Chapter 4

Hullo Peeps. Sorry for the being AWOL. Truth is, this FF once had a story. And right now, I'm having a tad bit difficulty in finding it. But as someone once said to me It doesn't matter if you write nonsense, as long as you're writing.' This brilliant piece of advice was given to me by none other than my lil friend Kanks. I'm not sure those were her exact words but this is what I took from that. So lil Lady, this piece of nonsense is devoted to you.

Chapter 3: Don't do drugs

The first thing to float across his consciousness was the familiar tune that had long ago been universally popularized by an Italian- American plumber killing his way to rescue a princess. Sharon's obsession with the Super Mario Bros. had only escalated with age. Other games had followed later, but as they say - you never forget your first time. Her obsession with video games had metamorphosed into a passion and eventually she had orchestrated her entire career around it. Now, she ran a company of her own making wherein she developed her own videogames. Swayam, while incredibly proud of her, had taken an internal vow to never play the Super Mario Bros. again. That game had very quickly got on his nerves after he had seen Sharon playing it for the umpteenth time and even now, that irritating tune made him cry in anguish.

"If you must play that awful game at least have the decency to turn off that hideous piece of music!" said Swayam, getting up from what he perceived was his bed.

"Your aversion to this game is something I refuse to acknowledge. As far as I am concerned, you love this game." Said Sharon, her eyes still riveted to the screen of her Gameboy. "By the way, you'd be interested to know that you've been asleep for 12 hours now."

"You let me sleep for half a day!" said Swayam.

"You talk as though I have any hold over you." Scoffed Sharon.

You have no idea.

The thought flashed through Swayam's head before he could control it. And after that, he would reflect upon it for days to come.

"You wanna tell me what happened down the rabbit hole?" Swayam asked, clearing his throat a bit.

"Not much to tell." Sharon replied dismissively. After a minute though, she realized he wasn't having any of that.

"Well, so I had this Board meeting to discuss the launching of my latest videogame and everything was going swell till this idiot of a guy cuts right in during my presentation and bashes my product design saying and I quote It's not ostentatious enough!'. As if! He wants to shove my videogame down people's throats!" finished Sharon indignantly.

"He sounds like a pretentious douchebag." Commented Swayam.

"I know. I'm having lunch with him this afternoon." Said Sharon, off-handedly.

"What?" said Swayam, caught off guard.

"Well turns out he is the son of a board member, so he thinks he has the divine right to act like a stuck up Hufflepuff and weasel his way into my life by asking me to lunch. And I couldn't exactly say no. So..." Said Sharon, trailing off at the end.

"Well, that's a first. For as long as I've known you have always been able to come up with the most ridiculously elaborate lies to get out of things you didn't want to do. And now you tell me that you can't get out of a simple lunch? I'm not buying it." Declared Swayam, shrewdly.

"Fine! He may be a smarmy twat, but he is one hot smarmy twat." Said Sharon, grinning a bit.

"Wow. That's shallow, even for you." Commented Swayam, sinking back into the bed.

"Hey! I never said I was deep and complicated. I like simple." Said Sharon, returning to her game.

"I don't think you have the foggiest idea of what you like." Said Swayam.

"I agree." Said Sharon, distractedly.

"You're not listening to me anymore, are you?" asked Swayam, knowing full well that she wasn't.

"Uh-huh." Mumbled Sharon, her eyes riveted to the game.

"I'm wearing Spongebob boxers." Said Swayam.

"I know, right?" replied Sharon.

Sighing, Swayam sank back into the sheets.

*******

In the evening, Swayam felt the need to take a walk. Earlier, it was the only time that he would be completely alone for neither Sharon nor Rey were too fond of walks.

He realized that despite the different turns each of their lives had taken, they had still managed to stick together. They hadn't always been together, like the time, all three of them had gone to different colleges. They hadn't met quite as often but they had always kept in touch. By the end of it though, Swayam remembered realizing quite a few changes in each of their personalities. While Rey had loosened up a lot more and was even seen smiling more freely, Swayam remembered becoming more reserved. He wasn't as outspoken as before but neither was he as indecisive. Sharon, on the other hand, had become wilder than before, more untameable. She became unpredictable and slightly eccentric. Swayam soon realized that it was a direct effect of having discovered the genius in her. She had realized what she was brilliant at and had revelled in it.

"Hey man, you want me to hook you up?"

Swayam stopped reflecting long enough to notice a teenager looking at him, with a dubious mixture of suspicion and expectation. The boy's face was half-covered in a hoodie and his hands were conspicuously stuffed in his pockets, as though he was hiding something.

Swayam had one-quarter of British blood in him. And so, at irregular intervals, a polished politeness would burst forth from him.

"Just to be clear, sir, you want to sell me drugs?" clarified Swayam.

"I didn't say that." Replied the boy, looking a little taken aback.

"You shouldn't sell drugs." Said Swayam, preachily.

"Well it's way better than doing em." said the boy.

"Debatable. Do your parents know?" asked Swayam.

"What do you think?" the boy replied.

"Smart-arse, aren't you? Aren't you a bit young to be dealing in drugs?" asked Swayam.

"Look man, if you want some tell me otherwise I'll take my business elsewhere." Said the boy.

Before Swayam could continue with what he realized was a fairly pointless conversation, his phone began to ring. The boy backed up a little in alarm.

"Excuse-me sir, but I have to take this." Said Swayam, taking the call.

"How may I help you?" he said into the phone.

"Where are you?" asked Sharon, sounding a little distracted.

"Taking a walk." Replied Swayam, with a serene smile on his face.

"What the f- Is it the time to be taking walks?" asked Sharon, her voice rising a little.

"Well I had some time-" started Swayam.

"Look dude, do want some drugs or what? I have a really powerful one right here-" interrupted the boy.

"Swayam Shekhawat, are you doing drugs?" asked Sharon, sounding strangely quiet. "And if you are, tell me where you are so that I can come there and beat some sense into you."

"No Sharon, I'm absolutely not doing drugs." Replied Swayam, a bit offended. He turned to the boy and said, "Thank you, but I do not want to buy drugs." The boy shrugged and walked off.

"Well why aren't you here yet?" asked Sharon, impatiently.

"Why aren't I where yet?" asked Swayam, confused.

"At my house. You were supposed to pick me up." Said Sharon, sounding equally confused.

"For what?" asked Swayam.

"Oh didn't I tell you, for a party at my firm. We have to be there in an hour." Said Sharon.

"Sharon you can't just tell me that at the last minute. What if I had plans?" said Swayam, annoyed.

"You don't. So stop mewling like a girl and meet me at my house in 45 minutes." Said Sharon.

"You're very bossy," complained Swayam.

"You'll get over it. Now come." Said Sharon, hanging up.

Swayam turned around and started heading home. He had barely walked a few spaces when he saw the drug dealing boy returning towards him.

"Hey, can I have some water?" the boy asked, pointing towards the bottle of water that Swayam was carrying.

"Sure." Said Swayam, handing it to him.

The boy took a sip, thanked him and went on his way. Swayam didn't think much of the events of the evening so far. Little did he know that his evening was far from over yet.

*******

As Swayam walked up the steps, he felt a little breezy. For some reason, he felt strangely weightless. He knocked on the door serenely and smiled when Sharon opened it.

Sharon smiled at him, looked down, raised an eyebrow and looked back at him.

"You look dashing." She said, smirking a bit.

"Why thank you." Swayam replied, bowing a little.

"Of course, you'd look even more dashing if you had your pants on." Said Sharon, before bursting into raucous laughter.

*******