The next day, Bliss was woken up by the door knock. She stirred, her eyelids were still fluttering as she tried to adjust to the dim beam of the light peeking through the curtains. The knocking sounded again. With a sigh, Bliss swung her leg down from the couch she had fallen asleep on the previous night and walked towards the door. It was Mrs. John with another pot of her experimental dishes. She greeted Bliss with a Good morning and handed over the pot. Bliss thanked her and almost went back in when Mrs. John advised her with a goofy smile not to skip many classes in the beginning and save them for later to spend time with her boyfriend. Bliss couldn't quite understand her and simply nodded. Mrs. John went downstairs, leaving behind her usual phrase to return the 'pot' without expecting a reply from Bliss. Meanwhile, she was still trying to figure out why that advice came out of the blue.
Bliss put the pot on the table nearby and went to the washroom to freshen up. As she continued to brush her teeth, suddenly her eyes widened and her brushing speed increased many times, in fact, to the point that she almost gagged. She rinsed her mouth and ran straight to the couch right away. She picked up the phone and, as expected, saw 12 missed calls and 25 texts from Fiona. The time on the right corner of her screen caught her attention, it showed '11:30 am'. It all started to make sense about the advice from Mrs. John earlier. Without any further ado, Bliss immediately called Fiona, who was probably attending her class at that moment. She hung up the call on Bliss. "Ugh, this girl! Bliss whined, looking at Dewie, who seemed quite confused at his restless mom.
Bliss ran straight to get refreshed and dress up, hoping she could still attend the rest of the classes after the lunch hour. While getting ready for the classes, she received Fiona's call. "DUMBO! ARE YOU A KNOBHEAD? Who misses class on the first day of the semester? You'd better stop breathing. Go and apologize to the plants for wasting their hard-produced oxygen.", Fiona went on in one breath, without pausing. Bliss pouted, whining internally, asking herself if Fiona was her mother. She didn't speak out about her intrusive thoughts and instead tried to calm Fiona, trying to explain the whole situation and apologizing for not picking up the calls. She added that she fell asleep without realizing it and didn't get the chance to set an alarm. Fiona, though, was pissed in the beginning, calmed down, and informed Bliss that only one class was held since morning. She called Bliss right away to not miss any of the classes that were supposed to be held so far. Hearing this Bliss began to complain about Fiona's nagging earlier. Fiona, however, was least concerned about that and ordered Bliss to shut up. Bliss rolled her eyes, even though secretly feeling warm in one corner of her heart.
Bliss ran down to Mrs. John and handed over Dewie to her. Mrs. John, who was still in her bathrobe, stood there all confused as she watched Bliss run to catch the bus as if her life depended on it. Bliss managed to reach the university on time and found Fiona waiting for her at the gate. As soon as Bliss arrived, Fiona abruptly welcomed her with a light bump on the head with her fist. Bliss glared at her with a fierce look, covering her head.
Fiona held her hand and walked her to the cafeteria. Bliss walked around with Fiona like a child following every direction she walked. They both sat at a table and ordered some refreshments. While they waited for their drinks to arrive, Bliss couldn't help but ask Fiona how she got to know about the classes of Bliss's course, even though she belonged to a different course. Fiona responded with her signature eyeroll, saying that everyone is not a shrinking violet like Bliss, which once again passed through poor Bliss's whole body like a million arrows. "Ugh. This brat!", Bliss thought to herself. She added that if it were not for the calls she missed from Fiona, she would get back at her right away for being so bossy.
Suddenly, a pair of fingers snapped in front of Bliss's zoned-out eyes, dragging her out of the dream world. " They have been calling for ages. Where are you!? Go and get the drinks.", Fiona said, which made Bliss gasp in awe. Bliss asked Fiona if she thinks of her as the boss and Bliss as an errand girl. To her inquiry, Fiona yet again gave another indifferent eye-roll and fake yawned. Bliss was pissed, but she drank up her anger and got the drinks. They both had drinks and went to their respective buildings to attend classes.
The classes that day went on till evening, and it almost made both of them give up their life. They both left the gate together, and Fiona stopped by the main gate's entrance while Bliss walked ahead to the bus stop. It was the month of September, and since the place was situated at a high altitude, the environment was cooler than usual. Bliss, who didn't consider wearing anything denser, expecting the classes to end early, started to regret her decision while waiting for her bus to arrive. There weren't many passengers waiting with her that day, as it was so cold. It had been almost 15 minutes since she left the gate, but the bus wasn't anywhere to be seen. As she waited, she saw a luxury car pass by her towards the university. She wondered how convenient it would be for her if she were in her hometown at that moment, and she could just call her father to pick her up.
Just when Bliss was admiring how deluxe a car it was that she witnessed, a superbike passed by her, leaving Bliss thrown away on the ground. The few people waiting along there rushed to check on her. Bliss, who still sat there with her legs trembling and whole body shaking, was trying to stabilize her breath. One of the people offered her water, but she refused, thanking them for their concern. Meanwhile, the car that had passed by her earlier was returning and, seeing the crowd on its way, stopped to check. Quite unexpectedly, Fiona came out of the car. Seeing Bliss sitting there, she looked concerned and rushed towards her, inquiring about the incident. "That mother fucker! Let me catch him, and his 17 generations of ancestors will forget how to ride a bike", Fiona said under her breath after knowing the backstory of the incident. Seeing what just happened, she offered Bliss to go see a doctor with her, but Bliss declined. After many attempts to convince Bliss, Fiona gave up and suggested that she would accompany her until the bus arrived. But after waiting for a considerable amount of time, there wasn't any trace of the bus coming. People started to leave the stop one after another, and at the end, only Bliss and two old ladies in their 70s, along with Fiona and her chauffeur, were left behind. One of the grannies standing there said anxiously that she was going to miss the next bus as well if the current one didn't arrive. She was visiting her son in another city to attend her daughter-in-law, who was about to deliver a baby.
The chauffeur, seeing no hope, called the authorities responsible to inquire about the situation. After the call, his words left everyone feeling helpless. It was informed to him that there was a landslide on the way, and it would take at least 4 hours to completely clear the path for the vehicles. The two ladies looked worried, and Bliss, though concerned, decided to walk back to her place, which was almost a 57-minute walk on a road covered by thick bushes, trees, and broken street lights that barely worked.
Both the chauffeur and Fiona stopped Bliss out of concern, for it was already late, and it wasn't a good idea for her to walk alone through the dark route. However, Bliss didn't want to waste any more minutes there as she was worried about leaving Dewie with Mrs. John for too long. Fiona suggested that she take a ride back home with her. But Bliss, with her natural conscious character, hesitated. However, the old lady who was anxious earlier jumped into the car and dragged the other one and Bliss along with her. Fiona and the Chauffeur, who didn't exactly invite her, were left pretty stunned at the granny's self-invite.
The car drove off, and they had to make two other turns before dropping off Bliss to drop off the ladies at their respective stops first. It was almost 7:00 in the evening when Bliss finally reached her apartment. She thanked Fiona and the Chauffeur for taking the detour and dropping off all three of them at their respective places. " Who was taking a detour? I just offered you the ride because I wanted to go on a ride in the direction of your place. Your place just happened to be on the way. Those two hags just jumped in!", Fiona responded to Bliss. The chauffeur gave an awkward laugh. "Rich Spoiled Brat!", Bliss whispered as she shut the car door, though she knew Fiona didn't mean it the way it sounded. She smiled, feeling grateful and content as she watched them drive off in the other direction from her apartment.
As Bliss walked into her place, she recalled the incident earlier. She was grateful to Fiona and the chauffeur for their kindness. As she walked towards the door and gave it a genuine thought about the evening incident, it made her concerned. Especially the fact that if it were to result in something serious, her parents would need to invest a lot in her name for medical bills, and she didn't want that to happen. So she thought of getting a part-time job that she could take up after her classes. But she wasn't sure if she was good enough at anything that would land her a job. Before she realized it, she was already standing in front of Mrs. John's door. She knocked at the door, and to her surprise, Mr. John, a huge muscled guy in his early 70s with hair locks, fancy 90's style leather jackets, along with boots and a 5-inch braid behind his head, who almost seemed like a mountain to Bliss, opened the door, holding tiny Dewie in his arms. "Mr.John. Good evening. Didn't know you were staying over", said Bliss with a curtain of awkwardness surfacing on her face. Mr. John, who usually enjoys extreme sports, likes to travel places for adventures, and to her knowledge, he was flying to some other country that evening. "Good evening, my child. Here...you pup", said Mr. John as he handed Dewie to Bliss. He added, "My wife suddenly went into cardiac arrest, so I had to stay back and miss the flight." Bliss didn't expect that response and was very shocked to hear about Mrs. John. She asked Mr. John about Mrs. John's condition and her whereabouts. She wanted to help the Johns if they required any, but her cowardly ass didn't let her say any of the comforting words in her mind. Before she could say something else, Mr. John assured her that Mrs. John's condition was stable, she was doing fine, and his nephew was looking after her at the hospital. He came to drop Dewie off, as it seemed uncomfortable in the hospital environment. Bliss was relieved to hear this and apologized to Mr. John for the hassle they had to go through. But Mr. John didn't show any emotion of anger or inconvenience. He rather showed concern for Bliss's scratched hands, to which Bliss complained while describing Mr. John, that little accident from the evening which almost made her see God. Mr. John felt sorry for Bliss, but he seemed even more excited to know about the bike model. Bliss sighed and whispered under her breath," What else was I even expecting?" and left along with Dewie in her arms, bidding John bye for the night. As she was climbing the stairs, Mr. John called her, poking his head out of the grills. He stretched his hand out and handed Bliss some ointments to put on her scratches. He told her to be careful on the road and call Mrs. John if she faces any such incidents in the future, as he left for the hospital. This gesture of kindness was very unexpected for Bliss, and she couldn't help but weep seeing jolly Mr.John leave through the main gate, humming "Your Man" by Josh Turner to see his wife at the hospital. Encountering people who were unexpectedly kind to a stranger like her, who can't even communicate well, overwhelmed her. She hugged Dewie and started weeping, sitting on the stairs. Meanwhile, little Dewie, unaware of anything in the world, seemed to have tasted tears for the first time in his existence. He kept licking all the tears that rolled down Bliss's cheeks.
The next day, Mrs. John wasn't released from the hospital. It seemed she was exhausted and needed some more rest. So, Bliss had to leave Dewie behind in her apartment. She was worried that he would hurt his neck trying to unleash, so she didn't tie the leash around his neck and left him free. However, she worried for the whole day, thinking that the puppy might cause trouble by messing up the place. But she had no other choice. Her classes went on till 3 pm, and she was home by 4:30. She prayed to all the divine powers, asking for mercy before opening the door, hoping that Dewie wouldn't mess up much, even though she didn't have very high expectations. As soon as she opened the door, she was awestruck. To her surprise, Dewie was really well-behaved and didn't cause any mess except for the fact that he peed on a corner of the room. Bliss was relieved. She rushed to get the mop and cleaned up the corner.
She was worried about what she could get for Mrs. John when she sees Mrs. John the next day. After a lot of brain-racking ideas, she finally remembered that she could bake well. So she decided to make different flavored breads and cookies along with a bento cake as a welcome gift for Mrs. John.
Bliss was quite satisfied with the Bread and cookies. And she prepared everything for the cake that she decided to make the next day. She likes baking a lot as it makes her feel very happy. It makes her think she is good at something, at least.
Bliss was so happy after baking the cookies that she sat in front of her laptop for 2 hours and completed a whole new chapter of her web novel that had been on hiatus for almost 2 months. The next day was a holiday for a traditional festival of the state. Hence, Bliss was carefree that night and binge-watched a new season of her favorite anime, simping over her favorite characters.