Chapter Text
The next few days were some of the busiest in May’s life. She had to recount her version of the day countless times to so many people that it would have just been easier to just record a podcast about it. The police kept wanting more and more details. May had to go to councelling, and her parents kept calling her all the time. Even her roommates acted weird around her. At least she got some more time to work on her essay. Being kidnapped was apparently a good enough excuse to not work on her college work.
The week following the incident was filled with people circling her and constantly making sure she was all right. It was honestly exhausting. That was why she was a little annoyed, yet not surprised, when exactly a week after the kidnapping someone knocked on her door. However, when May saw who it was that was checking up on her, she could no longer be annoyed.
“Ravi! Hi!”
She was honestly a little surprised to see him. The two had not had a chance to talk to each other after their long interview with the police.
“Hi. Can I come in?” Ravi asked.
“Sure. You chose the right time to visit – my roommates are gone today. They’ve been begging me to have more hot firefighters over ever since Buck was here to bring me a new lamp,” May said, closing the door behind him.
“Oh, so I count as a hot firefighter?” Ravi asked with a grin. May felt her cheeks growing hot, and decided not to answer.
“Please, sit. Oh, and have some cookies as well,” she said instead and gestured to the sofa and the large plate with a mountain of cookies on the coffee table.
“Thanks,” Ravi said. He looked at the almost comically large pile of cookies hesitantly.
“I’ve been stress-baking,” May admitted. If it had been anyone else, she might have lied and said she wasn’t stressed, but for the past week she hadn’t exactly been sleeping well, and that had resulted in an unhealthy amount of stress.
“I guess that answers my question of how have you been,” Ravi said, taking one of the cookies. May took a seat next to him, but for some reason found it difficult to look straight at him.
“I haven’t really slept well. But I’ve been… okay, I guess,” she said. “What about you?”
Ravi shrugged. “The councelling has definitely helped, and Bobby let me back to work yesterday, so I finally got something to take my mind off all the bad stuff. But I just… can’t stop thinking about everything that happened.”
“I know how you feel. I keep replaying the events in my head, and sometimes… sometimes it’s difficult to really believe we made it out of there,” May sighed. Her fingers traced along the pattern of one of the decorative pillows on the sofa, but in her mind she saw all the horrible images again. The girl in the café. The old man dying. The gun pointing right at her. The smoke. “I keep thinking about the old man that died,” she said quietly.
Ravi was staring down at his hands, as if he could still see the blood on them. He didn’t say anything, and his cookie lay half-eaten on the coffee table.
“The worst part is, I still don’t know his name,” May admitted.
“Richard Davis,” Ravi said quickly. May was surprised – she had been too occupied with her own feelings all week, and hadn’t even thought to ask someone what the dead man’s name was. “His wife died of cancer seven years ago,” Ravi continued, “and he has – had – three kids and six grandkids. And… The family is okay with us going to the funeral. That is, if you want to go.”
May raised her gaze from the pillows to look at Ravi, who was staring right at her. “Yeah, I do.”
May felt a little out of place at the small chapel that was packed with people. She and Ravi were sitting at the back row, dressed in all black just like everyone else. All of the others were saying goodbye to a father, grandfather, brother, cousin, friend, old coworker, neighbor, tennis buddy and a man that left an impact on their lives. For Ravi and May, this was a chance to get closure on everything that had happened.
From the way everyone spoke about Mr. Davis, May could tell he was deeply loved and would be missed. As someone – maybe a cousin – was speaking, May found her thoughts drifting off to what could have been. Instead of Mr. Davis in that coffin, it could have been her. Instead of talking about what a long and fulfilling life she had lived, all the speeches would have mentioned how she died all too young. The thought of it all made it difficult to breathe. It had been so close. It really could have been her.
It was only when she felt Ravi take her hand in his to rub soothing circles on the back of her palm with his thumb that May realized that she was crying. Of course, it was normal for people to cry at a funeral, but she felt embarrassed that she was crying about the possibility that she could have died instead of actually grieving the deceased.
She wiped her tears away, grateful that she had decided not to wear make up on her eyes, and glanced at Ravi. His jaw was clenched and he kept his eyes at the front, where one of Mr. Davis’ grandkids was playing the piano – though not very well. Ravi’s eyes were glistening with unshed tears, and May wondered if he too was imagining his own funeral. Or perhaps he was feeling guilt over not being able to save Mr. Davis despite not even being given a chance to try. May turned her hand around and laced her fingers with his.
The service seemed to last forever. When it was finally over, Ravi and May tried to sneak off without seeming like they were in too much hurry to leave. They didn’t feel comfortable staying around as all the friends and relatives of Mr. Davis began chatting to each other and reminiscing about his life.
Right as they were leaving the chapel, Ravi and May were stopped by one of Mr. Davis’ sons.
“You’re Ravi and May, right?” he asked. “I’m Jeff, Richard’s son. I wanted to thank you for coming. And… for trying to save my father. The police told me that you tried to help him.”
“Thank you for letting us come. It was a beautiful service. We’re sorry for your loss.” May felt that she was just saying clichés, but she wasn’t sure what else she could have said in that situation.
Jeff thanked them again and they said their goodbyes. May realized they were still holding hands only after Ravi let go of her to shake hands with Jeff.
As they stepped out into the bright sunshine, May felt more at ease than she had in a long time.
“So, what now?” Ravi asked. May wasn’t sure if he meant it literally or in a more philosophical sense.
“How about lunch?” she suggested.
“Sounds good,” he agreed, and the two began walking towards the parking lot. “Maybe – and I know this might not be the best timing – we could make a date out of it?” He looked a bit nervous, so May decided to answer before he changed his mind.
“I’d love that. But I have one condition,” she said.
“Name it.”
“It counts as our first date. Because getting kidnapped or going to a funeral are not fun activities for a first dates.”