There is a surprise for all New girl series fans in this chapter!

Enjoy;)

Sudden imprisonment which led to idleness had changed the routine for most if not for all. The sleeping pattern of the youth in the twenty-first century had been muddled without any pandemic, with one there was no pattern. And it was not just the youth that was affected that time, the generation which criticised them the most were no different.

Maier was not an exception however that day he woke up early. Most people were stuck with their families yet found it difficult to blend with them. Maier was alone in a foreign land, with no known person in sight. It was not just difficult but destructive. However the lockdown was in 2020, and there was technology available to save the day.

"Yes, Ma. I had breakfast. No, I cooked it. Barely someone is seen on the street, where will I find a maid?" He smiled. "I am managing well. I don't know. They cancelled all the flights until 14th April. Yes, I am keeping an eye on it. I will. I will take the first flight out. Yeah, do not worry. I do not want to take his favour. I do not like him. I know. He is your uncle, not mine. Sorry. Okay. Do not worry ma. Yes, I am. No, I found help. A girl. She lives in the next house. I do not know her name. I guess Dada Dadi knows her. I don't know. You should ask them, I know nothing. How are they, by the way? Oh. Tell him to stay home then. It is difficult for him. Yeah, I know. He called me yesterday. Said for a perfectly boiled egg I should boil it for 12 minutes and for little soft one eight will work. But yes on high flame." He chuckled. "He is using the internet a lot. I know. Yeah, he also said that adoption is always better than surrogacy. No, it's costly and risky. I know. From his words, it seems I am adopting two girls with three years age gap between them." He laughed at what his mother said before saying, "I hope. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, that's fine. I will talk to dad later. You can go, I will call him. Yeah bye. Take care ma. Bye."

When he disconnected the call he had a big smile on his face. He kept the phone on the counter and took the knife in his hand. Cooking was not new for him. He spent his college years in a different city and then worked in another city. He had been cooking his own meals for more than seven years by then. There he did not struggle, staying alone, he did not struggle but not meeting any human or not leaving the house was a huge change in his lifestyle.

After he had his lunch his only refuge was his phone. There was no television or any other source of entertainment in the house leaving him at the mercy of his phone, which had not been functioning well due to a fall it had at the airport when Maier was juggling a phone, a book, a cup and a bag in one hand. There was nothing that interested him but a phone call helped him escape. He smiled when he saw his friends name before answering the call.

"Afzal! How are you? Where are you?"

"Maier my friend. I am good. And peacefully at home unlike you who went on a little adventure. How are you? I heard you are stuck there. For how long were you planning to stay in India?"

"I am, I am. It was supposed to be a short trip. I just had to find an agent for this house and then a few months later dad and Dada were to come and sell the house. I still don't believe I got stuck here. It was just a few days' work."

Afzal laughed as he said, "talk about bad luck. You were supposed to be in Russia right now, right?"

"Actually that got cancelled. I was supposed to go home from here. But God had plans. Anyway, how is the situation there? You all are locked in your own houses, too?"

"We are. The situation is very similar to there I believe. Maybe worse as the cases are increasing rapidly."

"Cases are increasing here too. Rapidly. I guess that's how it is everywhere. But let's not talk about that. All I hear and see is corona, corona, corona. There are other topics." He paused for a moment before continuing, "how is your family doing? What do you do all day?"

"My family has gone crazy." He laughed. "Kids are such entertainment. I am glad this happened after I had children. I would have not survived without them. With all the running around and troubling my wife my day ends without me realising. To be honest, I am very glad it happened. Not all the dying but this. This is a blessing in disguise."

"You sound happy and healthy. Glad to hear that. At least someone is having fun. How are Sufyaan and Aman?"

"With two kids Aman is very close to crying and Sufyaan is very close to making Aman cry. So, normal. Everyone is enjoying their family time. Though some times we all get bored but in all honesty, it is the best time to live. I mean except the virus."

Maier laughed as he said, "that's great. I am jealous though. I wish I was at home. It would have been fun to spend some time with my family. Here all I have is a wall as my companion."

"Why did you go alone? You should have taken someone with you. Your mother wanted to come didn't she?"

"She wanted to. But you know I came here due to my work and because I have a terrible boss. I didn't come on a vacation. This finding an agent thing was just something I was going to do because I was here. But now I think I should have brought her with me."

"You should have. But what's done is done. Do you have no friend or maybe some relative there? Someone who can keep you company?"

"No one at all. I got a relative just across the street. I am not a big fan of him or his family. Actually, it's him who bothers me. Got nothing against the family."

"I get it. We all have a relative like that. And in a desi family, it is a must."

Maier frowned before he said, " you are barely desi!"

"More desi than you are. Now tell me how are you going to get out of there? I heard all the flights are cancelled. It's a good thing Kehara is still here. She and the kids were to come there. Aman is lucky Kehara changed the plan at the last moment."

"You Americans are always lucky."

"You have been staying that for years now. You need to stop saying it. What have we done to you? Why do you hold that grudge?"

"I lost two jobs to Americans. An American insulted me in front of fifty people because he felt superior because he was from America and I was not and my American cousin is the hero of the family."

"And let's not forget the girl you once liked got married to an American. They are having a baby by the way. Due in May."

"How do you always have information about them? Do you spy on them?"

"They live in my neighbourhood. My wife is now her friend. Our kids might play together. I have various sources."

Shaking his head Maier said, "Get a job and stop spying on people. Is there nothing better the great Afzal can do?"

"Look at you being all rude. I am way to older than you kid. Be nice."

"Okay, uncle. I will be careful."

They teased and made fun of each other until their call ended. It was a couple of months ago they last got a chance to talk. Being locked at home had a lot of challenges and drawbacks but it came with a silver lining. Friends, family, neighbours got a chance to talk, bond and know each other better. It was a crucial time, scary of course but what came with it was a blessing no one was blessed before with.

That day Xenia and Maier did not meet. Maybe because Maier did not have any question or maybe because Xenia was occupied with her assignments. It was tough to say which one was the winner. Xenia spent the major part of the day doing her assignment. Doing here referred to copying from the book she had. Her teacher has sent a few questions which they had to solve. Her classmates had found the questions in their book and shared the page numbers. Except for one or maybe two, all the students chose to duplicate the sums.

Xenia had earphones in her ears and was writing quietly. She did not disturb anyone, no one disturbed her. After writing two pages a thought made its way to her mind. The assigner was a clever fox, he had different ways to strangle students. Easy was not his take, there had to be a catch. She grabbed her calculator quickly and observed the sum for some time. She had solved sums similar to that before and it took her just a glance to understand the procedure. Her fingers were furiously moving across the calculator as she checked its validity. She narrowed her eyes when she found a mistake. She kept her fingers busy and solved the whole sum. Majority of the numbers were wrong. There were printing mistakes. It was a trap for the students. She had heard her sir say before that the book came with a lot of mistakes, furthering adding evidence to her doubt. Narrowing her eyes deeper She took the phone in her hand and sent a message in the WhatsApp group informing and protecting everyone. With all the thanks and praises Xenia felt proud and smarter than the fox. It was a good day for both Xenia and Maier. They felt better, they felt peace. However, they did not meet.

***

I hope you all liked the surprise!!!