Her Quest : Magic in the Blood

As Sonia hustled about gathering the ingredients, Ian hopped up on the counter beside her.

"Do all of you have this habit of sitting on the counter?" She asked absently as she added flour and sugar to the batter she had made.

"No! But it's interesting to watch someone cook," Sonia smiled at the statement.

"Tell me, where did you learn to cook?"

"My Mom taught me."

"She was a cook?" He asked eyeing her efficiency. He couldn't for the sake of world break an egg without mess. Not that he had ever tried.

"Nah! A lawyer."

"Wow!" Was all he said, entranced by her hands whisking the mixture.

She set the batter aside and got some Oreo cookies. Scraping of the cream from the cookies, she tossed a few other things in together and churned the cookies and other ingredients in the grinder.

"What's this for?" Ian asked as he got some cream in a spoon and began eating it.

"Choco lava cake," she answered as she switched off the machine and emptied the contents in a bowl, "Hey, don't eat that cream. It’s for the syrup," she exclaimed as she snatched the bowl away from him.

Ian pouted but wiped the spoon clean, "I didn't knew they sold Oreo disguised as cake!"

Sonia smiled, "No, they don't, but it’s the fastest way."

"Impressive. Mom says, I will burn away water if I ever try to boil it."

Sonia laughed at him as she turned away to get the chocolate balls she had made a couple days ago from the freezer, "You cannot be that bad."

"I don't know," he shrugged feeling foolish, "I never did try."

Sonia looked up then and cocked her head to one side.

"Okay," she nodded slowly, an idea forming in her mind, "Get down from there," she said and he quickly jumped down, afraid she would stop making food if he disobeyed her, "Now fetch that kettle. It’s over there," she pointed and he got it, "Now add water, yeah a bit more. Good!" She smiled at him, "Turn on the flame," when he fumbled with the knob, she helped him, "Okay, now place this over the flame. That's it," she said as she looked at him again.

He was frowning at the water, "What are we doing?"

"You," she corrected, "are making coffee," then she turned back to her work, "and this will take a few more minutes," she poured some batter over the waffle machine and then stuffed the Oreo batter in a pastry shell. Once it was filled halfway, she placed a frozen chocolate ball in the centre and again covered it with a bit more of the mixture.

"Your mother must have loved cooking a lot," Ian observed.

"No. But she learnt how to cook for me. She would try out different recipes so that I would have something special every time I turned around. Then I began making something for her on her birthdays and weekends and so. And just like that it became our favourite past time," she spoke as she placed several pastry shells filled with the mix on a baking tray and slid them into the oven she had put on preheat. Once she set the timer, she turned to him and guided him on the coffee.

A little while later, Ian placed two mugs of steaming coffee on the table and got plates and silverware. Sonia served waffles in both their plates, then placed a plate filled with the pastry shells on the table. She upended one of them and carefully peeled off the paper. Offering the cake to Ian, she urged him to taste it.

"Umm. Delicious," Ian said with eyes closed as he savoured the bite, "You are an angel."

"Oh my God! Wait!" Sonia stopped him from taking another bite, "Don't eat!" She got up from her seat and hurried back to the counter to fetch something. Ian looked down at the plate, the melted chocolate spilling from the inside and swallowed hard the desire to devour it. Just then, she came over and sprinkled some white powder on it. She did the same to her's too, "Now you can eat."

He frowned at her but took a bite again. She had sprinkled sugar powder. He closed his eyes and tried to control the moan at the heavenly taste. When he opened his eyes again, she was smiling at him.

Leaning over, he took her hand and kissed her palm. She gasped as his lips touched her skin. He himself stiffened at the contact.

Slowly, releasing her hand, he sat back and took a sip of his coffee. His eyebrows shot up and his eyes widened.

"My goodness! I can't believe I made this coffee. This is fabulous!"

"I told you, you can't be that bad," she shrugged her shoulder proving her point.

"Man!" He said again as he dug into his waffles, "You father must be one lucky man. He got to eat all you and your mom made."

Sonia's fork stopped midway to her mouth, "Can you please not make fun of such things?"

Ian frowned at that, "Make fun? Why? What are you talking about?"

"You don't know about my father?" She asked.

"Of course not!" He shook his head, as he kept his fork aside, "you never did tell me anything."

When she looked down at her plate again, he took a deep breath, "You know you can share something with me too! You can be friends with me too! I surely am not a devil here. And I think even devil has a few friends here and there!" She looked up at his outburst. Frustrated, Ian threw up his hands, "Come on, man! That's what I said in the car and you got all stiff and serious. I still don't know what wrong I said."

"You mean you were indicating yourself by the other guys?"

"Hell yes! Who else would I be pointing at?" He felt the temper rising again. Unwilling to spoil the easy time between them anymore, he got back to his eating.

Sonia watched him for a couple of heartbeats and then she too dug in her food. After a few minutes, she burst out laughing. Ian watched her, eyes narrowed as she tried to control her giggling. When she was back to herself, he merely arched a brow at her questioningly.

"Oh my!" She gasped in and took a sip of her coffee, "I am so sorry Ian," she said as she placed the mug back down, "I just thought something else."

But he just sat there, his jaw clenched. Sonia sighed, "Back home, everyone taunted me. They would be, "Look she's so free with that guy! Like mother like daughter." Everyone thought that because Mumma lived alone, that her husband had left her. That she was worthless. You see, papa never lived with us, so there was always gossip about us. And that's why, it was the first thing that came to my mind that you too were commenting on that."

"Oh hell. I am so sorry Sonia. I never kne -" Ian started but was interrupted by her.

"There's no need for you to be sorry. In Fact, I am sorry. It just never occurred to me that you know nothing about me and thus can't be mentioning my past. But what's really surprising is that the others haven't told you anything," seeing as they had nearly finished their meal, Sonia got up and began to clear the table. Without a word, Ian followed suit.

"I ask but they never tell," he complained.

"That's so very nice of them! You could have asked me instead," she said as she began to wash the dishes. Ian got a dishcloth and began to dry them. A few minutes passed in comfortable silence.

"You don't mind me asking you about your past?"

Sonia shrugged as she scrubbed another plate before passing it to him, "Nah! Everyone asks. You too, have equal right. After all, I live in your house."

Ian said nothing to that. They finished the chores in a few minutes.

Sonia was looking around and drying her hands when Ian said, "Let's sit outside."

They went outside through the kitchen door and settled on the back porch steps.

"So what happened to your father? Why did he not live with you guys?"

Sonia was silent for a moment as his voice washed over her in the soft breeze. The birds chattered and the trees on the other side of the fence stood swaying lightly to the occasional breeze.

She took a deep breath as she turned to look at Ian, his eyes watching her with a sincerity, so pure. His hair were tousled from his day and there was a little chocolate on his shirt collar. She reached up to wipe it off. But he just kept his eyes on her.

She closed her eyes as she turned back to the serenity of the nature, "He never came to India," she answered and turned just in time to see the starting of confusion in his warm blue eyes.

"Wait, what? I don't understand," she sighed at the expected outcome.

"After my mother finished her college, she came here for higher studies. My grandparents and uncles did not wish it but as she was the only girl child, they let her."

"Only girl?" Ian frowned.

"I have three uncles. My mom was the youngest. My grandpa has two brothers, well they are no more now. But he too didn't have any sister. So my Mom was the only girl in two generations."

"Okay," Ian nodded, "But why didn't they wish to send her here?"

"You see, back then most girls didn't had the privilege of completing their education, much less be allowed to go out of country for further studies. But my mom was really good in her studies. Her teachers were very proud of her. But at the same time, her parents and brothers were of the mind to find her a eligible man and marry her off."

"Bullshit! Why?"

"That's how it was a couples of decades ago. It all has changed way over now."

Ian smiled, "Good to hear that. So she came here to study."

"Yes. And here she met Aunt Carol. They became good friends, then best friends. They used to hang out together all the time. Over the spring break, Mom decided to stay here instead of going back home. She refused your mother when she asked her to come join her to visit her parents. And it was then that she met this boy. She used to work part time in the local cafeteria, and she met him there. They ran into each other a few times over there and started liking each other."

"Voila!" Ian quipped and received a glare from her, "Okay. Continue!"

"So then your Mom comes back to find them besotted with each other. Over time, they got to know each other better. And then at the end of the last year, my father proposed to mom and they got married."

"But that's not happy ever after right? What about her parents and brothers?" Ian asked unable to keep quiet

"Mom was afraid they won't allow her to marry a guy not only from another caste but from an entirely different country. She knew they would be outraged at the idea that their girl eloped without them approving but at the same time they would never approve of him."

"That's not right. International marriages do happen all the time."

"Yeah, but not then. At least not from my family's point of view. So, Mumma and Pappa eloped and she stayed here. She didn't go back for another year and a half claiming she got a job here and had one more semester to clear whenever they would ask her to come back.

Then one day, she got a call that her brother had a heart attack. She-"

"Which one?"

"Second."

"Okay," Ian gestured for her to continue.

"So she went back to India. They had shifted her brother from I.C.U to a private room that very morning, when she arrived there. Everyone was happy that she was back. Even her brother was doing fine. Doctors said that he would be discharged within a few days. But then my mother got sick suddenly. Everyone thought it was from the stress and her frantic rush to get back home."

Ian watched as her eyes went far away, as if she was present during that time.

"That day they all went to hospital to bring my uncle back home," she continued, "All were happy. However, Mom got sick again and grandpa insisted on getting her medical aid. The doctor examined her and joyously announced that their daughter was pregnant."

"Holy cow! What happened then?" Ian scooted closer to her.

"What could have happened? Everyone was shocked. Mom told them everything then. Just as she finished, her brother gasped out loud. The doctor was called in quickly but he was no more. They said his heart failed."

"And naturally, your mom was blamed."

"Yes! But doctors said it was something else. Many a times, a major heart attack follows a minor one. He had a minor attack that day. However, after that, as more and more people and relatives came, they allowed all of them to meet him. And due to this, there was some infection as they had to put up some stand for his blockage and you have to be very much careful about that. They didn’t heed doctor’s words saying it’s all right to meet someone but it happened because he was still weak and had to recover. It was all something else, but was made something entirely different."

"That's pathetic!"

"My mom was too weak to argue over this. But then she tried to explain the same to them. But no one listened. Even the doctors were not paid any heed. The reason of death is still there on the death certificate but she's blamed even now. She wrote to my father about her condition and requested him to come back and take her back with him."

"And your father declined?"

"No. Actually yes. He said that he won't take her back and that it was up to her if she wanted to keep the child or not."

"Jesus! That beast! Did he not have any feelings for his child?"

"Actually that's not all. Mom got separated from her family and lived alone. She gave birth to me and raised me all on her own."

"She must have been a great lady, an even greater mother," Ian said.

"The greatest of them all," Sonia said, a smile on her lips. Tears glistened in her eyes and to stop them, Ian racked his brain for another question.

"But that still doesn't explain why you are here!"

Sonia smiled at him and wiped her eyes with the heel of her hand. Just as a child would, Ian thought.

"She died a year and a half ago. A few months before that she heard her parents talk amongst themselves that if they hadn't played that game, their daughter and granddaughter would be happily living with their own family abroad."

"What game?"

"Mom too, got suspicious and asked them. They didn't tell at first but when she pressed the matter, they answered all her questions. Actually, the letter mom sent to Papa was never posted. Mom had given it to their butler to post it. But her eldest brother had seen her giving something to their old servant and he got it from him. Then they all made a plan and posted a letter in my mother's name to my father saying that she had married someone else here and that she will never come back. She realised he was a mistake and so was the baby, and that she was willing to correct it and so she was cutting off all the ties with him."

"So they got divorced?"

"No, no," Sonia shook her head, "They had thought it all over and didn't want them both to meet each other again. So along with the other things they also mentioned that she didn't want to apply for divorce, as it will affect her family's image. She just wanted to cut off all the ties."

"Oh, okay," he nodded as he drew the word out, "Now I get it. They posted a similar letter to your mother from your dad that he will not come and the baby was her’s and all that!"

"I don't know. The letter Mom received was from Papa or that's what grandpa knew. If it was or not is the question."

"Such a mean act!"

"I agree. But then mother passed away-"

"How did you come to know?" Ian asked interrupting her.

Sonia sighed in frustration and continued, "Mom told me when she was in hospital."

"I still don't understand your coming here," Ian scratched his chin.

"A week after Mom's demise, her lawyer approached me. She had made some alterations in her will. It said that if I am able live with her friend Caroline Richards and her family for at least one year, then and only then will I get what my mother left."

Ian shot up to his feet and glared down at her, "I can't believe it! You are doing all this just for your Mom's wealth? You are just as disgusting as your uncles are. You don't deserve to be your mother's chi -," but his tantrum was cut off as Sonia exploded.

"Will you just for once shut up and listen? My mother's wealth is already in my bank account. It got deposited over there the very next day of her death. And 35% of it is in an account which will be on hold until I complete that one year with you all and then it will be transferred in your family's name."

Ian's face showed all the more disgust he felt, "Mom agreed to let you live here for money?"

Sonia threw up her hands in exhaustion, "God! You are such a big idiot! How do you manage to come to such conclusions? No one knows about the money, you fool. I shouldn't have said it but you aggravated me and it just got out. Now will you please be quiet?"

Ian nodded and sat back beside her, "If money isn’t what you are after, then what is it your mom left that you are so eager to get?"

"Well, actually it’s her journals," when Ian looked at her as if she had just lost her wit, she took another deep breath and continued to explain further, "It has all her entries about her and papa's time together. Their memories and such. She was never able to forget him and had apparently somehow managed to get all her three journals back."

"And why do you want them?"

"If I get them, I will be able to know who my father is. Then if luck is with me, I may also be able to find him and tell him the truth."

"You don't even know your father's name?"

"No. She never told me. My birth certificate has just Sonia McKinnon. No father's name. I was teased a lot and even asked her the reason but she never did tell."

She finished off the explanation. The breeze still blew over them, the birds still chattered. Everything was still the same but yet all had changed. Now he knew the pain she had been through. Now he knew where he had been wrong. Now he knew what exactly she was made of. A strong will and a soft heart.

"Sonia?" He said in a slow, soft voice, which the wind carried over to her.

"Hmm," she answered as she looked up.

He watched her intently, "You are doing all this to clear a misunderstanding between your parents?" He whispered.

"Yes. You can say that," she smiled.

A lone tear slid down her cheek. Ian wiped it off with his forefinger, "You are incredible," he said as he cupped her cheek with his palm, "I have never met anyone like you. I am sorry about my behaviour, I never knew." He shrugged and cupped both her cheeks, "I really am sorry."

When another tear slid down her eye, he frowned, "And one more thing. You look absolutely horrible with these tears in your eyes."

Sonia laughed as she wiped her eyes, "And you with that frown of yours."

Ian shrugged again as he slung his arm over her shoulder, "To each their own!" He said and they both burst out laughing, her head resting over his shoulder as they watched the day slowly and gradually turn into glorious dusk and the beginnings of the night.

But the moment was ruined as suddenly the front door slammed open and a voice shook the entire house, "IAN! YOU ARE DEAD!"