Page 115 - You Only Live Once [BooksLD]

Sheen has this habit of chalking out the thought of the day on the black
board placed in front of Ricky’s. She finds bliss in reliving her school days
with this gesture every day. Today, it reads:

Bad News:
No matter how hard you try to protect yourself, one day, your heart will
break.

Good News:
When your heart breaks, every passing day, it opens you up to new
possibilities, often helping you emerge as the best version of you.

Romeo reads the board out loud and drags a chair to our table. ‘Would
you mind if ...’

I cut him short, ‘Sit, bro.’ Sheen instantly smiles and walks towards the
kitchen to order another coffee. That’s the thing about Ricky’s. We have so
many repeat customers and friends that time passes by and we don’t even
realize where it went!
‘You were supposed to visit last night,’ I break the silence.

‘Oh! One of Shankar’s clients slipped in the Mandovi River.’

‘What was he doing?’
‘Taking a selfie!’

‘Tourists are a nuisance. They do awful things and bring a bad name to
Goa.’ He looks disturbed but I can’t stop myself from cursing. I have no
empathy for young kids abusing smartphones.
‘We’re expecting a lot more tourists this December,’ he says.

‘Good for our shack’s business. All the rooms are already sold out for
New Year’s Eve.’

‘Have you aligned your artists yet? The ones who will perform on New
Year’s Eve?’
‘For the standup act I am sure of Aarav. Still looking for singers. Most of

the artists are booked for the Goa Music Festival.’
‘How about Alara?’
‘She is upset with me. She won’t perform.’

‘That’s bad! Good luck hunting!’

‘If you could go anywhere in the world and do anything you wanted,
what would it be?’ I had asked Romeo this when he visited my place for the