Aarush stared out the window. It was completely dark now, and he could see his reflection on the glass. Karthik was on his chair, arms crossed. Arun made a little cough.

“Did you know that this engineering college’s calendar is around the same as American colleges?”

Aarush turned to his grandfather and shook his head.

“Does that mean they both started college at the same exact time?”

“Yeah,” said Arun. “In August 2013. I recall Sandhya being overly enthusiastic about helping Ravi get settled in the electrical engineering program, repeatedly asking him if he needed anything. I’m sure she’d have even sat in class with him if she had her way.”

“Typical,” said Karthik, sighing. “But Shyam also started there at the same time. Sandhya-pinni didn’t actually have to worry, as both of them became even closer during college.”

“And yet she did worry,” said Arun. “But unfortunately that same care and enthusiasm didn’t extend to her daughter. She was mad at Rani for applying to fashion school behind her back, for accepting the offer and leaving, and she was still mad at her for cutting her hair.”

“Ugh,” said Aarush. “How can one person hold so many grudges over their own kid? I mean, come on ya.”

Arun chuckled, but then his face became sad.

“Needless to say, when the time came for Rani to fly out, neither Sandhya nor Ravi even bothered to come and see her off. I was the only one who went to the airport that night.”

“And me!” said Karthik. “I remember, just a week later we came back to the airport to see off Amit-anna.”

“Right, sorry,” said Arun. “Oh wait, did Amit leave to do masters in Los Angeles at the same time?”

“Yes Arun Uncle, Rani would go to California and stay with him during her breaks, remember?”

Arun shook his head and chuckled.

“You have to forgive me Karthik! I’m old, and this was all so long ago!”

Karthik and Aarush laughed.

“You seem to remember quite a lot though, Thatha!”

“Thank you Aarush,” said Arun, smiling. “Here’s something else I remember though. I remember asking Rani how she was doing a few weeks after starting there. She was over the moon, saying things like ‘I was born for this’! I don’t know how Sandhya felt, but seeing my daughter happy definitely made me happy.”

Suddenly Aarush’s eyes widened.

“Wait, isn’t this when she met–”

“YES!” said Karthik, clapping loudly.

“I don’t know the details of their first meeting though,” said Arun. Karthik smirked at him.

“Luckily I know. I’ll tell you, it happened in her fifth semester, in 2015.”

*******

Rani Shivaram strolled down 7th Ave in a flowy blue sundress, with a handbag on her shoulder and sunglasses on her face. It was a bright Sunday morning, and the weather was perfect. She got back from LA only a few days ago and was heading down to her favorite café for breakfast. She really missed this, she thought. Compared to New York, LA just felt horrible to walk around.

She crossed 18th St and entered the building on the corner. It was a small place, but they had good breakfast and indoor seating. Plus any place that smells like bagels and coffee is sure to be decent.

Rani placed her usual order at the counter and turned around to sit at her usual spot by the window. Only, there seemed to be someone sitting there already.

Rani looked around. There weren’t even that many people here this morning. Couldn’t this person have sat somewhere else?

Now, under normal circumstances, if someone else was sitting in her usual spot, Rani would sit in one of her “backup spots” instead.

But today was different.

There was something about this girl that seemed to… draw her in. Rani couldn’t tell if it was her brown hair tied up in a cute top-knot, her copper-toned skin, the numerous tattoos covering her left arm, or the fact that she was sketching something, or...

“Hello,” said Rani. The girl looked up. Her eyes were so big…

“H-hi?”

“I like your drawing.”

“Oh, uh, thanks.”

“What is it?”

The girl’s expression softened. She then started smiling in apparent excitement, noticing Rani's genuine interest in what she was doing.

“Nothing really, just a tattoo flash I’ve been working on. I was inspired by an old episode of Phineas & Ferb I was watching the other day, and then I started thinking, like, where do ideas come from? Like, what are they made of, and what does the machinery look like? Is there machinery? I mean, obviously there isn’t, it’s all neurons and gray matter up there, but I do think about the brain a lot. And sometimes I also think about being a doctor, not just for the brain but for old people too. I’ve always liked old people, and– oh my gosh I’m so sorry, I tend to ramble!”

“Oh, that’s totally fine!” said Rani, laughing. “Do you mind if I sit down?”

“Sure!”

Rani pulled out the other chair and sat down. The girl closed her sketchbook.

“Are you a tattoo artist?” asked Rani.

“Yeah, but only sometimes,” said the girl. “It’s just a hobby, I actually study marketing at the university. I’m 17 and it's only my first semester here but I’m already used to it, I mean I’ve been to the city many times before since I’m from the Hudson Valley but I’ve never actually lived here until now. What do you do?”

“I’m a student at the nearby fashion school,” said Rani, now a little overwhelmed but completely mesmerized. This girl just goes on and on, doesn’t she?

“Oooh fashion, nice! I originally wanted to study fashion too but then I realized I wasn’t really into clothes as much as I thought I was. Where are you from?”

“The Bay Area originally, but I lived in India for a while too.”

“Oh okay. I’ve only been to California once, I have some family in San Diego. We went in the summer, and the heat was unbearable! Though maybe I can’t complain because I’m Mexican, but that doesn’t mean I’m impervious to it. How's the heat in India? I heard it gets pretty hot there too…”



For the next several hours Rani continued to have the most riveting conversation in her life with this cute yet incredibly talkative girl. Once those several hours ended the girl stood up, picked up her bag, and packed her sketchbook.

“Oh, hey,” said Rani. “Let’s… let’s meet up again here next week? Same time?”

“Yeah, sure! I had fun talking to you.”

“And uh, what’s your name? I’m Rani.”

The girl smiled.

“Elena.”

*******

Aarush’s jaw dropped.

“So… that’s how they met.”

Karthik nodded. Aarush still seemed stunned.

“They’re literally getting married tomorrow!”

“They are!” said Karthik, laughing. Arun made a little chuckle while Aarush grinned.