Those 6 days at Goa – 01 – Page 12 of 14

“Granddaughter?” Mom asked Pratap while walking in the lobby.“Yes, daughter of my daughter.” Pratap replied calmly.“Ohh…Fine.What’s her age?” Mom asked him.“Four” Pratap replied.“Ok. I think a soft toy would be a perfect gift for her.” Mom suggested.“She has a lot of it.” Pratap said.“Ohh…Buy a cute dress for her then..” Another suggestion from mom.“Hmmm…Let’s see.” Pratap said.We moved to the women’s clothing section.Kids wear were in the farthest corner of the hall.Mom took great interest in other clothes also.She would stop and look at the fabric , design etc when she would find something interesting. That’s why I hated going shopping with her. Though Pratap was walking beside her, I was damn sure he was being bored too.“Did you mark one thing?” Mom asked Pratap.“What?” He said.“Almost all of the dresses are party dresses. Designer ones. Very few dresses can be worn in routine life. Quite expensive also.” She explained.“Hmmmm…They keep stock as per the demand of the place. Did you like them? ” Pratap asked her.“Yes..They are nice.” Mom replied while having a look at the black dress.“Can I ask something? If you don’t mind.” Pratap asked looking at my mom while she was checking out a checkered dress.“What?” She said, without breaking her concentration.“What’s your size?” Pratap asked in rather a low voice.Honestly, I didn’t like his question.I was sure mom also didn’t like it. She stopped checking the dresses out and turned her head in his direction.“Why do you want to know about it?” She asked.I was expecting her to scold him but she was trying to suppress a smile.“Nothing, I was just curious.” He replied itching his head with his hand.“Size 8 dresses fit me perfectly.” She said.“Yes, of course but I……” Pratap stopped talking as if weighing whether to say or not.Mom kept looking at him questioningly. Then he took a deep breath and almost hissed in her ear,“I meant the sizes of your bra, waist and hips.” He said and then turned his gaze away from her.He spoke in a very low voice thinking he would not be heard but I was standing a step away behind them and there was a silence in the hall. I could hear it clearly.“I wear 34D, other sizes are 28 and 36.” She said in an equally low voice and turned her head towards the dresses again.I saw her smiling while checking the clothes out.Finally we reached the kids section.Mom helped him choose the best dress for his grand daughter.It was a beautiful pink colored dress.He asked us to wait near the escalator as he would be joining us after paying the bills. Mom and I exited that hall. I found Gulliver’s travels in the book section that was on the way to the escalator.Mom purchased it for me. We  went to the escalator and stood in the lobby, waiting for uncle.He appeared after a few minutes.He had two carry bags in his hand. There was a famous *** outlet on the top floor of the mall. Pratap said he felt hungry and suggested we should go there for lunch before returning to the hotel. I liked his idea.I was hungry too. We went there.There were no one except us. “Let me give the order. You guys sit there.” Pratap pointed to a table in the corner and then went to the counter to place an order.Mom and I sat around a small round table. Soon Pratap appeared along with his carry bags and sat on the stool in front of my mom. He was beside me. “Hey…What’s that?” Uncle asked me. I had put that book on the table and was turning it’s pages. I was very excited.“Look..What I found…Gulliver’s travels.. One of my friends was praising it…” I replied to him.“Hmmm…Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift. Is it all the four parts?” Pratap asked.“Four parts?” I could not understand.“Yes. It is written in four parts. The most famous is Part one, Liliput part though.” He said.I checked the book again.It was indeed only the first part.“Yeah…it’s Liliput only.” I replied to him.Pratap then put one of the two carry bags on the table and then pushed it towards mom who was till then listening to our conversation.“What’s that?” She asked.I was curious too. It looked like there was a box inside the bag.“Nothing.. A small gift from me. Please accept.” Pratap said.“No…no…I can’t take it.” She pushed it little towards Pratap and said.He stared at mom for  few moments silently. He looked as if he was surprised.“But why?” Pratap could only speak.“You have already done too much for us.Since day one , we had fun with you guys. You never let us pay a single rupee till now. I can’t accept it.” Mom said reasonably.“Do you consider me as your friend?” He asked my mom.“Yes.” She replied.“How would you feel if you buy a gift for your friend and she rejects it?” Pratap asked pushing the bag on the table towards mom, looking at her.She didn’t reply.She stared at him for few seconds and then put her hand on the bag and said,“Ok….Thanks” Uncle smiled at her.He then started typing something on his phone.Soon mom’s mobile beeped.She took her mobile out from the pocket of her jeans and looked at it. She did some typing also and uncle’s mobile beeped.They kept typing and their mobile kept buzzing for some time. Then mom stood up.She inserted her phone in her pocket and said,“I’m going to the restroom.” She started moving towards the restroom.I again looked at  the book that was on the table.Pratap uncle sat there silently for few moments. Then he dialed a number on his phone and started talking on it. He stood up from his stool while talking over the phone and moved to the glass window that was near to our table. He was talking to someone from his relatives.I focussed again on the book.I turned its pages and saw beautiful illustrations in the book.I finished turning its pages. I was sitting there alone.There were no other people in the hall and uncle was also not there. I decided to go and wash my hands.There were two restrooms opposite to each other with symbols of male and female on their doors. Obviously I went to the male one and washed my hands properly. When I was exiting it, I heard a weird sound coming from the female restroom.As there were no other people except us, I pushed its door a little curiously and I got the biggest shock of my life. Mom and Pratap uncle were standing in the middle of that restroom and kissing. They were standing near the wash basin and mom’s back was towards the giant mirror.Uncle was facing the mirrors and his back was towards the door of the restroom.