Chapter 2 Late Realisations

"Miranda, we suggest you resign, you look too fed up with work," her senior manager suggested in the company. She was shocked. She couldn't accept what she had just heard. She knew the company and he was struggling to put it in the front line. She knew he decided to end it with her but she couldn't accept the fact that she had to be kicked out desperately for his selfish motives.

"Why? Did he ask you to personally fire me and insult me?" she asked the manager back.

"Hey I don't know anything but I think you need to consider this suggestion,"

She felt too hurt, and she instantly wrote her resignation and walked towards his cabin. To her surprise, he was with another woman, and she was holding his hands. She looked familiar. Her heart froze. He jumped up as he saw her, taking his hands away.  Trying her best to not burst out, she submitted the resignation letter directly and looked at his face.

"I was literally nothing, wasn't I? I wish I never considered to become an intern here, you don't have to fire me, I will walk out myself. I hope you live well. Even when nothing makes sense to me still,"

She wished to hear from him some words. But he didn't say a thing. He just said he will let people inform her when her resignation is processed. And that was the last time she saw him.

Miranda cleaned her studio like new and took a shower. She decided to cook lunch and spend the Christmas very lightly alone. All of her friends come only once a while, some working and few pursuing higher studies in other cities. For the first time, she felt too lonely.

She went to the nearby coffee shop and sat there going through some essays and criticism notes to recall some of her subjects. Her mind was too loud. She stopped studying and later spent half an hour talking to her parents on phone and promised to visit them before joining college.

She decided to go the next day itself and spend the week till reopening.  She took the train to her home. Four-hour journey outside the city, stopping at each and every small stations. She was longing to see their orchard, and lazy around her mother eating delicious food. She remembered to pack her iron tonic and medicine along.

It was almost noon when she reached home. Her parents were already waiting for her in the station to pick her up. She hugged them first tightly as she saw them.

"Mom you lost weight," she said.

"Am good but look at you, you little devil, what happened?" her mother scolded her straight away. She smiled and got into their car.

"Dad how is the orchard. It's been so long since I came home,"

"I am so mad at you Miranda, you should have come home last week. You said you resigned,"

"Sorry dad I was running behind few stuff,  joining college, I had to make sure of a few stuff," she lied.

"I know pumpkin it's alright,"

The moment she entered the house, her mom rushed her to the dining, to have lunch. Miranda wanted to cry, the table was all full of favorites, but not just hers.

"Your mother was expecting the boy to come along with you, your boss. She was hoping you two were going to be serious,"

"No. No no no. We were nothing more than friends and mom you shouldn't have made all these. So much effort," she badly wanted to cry. She should have known, she thought.

"Why did you resign?" her mother asked her, while she dug in her food.

"It wasn't fun and I miss studying, I can't do regulars few years later right?" she told her parents.

"Was he okay with you resigning?" Mila kept interrupting and Miranda chocked on her food.

"Let that girl eat properly will you Mila?" her father snapped.

Miranda drank water and replied to her mom. "He was of course fine. It is my wish. It is not like there are no other employees." she said calmly.

They finished lunch and she helped her mother do dishwashing. They talked about the farm and the rates they have been getting for the fruits. They talked about their neighbors and their farms.

"Can you believe it? Poor Matilda lost all her cattle that way," her mother kept talking.

"How are blossom, bubble, and buttercup?" she asked about the three cows of her neighbour. She named them when was around 12 along with her friend.

"They are fat and fine. Go see them. Tristen's dad will soon let them out." Her mother said. Miranda suddenly laughed thinking of something.

"Buttercup?" she was asking him.

"Isn't that a sweet name for you?" he said. He was good at being super cheesy calling her nicknames and trying to spoil her.

Miranda laughed hard. "My dear, I named a cow buttercup when I was little."

"You have a cow?" he was surprised.

"Yes we have a huge orchard and it's my neighbor who owns cows and hens,"

"Wow," he said.

"Come with me one day I will show you the world I grew up in, you will like it too."

He at first didn't say anything. "Why not, let's go once we officially start dating," he said hesitating for a moment that went unnoticed by Miranda.

"Okay," she said smiling and carrying on with her work.

"Buttercup," he whispered again in her ears laughing and walked back to his office. And she sat there looking at him blushing.

"What?" her mother asked her bringing her back to reality.

"

Nothing. How reckless of me to name the cows after power puff girls' mom I was thinking about that." She said and kept washing the dish. 'I should have known he wasn't willing,' she thought.