The next day,

Friday 16th April 1997.

Eva woke up to the sounds of hushed whispers from the wall next to her. She squinted trying to read what the time was on the digital clock. The time ‘9.05am’ stood out in a red neon.

She groaned at the thought of getting up from the comfort of her bed, sadly she wouldn’t be able to fall back asleep so easily.

I might as well get up no point staying in bed any longer. She thought to herself sighing.

 She carelessly threw back the bedcovers from her body and stood up shoving her feet into the black coloured slippers. She walked to the front and snatched the pastel blue robe from the wall mount on the bedroom door.

She wrapped the long fluffy robe around herself and opened the door heading towards the twins shared room. The whispering voices grew louder as she approached the closed door. She flung the door open to see the twins shuffling through their room throwing their stuff into their bags wrapped in towels from the waist below.

The twins froze expecting to see Grandma Riya at the door. They breathed a sigh of relief when they realized it was Eva at the door. They weren’t allowed to make any excessive noise because Grandma Riya detested loud noises.

“why are you both not dressed? No classes today?” Eva asked from the door.

“we are going to be late no time to talk!” Adil whispered rushing to the bathroom to hop into the shower.

“don’t stay in the shower too long!” Aadesh said banging on the closed bathroom door to his brother ignoring his horrible singing that he and Eva could clearly hear from outside.

“can I come along? I am bored at home I need to explore this wide city more!” Eva mentioned to her cousin as he was busy zipping his and Adi’s separate bags.

“what? Why? You don’t need to come with us we are in a rush enough as it is! Class starts less than an hour” Aadesh complained from his back sorting his outfit for the day going through the wardrobe after dropping the bags on Adil’s bed.

“you can leave me in the building like the gallery you mentioned yesterday please” she responded flashing a pout and puppy eyes at her cousin. Aadesh had turned around to face her when she spoke.

“fine! Be ready by the time Adil and I are downstairs. But get dressed and help Daadi till her nurse arrives” Aadesh agreed defeated by her puppy eyed look.

“Alright I’m out! Your turn” Adil said walking out of the shower rubbing his towel on his wet hair.

 Eva quickly looked away from his nudity.

“Eva is following us to college” Aadesh chimed in to his twin.

“what? Since when? ---“Adil protested to his brother.

Eva closed the door behind her not bothering to hear the twins arguing.

She didn’t waste time hopping in the shower and dress for the day. She didn’t wash her shoulder length today due to their traditional rules not to wash on specific days. (Tuesday/Friday). She rubbed oil into her scalp and ebony strands before arranging it into a high ponytail.

She carried the tray of breakfast for Grandma Riya, who was reading a prayer book with the covers up to her arms waiting for breakfast in her bedroom.

She walked steadily holding the tray to her bedroom luckily the door was opened slightly enough for her to bump her hip to push the door wider to enter.

Grandma Riya’s head looked up from her book to see Eva stroll into the room dressed nicely and she chose to speak her mind about why she was dressed so nicely.

“where are, you going dressed like that Eva?” Grandma Riya questioned pushing her reading glasses up to the bridge of her nose.

“I’m following the twins to their college” Eva explained as she carefully placed the tray next to her side and stepped back.

“you are not going with them without my permission” Grandma Riya barked coolly.

“but Daadi I can’t stay indoors all day please! I need to learn so much more about this city since I have been giving the chance to be here by Vikram” she begged sincerely to her.

“I will let you go for now because the twins are going with you but I expect you to be back by six in the evening and nothing more! Understood?” she warned in a forced tone.

“-yes Daadi” Eva stuttered in response giving her usual elderly greetings before turning around to walk out of the room.

“oof!” she squeaked from the sudden assault of a solid body blocking her way.

“You’re not ready!? Come on we ain’t got time get your bag and let’s go” Adil said spinning around to face her and look down to see that she didn’t have her bag.

“I’m going” Eva mumbled in response moving aside rubbing her nose as she walked to her bedroom to grab her bag sitting on the bed and leave the room.

The twins were waiting for her downstairs and the trio left the house to walk to the collage.

Now the trio of cousins finally walked into the silver front gate of the car park of the ‘Westminster Community Collage’ to Eva’s surprise. She didn’t expect the collage to be so spacious and centered all over the place.

She didn’t get the chance to truly take the time to look at the architecture trying to keep up with the boys’ speed walking into the building. She didn’t want to end up lost in this place and not be able to find her way around.

Adil stood cracking his knuckles waiting for his brother and cousin to finish at the reception desk.

Aadesh explained at the security desk that the person beside him was his cousin who was visiting for the day. Eva signed her name in the guest book and she was given a day pass ID lamented red card with a key chain holder.

Holding the pass in card she followed Aadesh’s instructions tapped the ID ion the circle. She walked through the front gate to be dragged by the twins to the art gallery a few feet away.

“Now please don’t move from this gallery cousin I and Adil are going to our separate classes now. There is an indoor café if you get hungry it’s there for you. We will both be back in at least an hour or two so that should keep you occupied. We have to persuade Daadi to getting you a pager” Aadesh addressed to her.

“I won’t get myself lost. Go you both will be late” she replied rolling her eyes at them as she walked into the art gallery.

They watched her walk into the art gallery slightly worried especially Adil who couldn’t hide his deep frown from his brother.

“why are you frowning? She will be safe Adil come on. we are already late” Aadesh reassured his twin noticing the frown planted on his identical face.

“I hope so she is type to get herself lost but you’re only saying that because you want to see your special little Spanish girlfriend” Adil replied the frown replaced by a sly smirk.

“let’s just get to class” Aadesh scoffed at his brother before the pair hugged and went their separate ways for their classes located in separate buildings.

Eva stood in the middle of the spacious gallery feeling slightly lost on where to start off with. She decided the A1 sized acrylic painting would be the first step.

Praying I won’t get lost she thought to herself warily.

Facing the direction of the canvas art she strolled into the section admiring the artistic approaches she viewed in the strokes and vibrant colours created on the several canvases. She continued onwards walking in and out of the other sections till she was stopped by an elegant piece of art hung up on the wall.

Michael strolled inside the gallery snapping a few unexpected pictures of people who were admiring the art of the current students displayed on the walls of the gallery. He had waited for Eva to appear around one clock. Sadly, she hadn’t appeared to his great disappointment. He chose to leave the spot and try his luck at the gallery maybe to find someone else that would be a good replacement.

 As Michael continued his stroll he spotted the side view of a young woman standing near a painting gazing lost in thought. He didn’t waste time to capture the moment from where he stood.

Click!~

The sound of a camera click forced Eva out of her jumbled thoughts to notice Michael standing with his camera around his neck. His eyes expressing his disapproval.

“hello Eva did you forget about our meeting today?” Michael said with a hint of irritation laced in his cool tone.

“I am so sorry I completely forget that was today --” she gasped in remembering the discussion they had the day before.

“it’s perfectly fine I’ll find someone else” Michael cut in before she could apologize. He made a fast U-turn and began to walk away.

Eva felt the rush of regret wash over because of the silly mistake she made forgetting to help Michael. She grabbed his sleeve before he could walk too far from her. Michael froze when he felt her small hand on his arm and looked down into her azure coloured eyes.

“Michael I’m sorry for my forgetfulness! This was not intentional of me to leave you waiting I am still willing to be your model” she pleaded apologetically to him.

Michael sighed inwardly cursing his soft heart and wayward way of forgiving someone who did him wrong.

Eva held her breath waiting for his reply seeing the thoughtful expression lost in his thoughts momentarily.

“I forgive you but please next time maybe you can page me instead to tell me if you will be late or not be able to make it that day” he replied.

“thank you! Should we move somewhere else?” she breathed out in gratitude removing her hand away from him and stepping back.

“sure” Michael answered in a monotone tone.

He turned around to head out of the gallery hearing the footsteps of Eva behind him as they walked away from the gallery. He slowed down his strides so that she would be able to match his pace.

A cloud of awkward silence fell between the pair strolling past the other rooms till they stopped in front of a studio door labelled ‘Photography studio’ in black bold writing.

Michael opened the door with the key he had in his hand and stepped inside opening the door for Eva to walk in. Once she was inside he locked the door behind her before they walked further into the studio hall till they were inside.

Eva looked around to see a few chairs scattered around the empty studio.

“I remember you had some red Indian blood in you the day we met” she mentioned nervously hoping the question would start a conversation.

“yes, I have Choctaw blood in my family ... from what my father told me when I was a child” he replied before continuing to shuffle to get the equipment out of their bags.

Eva sighed softly knowing he didn’t want to further the conversation, instead she fiddled with her pony tail to waste the time, noticing the knots in her ponytail.

When did these knots appear? I thought I had done combed my hair properly! --- she thought to herself before she was cut off by Michael calling her back to the present.

She blinked owlishly to see Michael equipped with a camera he wore around his neck, he held the camera in hands as he waited for Eva to get into position.

“I have my old polaroid camera. I’ll be using it to start the shoot off for today and we can move on to another camera day. miss I’m ready if you want to start” Michael said.

“sure let’s get that started what would you want me to do” she replied.

“anything that comes to your mind” Michael responded shrugging his shoulders.

Eva wasn’t exactly a photographic person so she chose the first pose that came to mind. She shuffled her left leg weight to the right while crossing her arms loosely against her chest with a blank stare directed at the camera.

Michael wasn’t pleased with what she gave him from the first pose.  He huffed before lowering the camera lens from his face to give her a forced smile.

“um this pose isn’t exactly what I expected” he replied sheepish.

“what pose do you expect from me? I am not exactly familiar with model poses” Eva replied with a raised eyebrow.

why I do get the feeling this is going to take some time to get something tangible out of this girl? Michael thought to himself wary.

Michael sighed quietly before he let go of his camera to stroll towards her and help adjust her.

This was completely awkward for the pair on a first touch base but Michael ignored the feeling. With a gentle touch, he arranged her arms forward, one arm in her hair and the other on her hip tilting her head to meet her hand.

“there” Michael said in triumphant stepping back to gaze at the pose Eva now held in front of him,

“I don’t feel exactly comfortable” Eva blurted out feeling the slight strain in her muscles from the unfamiliar position.

“could you stay like that then afterwards I’ll instruct you how to do it again” Michael replied before going back into position.

Eva stayed in position patiently as Michael snapped away at different angles before instructing her how to achieve the pose once more. This was attempted multiple times before Michael couldn’t contain the laughter he had held in watching her try to get the pose down.

“why are you laughing?” she hissed at him annoyed by his constant laughter.

Michael’s peals of laughter died down to a few high-pitched chuckles till he could speak once more now giving her a small grin in return as he opened his mouth to say “your posture is too funny how about smiling in a relaxed manner?”

Eva didn’t find this funny at all but she chose to comply as he was the photographer and she was his model. She changed her mouth movement to a sneer making Michael chuckle even more at the expression.

Eva seeing the pure laughter on his face decided once more to pull another expression but this time grinning widely with all teeth showing, once again seeing the peel of laughter erupt from Michael. She couldn’t help but join in the infectious laughter.

Their combined laughter died down and the photoshoot continued with Michael adjusting Eva into different poses till he decided that it was a wrap for the day.

Before the shoot for the day ended Michael coaxed her into one last picture of them making silly faces at the camera.

The duo stood standing side by side holding the pile of pictures so far from the short photo shoot.

“I didn’t know I was so photogenic” Eva commented in complete admiration. Her eyes swept through each image.

“you do have the looks for it. I thought you were a model yesterday when I saw you” Michael replied looking up to lock gazes with a glaring Eva.

“don’t be mad how about you keep the picture we took together” Michael said as he held the photo in his hand.

“really?! Thank you” she beamed to him as he handed over the photograph to her. She dropped the rest of the pictures on the pile next to her feet. She opened her bag to find her notebook. She found the book and placed it in between the pages to keep it safe. After doing so she picked up the pictures to continue looking though them.

 “what is the time?” she asked curiously.

Shuffling the pictures to one hand Michael glanced down at his wrist watch and told her the time was past four ‘o’clock.

“past four?!” she yelled in horror realizing she had been with him for over an hour and she hadn’t bothered to inform her cousins where she was.

Michael didn’t know how to calm the distressed Eva who kept mumbling in a mix of English and Hindi about something about twins and boys.

“please calm down Eva what can I do to help you?” Michael said in a gentle tone in hopes she would calm down.

“please take me back to the gallery” she pleaded breathless to him.

Michael didn’t question her distress sensing something was up but it wasn’t his business to ask. Wordlessly he packed his equipment quickly and lead Eva out of the room not forgetting to lock the door behind him.

They speed walked back in the direction of the art gallery without any discussion.

Aadesh and Adil had searched the entire gallery including outside but coming short. The brothers worried sick wondering where their older cousin could be located.

“you said not to be worried Adil! Look where she’s ran off to! We should have just dragged her to class with us instead!” Aadesh accused his brother.

“look I didn’t expect her to run off on her own alright! Beside she must be in this damn building aadesh---look she’s over there” Adil spat at his brother, stopped his rant when he saw her from the corner of his eye, standing with some black man next to her.

“EVA!” the twins yelled together rushing forward to where she stood next to Michael.

“where have you been –“Aadesh fired off.

“—we were worried! Where did you run off to!”  Adil retorted.

Eva chuckled nervously at the twin glares she was receiving from her younger cousins, before she had the chance to speak Michael jumped in.

“I’m sorry for taking your eh friend away? She was helping me out with a project” Michael apologized to the brothers.

“who the hell are you?” Adil asked rudely now focusing his gaze on Michael.

“ADIL!” Eva scolded her cousin appalled at his rude behavior towards Michael.

“what my brother is meant to say sir. Thank you for finding our wayward cousin we should be going now” Aadesh replied as he used his arm to nudge his brother in the ribs.

“I don’t mind dropping her home it’s my fault she had you both worried” Michael answered kindly.

“no that is not needed, we are already late as it is thanks” Aadesh politely in response.

Eva sensing that it was her cue to leave Michael’s side gave him a short smile before stepping to stand by Aadesh’s side.

Michael returned the same smile as he watched the trio walk away but he realized a little too late he hadn’t asked for Eva’s pager number to get in contact with her.

Shit! I didn’t grab her number before she left! I wonder if one of the twins’ number is in the college system. I should go back and ask. Michael thought to himself. He turned around facing the other direction to find out in the security office before looking for Paul (hopefully) without his harem by his side.

:. An hour later :.

The trio arriving home at 6.30pm hoping that Daadi was asleep and not waiting for them to come home. Eva ignored the sweat pooling on her palms on the possibility that Daadi could be asleep or awake waiting for them.

Before they had arrived home the twins and Eva had shared a slightly heated conversation about her spending time with a non-Indian man who could easily lead anyone finding about this ‘project’ to gossip and spin tales that were not necessary.

Eva defended her actions claiming what she was doing was pure and nothing was being gained from it.

He was a student like them and she wasn’t doing any harm by helping him. Adil couldn’t help being hypocritical but towards the end of the conversation knowing what his brother was doing behind their families back, held his tongue. Aadesh let it go knowing it was pointless to try and stop her.

They trotted quietly into the home in hopes of not waking Daadi and went their separate ways. The twins went into their rooms to change. After changing went downstairs to find any leftover food from dinner the night before.

Eva tip toed past daadi’s room like a robber on the run till she froze when she heard the cool voice of Daadi call out to her from the ajar door.

“Eva?”

Eva grinded her teeth as she breathed though her nose to try and slow the pounding of her heart but it didn’t stop it from banging against her chest. She squared her shoulders in preparation to face Daadi.

She turned around to face the door and with a slow in take she opened the door to walk into her room.