Chapter 23
Vidya took her laptop into the living room of her empty flat.
Once she got home, she’d had another good cry, then taken a hot shower and got into her comfiest tracksuit.
She was starting to feel better. She decided to try and finish her work, so that she hadn’t wasted the entire day moping over a guy she couldn’t have.
Vidya sat down at the dining table, with a nice, strong coffee next to her. She had her back to the front door, so that she could see the sky through the glass doors that led out to the balcony. After the vast sky and the twinkling sea, the view looked very dull indeed.
She wondered what Leo was doing now. Was he frowning at his work, in that intense way of his? Was he twiddling his pen in his long fingers? Was he thinking of her?
No. She had to stop thinking of him like this. It couldn’t happen. She had to move on. She forced herself to concentrate. Eventually, she got into the right headspace and was typing up observations when her phone pinged.
It was her parents. Are you free now?
Oh, she may as well be. Using her laptop as a support, she propped her phone up and called her parents.
‘Hello, darling, how are you?’ Her mother peered at her from behind sunglasses. ‘Are you and Udeni okay?’
‘We’re fine,’ Vidya lied.
Her mother’s demeanour changed and she leaned closer to the phone and removed her sunglasses. ‘Are you sure?’
Too late, she realised that she must look dreadful. Plus, she was a terrible liar. ‘Ah. I’m coming down with a cold, I think,’ she sniffed. It wasn’t hard, because her voice was still a little heavy from all the crying.
‘Have you taken a Samahan sachet?’
Vidya sighed. ‘Not yet. But I will. As soon as I’ve finished talking to you. I promise.’ She meant it as well. The little sachets of traditional medicine were pretty good for making you feel better in general. The combination of those and painkillers had seen her through many an illness.
‘How is Udeni? Is she okay?’
The question made Vidya’s chest squeeze. Udeni was fine, in some aspects, because pregnancy wasn’t an illness. But at the same time, Udeni would never be the same again. It wasn’t Vidya’s secret to tell, so she said, ‘Yes. She’s fine.’
Amma probably noticed the little pause before Vidya answered. That woman had almost supernatural instincts when it came to seeing through her. So, Vidya carried on quickly.
‘How’s the holiday going? Where are you now on your travels?’
‘We are in Mexico, near … where is it?’ Amma raised her head to ask Thatha.
‘Tulum.’ Thatha came on the screen. He looked well, his grey hair a little too long and tousled. ‘We went to see the ruins by the sea. It’s very interesting. Not very big.’
‘That sounds lovely.’
Thatha sat down next to Amma. ‘Did you know, there’s a lot of Asian imagery in the Mayan temples? There’s one of a Mayan sitting on a lotus flower.’
This made Vidya smile. Her father was always finding ways to link everything to South Asia. ‘That is interesting, yes.’
‘And there are people here in the Yucatán who look a lot like us.’
‘Wow.’
Amma leaned in again. ‘I got some lovely silver jewellery,’ she said. ‘I’ve always had gold, but I think I should try wearing silver more often.’
‘This experiment is costing me a bloody fortune,’ Thatha said, without any rancour in his voice.
Amma scoffed at him.
‘Well, I’m glad you’re having a nice time,’ said Vidya. ‘You deserve it.’
Amma nodded, serious again. ‘How is work? You said you were going away for a few days. Did that go well? Were the new team nice?’
How did she answer that? She stared at a spot above the screen. Could she even talk about Leo without crying again?
‘Vidya?’ There was concern in her mother’s voice.
She looked back at the screen. Amma had leaned close to the camera now, all Vidya could see was a close-up view of Amma’s eye and cheek. This made her smile.
‘Sorry. Got distracted,’ she said. ‘Work is fine. I got back from Waterloo Bay a few hours ago and I am working from home this afternoon.’
‘Still?’ said Amma. ‘What time is it there?’
She glanced at the clock. ‘Er … six. Well, nearly.’
‘Why is your sister not home? Shouldn’t you be cooking your dinner?’
Yes. She probably should. She could barely remember having eaten anything all day. ‘I should.’
‘I hope you girls are eating well.’
A key rattled in the lock. Vidya turned in time to see Udeni hurtle through the door, hand clamped over her mouth, and dash to the bathroom. A second later there was the sound of someone throwing up.
Oh no. Vidya turned slowly back to the screen. Amma had seen that.
‘Is your sister ill? What is wrong with her?’
Shit. Shit. Shit.
‘Um … probably something she ate. Let me go and check that she’s all right. I’ll text you back in a bit.’
‘No. Call me. Tell Udeni to call me. I hate to think that you’re ill and I’m not there to—’
‘Bye, Amma. Bye, Thatha.’ Vidya terminated the call.
Oh dear. Now they’d have to explain why Udeni was throwing up. Vidya rose from her seat and closed the front door, which Udeni had left wide open. She picked up the handbag her sister had dropped in her dash to the loo and hung it on a coat peg.
Then she got a glass of water and went to see her sister.
Udeni was sitting on the floor next to the toilet, looking pale and miserable, still wearing her coat.
‘Hey,’ said Vidya. ‘Is it morning sickness?’
Udeni didn’t respond.
Vidya put the glass of water down on the floor next to her and stepped back again. ‘I got you some water …’
Udeni reached out an arm and pushed the door closed.
Vidya stared at the door as it clicked shut. Oh. Like that, was it?
Suddenly, the anger was back, roaring through her. She had just ruined her own life for this brat and this was how Udeni treated her?
‘Fine,’ Vidya shouted at the door. ‘Be like that!’ She turned to leave, then turned back. ‘For your information, I know who the father of your child is.’ Then she stormed off to her room and shut the door.
Sitting on the bed, Vidya hit a moment of paralysis. She didn’t want to see Udeni, but her laptop was out there. She didn’t want to do any work. She didn’t want to think about Leo. What did she do now?
She dug the heels of her palms over her eyes. ‘Aarrgh.’ If only everything would just go away.
Her phone rang. Reluctantly, she eased it out of her pocket and glanced at the screen. Amma. She declined the call. Seconds later, Vidya could hear Udeni’s phone ringing. It stopped.
A beep told Vidya that she’d got a message.
Why are you both not answering your phones? Is Udeni sick? What is wrong?
Vidya stared at it for a minute. She was tired of being the responsible one. Tired of covering for her sister. Tired of it all.
She replied: Why don’t you ask her?
Then she put her phone on silent and burst into tears again.
This was all such a mess. Her sister was being a cow.
Her parents were on her case and Leo was …
She didn’t know what Leo was right now. Angry with her?
Confused? Sad? All of those things all at once?
Her options were to never see him again and hope he never found out about the baby or …
tell him and watch him become a family with her sister.
She couldn’t bear either of those scenarios.
Her life had been fine before all this. Boring, yes, but fine. She hadn’t asked for any of this. It was all so unfair.
Someone hammered on the door, making her jump. The door opened, and Udeni barged in, waving her phone. ‘What did you tell Amma?’
Vidya looked up, but she couldn’t formulate a reply. A huge sob escaped her and she buried her head in her hands.
There was a moment of silence. Then, ‘Shit.’ The bed dipped as Udeni sat beside her. ‘What’s wrong? Akka?’
Vidya shook her head, her face still in her hands. Udeni put an arm around her, the argument seemingly forgotten. ‘Seriously. You’re scaring me.’
Vidya took a deep breath and tried to speak, but another sob came out instead. She never cried like this. Drama was Udeni’s thing, not hers.
As she tried again, there were footsteps and Angie appeared in the doorway. ‘What’s going on?’ She sat on the other side of Vidya.
She had to pull herself together. Angie thrust a wad of tissues into her hand. It reminded Vidya of Leo helping her on the first day, which prompted a fresh bout of tears to erupt out of her.
Udeni’s arm tightened around Vidya. ‘I don’t know what’s upset you, but whatever it is, we’ll fix it, okay?’ she said. ‘I’m here for you.’
If only that were true.
Angie rubbed her back. Udeni was still hugging her with one arm. She could sense the worried glances being exchanged over her head.
After a few more attempts, Vidya gained control of herself. She raised her face and wiped the tears off it. She looked at Udeni. ‘We need to talk.’
Angie looked from Vidya to Udeni and back again. ‘I’m going to make us all a nice cup of tea,’ she said, firmly. ‘And then we’re going to talk. Come on.’
Vidya trailed obediently after her friend; Udeni followed, looking subdued.
***
Several minutes later, Vidya squeezed the peppermint teabag against the side of her sister’s mug. Udeni had disappeared into the bathroom again, clearly to be sick again. Vidya was making her peppermint tea, which handily gave her some extra thinking time.