The Box, Chapter 3
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Naina lived a simple life. Her biggest indulgence was a yearly hair trim on her birthday. Every November 11, she went to the Urban Nirvana on Market Street and booked with Caroline at 12:15 pm. Afterward, she popped into Cafe Framboise and ordered a croque monsieur with a side salad and a slice of opera cake to take away. At home, she took out one candle and sang herself Happy Birthday. It was her yearly ritual.
But she no longer made a wish when she blew out the candle. She had spent many years wishing for her mother to come back to her, and it never worked. Even Naina wasn’t naive enough to accept there was no coming back from the dead. Her mother had joined the 1,700 other souls who found their deaths by jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge.
Naina was pleased that the box of 24 birthday candles she’d bought at Harris Teeter when she first moved to Charleston had lasted this long. She liked items with a long shelf life.
Her father called her on her birthday. It was one of the few times a year they spoke. Naina took the day off from work if it wasn’t a weekend so that she wouldn’t have to worry about missing the phone call. She hated that her father didn’t tell her in advance what time he would reach out. It was the only day in the year she kept her phone in her hand…
