Fichain #5 (start date 20 Jul '23) - Page 4

Originally posted by: oh_nakhrewaali

I think Hinna is taking a segment, check previous page. Uske baad Shiri can aand after that me?

I forgot the story you both go ahead and then I'll join in when my brain works

Originally posted by: oh_nakhrewaali

I think Hinna is taking a segment, check previous page. Uske baad Shiri can aand after that me?

If not, jo bhi order hai of writing, let me know and I'll update it

Originally posted by: LizzieBennet

Bee isn't around to keep track?

If not, jo bhi order hai of writing, let me know and I'll update it

Let Shiri confirm if she is writing next, then me. Agar she can't, toh whoever takes the next part, uske baad main.

Sorry for the continuous tags, Shiri🤣

Also, can our random posts be moved to some other thread or something, thread is kinda cluttered

I'll write the next, by Monday pleaseee

Segment #3

"Amyra, this whole thing was planned by our parents, but I want to ask you, do you want to get married? To me?" Vikram asked instead.

Amyra looked at him for few seconds. Did she? She knew Vikram since childhood. He was a gentleman. His business was shaping up nicely and he would be rich one day. Very rich. A millionaire, to be precise.

"Amyra?" She heard Vikram's voice. "Where are you lost?"

"Nothing," She said trying a forced smile. "Do you want to get married to me?"

"I wouldn't be sitting here if it was otherwise, no?" He raised his eyebrows.

"Why, Vikram?"

"Because you are smart, beautiful. You are doing well in your career. Hey, we can collab with something in future. How exciting would that be!"

But was it all enough for them to get married to each other?

She wanted to ask, but for some reason she lost her vocabulary. Vikram was a nice guy and she didn't want to hurt him.

"Hey, Myra! We can really try for some project in which we can work together. That may help us to know each other better. I mean, of course we know each other but not as partners. And business partnership is a great start to life partnership."

Vikram spoked and laughed at his own joke. Was it even a joke?

Amyra sighed. Jokes are what Suyash cracked. They are just like him, stupid. But they make you laugh. He always made her laugh. Actually, everything about Suyash made Amyra laugh.

"Are you smiling at my joke, or you are thinking about someone else?" Vikram asked snapping Amyra out of her thoughts.

She looked at him shocked. Did she really just miss Suyash while on a date with Vikram? The man she was meeting for a marriage proposal?

Was on earth did she realise just now?

Segment #4

"So, how was your date?" Amyra asked, hugging her favorite Koya plushie, sprawled on her bed.

Suyash shrugged, his focus still on his phone.

"You have to give me something. Is she fun?"

"Why are you talking like a 60 year old?"

Amyra threw the plushie at his head, but missed.

"Kriti is fun" He airquoted the last word and looked up.

"We are going to that new Korean restaurant that's opened up in Juhu, this Sunday, wanna come?"

"Are you asking me to be a third wheel?"

Suyash shook his head.

"Sorry, didn't realize. We always make plans together, so...force of habit."

"How was your date?" He asked as he kept the phone aside.

"You could have asked that after I got married to Vikram." She deadpanned.

"So you like him?" He asked, his eyes wide with excitement.

Amyra had to gather every ounce of self control to not wince at the reaction.

"I don't know, I was being sarcastic. Besides, I don't think I know him."

"You have known him for ages."

"Yes, but that's different. I don't know him, like I know...you?" She said and looked keenly at his face. He stared back for two seconds and then shrugged.

"Isn't that's what arrange marriages are all about? You have all the time in the world to know each other."

Amyra sighed and nodded. This wasn't the reaction she had hoped. But then, maybe it was a sign, maybe Suyash wasn't as conflicted as she was, about this whole thing, about them.

"I got to go, Maa is texting. Pretty sure she'll make me buy some groceries on the way. Bye!" Suyash jumped from his chair and was out of the huge bedroom within seconds.

Amyra buried her face in the pillow, trying to stop the memories of last week to stop resurfacing, but unfortunately for her, they were imprinted on her brain.

*A week earlier*

Amyra walked to the front door, dressed in her designer knee length floral dress and wavy hair bouncing her shoulders.

"Dad, I am going out with Suyash and Lisa. Bye." She said to her parents who were in the living room with a guest, his back to her.

"Where are your manners, Amyra?" Her mother asked and she stopped walking.

"We have a guest." Ashwini Roy continued.

"Hi, Amyra." Vikram Sehgal waved and then stood up. He put his hand out for a handshake. Amyra shook hands and smiled.

"I am sorry, didn't see you."

Arvind Roy rolled his eyes at his daughter.

"You are the head of a PR company, atleast learn to lie properly." He laughed and Vikram smiled.

"With that hilarious joke, I got my cue, I should leave now." Amyra looked at her mom.

"Actually, you should take Vikram with you." Ashwini answered.

"No, aunty..."

"Sure." The younger people spoke together.

"I don't mean to go impose, really." Vikram said, his expressions were as if he was scared of her.

"Look, just because I bullied you as a kid, doesn't mean I'll do it now. I have grown up."

"No, that's not..." But he was already dragged out of the mansion. He turned to wave at Amyra's parents, who threw him a thumbs up that Amyra didn't see.

-------

Idk if we have last names, but I am trying my best to skip names with S,A,V, and Y (Idk if Bee made a subconscious name of picking our lead names with Y in them) but obviously the parents and kid will share same letters. I think in some cultures the husband's family gives a new name to the wife, usually with same initial as the dude, so mommy and daddy share initials with MY here.

Koya is a BT21 toy, it's by BTS.

If Vikram is rich, his parents would choose a rich Dil, duh, so My is floating in the moneypool.

The last para in Bee's part hinted at even Suyash being on a date.

I know My looks a bit in her head in the last para, but that's a build up to her stupidity.

Also, is it just my mom who makes me buy groceries on my way home? How does the milk finish the second I step out, Mom?

-------

Summary for Segment 4

While Suyash's date went well, Amyra is left conflicted.

She remembers how she invited Vikram to a party with Suyash and their friend Lisa

Love the way the story is going!

Nice build-up. Who's next?

PS: I'll summarize the story so far and add open ended plot points that can be taken further in a while.

Meanwhile, if anyone wants to take the next segment(s) please go ahead.

Ladies, I have an idea brewing in my head... can I do the next one?

If I don't post in 24 hours, you guys carry on.

Segment #5

....*The Week earlier*....

The party had been going great until the slow dancing began. And she found herself dancing with Suyash. God, he smelled good. He always had, that was what had attracted Amyra to him in the first place when they'd met at that comic-con and bonded over their love for anime, music and TV shows. They'd had little else in common - he was an IT professional aspiring to be an animation film-maker. She worked in her dad's PR firm. But they had hit it off immediately and their friendship had progressed with the speed of a freight train.

However, she had never been this close to Suyash physically & her senses were overwhelmed. Of course bad BO was a turn-off for anyone, but in Amyra's case it went a step further. Her olfactory instincts were powerful. So powerful that they told her things about a person. For most people it was how someone looked or spoke or behaved or carried themselves but for Amyra how someone smelled was the clincher. And Suyash smelled...delicious. A mix of cedar and smoke and bergamot and soap and something so uniquely... him. He never wore heavy perfume and she liked that he didn't so it didn't mask his natural scent.

She had buried her nose into his chest and taken a long whiff, a smile playing on her features as she felt herself being turned on like she had never been. Maybe she had even made a small noise when inhaling deeply. It was then that he had stopped moving. She hadn't even realized it, she had been too busy sniffing him like a ravenous bloodhound. Her eyes heavy-lidded and her body heated with a strange hunger she had never felt, Amyra had looked up at him in confusion and that smirk on his face had made her heart plummet as low as it had soared high a moment ago. Her slow death by mortification had begun.

"What on earth are you doing?" he had asked, amusement dancing on his face and she had mumbled something lame. She hadn't even been able to come up with a good excuse - he had addled her brains. And it had been death by degrees, since Lisa had noticed too and was grinning at her from afar. Thank God Vikram hadn’t seen her self-sabotage.

It was after that night that Suyash had begun calling her MY teasingly after Miyu, an anime vampire princess they were both fans of, even saying she looked like her. Amyra hated that nickname now almost as much as she hated that loss of control on that day. How could she have behaved like that?

She had been so good at hiding it so far- her weird 'gift'. Only it had never felt like a gift. Once she had made the mistake of confessing it to her best friend, Moneesha in high school. The entire school had started howling and woofing when she came around, calling her 'Tommy' and 'Lassie' and throwing biscuits at her. She had sobbed in the bathroom stall for hours and decided never to tell anyone ever. Not even her parents knew.

Though she did make use of her instincts for their benefit. Like warning her mother not to hire that shady cook or telling her dad not to sign on Kuldeep Bhamra, the star hockey player. He had been caught out on match fixing allegations soon after. She could tell when someone was 'off' by the way they smelled. Which was a unique and useful gift but also so weird that no one would get it. Even Suyash, who was her best friend, had laughed at the slightest hint of it and she had lost all confidence, she could never tell him the truth.

---*** ---

And now she hadn't seen Suyash in a week. That was the longest they'd ever gone without meeting. Nor had he called or texted. Where was he? Amyra sighed as she glanced longingly at her phone, and typed.

Should I file a missing person's report? Or are you too wasted to recall basic social etiquette?

She erased it and stared at Vikram's texts. She had left him on read. He wanted her to go to this high-profile party with him. She knew it was rude to ignore him but she couldn't bring herself to say yes. She rubbed her forehead tiredly, berating herself for her indecisiveness. There was nothing wrong with Vikram. He was good-looking, personable. ambitious and she supposed intelligent as well. He must be to have gotten a dual degree in media and management from Boston. No wonder her father wanted him on board. That partnership wouldn't be a bad idea...but Vikram as a life partner? That was a whole different ball game. She may have gone out with him because of the lingering guilt she felt at how she'd treated him when they were kids and had gone to the same school for a year before his family had moved to Delhi. But to marry him? Something was holding Amyra back. His scent was just so.. off.

Her phone buzzed and she sat up excitedly when she saw Suyash's name flash across her screen.

"Where have you been?" She sounded breathless. Play it cool, Amyra!

"Sorry for being AWOL .. I just.." He sounded a bit breathless himself. She heard the familiar ping of his favorite video game in the background and a woman's voice calling out to him impatiently.

"Listen, there's someone I want you to meet."

"Kriti?"

"Who?" A pause. "Oh..no. no.. she was too much 'fun' for me, remember?"

She giggled.

"So, will you come? Tomorrow? 4 pm, Daffodil Cafe?"

"Okayyy... but aren't you going to tell me who I'm meeting?"

"MY... you're an impatient little thing, aren't you?" he laughed. "Hold your fangs. You can sink them into her tomorrow. And don't forget to sharpen those...erm.. nostrils! Hey, it's my turn!" he yelled at whoever he was playing with - a girl - and hung up with a laugh.

Amyra threw her phone across the bed, punching hard at her pillow. Gah! 'My' again! Bloodhound.. vampire.. what was next?

The next day, she spent an hour fussing over her dress and her appearance. For Gods' sake, Amyra.. he's bringing you to meet someone. It's not a date!

When she got there, Suyash waved her over, grinning and rising to meet her. So did the woman with him and Amyra transferred her gaze to her. She was tall. Almost as tall as Suyash. She towered over Amyra. And stunning. Slim, with long, dark, hair hanging to her tiny waist and exquisite features that looked as if she was sculpted from marble. Not a blemish scarred her perfect face. And she was dressed to the hilt in a tight blue dress and boots. Amyra immediately felt dowdy before her.

"Amyra Roy. Tilottama Ghosh."

To her complete surprise, the woman walked up to her and caught her in a tight hug.

"Please call me Tutu. I'm so happy to meet you. Yash talks about you all the time!"

Tutu. Yash. So intimate already! That look of absolute adoration on Suyash's face had not escaped her. And at the same time, she was conscious of another horrible thought. This woman smelled all wrong.

-----------------------------------------------

I wanted to bring in that pre-occupation Amyra had with Suyash's scent that Bee wrote about in some way. I also wanted to tie that in with the embarrassing incident. Then I read about people who are genetically sensitive to smells - a condition known as 'hyperosmia'. There were also some studies on how you can tell personality types based on how someone smells. It felt quite fascinating to me. Hence this segment.

Also, I have no clue about the anime world and found Miyu by accident when I was Googling for a reference.

Tagging some more writers in case you feel like doing a segment

P.S. Have also updated the characters' list summarizing the story so far in Bee's res post here