James was lounged on a big revolving chair that was at the corner of the room. He had earlier tied a clean, white towel around his head. His upper body was shirtless and he wore just a pair of red shorts.A cold glass of whine was between his left hand while the other hand held on to a wrap of cigarettes.James had always been a light smoker. Sometimes, it took him as long as three weeks to finish up a packet of just 12 sticks other times, it took him longer. But, ever since he moved to the new country on the business trip, he found himself smoking more frequently and heavily too.It helped him to deal with the stress that came from the unending meetings. Twice he has called his daughter, Elise but both calls went to voicemails. That morning, he decoded to give it a try and call Elise again.As his feet dangled from the rocking seat, he could feel the cold breeze from the window caress his legs. His hotel room had a back door that opened up to the ocean behind. The hotel was built ve
Her father gave her a puppy dog look and he nodded. Then, the next moment, the both of them burst out laughing.She wanted to tell her dad that he shouldn’t have taken the risk of returning home in a public vehicle because he was becoming a known figure and he could be recognized in public but she chose to be quiet again.Elise led her father to one of the couch in the living room and she whipped her head around to face her friend. She smiled apologetically. “I’m so sorry, Stacy” She said as she gestured towards her father “I got so carried away by the sight of my father that I forgot to introduce you both to each other”Her father waved it off “It’s nothing.” He smiled at her.Elise insisted that she should have introduced them both and she asked Stacy to come over to where she sat with her father.After Stacy joined them, Elise cleared her throat loudly and stood up. She grabbed one of Stacy’s wrist and said, “Dad, here is Stacy. She’s one of my closest friends at school. She’s a r
The conversation felt really awkward and strained for both of them.It seemed like they unanimously decided not to talk about the issue that had caused Elise to choose not to talk to Richard for a week.Richard did not want the phone call to linger beyond what he could handle. He only wanted to tell her what was on his mind and then, end the call.“How is your health? Do you still have the sleep complications?” He asked gentlyShe replied him and after a minute of trivial talk, he told Elise that he was going to travel the following day.She was quiet and did not say anything.Silence dominated the call as both of them remained quiet, waiting for the other to talk. When Richard saw that she was not doing to say anything, he asked her if she heard what he just told her.She affirmed it and told him that it was okay if he wanted to travel.“Are you sure about that?”“Yes, Richard” Elise said, fighting back the urge to cry. The last seven days without Richard had been hectic on her and n
The following day, Elise decided to get some beach outfits from fashion store that Stacy had recommended to her. Shortly after they arrived there, Stacy excused herself so she could visit her optician at a clinic down the same street.Elise remained inside the fashion store for about, half an hour as she made her choice over numerous brightly colored bathing suits and beach outfits.…. ….As Richard walked down the aisle of the large coaster bus, he spotted a vacant seat at the extreme end and he made his way towards it. He settled into the seat and dropped his bag on his thighs.His dark sunshades were still on his face and he was pleased that he had remembered to take it along. Richard always wire a frown whenever he was out in public and he loved the confused look that strangers always threw at him. It gave him a feeling of mystery.Now, as he leant his head on the small glass window of the bus, he did not care about impressing any random stranger or trying to get them to wonder wh
Richard spent a few more days at his master’s house. Before he left his master Kai was already strong enough to go out of bed and he had already started moving around his house without any help. There was a small temple that he had built over 30 years earlier, that was long before Richard became a part of his life.The temple was where he held his meditation sessions. He spent a lot of time inside the temple, searching deep into his mind and talking to himself. He had asked Salome to lock up the temple because he was ill but now that he regained his health back, he resumed his activities at the temple.Richard was pleased with Master Kai. The morning that he was about to leave his master, they had an intimate conversation together. The sun was high in the sky but the trees and bushes vegetation around the small house made everywhere cold. Occasionally, they would hear the loud cry of a wild animal from the nearly woods.The entire place was cold. Unusually cold and dusty too.Master
He had noticed that she was not as chatty as she used to beShe kept her eye on her phone and was reserved ever since they arrived at the airport.He opened one of his bars of chocolate and took a bite of it, and he deliberately stained his lips with the chocolate. Elise took just one look at his face and started to giggle like a toddler.She laughed so hard because each time she explained that he had the dark, chocolate on his upper lips, he would only end up wiping the wrong place. He smiled within himself when he saw that his plan had worked out and Elise was now out of her shell.When they got back to where Susan and James were, the passengers for their flight were instructed to get into the airplane, and they were just in time to join the others.Throughout the period of the flight, Elise’s mother made it a personal goal to attack Richard. She was fuming because of their sitting arrangements. Richard took the window seat and Elise occupied the seat besides him.Just across thei
That morning, it was James who drove himself and his daughter to the suburban part of the city; that was where his mother was buried.His wife’s fears were how her daughter would get on a public bus, but James repeatedly asked to put her mind at rest. He had plans on driving his daughter with a car that he had rented from one of his friends. He kept it a distance away from the house the previous day.Shortly, after the argument about him taking Elise along with him to his mother’s grave, He excused himself from the house and left for an hour. Before he left the house, he urged Elise to be prepared. He told her that he was going to take her on an actual date.Soon, The doorbell of the small house rang.Susan headed to the door to check who it was while her daughter, Elise, trotted behind her to know who was at the door.When they opened up the door, it was Elise’s father, James. He was wearing a grey colored suit and he had his arms behind him.His face lit up as soon as he saw Elise
When Susan met the other woman and asked to have a word with her outside the rowdy club house, she took one look at Susan before she turned away and gulped some beer from the bottle on her left hand.From where Susan stood, she could see the bloodshot eyes of the younger lady and she knew the best way to get her.Susan smiled to herself. She was more than prepared. After spending more then an hour at the club without any fruitful moment, Susan was determined to not let the lady slip out of her hands.Susan shoved her hand into her handbag and took out a small bundle of money. She waved it the younger lady’s face.The other lady froze. Her mouth dropped open as she stared at the money. Her eyes went round with surprise and her expression softened.Susan leaned in close to her and repeated her request.Instantly, the other lady agreed. She took one long draw of what she was smoking before she threw it to the floor and stepped on it.Susan smiled.She couldn’t believe how easy it was for