I was leaning against the doorway, with the emotional factory inside of me whirring its gears and working hard. Throughout the duration of the phone call, it has managed to produce anxiety, fear, excitement, and curiosity all in a few minutes.

I was amazed at how many emotions it was producing in such a short period of time. The gears continued to grind, until Manish let out a slight sigh.

"What is it, Manish? You know I really hate waiting," I asked, as I could feel him contemplating his answer on the other end of the line. I knew he was trying to phrase it in the sense that it wouldn't cause me to throw something at a wall in anger or frustration. Ananth gave me a slightly curious look, as he went back to scanning my bookshelf to find anything useful.

"Okay, which do you want to hear first? The good news or the bad news?" he asked. I let out a deep sigh, because I knew the true nature. Almost always, the good news was completely overshadowed by the bad news. I knew that this was an attempt to cover up the nature of the bad news that was to be delivered by Sunny.

Yet, I still wanted to know, because when Manish had this kind of news, then it was worth your time to hear. "You know what? Give me the good news first. I'm in a decent mood today," I told him, as I walked over to the bed to have a seat. News that has two sides to it is never delivered properly when someone is sitting up.

"Okay, the good news is that I got a really good job offer!" he squealed.

A smile curled at the corners of my lips. Job offers are always a great thing, and the fact that Manish got one at the fresh age of 23 is always an exciting thing. "Sunny, that's amazing! I'm so happy for you!" I shrieked, as he belted out his signature laugh.

"Thank you, Jaya. That means a lot. But, now for the bad news." The smile that was once curled at my lips wilted like the petals on a rose after a lack of water supply.

I took a deep breath in an attempt to brace myself so that the blow of the punch of some bad news didn't break the ribs of my composure. "The job offer is all the way in Redmond, Washington. Ashwini, I'm moving to Seattle."

Although the news wasn't a hard punch, it sure did feel like a slap. And the worst thing is, it was not an immediate slap. It was one of those slaps that's hard, but it took a few moments for the pain and the feel to sink in. Manish was moving to Seattle for a new job. I didn't know when, and I didn't know what the job exactly is, but holy hell, I didn't know how to react to it.

On one hand, I'm happy. I was so fucking happy for Manish. I knew how much he wanted to go see other parts of the USA, and now he was moving to a different part. This job offer was probably really good, and who knew? It could've opened the door to a house full of opportunities that were just waiting on a platter for him to dine on.

However, despite the happiness I was feeling, it was slightly overshadowed by sadness. Sunny was leaving me. My sunshine was going to be moving its rays to another place so that he could bring light to another person's life.

I was not going to be able to see his bright smiles anymore. I was not going to be able to hear his goofy laugh radiate the room and bless my ears. I was not going to have his golden spirits with me anymore.

In an attempt to shove the sadness in the trash can, I said, "Sunny, that's amazing! I'm so happy for you!"

I could feel all his apprehension dissolve right over the telephone like salt in water, and with that, he said, "Thank you, Jaya. I'm excited. I can't wait to start. But, I'm sad."

The corners of my mouth drooped into a frown. "Why?"

"Because I'm leaving you, Jen, and my family. I kind of don't want to leave you guys. You guys are my closest friends, and the thought of leaving you seriously scares me. Because if I leave, then our friendship isn't going to be the same. I'm going to be bombarded with work, you're going to be studying for medical school, and I don't know if I will have time to talk to you guys."

Gee, I thought Manish was the total ray of sunshine. Although the thought was hurtful, it was nothing short of practical. I almost knew that the time he was going to have to talk to Jen and I was going to be extremely limited.

But, despite that, only one thing rang through my mind. There was only one thought that filled my mind like a water filling up a glass.

Manish being happy.

No matter what came our way, I knew one thing. If the roles were flipped, Manish would've wanted me to be happy as well. Begging him not to leave would've been so selfish on my part.

I took a deep breath, and said, "Manish, you don't worry about me. We both know that I want you to be happy. If you think that the job offer is good for you, then you should take it. I'm not influencing your choice at all."

I heard Manish let out another sigh on the end of the line, and he said, "You know what? You're right. I know this is going to be good for me. I'm taking the offer, Ashwini. Thank you so much. You're the best."

Hearing that little compliment caused my lips to curl up into another smile. "I know I am. Tell me something that I don't know," I said jokingly, which caused a chuckle to come up from him.

"You don't know how awesome you are. Seriously. But, I'm going to spend as much time as I can with you before I go. I'll make sure of it. This is going to be the best three weeks of our lives."

I couldn't help but let out another laugh again, as Ananth gave me a smirk from the bookshelf area. "Ashwini! Saapdu vaa! (Come eat!)" my mom called from downstairs.

"Coming!" I called, and then I pressed the phone back to my ear. "I'll catch you later. My mom's calling me."

"Yeah, of course. Bye." I hung up, and then went downstairs to have some lunch, with the weight of the conversation hanging on my mind.

It was hard to lift it off so soon after the phone call.

*********

"Oh, that's really nice! I was expecting Manish to get a really good offer like that," my mom exclaimed, as she served us some rice.

I shrugged a little bit. "Yeah, I'm happy for him too," I said, with the tone of my voice indicating otherwise.

My mom gave me a suspicious eye look, and said, "You don't seem too happy about this. What's going on?"

I let out a sigh, knowing that I shouldn't have tried to hide my upset emotions. Considering it's my mother we're talking about, she was bound to call me out on my obvious deceit. "I'm just going to miss him, that's all. He's one of my closest friends."

My mom's facial expression morphed into a more sympathetic one, as she handed a plate to my brother. "Awww. I get what you mean. Manish is one of your closest friends, behind Jen, of course. But, this happens. Life happens. Sometimes, you won't get to see some friends as much as you want, but that's just life, I guess."

I took a spoon, and then walked over to the table so that I could have some food. If this was how life was, then people weren't lying when they said it sucked.

**********

After finishing up lunch, I went upstairs to go read a book for a little while. I knew that the best way to take my mind off of things was to immerse myself into another world. This world would be one where I could live in it and be happy that I decided to enter it.

And this world would be one where I wouldn't have to deal with bitchy sisters that were hell bent on controlling their brothers' lives so that they wouldn't lose their brother to anybody "that wasn't fit for him."

I threw myself on the bed, and then grabbed the book. As my hand flew over to the book to start to read it, my eye caught the picture that sat on my nightstand. It was of Manish, Jen, and I, at an amusement park, smiling, and standing in the front of the park. I stared at it, remembering the time when we thought that nothing could break us apart, and we'd be like this forever.

But, alas, all good things must come to an end. But, not without a joyous time preceding the unfortunate finish. And I was determined to make those three weeks as joyous as I possibly could before my sunshine was ripped away from me completely.