Paper Planes

The next day, after a very successful ‘Shake and Bake’ chicken and mashed potatoes, Tucker went to work again and Vera couldn’t make it, so I stayed in all day and learned how to cook ‘American’ food with a book we had picked up the previous day.

I made spaghetti noodles and alfredo sauce, which it said was Italian, but a classic American favorite. For lunch I made myself a ‘grilled cheese’. Cheese, butter, and bread, essentially, all thrown together in a frying pan.

“This is really good. You really never cooked food like this before?”

I shook my head. “Nope.”

“Well, it’s good,” he said, getting up from the table. “Oh, yeah, can you clean the upstairs tomorrow?” he asked.

From what he’s said to me since I started living here, the deal is that I cook and clean, and I get a free ticket into the country. “Sure,” I said, clearing the table.

“And my laundry needs to be done. There’s a basket in my closet. You can just throw everything in there. My dirty clothes are usually on the floor. The clean ones are in the drawers and in a pile by the TV.”

I nodded. Vera had to work during the week, so she couldn’t come see me tomorrow. She had a few days off when I first came into town.

Over the next week, life got pretty menial. Tucker told me when he needed his laundry done, when he needed his bathroom clean, etc.

“Hey, I’ve got tomorrow night off, and some people are coming over after like, eight, so if you could get Vera to take you out, that’d be cool. Oh, and make sure the kitchen and living room are clean before you leave.”

It was Friday. Apparently, he was having a party, and I didn’t want to be there anyways. That’s what Vera told me, at least. She said we were going shopping on Saturday. She picked me up in the morning, so we could just spend the whole day together.

She took me around a shopping mall and bought me tight-fitting jeans and low shirts and flat shoes. Even the shoes showed off more than they should.

She made me change out of my normal clothes and put on the ones she just bought me. We were in the bathroom at the mall.

“Vera, I can’t walk around like this!”

“Just come out, I’m sure you look hot! You’ve got something over all the American girls out here. You haven’t been introduced to hair dye, cover up, or McDonalds.”

“So, I look like Mary. You remember Mary, right?” Mary was a sleezy girl from our town.

“You don’t look like Mary. You look fine. Get out here.”

I sighed and opened the door. I was wearing a pair of tight, dark, skinny jeans, black flats, and a low green tank top. It would have admittedly looked cute on anyone but me. It had white polka dots on it. “I can’t wear this in public.”

She rolled her eyes and smiled. “Give it another week of this California heat, and you’ll be begging for less.”

I grabbed a black zip-up jacket out of one of the bags and put it on over the shirt. I zipped it up half way and pushed up the sleeves a bit. “Compromise?” I asked.

She nodded. “Fine. But you have to wear shorts outside of your house one day this week. Oh! You know what? We’re right near where Tucker works. We should go see him.”

“I don’t know, Vera. He doesn’t seem to fond of me.”

“Tucker isn’t fond of anyone. Plus, he’s been pretty nice lately, right?”

“He taught me how to use his computer. It’s way more advanced than any of the others I’ve used. And google. I love google.”

She laughed at me. “See? He likes you. Come on.”

When we walked into Tucker’s building, a receptionist asked our names. She made us put on little name badges. “He’s on floor number four. Take a left out of the elevator, then another left, and he should be in that area. Do you want me to tell him you guys are coming? I think it’s around lunch time.”

“No, it’s a surprise,” Vera answered.

On the elevator ride up, my stomach jumped a little. “Are you sure he’ll be okay with this?” I asked.

“Of course,” she said.

The doors opened and we went off to find him. There was another secretary on that floor. “Tucker?”

She just pointed, looking a little frustrated, in the direction of a very loud noise. “They’re in the second office. Good luck,” she said to us.

We walked to the second office, which was full of people. They all surrounded a TV, which Tucker and another young-looking guy were connected to.

When we opened the door, it got louder. “I will own your ass!” Tucker yelled, flipping his hands about.

“No, no, NONONO!” The other guy screamed.

“HA! Fifteen bucks, little man,” he said.

The guy slapped some cash into his hand, and then people started to notice us.

“Hello, ladies,” one guy said.

“This is geek central. Just don’t look into their eyes,” Vera said to me. Their faces contorted, and I could feel their pain on not speaking a language everyone else did. Sometimes people speak English so fast…

“Are you… lost?” one guy asked.

“No, we’re here to see—“ Vera started.

“Padma!” Tucker said, rushing over to me. “What are you doing here?” He seemed a little upset. His voice cracked a little.

“We were in the neighborhood and decided to stop by and see you.”

“Oh, well, we’re on our lunch break. We were just about done—“

“Woah, woah. Tucker. You have two girls. Visiting you. Here. Are they related to you?” another guy asked.

What is it with people here? “Most of these guys have never spoken to a woman besides their mother before. They aren’t really used to girls,” Vera said to me.

Tucker glared at her, like he usually does when we don’t speak English.

“Fine. Would you guys like to finish lunch with us?” he asked.

“Sure” I said.

He looked me up and down. “What happened to you?”

“Vera took me shopping,” I said, looking down so no one saw my bright red face.

When I looked up, he had already walked over to a table where there were people eating sandwiches and junk food.

“Hey, guys, this is Padma and Vera. Padma, Vera, this is Chris, Nick, Tony, Taylor, Dante, and Seth. I work with them.”

“Who is she?” Seth asked.

“Guys, this is my gilfriend.”