Page 115 - You Only Live Once [BooksLD]
P. 115

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
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