“Relax,” I say. “Every great building goes through revisions.”
Divya nudges Neel’s shoulder. “See? Aditya understands creative freedom.”
Neel squints at me. “You’re both fired from the project.”
Divya laughs again, leaning back on her hands. The sound fills the room in a way that makes something warm settle in my chest.
I’ve started to notice it lately. Moments like this. Small ones. The kind that sneak up on you. When I first moved into this house it felt temporary, like I was just passing through someone else’s life. Now when I walk through the door after work and hear them arguing about Lego instructions, something inside me relaxes without asking permission. Divya tucks a loose strand of hair behind her ear and reaches forward to adjust a crooked piece on the tower.
She looks completely at ease sitting on the floor with Neel. Like this is where she belongs. Like this has always been her world and somehow I’m standing inside it. Neel hands me a blue brick. “Fine,” he says reluctantly. “You can build the parking garage.”
Divya snorts. “There was no parking garage.”
“There is now.” I take the brick and attach it to the side. “Parking garage accepted.”
Divya leans closer to inspect it. “That’s not a garage.”
“It’s conceptual.”
Neel sighs deeply like he’s aging rapidly. “You two are impossible.”
We keep building like that for a while. Or more accurately, Neel builds while Divya and I add increasingly ridiculous features to his perfectly organized structure.
At one point Divya adds a tiny green piece to the roof and announces it’s a rooftop garden. Neel protests loudly. Then accepts it when I add a small staircase leading up to it. Eventually the tower stands nearly two feet tall. Neel sits back and studies it proudly. “This is impressive.”
Divya nudges me. “Don’t tell him we destroyed the instructions.”
“I heard that,” Neel says.
I stretch my legs out and lean back on my hands. “Your research center is magnificent.”
Neel beams. Divya wipes her hands on her jeans and glances at me. “You’re late today.”
“Long meeting.”
“Good long or bad long?”
“Mostly long.”
Neel starts attaching tiny pieces around the base of the tower. “What do you actually do at work?”
I grin. “Important mysterious things.”
“Like what?”
“Reading books.”
Neel stares. “That’s not work.”
“It absolutely is.”
Divya tilts her head at me. “Someone has to suffer through manuscripts.”
“I’m very brave.”
Neel shakes his head. “You two are weird.”
I watch Divya pick up another Lego piece and turn it between her fingers. There’s a comfortable rhythm to this house now. Neel talking endlessly. Divya laughing more often than she realizes. And me sitting here like this has always been my place.
