The Vibrant Years by Dev Sonali

Author:Dev, Sonali
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Mindy’s Book Studio
Published: 2022-12-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CULLIE

At its heart Poornima is the story of what life demands of us and a woman who dares to use it to claim what she wants.

From the journal of Oscar Seth

Mom and Binji were making chai to dissipate the tension after Binji’s outburst. The smell of lemongrass and ginger mixed with their bantering over the right quantities of those ingredients and wafted into Binji’s bedroom. Cullie tried to let it calm her but failed. She stared at the mess of paper and Post-it Notes pinned all over the walls of the nook in Binji’s bedroom that Cullie had taken over. None of it made even a little bit of sense.

Her work was supposed to be her solace, her distraction technique when her brain started to vibrate with uncontrollable thoughts.

A massive wave washed over her, and she sat down on the bed and starfished her arms, giving up resistance and letting the anxious feeling pass through her. In for four, out for six. She slipped on her headphones and let the chants from Shloka ebb and flow with her breaths. Finally, when her Neuroband registered her body’s coming back into balance, she picked up her laptop.

“Are you sure a dating app is what you want to do next?” Mom asked, entering the room as though it were filled with land mines.

Binji followed her, still looking a little off balance. Her reaction earlier had been the weirdest thing. For the first time in her life, Cullie felt like maybe she didn’t know her grandmother as well as she thought she did.

“Neither of us is particularly interested in dating,” Mom said, handing Cullie her chai (and her agenda) and sitting down cross-legged on the rug.

Cullie shrugged, wishing everyone would stop saying that to her. A message from Rohan popped up on her screen, and a smile quirked her lips before she could suppress it.

Maybe dating wasn’t rocket science. “I didn’t think I was. But you were right. There has to be better than Steve out there.”

“Definitely,” both Mom and Binji said together, which made them smile too, making the tension in the room melt away.

Binji sat down on the bed next to Cullie. “You seem to be enjoying this more than you thought, right? Despite Noseless Veterinarian.”

Cullie shrugged again, barely hearing her grandmother, who cleared her throat in response to being ignored.

“Sorry.” Cullie shut down the text window and looked up. “Just helping a friend with where to find lingerie for his sisters.”

Binji and Mom gaped at her and sidled closer to get a peek at her screen.

“So, lessons learned. Let’s do this,” she said, refusing to meet their probing gazes. “You’re right, Binji. Noseless Vet might have scarred me for life, but it was just one date. You’re not hating it, either, right?”

Binji nodded, a faraway look softening her eyes. “I do enjoy the flowers and the chocolates. But what I like most is the sense of freedom to choose.”

“I thought you chose Ajoba,” Cullie said.

The bitterest laugh spurted out of Binji.

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