Cardamom tea!!

A gentle breeze.
Post afternoon pre evening.
I still remember her sunlit face.
Explaining how bad and unjust this world is. How it would cater to the wants of the undeserved. We are having our post afternoon pre evening tea, sitting on my ever so reliable scooter.
I must have skipped my classes that day to be there, with her. I did not mind it. It made more sense to me to be there than in a class, where I would sit and day dream about her. I liked it back then, I was the one making choices.
Me : aunty, yerad cardamom tea!
While waiting for the tea/change I would look at the toffees I could get with the change. I wouldn't buy any. I would slowly walk back to the scooter balancing the cups.
She would do the talking. I'm just lost to the surroundings. She'd speak about her scores, always short of perfection for her. And mine, an achievement more to do with luck than effort. She would tell me about her plans, work and future. I would sit there and wonder about the lack of planning in my life. She was organised, Meticulous and goal oriented. I was just there. Happy to be there with her.
And when it was time to leave, she would say, "Sid stay here till I leave".
We would say our goodbyes and I'd watch her walk away. Our goodbyes lasted only a day, for I knew tomorrow I'd be here again. Tomorrows meant promises and more cardamom tea!
I remember her not-so-funny jokes, her butterfly earrings. Her stupid smile and her sunlit face. 
Little did I know then, that I'd stay and watch her walk away, in a couple of years.
That our tomorrows meant twice as much and goodbyes that lasted years.
And she'd say, "Sid, I love you!"