Chapter 61: A not-so monumental deal

It was eight in the morning and Shivani was getting ready for school. Even though the school begins at nine, Shivani likes to get there by eight so that she won't have to meet up with anyone. The Heavenly Flame was a rather busy school even with its rural setting—or maybe, it was this rural setting that made it filled with students in the first place.

Anyhow, as she stepped out of her room in the Holy Land, something unexpected happened. Her neighbors in the opposite room had stepped out at the exact same time as her. She wasn't that surprised though—well, she was surprised to see a foreigner on the mix, but other than that, this wasn't that unusual. There used to be times when both parties had stepped foot outside at the exact same time. However, being the introvert that she was, Shivani never batted an eye towards them. Occasionally, Thankappan tried to do a bit of small talk with her to lessen the awkwardness in these situations, however, she just nodded her head and smiled a bit and exited the scene as soon as possible. This time was no different.

Once she got out of the Holy Land, she felt relieved. Her neighbors always took the path to Mundur, so she had the road to school all for herself—well, not literally, but it seemed so in early mornings. However, yet again, the band of men defied her expectations as they followed her this time, rather than taking the path to Mundur. She was distressed. She didn't know why they were following her. She didn't wanna look back and wanted to escape as soon as possible. So, she paced herself up. However, it seemed like the other party paced up as well, which didn't help Shivani's distress at all.

Since it was a short walk/run, she felt much safer once she reached the gates of the Heavenly Flame School. However, nothing seemed to have changed because the men continued following her inside the school as well. All she wanted to do was to get farther away from them for the time being. Even if they were following her or if it was a giant misunderstanding, knowing that a group of people were behind her placed her in a great deal of stress. So, she ran into the school building, hoping they won't follow her this time.

As expected, it was a misunderstanding from her part. She came to know that her neighbors are here to build a new auditorium or something. She was relieved; not because she came to know about it, but because she knew they won't be "following" her anymore.

The band of men created a minor attention towards themselves, especially from the girls, as they were sorta handsome. Although Shivani wasn't a sucker for men, she did think that they were handsome.

"Hey, you see that group of men over there?" Abhirami, Shivani's close friend pointed at her neighbors and asked.

"Yea?"

"They look cute, don't they?" She asked.

"I believe handsome is the term that you're looking for. Yes, they are handsome." Shivani replied.

"Hmm, why don't I head over there and ask them out or something? Maybe say that I like them or it is love at first sight?" She asked.

Shivani sighed. "Dude, what's with you and auto drivers, bus conductors and construction workers?" She asked.

"Cute guys, you mean?"

"You're weird. Do what you wanna do. However remember this, whoever says that they like you back is probably a pedophile." She replied.

"Okay, wish me luck." Abhirami was about to hop her way to the ground when Shivani stopped her.

"Where do you think you're going?" She asked.

"Eh? Didn't you just tell me to…?"

"Hey, don't involve me in your bullshit. And look at the time. The class is about to begin." She dragged Abhirami with her to the class.

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"We kinda freaked the girl out, didn't we?" Taro sighed. He did catch a glance of Shivani's face as she was trying to get away from them and she looked horrified.

"Eh? I feel like she's a diligent girl and wanted to get to the school early!" Gibli, the one who can't comprehend human emotions replied.

"Nah." The others thought almost simultaneously. No matter what perspective they took, they could never see it the way Gibli saw it.

"Well, we can't do anything about misunderstandings." Kunjan replied and the group fell into a silence with literally nothing to talk about.

Soon enough, the rest of Francis' workers arrived at the scene and they got to work.

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Since it was a school work and since the Heavenly Flame were regular customers, Francis wanted to finish up the work as soon and as perfect as possible. They did take an hour-long break though.

The most peculiar thing about that day was that Taro didn't shy from talking even though his translator is set on English. Maybe it was because an English speaking John was present or maybe it was the comfort of standing alongside close friends on the outdoors, he did find it easier to talk this time around.

And someone noticed this and headed towards the gang. It was the principal of the Heavenly Flame. "Hello!" She interrupted the merry time of the band.

"Ah, hello…" They felt awkward when a random woman decided to jump into the conversation.

The discomfort was felt by the principal as well. "I just heard English from here. And I was kinda curious as to the one speaking it." She spoke.

"Ah, well. We felt like it was comfortable to speak in English for once. John right here came from the US. Even though he's fluent in Malayalam, he feels like home when we speak in English." Thankappan replied.

"Ah, may I ask why the foreigner is on the work site?" The principal asked as the guys felt annoyed with each passing moment. It was like the principal was intruding in their personal lives and they didn't appreciate it one bit.

"Well, he's a friend." Thankappan decided to keep it short. He had no desire to let her hang around.

"I see. So, have you guys learned English or you just talk in it for fun?" She asked.

Gibli was pissed off upon hearing this constant barrage of questions by the woman. "Well, it's for fu…" Before he could say anything, Thankappan stopped him. He had a weird smile on his face.

"You see, the four of us studied English at an academic level. Like, we have all the qualifications to be a teacher!" Thankappan placed his shot out there.

"Oh, really now?" The principal and the aliens simultaneously wondered as they looked at the smiling Thankappan, for different reasons, of course.

"Then why didn't you pursue the teaching career?" She asked.

"Almost every school rejected our resume for one reason or the other. It seemed that most of them had ample employees under them. We even said that we would work on a low salary!" Upon hearing this, the principal's eyes glimmered. Thankappan didn't fail to notice it. He tried this hand deliberately because of a rumor that floated around Mundur that the principal is a miser. And he knew once she heard about the salary thing, she'd fall for it.

"I'm just gonna ask this out of sheer curiosity. How low do you mean by a low salary?" She asked.

"About five thousand rupees." He replied.

"Damn, that's really low." The principal thought for a while before finally speaking up. "Can you guys come to my office for a while? I got something important to discuss." She said as she signaled towards her office.

"Sure!" Thankappan started walking towards the office, but was quickly stopped by the aliens.

"What's happening right now?" Taro whispered.

Thankappan smiled. "Just trust me on this!" He said as he slipped out of the aliens' hold and walked towards the office. Seeing the face brimmed with confidence, they thought of trusting Thankappan on this.

"Sit." The principal pointed them to the seats, but they refused since they were still on their work clothes.

"So, what is it that you wanna talk about?" Thankappan asked.

"I believe you are already aware of what I'm about to ask." The principal sighed. "If you are interested in working for five thousand rupees per month, we here are willing to offer all five of you jobs." She replied.

"Hmm. Make it four. John here doesn't have a degree!" Thankappan replied as John glared at him. It was not like any of them had a degree in English! Neither John nor the aliens didn't understand why Thankappan excluded him.

"I see. I can provide jobs for the four of you then! However, you should submit a detailed resume with all the valid certificates." The principal replied.

"Sure, give us a day—maybe a week. We'll be here with our resumes." Thankappan assured her.

"Very well. I believe this has been a fruitful conversation! I'll be waiting to hear more from you in the coming days." The principal extended her hand and Thankappan shook it. Thus, a not-so monumental deal was formed.

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