Posted:
Apparently "An Affair" was awarded "OS of the Week" (back when this used to be an OS). Thank you.
SS: An Affair
Chapter 1:
A Not so Chance Encounter
She walked in, concealed in sunglasses and a lengthy scarf. It was well above 60 degrees. What is Ms. Farooqui hiding from today?
A clearly untrained spy, all too obviously followed her from behind. So this "what" was indeed a "who."
She entered, bringing in the dry air of the streets inside the diner with her. She got stares, only a few though. But to be quite honest, with her dressed like, that I was expecting more.
On cue, I dropped a red rose beneath my table. "A rose is a rose is a rose!" I recited Stein as I, with a harmless wink, handed it to a passing waitress who clearly knew little about poetry.
Staying clear of the range of eye-contact, she seated herself on the table right behind mine. With her back facing mine and the clear "intelligence" of the pathetic "spy," I'd assume it was safe to say, as they say in films, "the coast, was clear."
The same waitress walked passed me, this time she offered a wink. Suggestive. I hope she hadn't gotten any ideas.
Ms. Farooqui by the looks of it, leaned towards the coffee end of the spectrum, and I mean to say this because if anything she did not look like a "chai" girl. I had my money on "coffee" when she announced my defeat by ordering orange juice.
"It's a bad habit to make spurious judgements Mr. Khan," she whispered from behind.
"Good or bad, I'm not one to decide. But it is fun...most of the time,"
"Oh so there are exceptions?"
"Well..." my voice grew softer and softer, the British accent I was trying so hard to hide becoming more and more noticeable, "When the subject is as compelling as you are Ms. Farooqui...it becomes almost pleasurable."
"I'm going to be very honest Mr. Khan, you are a very good looking and quite compelling yourself, and this flirtatious banter is quite flattering. But my priorities outweigh my interest,"
"Aha, so there is an interest,"
Dodging the deduction she continued, "I believe we were here for some...business..."
"Of course," it was easy to get sidetracked by a woman, especially one as "compelling" as Ms. Farooqui. Not that I was though. But convincing anyone, opponent or confidant, that they have the upper hand will put you two steps ahead--by default. "The waitress is bringing your orange juice,"
"Great, you pay your bill and wait there, I'll get rid of this cartoon and meet you there,"
Placing a twenty on the table, I whispered, "I'll text you the plan,"
***
"I thought you were coming that way,"
"I read your plan, intricate, clever, but I think you were giving the dollar-store detective too much credit. I lost him through a method called 'using the backdoor.'"
"Very clever indeed Ms. Farooqui, now should we get down to business?"
"The flashdrive, I have it with me. The money, do you have it?"
"In the car, the flashdrive Ms. Farooqui," I held out my hand.
"Only if you tell me why you need it,"
"I would tell you Ms. Farooqui, if you told me why your going against your family to help me? There's got to be another motive."
"I asked first,"
Oh, so that's how she was going to play it? "Well in that case, I'll just have to steal the flashdrive myself. And to think you could've gone home with fifty th-"
"Are you telling me why or must I force it out of you?"
"Force it out of me?" I was intrigued.
She chuckled, it was attractive.
"A bomb. In your house. And you know what else is in your house Mr. Khan?"
"Ammi. Ms. Farooqui you wouldn't,"
"Wouldn't I? Your mom wakes up at 7 am. She has a blue pillow, but the important thing here is that she also has a red photo-frame. Above her bed. With a picture of you and your sister...Najma is it?"
"How do you know this?"
"Think about it, that frame is quite large. Large enough to hide a bomb for sure,"
"You're lying," I stated.
"Maybe you're right. But imagine Mr. Khan, how heartbreaking it would be to find out that maybe...I wasn't."
She teased with her thumb, inching closer and closer to the remote.
"Wait!" I decided not to test her waters any longer and began unbuttoning to reveal a scar. Left shoulder. "The doll factory bombing. 1990. 6 injured and 3 killed."
I noticed the eyes, her eyes, fog with a bit of sentiment. She muttered something along the lines of, "It's true." It lasted for less then 3 seconds and she returned smug.
"The flashdrive's in your pocket, put it there in the restaurant itself. I just wanted to know why. As for this remote, it's for my air conditioning. At home. My home. But you can keep that as well," she tossed, "You were right this time Mr. Khan, not that I second making spurious judgements. However I also believe this would be another exception for I doubt this was fun and I'm sure this was far from pleasurable."
"Well aren't you going to answer my question?"
"I have proposition Mr. Khan. How about l take the answer with me and you take the fifty thousand back with you?"
"I like my idea better,"
"Unfortunately it's not your choice," she headed for the exit.
"Should I assume it to be a token of love Ms. Farooqui?"
She stopped, her eyes turned to mine, and for a spit second we actually saw each other. "Please do not confuse this meeting to be any more than it is Mr. Khan,"
"And what is it?"
"A mere affair," she brushed my hair aside for a second and whispered, "Business or pleasure...is your call."
And with that she took her sharp citrus scent with her, out the door. Once again, she made me want to believe that it was all a lie, but alas her truth was far too scandalous.
***
A/N: You might be confused in terms of the story, but for the first time, it's not that important. Intended to be an OS, the details and the back-stories of the characters are not relevant, because this OS was intended to be solely an suspicious yet coquettish encounter with a backdrop that will most likely come across as confusing because I didn't develop it--mostly because I believe it's impossible to tell a good story only in one part (OS) so I believe in just snippets.
I do have a further story to turn this into an SS or FF, though I'm most likely not going to. Simply because I like the way I shaped these characters far too much I don't want to risk developing them illogically by accident or due to incompetence on my side.
Any mistakes are not intentional, it's almost 2 am. I just had to get this out, can't edit. Too sleepy.
-Shweta
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Index
Chapter 1: "A Not So Chance Enounter" Scroll Up
Chapter 2: "Top 'n Town" Page 4
Chapter 3: "A Common Ground" Page 6
Chapter 4: "Smoke" Page 7
Mannat Har Khushi Paane Ki
Cricket
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