Saka casually glanced into the staffroom. No one was around. Vira must be late today as well, he thought to himself.
He chatted with Tobi; the day seemed nice and bright until Maw Lava walked in.
Saka looked up in surprise as he greeted the principal.
"Class, Maw Vira will not be around for a week. He has some work to take care of, so I will be handling math until he comes back."
The class was quiet. Tobi looked worriedly at Saka. Saka had no expression.
The class went on. The kids loved Maw Lava, but Maw Vira was just better. But then, Vira majored in math, so he had to be better.
They chatted animatedly. Tiko walked up to Saka. "I wonder what work Maw had that he had to go suddenly?"
Roon joined in. "He was the only reason school was fun. Now to think we will need to deal with Maw Mina without our energy booster, argh!"
Tiko grunted. "Lucky bugger, Saka got an escape chit."
Saka smiled, but the smile didn't reach his eyes. Tobi waited until after school, then pulled Saka to the terrace.
"Tell me."
Saka looked at him. "About what?"
"What is running through your mind?"
Saka laughed. "Nothing."
Tobi forced Saka to look at him. "You are like a brother to me. Do you think I won't know?"
Saka could not turn his head. He was forced to look into Tobi's eyes.
He felt the tears pour down his cheeks.
"After this weekend, I thought I had gotten at least a bit closer to Sen. Looks like I'm still at the same place."
Tobi didn't say anything.
"Would it have killed him to tell me that he wouldn't be there? I feel like an idiot. All the preparation; I wanted him to feel like he had a family here too. I guess he didn't ever want a family."
Tobi just stroked him. "Maybe he just forgot?"
"Can you just forget if it's someone important to you?"
Tobi stayed silent. He would definitely let people he valued know about his whereabouts. He wouldn't want them worried.
"If it's good news, we share; if it's bad news, we share. Isn't that what family is? Forget family; I am just a student. I feel I can't accept it, but that is the truth, Tobi. I mistook his kindness for him opening up, but his stance never changed."
Saka needed to accept the fact. He was no one special. Forget special. He was just a nobody to Vira.
He squeezed Tobi's hands. "Thank you, Tobi. I'm glad I have you as my best friend."
Tobi shook his head. He was angry. Maw Vira was a blockhead. His respect for him went down a couple of notches.
Laika heard the news about Vira. He wasn't mad until he got to know that Saka had no idea.
That idiot, he thought to himself. How the heck was he going to win another person's heart if he didn't even let them into his space?
It was late in the evening when he sent an email.
Hi Vira,
You have done it now. Saka has been planning to celebrate your birthday the whole week. Him not knowing about your plans makes it look like you don't think that he is important.
Anyway, I didn't write this to interfere with your affairs. If you aren't ready for a relationship, then this is fine. However, if you are serious about my brother, you should start by being more mindful of your actions.
Laika.
As a brother, this was all he could do. He tried to understand things from Vira's perspective, but he just couldn't.
****
Vira looked gloomy. In his excitement, he had completely forgotten to tell Saka.
Saka told him everything. He made sure to include him, whether it was in the temple or outside of it. When Akat wasn't around, he dropped by, giving him company for breakfast. He showed that he was serious.
What Vira had done to Saka was unforgivable.
Akat stared at Vira. "You actually forgot to tell him."
"What do I do? I forgot I had someone to share things about my life with."
"Dude, you've just signed your breakup papers. It's a good thing you aren't in a relationship."
"Shall I call him up?"
Akat asked, "Do you know his phone number?"
Vira shook his head.
"You can send him an email."
"I didn't get his email address."
"Do you really like him?" Akat asked, exasperated. "The first thing you do is get to know everything about the person you like. Here you are, you don't even know his contact details. Are you even serious? Or are you experimenting?"
Vira looked so gloomy that Akat cooled down a bit.
"Leave it, what's done is done. When you go back, apologize to him properly, and do it face to face. Don't wimp out. You won't have it easy if Saka is anything like me."
Vira gulped.
The briefing was intense. They were then asked to prepare the execution idea for the kickoff. Vira didn't get much time to breathe until Sunday.
Sunday was the first presentation. Vira, Akat, and Kenta did an impressive job.
Since their idea was approved, the next three days would be spent fine-tuning it and carving out the parts each one proposed to do. After that they were free to collect their laptops and work from home.
As Akat and Kenta didn't have one, normally they stayed in the government provided quarters.
They walked out of the presentation room with a big smile. They had done it. They were free in the evening.
It was a bit after sunset and Vira logged into his account to see if Atira had sent him any mail. It was his birthday, after all.
She had. "Hope you loved the presents. I thought I was thoughtful, but I'm sure Saka's beat mine. Happy birthday, love!"
Vira felt like an idiot. He went through Laika's email and felt himself hating himself, hating to the point of wanting to hit himself with a pan on the face.
What the heck have I done? How could I be such a douchebag? He grabbed his wallet and ran out, bumping into Akat.
"I need to go see Saka. Will be back late, leave the door open."
Akat nodded. He smiled to himself. It was always good to see people in love.