‘Right.’ Robbie looks like she wants to say more but is restraining herself. She passes me the purple folder. ‘I’ll forward you all the emails and stuff. Just…have a look at it.’
‘Please?’ Nick makes the puppy dog eyes. He has beautiful eyes, so it’s pretty effective.
I hold the folder gingerly. ‘Okay, I’ll look.’ Robbie cheers, and I stare her down. ‘But I really don’t –’
‘Don’t overthink it,’ Nick says. ‘Just go with your gut. And don’t worry if it sounds crazy. You should do something crazy at least once a day.’
I roll my eyes. ‘That’s your suggestion, is it?’
‘I’m a nurse. That’s my medical recommendation.’ He grins.
My friends are certifiable but they love me, and they mean well. I’ve missed Robbie since she moved to Mildura and now I’m going to miss Nick when he leaves. Goddamnit. Even though his departure is still only in the planning stages, I already feel lonely.
And the idea of a residency is…well, it’s amazing, but it’s impossible. I planned to go overseas once – my plans changed. And now I can’t go anywhere. That’s not me being rusted on, that’s just reality.
That’s the way it has to be.
*
I’m turning the key in the lock, mulling over Nick and Robbie’s ‘surprise’ and Nick’s decision to leave, when the landline rings.
‘Hello?’ I answer with a query, even though I know who’s calling. There’s only one person who rings our landline.
‘Amita, it is Nani.’
‘Hi, Nani-ji.’ Her voice always makes me smile. ‘Is it sunny over there today?’
‘It is a lovely fresh day, dearest. The weather is getting warmer. I went to the market with Hansa yesterday. I had to take off my cardigan.’
‘Did you have a nice time at the market?’
‘Yes, indeed, thank you. A woman there is selling fresh paneer. Many women now don’t make their own paneer. They say it’s time-consuming. Well, of course it’s time-consuming, that’s what cooking is about. Amita, are you oiling your hair like we discussed?’
I sigh and smile at the same time, let my bag slip off my shoulder onto the floor. ‘Nani-ji, it’s only August.’
‘August, yes, we are coming into Spring. And you know Jasminder’s wedding is nearly here. You should have nice hair at the wedding.’
The wedding. Jas is my twenty-two-year-old cousin and she’s getting married to a twenty-five-year-old irrigation scientist. The wedding preparations have been driving me a bit crazy. Nani wants me to go to Mildura for all of them. They’ll go for days and I’ll have to take time off work, not to mention leaving Dad here on his own, but I can’t just say no. It’s family.
‘I’ll do my best to have nice hair at the wedding, Nani-ji,’ I say dutifully.
‘Amita, is there something troubling you?’
I laugh as I sink onto the armchair near the phone. ‘How do you alwaysknow?’
‘I am your grandmother, it is my job to know. Now tell me.’
‘My friend, Nick? You remember him? Well…he’s moving away.’
‘This is the boy you walked with.’
‘Yes, we dated.’ I smile and nod, even though she can’t see me. ‘Nick’s talked about moving to Melbourne before, but this time he sounds serious.’
‘He has a place to go in the city?’
‘His older brother, Grant, lives there. In Collingwood.’
‘Two sons – such a blessing!’ I hear her bangles tinkle; the phone is in the living room of my aunt’s house, and I’m pretty sure she’s just lifted an acknowledging hand towards the large portrait of Guru Nanak above the mantlepiece there. ‘And this boy who is your friend, he is alone in Ouyen?’
