Consistent

'Rachel, please. I haven’t asked anything from you till date. Please accompany me. Won’t you do a little favor for your sister?’, asked Diya.

Diya was talking to Rachel through a phone call. She wanted Rachel to spend some time with her. She had planned for a road trip and was convincing her to come along with her.

‘I will let you know, Diya. I have lots of other important works rather than hanging out with some brainless people.’, said Rachel.

‘Brainless? Who? Me?’ ,asked Diya surprisingly.

‘No, Why would I say that you are brainless. You are my darling sister. I am talking about others who will be accompanying you.’ ,said Rachel.

‘Oh, why are you bothered about them? You stay with me during the road trip. Please don’t say you are not interested.’, said Diya.

‘I’ll let you know Diya. Talk to you later. Bye.’ ,said Rachel and hung up the call.

Diya glanced at her phone. She wanted Rachel to be a part of the road trip from Chennai to Pondicherry. Diya was the one who got the idea of road trip. She wanted cousin’s reunion. It had been four years since they all met. She had convinced Gautam, Madhav, Mayank and Rhea. They hesitated at first, but Diya somehow convinced them. The problem was Rachel don’t want to travel with Gautam, Madhav, Mayank and Rhea due to a misunderstanding created between them four years ago. Even though, Gautam and others had nothing against her, Rachel didn’t want to be with them. Rachel was in contact only with Diya.

Diya decided to call Madhav. She was close to Madhav and Rhea than Gautam and Mayank.

‘Hello, Bhai. Is everything ready? We shall leave by tomorrow morning.’ ,said Diya.

‘Yes, Diya. We are packing up everything. What about you? Is the car ready?’ ,asked Madhav.

‘Yes. The car is ready. We will be leaving by 7 am tomorrow. Ok?’ ,said Diya.

‘Ok, Diya. And…….. I wanna know whether Rachel would be a part of this trip. Did you ask her?’ ,asked Madhav curiously.

‘It’s doubtful. She said she would let me know, Madhav.’, said Diya.

‘Ok. It would be nice if she says yes.’ ,said Madhav.

‘Yeah. Ok, Talk to you later. I have to pack my bags.’, said Diya.

‘Ok. See you tomorrow. Bye.’, said Madhav and hung up the call.

It was 10pm. Diya was curious to know whether Rachel would say yes or no.

A message popped up.

‘I’m sorry, Diya. I have lots of work to be done here. I don’t want to be a part of this road trip. Also, I just don’t want to get along with others. I hope you understand. But, I promise I will spend a good quality of time with you and we both shall plan a road trip together this summer. Only you and me. Have a nice trip.

Rachel’

Diya was sad but not heartbroken.

Next day,

Diya along with her cousins started from Chennai. Everyone was enjoying. Madhav was driving Diya’s car. Diya was sitting next to Rhea. They both were talking. Mayank was listening to music.

Gautam was sitting sad next to Rhea in the back seat. Diya noticed that something was wrong but didn’t bothered to ask as she thought he would be alright after sometime.

Mayank saw something and asked Madhav to stop the car.

‘Hey, guys. Look there. There is a guy selling tender coconut and ice apples. Let’s go there and have some.’, said Mayank.

Madhav parked their car and they all were having delicious ice apples and tender coconut except Gautam. Gautam was sitting sad in the car.

‘Hey, Rhea. Is everything alright with Gautam? Why is he behaving differently since we have started the journey?’ ,asked Diya.

‘I don’t know. Even, I tried talking to him but he wasn’t ready to. So, just leave him and enjoy.’, said Rhea.

After sometime, Diya saw Mayank explaining something to Gautam sitting next to him in the car.

Diya knew something wasn’t right.

‘Ok. Let’s leave girls. It’s time now.’ ,said Madhav.

When they started the journey, Mayank started a conversation.

‘Diya, what happened to Rachel? Why didn’t she accompany us?’ ,asked Mayank.

‘Yeah, what happened to her? It’s been four years since we saw her.’ , said Madhav.

‘Is everything ok? Is she angry with us or what? Why doesn’t she talk to us?’ ,asked Rhea.

As everyone were questioning about Rachel, Diya replied that she was busy with her work.

Everybody was singing and laughing in the car except Gautam, who was sitting silently scrolling through his phone.

It was 2pm. They stopped at a restaurant for lunch. They all had a hearty meal.

After the meal, they decided to visit the beach. Gautam was sitting inside the car and refused to go to the beach.

‘What happened Gautam?’, asked Diya.

‘Nothing, Diya. Sir lost his job recently. That’s why he is disappointed.’, said Madhav.

‘I have explained him a lot. He isn’t listening. We are her to enjoy but this guy is just ruining our plan.’, said Mayank.

‘I’ll talk to him, Bhai. You don’t worry.’ ,said Diya.

‘Gautam, I heard you lost your job recently and you. Are upset because of it. I can understand your pain but still it’s not only a road trip but cousins reunion. Please, I want to make this a memorable road trip. Please forget everything and enjoy with us, Gautam.’ ,said Diya.

Gautam was sitting still without even saying a word.

Diya left the place in dismay and went to Madhav and others.

She was sitting alone in the beach while others were playing in the water.

She could sense that someone sat next to her. She looked at that person and it was GAUTAM.

She was happy and smiled looking at him. He smiled back looking at her.

‘Come let’s join with others’, said Diya with a lovely face.

‘Ok.’, said Gautam with a happy face.

The five of them enjoyed together in the beach.

‘This would be the best memory of my life with my dearest cousins.’, said Diya.

‘Oh, come on. You can feel free to call us anytime.’, said Mayank.

‘Yeah. As if you pick up the call within seconds. First of all you don’t pick up our calls and also you don’t even bother to call back’ ,said Rhea.

Mayank smiled awkwardly.

‘But, I will be available 24/7. You can call me anytime and next minute I would be at your door step.’, said Madhav.

‘Who? You? I will hit you with something. Liar. You too do the same as Mayank Bhai.’, said Diya.

‘Ok. Cool down, Diya.’ ,said Madhav.

Gautam was laughing looking at them and said, ‘Happy and Lovely trip ever.’ indicating that Gautam was finally happy forgetting his sorrows.

When Diya was enjoying with her cousins, she remembered Rachel and wished that she was with her there enjoying along with her other cousins.