Once Yours

04

As Mara walked down the street, she couldn't help but notice the black car slowing down beside her. Opening the window slowly, she found herself face to face with the arrogant driver from earlier, who turned out to be the guy who had bumped into her outside their classroom. The reason she looked so messy on her first day of school was now staring back at her, smiling, with the lady in the black dress she had seen in the canteen earlier seated beside him.

"Want a ride?" the guy asked.

Mara walked straight and answered, "No, I'm okay. I'm taking a cab."

"Okay," the guy replied, slowly driving away.

As the car slowly disappeared from her sight, Mara suddenly felt angry at the man who had, for a moment, seemed handsome to her earlier. Now, he looked like a monster.

"West Hill," she told the taxi driver when she got up to leave the taxi. While sitting in the taxi, she couldn't help but think about that guy and the lady in the black car.

"They look good together," she murmured to herself. An arrogant and proud couple. They made a good pair. She assumed.

"Please drop me off at that umbrella," she told the driver, handing him the exact fare as shown on the meter.

She saw her mother standing in the waiting shed with their dog, Rama, whom she had named after herself.

"Ma," she said, getting her mother's hand and placing it on her forehead as a sign of respect before turning her attention to Rama.

"Hey, little boy, did you miss me?" she asked, patting the dog's head and taking the leash from her mother.

"Why do you look like that?" her mother asked.

"Today was one of those great days, Ma," she said in a sarcastic tone, putting her other arm around her mother's shoulder.

"What do we have for dinner today, Ma?" she asked, changing the topic. She didn't want to complain to her mother on her first day of school because it was her mother who had chosen to send her to that school.