Sisters' Secret

"Oh, we don't think that, do we Shali?" Asha asked her sister.

"No way," Shanthi replied with a little laugh.

"Thanks, I appreciate it," I told them.

We talked until midnight. I was constantly amazed by how sweet, how sincere, and how open both of the sisters were. Although I had known them for only a few hours, I knew instinctually that we would remain close friends for the duration of my stay in New Zealand. The girls both seemed to genuinely like me and enjoy my company, which was encouraging.

Finally, the night began to wind down. I was still feeling the effects of jetlag and the girls seemed to be yawning more frequently. It was time for bed. I offered to walk them home.

"But we only live next door," Shanthi remarked.

"But as a gentleman, I'm required to escort you young ladies home safely."

"American boys," said Asha in a wistful tone. "They're so gallant. Not like Kiwi boys at all, ay?"

As promised, I walked both of the girls the whole three meters (I was trying to think in metric now) to their door. We said goodnight and they walked into their apartment. It was Asha who closed the door and she gave me the same secretive smile she had given me when she'd caught me checking out her butt earlier. I walked back to my place.

In the month that followed, I saw Shanthi and Asha often. Two days after our first meeting, they offered to cook me dinner – genuine Sri Lankan fare. We stayed up even later that night talking, our tongues a bit loosened by a nice bottle of wine from a vineyard on Waiheke Island. I felt very comfortable and very content in their company, as I hoped they felt in mine.

Several times a week, the three of us would get together and have fun. They showed me around the city and we did all the touristy things that I had read about and that they, having lived in the country all their lives, had never done. Some nights, we went to clubs. Other nights, we would see movies. One day, we took a ferry to the Bay of Islands and saw real, live dolphins swimming alongside the boat. Everything I did with Shanthi and Asha was a wonderful time.