Day 4:
I like waking up when it’s bright and sunny, stretch a little and have a luxurious minute hugging myself and relishing my dreams before panic hits and I start rushing. One would be a fool to want to rush around on a holiday, even if the holiday was meant to be more of a sister comforter trip. But even so, lying wide awake in an alien hotel bed, listening to the silence on a well-lit street while making a sincere attempt to go back to sleep is NOT fun. My super-fertile brain works best in above mentioned circumstances. Panic over unanswered emails and feeling anxious about the future and over analysing situations come with the territory. Of course, tweeting is an option but the thoughts easily get louder than my tweets.
We had seen 3 apartments, 3 more remained to be seen. And we had only liked one of them. We had the hotel room until Friday and then… ‘I don’t know’. When I’m in charge, I hate hearing those three words come out of my mouth (or mind in this case). What if we didn’t like anything, what if what if what if! I shut the negativity out and tried sleeping. Nope, no sleep. Happy thoughts. New York, meeting Raj n Pratibha n Tara, seeing NewYorker, meeting Moodie! Shopping! Wheeee! Ok, too much happiness, can’t sleep. So I got out of bed, showered and woke nano up for breakfast.
‘This chick, Georgie, her apartment is good. It’s much cheaper, it’s 13th and Michigan ave and it totally might be it,’ Nano announced. Meanwhile, another friend called and announced that the swankiest high rise in the area, Flamingo, had a room available for $500. The elder sister in me did a jig. Flamingo was safe, neat and 4 blocks from Nani’s school. I’m telling u, I have never ever tried to apply the law of attraction the way I did that day. We hunted Georgie out. And when the door opened, a merry little man in his late 40s greeted us. I avoided looking at Nano, I knew I’d burst out laughing.
The room was nice, the neighbourhood awesome but hello, sharing the apartment with a man, no way! The sweet man did show us around and all, and with a heavy heart we turned it down. Sigh, I wanted Flamingo to work out. Hell yeah! Meanwhile, we decided to eat at McDonald’s. Junkfood was needed. Nothing pacifies my stressed mind like fried greasy food, carbs and meat. Post lunch, another apartment. This time the girl didn’t even show us the room. ‘If she called us to show the room, then she had better made sure the roommate was ok with showing the room!’ I fumed. My attitude and the weirdass stink in that apartment led Nanuli to put a cross against the name.
Flamingo Flamingo Flamingo (total sarkar style!). A pacifying conversation with the parents and a tete-a-tete with NewYorker later, I was ready. ‘If you like the apartment, don’t think too much. Take it!’ NewYorker’s words rang in my head. We entered the heavily guarded gates of Flamingo and stood by watching BMWs and Ferraris zip in and out. Hopes crash, and how. The building was too posh to be the cheapest we had yet seen. And the 40 yr old south American woman who was going to show us the house stared at us in bewilderment (we look like carbon copies apparently) before telling us her ‘kondeeshaans’. I heard her say the rent was $1200 a month and I was like, what! Nano merrily took the tour with her. We went to the pool, the jacuzzi and what not. This was like super luxury. When she took us to the apartment on the 15th floor, neatly done up in white and red, we couldn’t resist a gasp. The view was fantabulous. The bay, the skyline. Hmmm. Too posh too posh, get out now. The guided tour went on. The lady was chaloo. Even with all the luxury, $1200 seemed to be an unreal amount.
We got out and Nani chuckled, ‘Chal at least we saw how Flamingo is. Baap ke paise pe I won’t stay so posh. Khud kamaungi toh sochungi,’ she announced. I have never been so proud of my sister. It was easy to covet that luxurious apartment, it was easy to whine and say ‘I wish I could afford it’ but Nani has her head in the right place. She aspired for it but on her own merit. An elder sister can only stop a moment and give the younger sister a ‘mujhe tumpe naaz hai’ look and hope and pray that destiny gives her the opportunities to work hard and get exactly what she wants.
And she will. Tomorrow, she’ll have an apartment. We will find a home for her, in Miami. I go to bed with that promise to myself.
3 comments for “Har Ghar Kuch Kehta Hai!”