Co-Presidents

3.

She placed it on the table and quickly went around to take her assigned seat. She quietly sat down, took her napkin and placed it on her lap like she'd been doing since she could talk. She handed the dinner plate to Kanti who dished rice for her. Everyone and everything moved smoothly as plates were passed on, soup bowls were filled and dessert bowls were lined up.

Not a single word was uttered as everyone concentrated, or at least pretended to concentrate on their food. Ari briefly glanced at Kanti, the only person in the entire household who she felt like she could be herself around.

Kanti slightly bowed her head to acknowledge her and Ari smiled as she continued to eat her food. They have learned and mastered how to communicate at the dining table without uttering a single word.

Puna became a widow after three years of getting married to Ari's dad's brother at the tender age of 16. Ari's father, who was then a brother-in-law to Puna, took her and Kanti in and raised Kanti like she was his own daughter. Ari could swear her father loved Kanti more than her since Kanti was more obedient, but couldn't care less. She'd never conform to the ways of men.

The two girls loved and treated each other like real siblings would. They rarely had disagreements and they always covered up for each other when one messed up. Ari's father enrolled them into a business university and said they could branch into their respective directions after graduating, if they didn't wish to tale over the company.

Once the overly mannered and awfully quiet dinner came to an end, the two mothers cleaned up and the two girls went to their individual rooms to prepare themselves for bed. After exactly twenty minutes, Ari's bedroom door opened quickly and Kanti slipped in and closed it behind her within a flash.

"What's wrong?" Kanti asked as she jumped in bed beside her soul sister. Ari shook her head and tried to dismiss her question but Kanti insisted. "Hey, no secrets, remember?"

Ari looked at her cousin and tried to come up with a proper way to convey her feelings. "I, um," she cleared her throat and propped an elbow in the mattress. She took a deep breath and showed Kanti how badly her knees got injured. "I got revenge."

"Whoa, wow," Kanti gasped, her hand over her open mouth. Her face which usually showed no emotion was now anything but. She kept flapping her mouth open and close but no word escaped. For the first time in years, Ari has left her speechless.

"I feel no remorse whatsoever," Ari said with a wave of her hand. A smile spread across Kanti's face. "The pleasure, adrenaline, freedom" Ari frantically gestured in all directions as she continued, a happy smile on her face. "It was exactly as I'd imagined."

"You didn't provoke first, right?" Kanti asked, wanting to make sure if anything came back, they could say it was in self-defence. Ari just shook her head and Kanti nodded, giving her the 'I understand' look. "I'll make arrangements with our guy to clean up the place before the police get there," Kanti said as she pulled her phone out.

This was one of the reasons why they easily made a great team. They made sure everything and everyone was taken care of.

After a few minutes of Kanti tapping on her phone's screen, she turned to Ari and once again their eyes did the talking. They laid back on the bed, each with their thoughts. Kanti then gasped and nudged her cousin.

"While I was at the library today, I wanted to FaceTime you but dialled the wrong number by mistake," she chuckled and Ari couldn't help smile like a maniac as she listened. "A ginger head picked up. She was about 17 years old. And actually very chilled."

"What did you guys talk about?" she asked, curious because people hardly intrigued Kanti. So if this red-head managed to, then she's something special.

"Her family," Kanti glanced at Ari. "She's also an only child."

"And what else did you find out?" Ari inquired.

"Her parents are Irish. They're forcing her to studying politics," Kanti made a mock-disgusted face, chuckling afterwards. "But she'd love to do science, you know, inventions and all that stuff."

"What else did you find out?" Ari pushed, smirking.

Kanti rolled her eyes but couldn't hide the blush. "She's also bisexual."

Ari shrieked, jumped up and down on the bed. "Are you planning on seeing her?"

"I don't know. She's agreed to meet me tomorrow at a cafe, so we'll see how that goes."