The Waiting City Page #2

if one of us handles the agency.

And who picked you?

Hey, hey, hey.

Sorry.

Fee.

This way!

Ben!

Ben?

No need to be alarmed, my dear.

I didn't see it.

Come, I'll give you something.

I'll give you something.

This is for welcoming you

to Calcutta.

For you and... for her.

She is standing by you?

It's just me here.

Is this your mother standing by you?

Thanks.

I got dragged off by this guy.

I thought you'd come with me.

I want to get my camera.

I want to film that.

What?

Nothing, I just - I thought

I'd lost you for a minute.

- You all right?

- Yeah.

Is that, um, clean?

Yeah, very clean.

Is it from bottled water?

Yeah, bottled water.

So, what, you boiled it?

Yep, yep.

- Sure - are you sure?

- Yeah, I'm sure.

You want to play?

Take that.

This is a song

a lot of the kids sing.

You want me to play this for you?

Here, give me this.

You're a rock star.

Are you a rock star? Are you?

Oh, no! Oh!

Oh, gross!

A dog just peed on me.

It's not funny!

Even amongst all the cars,

you know, like,

there was a couple

of kids' voices there,

and they were pretty good.

I think it'd be pretty awesome

to just get them in a studio,

just see what happens,

you know?

Incorporate it

into something somehow.

Like do something...

Yeah, I think it would be great

if you did something

with your music.

Would you?

Well, it's easy to talk

about these things, huh?

What's that supposed to mean?

Nothing. I'm just tired,

and a dog pissed on me, Ben.

My name's Fiona, but, um...

you can call me "Mum" or "Fee. "

I, um, feel like I'm getting to know

a little bit more about you,

coming to your country.

It's, uh... definitely, uh, different.

Sh*t. I'm terrible on this thing.

This was all your dad's idea.

Okay.

What do I want to say?

I- I don't know how

this is all gonna work out

between the three of us,

but I'm really looking

forward to it, and...

I just want to be...

I just want to be

whatever you want me to be...

whatever that is.

Fee, no.

Sorry.

Are you tired?

A bit.

Is it the pills?

It's not always the pills, Fee.

These are my favorite shoes.

Fee.

- Okay?

- Okay.

- Very expensive. Understand?

- Yes.

Thank you.

Don't be such a bully.

Come on.

I'm coming.

Okay, teach me.

That's Ganesha,

lord of obstacles.

And that's Saraswati.

Saras- what?

Saraswati, patroness of the arts.

There's a god for everything.

Mm.

Oh, wow.

Who's this?

This is Durga...

The queen mother goddess.

- She's a mother?

- Yes.

She's the fighting spirit of mother,

an incarnation

of the war goddess, Kali.

What's that woman doing here?

She's praying to Durga...

probably for a child.

Durga gives us protection,

fertility, and many children.

She must really want a baby.

Ben Simmons.

It is you!

- Yeah.

- Scarlett.

Do you remember -

Ollie's studio?

Yeah. Wow!

A long time.

Yeah. Hey.

Hey.

Um, are you travelling?

Yeah, I'm touring with a band.

Oh, that's so cool.

Oh, good for you.

Uh, Fee? Fee!

- This is my wife, Fiona.

- Hey.

This is Scarlett.

- Hi.

- Hi.

Well, look, why don't you come by

and have a drink?

We're at the Calcutta Grand.

- Yes, that'd be good.

- Okay.

Okay, have fun.

- Bye.

- Yeah.

Fee.

We should do it, too.

Only woman can do this.

Fee.

I don't think so.

Excuse me, Mrs. Bens,

there's been word from the airline.

They're still tracking your bags.

Okay.

Thank you, Krishna.

I'm not gonna hold my breath.

Who was that girl today

at the temple?

Scarlett.

She's a muso.

I met her at some studio.

I can't exactly remember when.

Were you guys ever involved

or anything?

Of course not.

- Mr. And Mrs. Simmons.

- Mm.

Namaskar.

I am Didi Chatterjee.

Hi.

It's wonderful to finally have

the pleasure of meeting you both.

- Please come.

- Ah.

And so the court orders

have been approved,

and we have Lakshmi's visa.

And you have an appointment

on Wednesday morning at 9:20 a. m.

I- I just don't understand

why we still have to wait.

The paperwork

is not completely verified.

We've been waiting for two years,

so we're very excited.

This waiting -

I understand you should be

okay with it, financially?

Yes, of course.

You're staying

at the Calcutta Grand?

Does that meet

with the agency's approval?

So that we can inform you

if there is any development.

Well, is it possible

that we could meet Lakshmi?

Absolutely. In a few days,

you can take her home.

But not now while we're waiting?

Not possible yet.

Not until finalizing.

Well, these are everyday people,

Carla.

We should be offering them

maximum compensation.

Can you hang on a minute?

Look, Maddie, can I call you back?

Yeah. No problem.

Of course they're gonna see it

as backing down,

but it's vital if they want to maintain

any kind of corporate image.

I'm 100% certain on this.

Yeah, of course

they're not gonna be happy.

Good luck making that call.

I was thinking

that we pick up Lakshmi

and we go straight to Goa.

Mm-hmm.

- Two-day family holiday, relax, max.

- Nice.

Then, on our -

make our way to Varanasi.

Yep.

And we finish the loop in Bolpur,

which will be less opulent

but, obviously, the most important

because she gets to see

where she comes from

and gets to see her village.

Sounds great.

I just hope that we have enough time

to fit it all in.

We will.

Only if we get to pick up Lakshmi

in the next few days.

She did say that it would be soon.

I don't know what "soon"

means around here.

We can only afford to stay

another two, maybe three weeks.

Then we move into a cheaper hotel.

We could move

into a cheaper hotel,

but what would the agency

think about that?

They might think

that we're running out of money.

Are we?

It's not really the point.

I'm trying to run a case,

if you haven't noticed.

I can't just keep changing hotels,

and besides, you know I've only got

another three weeks - that's it.

You've been working

all the time we've been here.

Maybe we need to start making

a few sacrifices.

Interesting to hear you say that,

because I would be curious to know

what kind of sacrifices

you've ever made, Ben?

Coming.

Hey, mate.

I'm sorry for the disturb.

There's a visitor downstairs.

Yeah.

All right.

- Hey, did he say there's a visitor?

- Yeah.

Sh*t.

I'm just gonna get changed.

It's probably the agency.

All right, well, I'm going down.

No, hey, wait, wait,

wait, wait, Ben!

Don't say anything about the baby

till I get there, okay?

I try and get this book,

and I order it on the net,

and it takes like, literally, a year.

And I think that's a long time to wait.

And then you go and adopt a child,

and talk about patience.

Fee?

Look who dropped

in the neighborhood.

Hey. How are you?

- I'm good. How are you?

- Good.

You're breathless.

Are you okay?

Yeah, um...

I just... you know.

Thanks, mate.

Here are your drinks, sir.

Can I have a scotch, no ice?

This place is so nice.

Yeah.

Ben was just telling me

you're a lawyer.

Yeah. She's working really,

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