Chleo no mind after that quick look before opening the door. She had waddled back into the kitchen, where Chleo could smell something amazing cooking.
“Are you going to just stand there at the door?” Arjun’s mother called from inside the kitchen. There was no way she could see Chleo, but that was just how mothers were. “Come in, you’re letting in all the cold.”
Chleo stepped into the apartment and locked the door behind her. She was too nervous to move anywhere until she saw Arjun. Arjun’s mother called for him once again, but this time she spoke in Hindi. He replied in Hindi too and appeared from his bedroom. He was wearing a cotton shirt and jeans as well. His hair was damp and he was using a towel to wipe away any excess water that could be dripping from it.
“You look beautiful Chleo,” he said when he walked over to her, and planted a kiss on her lips. He took her by the hand and led her to the kitchen.
“Mama.”
His mother grunted a reply. She was too focused on her cooking to pay much attention. Arjun cleared his throat and tried again.
“Chleo this is my mother, Resham.”
Chleo waved and squeaked a hello, but her voice came out so low that she wasn’t sure if his mother heard.
“And mama this is my girlfriend, Chleo,” he said. He gave Chleo’s hand a reassuring squeeze. The towel he had was now tossed over his shoulder.
“Girlfriend?” Resham said. She finally paused to give both of them a look. She looked at his face, and then down to Chleo’s face, and then her eyes traveled lower still to their intertwined fingers. “This is your girlfriend and you never told me before.”
“I didn’t know how to tell you,” Arjun said sheepishly.
“I see. Well, this one is very pretty” Resham said. She tilted her head back and studied the two of them. She looked like she hadn’t smiled in years. Chleo blushed and thanked her.
“So Chleo, you’ve been with my son. Try to convince him to cut off his hair eh?”
Chleo’s eyes widened.
“I think his hair is beautiful,” Chleo said. She touched it gently with the tips of her fingers.
“I like my hair the way it is,” Arjun groaned. His mother shrugged, muttered something under her breath and went back to cooking.
“Are those flowers for me?” his mother asked. She walked over to Chleo and held out her hand. Chleo thrust the bouquet towards her and grinned.
“Yes, Mrs. Vaswani…”
“Oh please. Resham will do,” she said, taking the bouquet out of Chleo’s hand. She took a small crystal vase from a corner of the kitchen and put the bouquet inside. She filled the vase with water and set it down.
“And am I cooking by myself? Are you going to be statues by the door? No no no. Arjun, check on the stove. Chleo, help me with this sauce. Can you cook?” she didn’t wait for a reply, “it doesn’t matter. Come. Come come. Before it clots.”
Chleo and Arjun sprang into action. Chleo took off her jacket and went to put it and Arjun’s towel on the couch before going back in the kitchen to help Resham.
“Everyone should know how to cook. I taught Arjun and his two sisters, but they’re all skinny like twigs. You, Chleo…I see you’re a woman who eats. Tell my son to put more meat on his bones, ok?”
“Uhhh, Ok…”
Resham spoke so quickly, it seemed more like she was talking to herself than to anyone else. She never paused long enough to wait for a reply. She was too focused on the task at hand to pay attention to what anyone else was saying. She moved to the other side of the kitchen to collect some herbs that were in a cupboard.
“I’m sorry,” Arjun mouthed the words to Chleo so that his mother couldn’t hear.
“It’s ok,” she mouthed back. “I love you.”
He smiled. That seemed to calm his nerves a bit. He moved over to where she was standing and squeezed her hand.
“I love you too,” he whispered. This time, Resham did hear.
“Love love love. All this talk about love. Cook!” she said. That made Chleo laugh out loud, and seeing her laugh made Arjun laugh too. Resham looked at her son and then at Chleo and rolled her eyes.
Chleo wondered if this was what Arjun had been afraid of. She took a handful of fresh herbs and started to cut them up on a cutting board. She was so lost in thought thinking about cooking with her boyfriend and his mother. She was nervous, but it was still nice. He was letting her into a part of his world, and he didn’t even realize it. She hoped it would be like this when he met her family too.
She looked up and turned to watch Arjun. He put some food on the palm of his hand to taste test it. He smiled and hummed to himself. He started doing a little dance as he cooked and Chleo loved to watch him.
“And another thing!” Resham said, breaking Chleo out of her trance. Arjun looked at Chleo and she smiled back at him. He rolled his eyes and then winked at her, bracing himself for whatever it was that his mother was about to say. Chleo giggled to herself.
“You talk of love and I’ve never heard of you. Are you pregnant? Huh? Tell me. When is the wedding?”
THE END
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