This is a story from a time when I was in 10th grade. Our family of three had gone on a vacation to a beach for 3 days during Holi. We couldn't find any hotel near the beach area hence we had to stay in a residence somewhat away from town.
The owner of the house named Pandey who was a 46 years old had his 8 years old grandson come over for a week. Occasionally, he would rent his estate for tourists and that's how we found our stay at his place.
His house had two floors. He lived on the upper floor while the lower floor was rented to us for 3 days. At the time of arrival, we realized that we were the only ones to have booked two rooms at his place. It was nice and quiet and we were enjoying the ambience.
All three of us had now dressed into our 'homely' outfits. My father who was 51 years old at that time, wore a track suit. While my mom, who was 45 years old, wore a pink nightie. I too had changed into a t-shirt and shorts and started exploring the place.
I quickly made my way to the roof of the building to take a good look of the place. While scanning the proximity, I saw my father strolling the garden while my mom was near the entrance gate speaking to someone.
I was trying to see who she was speaking to and after a moment I found it to be Pandey's grandson. I too wished to speak to him and hence rushed to greet him right away.
As I reached her, I found out that mom wasn't speaking to the kid but to Pandey himself. His grandson stood there while he spoke to my mom. I introduced myself and shook hands with Pandey and his grandson.
The kid's name was Hardik. He seemed a bit shy at first but opened up once I spoke to him a few times during our conversation. Pandey suggested Hardik to give me tour of the place.
I wasn't really looking for a tour but he insisted so I left those two and walked away with Hardik. As we were walking away, I heard Pandey offering to do the same with my mom.
Mom suggested that she could do it with me and Hardik instead but Pandey was persuasion skills were great and she agreed after all. Hence, me and Hardik walked one way, while mom and Pandey walked the other.
I wanted to be with mom but I didn't want Hardik to feel abandoned so I tagged along. While walking, we ran into my father who spoke to us for a minute or two then told us he wanted to take a nap and headed towards our rooms.
Hardik looked at me and said "your father must be really tired after all the journey." I nodded my head and kept walking. I told him that my mother should also be just as tired and she needs to rest as it was Holi the next day. Hardik replied "don't worry, we will run into them in a while."
After around 10 mins of exploration, I grew restless as I had not seen my mother. Hardik insisted that she must have returned to her room. So I thanked him politely and headed to our rooms.
I found my father, asleep and snoring but no sign of my mom. I was a bit worried and thought of waking him up but then I heard Hardik calling for me.
I rushed to where his voice was to find him standing near the main entrance. I asked him if he had seen my mother to which he replied, "look there! They're heading towards us."
I looked at the street to find my mom and Pandey walking towards us through the street. I was wondering why they left the premises of his estate in the first place. So I waited for their arrival.
Once they came back, I asked her why did she leave the guesthouse when she was supposed to take a walk within the estate. She replied "Mr. Pandey asked me if we were ready to celebrate Holi the next day and since we didn't have any colors with us, he offered to take me to the nearest shop to buy some."
She then handed me the color pouches and thanked Pandey for his company and walked towards our rooms. Before leaving, she asked us if I wanted to head back, to which I declined and she went off.
I then looked at Pandey and he smiled and walked away as well. I was there with Hardik now and he asked if I wanted to play a while with him. I nodded in approval and we went towards the garden.
I asked him where his grandma was to which he answered "she lives with my family now." Upon further enquiry, I came to know that Pandey and his wife had quarreled recently, hence she wasn't around.
The two of us played for a while and went back to our respective rooms. There I found both of parents were asleep. I joined them and took a nap myself.
My father woke me up at 9 pm for dinner. We went together, took our seats and were waiting for Pandey. He arrived with Hardik and started to serve the food.
He greeted father by saying "Evening sir! Hope you had a good nap." My father smiled and said yes. He greeted my mother next "you look great ma'am!" My mom smiled back and thanked him. He then greeted me "Did Hardik show you around?" I answered with a nod
The five of us then sat and started having our meal. Father complimented his cooking skills and he entertained us with small chit-chats.
Once the feast was over, he thanked us and wished us Good night. My father asked, "who's gonna clean all the dishes?" He replied, "don't worry, I'll do it myself. I always have. Since Hardik is here, he will lend me a hand so we will be good." Dad felt pity on them and offered to help them.
He declined and they started cleaning. Seeing the kid do the cleaning, my mom volunteered to help them out. "I'll help them and join you in a while." She said and walked ahead. "That's your mommy, always eager to help." said father as he smiled and pat my shoulder. "Let's wait for her in the room son" he said and walked towards our room.
I didn't want mom to help Pandey but I too felt pity for Hardik so I stood there and watched on.
Pandey was pleased to see her. Initially, he didn't let her help him but she was already cleaning the dishes so there was nothing he could do now. Mom said "you shouldn't have Hardik do any of this since he's only a kid." Pandey paused for a moment and then asked Hardik to stop.
"Go to your room Hardik. Me and aunty will finish the job here." "Are you sure granpa?" he asked. "Don't worry, we adults can handle this. Go to your room and sleep. We got a big day tomorrow!"
Hardik washed his hands and left. As he left, I heard father calling for me. I went back to our room to find out that we had run out of drinking water which is why dad had summoned me.
I obliged and went to the dinning room to fill some bottles where I found my mom and Pandey doing the dishes.
The kitchen sink wasn't too wide thus they were standing adjacent to eachother and cleaning them up. They hadn't noticed me as I observed them from a distance holding an empty bottle of water.
I could hear Pandey asking her what she'll be wearing during tomorrow's event. My mom puzzled by his question answered "well, I'm not sure. Why do you ask?" "No reason, just out of curiosity. Besides, even the dullest outfit will look great when you put it on!"
Mom thanked him with a soft laugh. "I bet everyone from your colony must stare at you wherever you step outside the house." he added.
"why would that be?" mom asked. "are you kidding? any man would be dumb not to notice someone as beautiful as you! I for one would stare at such a marvelous person all day if I could." commented Pandey.
It was obvious to me that he was flirting with her now. While making such comments, he would move his left elbow to make contact with mom's right hand.
She didn't protest probably because the sink wasn't too wide. He finished cleaning at his end and asked her if she needed help. Mom told him to wait as she too was nearly done.
While waiting, Pandey kept the conversation running. He had now turned towards my mother and as he spoke, I could him peeking inside my mom's nightie.
Suddenly I heard my father calling my name. I immediately went to him and handed the bottle. He asked me what took me so long snd where's my mother. I didn't know what to tell him so I told him that she's almost done and would be here any minute.
I wished him good night and told him that I'll speak with Hardik and be back in a while. As I left our room, I switched the lights off and shut the door on my way out.
I was starting to get curious of what those two might be doing in the kitchen and also, I liked what I felt inside my pants. Wondering what might happen if they were left all alone in the kitchen turned me on so I tip toed my way to the kitchen.
Apparently they were done cleaning the dishes and had taken a seat around the dining table. They had begun a friendly chat revolving around family matters.
Suddenly, Pandey told her that he's a bit into astrology and can predict one's future by seeing an individual's hand.
Mom seemed quite surprised to hear that. He then offered to predict her future and told her to show her hand. She seemed hesitant at first but a bit of persuasion and she brought her left hand forward.
Pandey capitalised on this opportunity and brought his chair closer to her. He then held her hand and looked at it closely. "With a hand as soft and beautiful as yours, it's difficult to focus on my job!" he said.
Mom smiled a little and asked her what he thinks of her future. He commented "you are going to get wealthy and be really happy if you open up to people."
He further explained, "wealth and good fortune awaits you only if you let new people come into your life. You're destined to be rich at some point. All you gotta do is be an opportunist."
