A Lifetime Ago

Chapter 3

Present: 

 It was a rainy afternoon, the room was illuminated by gloomy greyish rays of light. Timandra sat on her bed with her legs pulled closer to her chest and her head buried in between. She was sobbing softly, thinking about how unexpectedly things had turned upside down. Why did her father had to leave her alone, in this cruel world? He was the only one she had and now he too was gone. What was she to do? How was she going to cope up with her life all alone?  She let out a watery sob.

She remembered how her father had promised to never leave her when her mother passed away while she was still too young.  

It had been a week since her father passed away due to a massive cardiac arrest. She was getting ready to go to her college when he suddenly collapsed.  

He was immediately rushed to the hospital but he was declared dead on arrival. She couldn't believe it at first, thinking that it was all just a bad dream and that she would wake up from it anytime soon but time proved her how stupid she was to believe that. The pain in her heart was still afresh even after all these days. 

"Timmy, I have got lunch for you, babe." she heard her friend entering the house before she quickly wiped away her tears from falling anymore.  She wouldn’t let her friend see her suffer anymore.

She opened the door and glanced up at her friend who was holding a bag in front of her with a silly grin on her face. She had a look of pity for Timandra as she studied the streaks of dry tears on her face. She could understand her pain but she thought she couldn’t stay like this forever and had to move on.

"I'm starving. Come, let's eat." She dragged Timandra towards the bed and started serving the food on their plates. They both sat and ate in silence.  

"I'll be staying here tonight. Let's order food from outside. What do you say?" She asked while chewing her food loudly.  

"Okay." Timandra nodded her head looking down at the plate. She didn't bother about what she wanted to eat but she also knew that her friend wouldn't take that for an answer. 

After eating, Avira cleaned the bed before climbing beside Timandra. She turned towards her friend, who was sitting quietly unlike her usual self. It killed Avira to see her like that.  

Timandra and Avira had known each other since the first day at kindergarten, when Avira beat the boy who made Timandra cry by pulling her pigtails. They were inseparable following that day.

 After her mother's death, Timandra spent a huge chunk of her life with Avira, growing closer to her like never before.  

Timandra's father worked hard to provide a decent life for his daughter and he loved his daughter very much however he often behaved like the sad, lone widower that he was, drinking his ass off from dawn to dusk which made Timandra stay at Avira's house for most of the nights of her life. Avira's mother always welcomed Timandra home with open arms and a warm smile plastered on her face.  

Nevertheless, she loved her father very much and always worried about his health when he drank too much.  

When she turned twenty two, her father asked her what she wanted and she said she wanted him to promise not to drink anymore. He was taken aback but after much pondering, he promised her that he would never touch those bottles again.  She was happy and their life was good for two years but her father's demise hit her like a striking thunderbolt, from which she could never recover.

The two girls were binge watching a Netflix series, when they heard someone knock at the front door.  

Timandra got up to answer the door and found her landlord standing out, holding an umbrella. His face exhibited a sorry look at Timandra which immediately made her realize that something was definitely wrong.  

"Mr.Jefferson, what brings you here so late in the evening?" She asked making some way for him to get into the house.  

"Timandra honey, how are you doing?" Her landlord was an old man in his late seventies and he had been kind enough to let Timandra and her father stay there for too long, almost her whole life she had been in this house.  

"I'm good, Mr.Jefferson." She waited for him to say something. She knew it had something to do with their house because there was no other reason for the old man to walk here all the way from his home in the middle of the night.  

"Ahmm.. Look honey, I know I shouldn't be talking about this right now, when you are grieving your father's death but I need to feed my family as well and my only source of income is the rent from this house. Your father was a great man and he never missed to pay the rent but with him gone now, I seriously doubt you can pay me the rent. I'll give you a month's time to find a way to pay me my rent if not..” He paused and scratched the back on his head, nervously. “Oh this is harder than I thought.." He muttered lowly to himself, feeling guilty for what he was about to say.  

"Mr.Jefferson. It’s okay.. understand your situation but don't worry. I will pay you the rent by the start of the next month if not.. I'll move out." Timandra lightened his burden my saying that but her heart was already in so much chaos thinking how she was going to find a job so soon.

"I'm sorry dear but I'm helpless." He got up from the couch and walked near her, patting her shoulder lightly. 

"I know Mr. Jefferson." She smiled at him but it wasn’t a genuine smile, he knew.  

"Take care, then." She shut the door as he walked out into the wet roads.  

She turned back and looked at Avira who stood there watching the whole scene. She strode forward and held her into a tight embrace, "Timmy you know, you can always come and stay at my place." Avira assured her friend. 

"I know Avira but I have lived here my whole life and it holds beautiful memories of my parents. They moved here when they fell in love with each other. Then they had me here. I still remember my mother cooking in the kitchen and my father working in his garage. I cannot leave this place behind, Avira." She looked at her friend with tears filled eyes. Her face was red and puffy. 

"So what do you plan to do now?" Avira pulled away and asked her. 

"I need to search for a job soon." Timandra replied.  

"Aright. I'll help you with the search process. Don't you worry and remember you are not alone." She wound her arms around Timandra comfortingly and earned back a sweet smile from her.  

Three days later,  

Timandra came back home from yet another failed interview and slumped over the couch, feeling worn out and mentally exhausted from all this job hunt.   

She had a master’s in political science and teaching was her passion. Being the middle of the academic term, there were no job vacancies in schools and colleges. She gave up the idea of teaching and she decided to take up any job, if she got one.   

She placed her head against the head rest and did not realize when she dozed off into a slumber until she heard her phone ringing. She rubbed the sleep off her eyes, groaning and picked up her phone from her bag. She saw Avira's naming popping up on the screen, "Hello.." Her voice came out groggily. 

"Hey Timmy, how did the interview go?"  Avira questioned curiously. 

"I did not get the job." Avira could sense her anguish even when she was not near Timandra.  

"It's alright. Don't worry.. Hey listen, I'm on my way to your house. See you in an hour. I have got to tell you something."  

"Okay, See ya." she was relieved that Avira was coming home. She would probably go crazy if she had to be alone anymore.  

She took a shower and jumped into her pajamas, taking a seat in front of the television. Soon Avira joined her and Timandra started narrating about her bad experiences from her latest during.  

"What did you want to tell me?" she remembered that Avira wanted to tell her something.  

"Timmy, my uncle works in the State heritage Museum and I heard there is a vacancy for the curator's post but I'm not sure if you would want to take it up."  She told unsurely.

"Avira, do you see me? I'm desperately looking for a job so that I can keep this house and feed myself. I will take up any job without any hesitation." She confessed.

"Okay." Avira held Timandra's hands and smiled at her. "You can go meet him at the museum tomorrow. I'll let him know that you will be meeting him tomorrow."  

"Thanks Avira. This means a lot to mean." Timandra hugged her. "I don't know what I would have done without you."  

"Oh come on. Stop thanking me already." Avira patted Timandra's shoulder lovingly.

Finally it was time for Timandra to accomplish her tasks, she mentally grinned thinking about it.