Translucence - Finished. - Page 96

Originally posted by: pushpi

Heyy,

So all I've done in the day today at work is read the entire story :-D

It's fantastic! Truly one of a kind

Please PM me too when you update. I'd love to read more

Are nana ben tame ahiya kevi rite?

Glad to bump into you...

Nice part...
Maan n Damini's convo was good...

Updt soon.
Thanks for the pm.

Sookie, I just caught up on all the updates that I had hoarded up for reading over the past couple of weeks.

I know that it is unfair to you as an author, but I had a wonderful time reading all the updates at one go.

Well, if it's any consolation to you, *your* Emily has shot up the ladder of "my most favourite character" of the series, and has "almost" toppled Geet from her spot there. And, all because of the typewriter and her concern for the typists and secretaries of yesteryears. You really do love the character of Emily Prentiss, don't you?

What I really like about your characters is that they react and respond realistically. Observe them under a particular prism of experience and point of view, and discover and discern the different colours (reactions and responses) that each of them emit. Kudos for offering a prismatic view of all the characters!!

nice story

it is good to see he wil make an attempt to develop a bonding with his mother

Originally posted by: hegdemedha

Well, if it's any consolation to you, *your* Emily has shot up the ladder of "my most favourite character" of the series, and has "almost" toppled Geet from her spot there. And, all because of the typewriter and her concern for the typists and secretaries of yesteryears. You really do love the character of Emily Prentiss, don't you?

So Geet is your favorite? May I know why?

Originally posted by: Newdime

Are nana ben tame ahiya kevi rite?

Glad to bump into you...

Hey Di!

"Will this work?" He asked for nineteenth time.

"Do you want me to say no?"

"No, seriously, will this work?" He was now being whiny but who could blame him? He was too darn scared of the plan.

"It will work and you will pass this date with flying colors!" Exuberance was oozing from the voice; and also ask-me-again-and-die impatience.

So here he was, in front of her apartment at seven in the morning on a beautiful Sunday.

"Good morning." Her voice brought him back to present and when looked up from the floor, he couldn't take his eyes off her.

"You are awake and fresh and neatly dressed this early in the morning?" He blurted out. Maan had vouched that Emily was a late riser.

Emily looked baffled.

"I mean I remember you used to sleep in on holidays," he amended very soon. He mentally patted himself on his back for a quick comeback.

"I used to but now I hit gym early in the morning so by this time of the day, I am all set," she replied slowly looking at Satya as if he was an escapee from psychiatric ward.

Satya was cornered.

"So you are not sleeping in?" A panic was setting in. This was going al wrong.

"As you can see, I have already showered and dressed. What's going on? You are acting weird." Annoyance was creeping in her voice.

Satya stammered a response. He opened and closed his mouth to come up with a coherent response but nothing really did.

"Come in," she finally took pity on him and invited him. He sighed deeply and decided to kick himself later. This was one of the worst ideas ever. And to think, it was his job to come up with ideas.

"Do you want to go on a drive and get some breakfast on the way?" Satya asked brightly, recovering from the initial mishap jumping into phase two.

"Sure. Why not? Let me get my purse," said Emily. He wanted to slap himself silly. Of course she would say that.

"You are okay to go out in hot sun?" Satya asked unnecessarily.

"You just said that we are going on a drive and get breakfast on our way, right?"

"That's correct."

"Drive as in going in a car."

"Yes."

"It will be your car right?"

"Yes."

"Which is covered from all the sides - doors and top?"

"Of course."

"And hopefully it's equipped with a fully functional AC?"

"Definitely."

"Then from where the fu*k sunshine comes into picture?" Emily asked.

The score was now 2-0 in Emily's favor.

"I am getting my purse and by the time I come back hopefully so does your sanity," she replied in a caustic tone and disappeared inside the house.

Satya did the only thing he could ever think of.

He sent a distress signal to Maan. The signal was received, deciphered and immediately responded.

'Tough luck. You are on your own.' Satya grumbled in frustration. His friend-boss hadn't helped him an ounce with his response.

He truly hated Maan for planting this stupid idea in his head. 'It worked with Geet so it will work with Emily too and Emily is Geet's friend so how different can they really be?' That was the logic behind Maan's plan and Satya hadn't seen anything wrong with it.

The plan was quite simple. Go to Emily's house early in the morning after working late into the night. She would be tired so will be sleeping in. And then ask her to go on drive which she will refuse and then cook her something nice since she is a horrible cook. Spend rest of the day cuddling in front of TV and watch cute romantic comedy movies.

It was pathetic that Satya had taken less time to draft a new contract for their latest vendor than coming up with this plan. But now he was seeing the plan crumbling in front of his eyes.

And he hated Maan from the bottom of his heart. No. He hated Maan from the bottom of his socks since they were quite far from his head thus increasing in 'hate' quantity.

"Let's go," Emily said coming in which was totally missed by Satya. In his grumbling and mumbling he didn't realize it.

"I hate Maan," he blurted out.

"Glad to know. Do you want to go to his place and then kiss and make up with him?" She asked raising an eyebrow.

Satya shook his head vigorously.

"Are there any more declarations that you are going to make or can we get going?" She asked.

"No. Right. Let's go," he said hurriedly and walked out of the apartment.

"Where are we going?" Emily asked as Satya pulled out of the apartment complex.

"Hmm... how about beach?"

"Beach? On a Sunday morning?"

"Is that anti-constitutional?" Satya blinked.

"There are eight five thousand four hundred and thirty two people having the same idea as yours."

"How did you arrive at that number?"

"You are missing the point Satya." Satya was quiet for several moments.

"Is there a website that tracks the people who are on beach at any given moment?" He was genuinely trying to find out the reason.

Emily sighed. Loudly.

"Oh! You made up that number!" Satya exclaimed realizing a bit late. "Have you noticed how most people generally use a round figure as a random number?" He asked.

"I am not most people," Emily deadpanned. Satya finally got the hint.

"Anywho...what's wrong in going to beach?" Satya asked hoping that at least this time she would give him a proper answer.

"It will be crowded, for one. And then there is going to be traffic leading up to the beach. You will have to struggle a lot to get a decent parking space. After which we could actually get into beach that is filled with noise, food and people. I don't like sand getting on my feet as I get incredibly itchy. The salty breeze deposits kilograms of salt from the ocean in my hair. And then..."

"Alright, I got the point. Beach is out," Satya cut her off. Emily smiled happily.

"How about we simply drive?" Satya asked tentatively after moments.

"Where?" She asked immediately.

"Outside the city?" Satya changed his answer to a question in the end.

"And what do we do when you are driving?" Emily asked looking at him. Satya chanced a glance at her and wondered if she was being sarcastic or honest. By the looks of it, she honestly wanted to know.

"Err...it's like any other drive Emily. We can talk, listen to music, appreciate the nature, stop to eat on the way and can even detour to appreciate the beautiful countryside," Satya replied.

"What do we talk about?" Emily asked.

"Anything you want."

"Can we talk about the decommissioning of...?"

"No work related talks," Satya interrupted.

"Then what?"

"Hmm...movies, for example."

"The movies you watch suck. And you neither understand nor appreciate the kind of movies I watch." Emily shrugged. "It's the same with music too actually." She added as an afterthought killing another probable activity.

"We can talk about ourselves," Satya offered feebly.

"Like what?" She asked, question evident in her gaze. "We have known each other for far too long to have that kind of 'talk' now," she said air-quoting 'talk'.

"And it's too hot to roam around, right?" Satya asked. Emily nodded.

Satya sighed.

"Emily, if you don't like the concept of a drive, why did you agree?" He asked slowly losing patience.

"Because you asked me to come," she said as if he was asking what was two plus two. Satya slowed down the car and parked it.

He stared at her for full thirty seconds.

"You are creeping me out," she said looking worriedly. "Are you okay?" She asked again, concern evident in her voice.

Her answer had surprised him. She had agreed to go on a drive just because he asked. She had not put in her own thought process on it before agreeing to what he had asked for. She was simple in that way. It warmed his heart when thought about it. He hadn't even asked what she really wanted to do on her off day but had just whisked her from her home.

"What do you want to do Emily?" He asked her gently. If Emily was surprised at the change in his tone, she didn't show.

"What did you plan to do today?" He asked her again rephrasing his question.

"Play video games, eat junk food and probably watch a decent horror movie," she answered looking at her lap. He chuckled at her answer. Of course she would like these things. For days he had for forgotten that it took very less to make her happy. He idiotically believed that years of exposure in corporate world had changed her preferences. He was secretly glad that she hadn't changed much from the girl who he met in college.

Satya unbuckled the seat belt, leaned over and kissed her cheek.

"Let's go home then."

"We aren't going for a drive then?" She asked.

"No, we are going back to your place to play video games and eat junk food and watch horror movies. Not that I enjoy the last item in this itinerary." He replied casually.

"I know you are scared of horror movies Satya. I'll hold your hands when you shriek like a little girl," she was being pretty charitable in her kindness. Satya merely scowled.

"Thanks Satya," Emily said after ten minutes of comfortable silence. He didn't answer but only glanced at her questioningly.

"I really wanted to spend some time with you. It's really nice being with you," she said looking away from him, smiling. He smiled at her words and felt content with his company.

It didn't matter how they spent their time as far as they were together, he thought.

"I am so going to kick your ass in my latest war game," Emily said dreamily, few moments later.

And just like that they were back to arguing who was the better tactical player and who was the better strategist, killing the serenity that had enveloped them in its warmth.

Romanticism was highly overrated.