Your reputation is mine

“Have you completely lost your mind?” Dave stood towering over Liv, amok. His eyes were fixed on her face, his mouth was dry and his head was spinning. Surely there is some misunderstanding, this could be a very stupid joke, just to get on my nerves. Yes that must be it, it’s a prank.

Liv turned to face him, horror-struck, her face slowly losing it’s usual pink, Her eyes were wide with terror and she placed her trembling hands on her cheeks. Speaking as if trying to restrain a shriek she said, “Gosh, I hope not. That will be truly unfortunate”.

It took more than few seconds for Dave to realize that he hadn’t quite followed her reply. Both of them stood gaping at each other.

“What???”. Dave eyes narrowed, still being on her.

Liv’s reaction however, was very quick. The old expression totally vanished to be replaced with mischief in eyes, head tilted to the right and a sly smile on her lips. “Was that dramatic enough for you or should I take it a notch up? By the way, I assume there is a justified reason behind your eyes popping out of your sockets like that. So tell me, how can I help you?”

“I’m not asking for your help, I am here to tell you not to mess it up more”, Dave was slowly calming down, still vexed enough though. Thinking that he was being little blunt, he added, “Please dude, please”.

“See now, that’s really tough. If I were to help, I might have failed. But messing up things is what I’m good at, this is not fair. Also I am still not sure where we are going with this conversation”

“This isn’t cool dude, this is not fair, this is not happening. We talked about it right? You, me, my friends. I explained you everything. You shouldn’t hangout with them. They can’t be trusted this much”.

“They are your friends. I am your friend. Hence by the law of transitivity your friends are my friends too. You are weird, one would be happy if his friends got along with each other”, Liv knew why Dave was panicking, but she was enjoying playing dumb. Whatever makes this boy talk.

“I am happy that you guys get along well. That’s good really. And you are the kind of person who will have a rendezvous with a stone if it were my friend…”

“I’m not sure WE will be friends if you were friends with a stone. I can barely tolerate you without symptoms of insanity. Just to be clear.”, Liv winked.

“Yeah okay, no stones. The point is, those people liked you. They found you very intriguing and useful in getting some juicy info on me. Now they are after my blood to setup another meetup soon and they want you to come as well. I can only imagine what plans they are hatching. Liv, I have a very serious and decent reputation in my social circle and I’d like to keep it that way. If these people caught you and came to know about all the crazy things we talk or do, they’ll skin me alive. I won’t have a moment’s peace, they’ll tease me to hell. Pleeeeeease don’t discuss me with them”, Dave just wished Liv would understand and he won’t have to give a reason because he himself had no solid one. He just had a strong feeling against the possibility.

“Okay Okay, stop snivelling dude. Those people are not paparazzi, neither are you a celeb. So just relax. Nobody gives a damn about who does what. Why are you so attached to your reputation anyway”.

“Everyone is concerned about their’s. You should be too for yours.”

“I have you, spare some concern on my behalf too. I’m kind of busy with more important things”, Liv chuckled. She had no intention to continue with this topic anymore. “Don’t worry, I got your back, Partner”.

“Hoff, thanks. I’ll tell them that you have other plans and won’t be joining us”, He didn’t know why he felt sad about it when he was the one who proposed this in the first hand. It wont be fun without her. Dude, tell me you have other plans and I must join you, I want to join you.

“Yeah sure. I would have declined anyway. I have a documentation to be completed. I’ll be slogging over it”, Liv replied very detachedly. Is he feeling bad for me? Do I need to tell him that I’ll be having fun so that he doesn’t feel guilty? Naah, why bother, let him suffer.

“Do you want me to stay back and help out? I can. No issues.”

“No I’ll do it myself, besides your documentation skill is pathetic”, she laughed.

Dave grinned.

lets be friends

“Do you have a friend?”

Dave raised his head to see who the inquirer was. Infront of him, stood a red haired girl with very deep low voice and eyes keenly fixed on the empty seat next to him. Her over-sized glasses stood at the tip of her tiny nose while she looked down. Suddenly without moving her head she lifted her gaze to look directly and sharply in his eyes. The dominance that marked her gaze, left Dave in a tizzy. It took him some seconds to recover and gather his thoughts back. What was she asking?

“Emm.. No.. no friend..”, Dave stammered. “I mean, I have friends. But this seat is vacant you can sit. If you want, that is. What kind of…”

“I got it”, smiling politely Liv cut him in the middle of his explanation which he was grateful for. He knew he would have only said something more stupid if he went on. He got back to checking their documents.

Liv sat looking around, absorbing the surroundings, the people around, the boy next to him. The surrounding was luxuriant, fully furnished auditorium with batches of comfortable chairs for the audience and a raise platform with speakers and dais and projection screen. The room smelled fresh and fragrant. It had a continuous buzzing sound of people talking in low anxious voices. Liv had no interest in people today. Her neighbour however, was an exception to this.

Liv stared shamelessly at him while he poured over his file paying no attention to her. The boy was handsome. Olive complexioned, dark brown eyes, short brown hair neatly combed with side parting. He had a slender figure with sharp, well-defined features. His thick eyebrows set in a crease showing signs of his concentration. He absent-mindedly moved his lips while reading through the content. He looked cute. Definitely not my type.

“You are an only child aren’t you?”

“Excuse me?”, Dave wanted to make sure what the question was about before he replied this time. Wow, this girl asks all sort of twisted questions with no cue. Weirdo. He could feel her gaze burning on his face. He felt uncomfortable.

Liv continued looking at him intently, with her usually slight lip curve and tilted head and no plans of explaining. She raised her eyebrows to emphasize that she was still waiting for the answer.

“Why do you ask?”

“Why do you not answer directly?”

“I don’t see how it is any of your business”.

“Ouch! you don’t have to get so cranky you know”, she joked.

What is with this girl. How desperate can she be. Super weird.

“Yeah you can either be paranoid, or you can give a straight forward answer in matter of seconds. My advice will be not to waste your time obsessing about what is wrong with me”, Liv replied smugly. She knew she was not making a very good impression at the moment. That’s okay, He’ll come to like me over time. They always do.

“No. I have an elder sister”.

“Oh nice. You seem to have come prepared for today. Were we supposed to do something as a prerequisite?”, she asked, eyeing his document folder, concerned. Have I missed anything else too? God, this day just keeps getting worse.

“Nope. Nothing required. The Induction session might begin anytime now. We’ll be probably sorted into batches and handed out flyers etc.. That’s what I have heard”, he replied. Now that he was talking to her he noticed that she wasn’t looking at him as before. Infact she was not looking at him at all. She was scanning the auditorium, watching people, with a slight lip curve and narrowed eyes. She might be looking for another seat. Perhaps I was very rude to her. Dave felt bad for being so blunt. All she had done was ask a couple of strange harmless questions. Nothing he could not have handled in a better way. If she goes away right now, he’ll never be able to wipe this out of the board.

“Hey, we didn’t do a proper introduction. I am Dave Martin”, he smiled at her, hoping she will smile back. She didn’t seem to notice. She was busy staring at the ceiling. “Don’t you find the lights above us a bit too intense? It’s literally a sun over our heads. You couldn’t pick a worse seat. We would have changed our place, but good ones are already taken, I’m not going for the front rows, and then there are a couple of those next to irritating chattersome girls”, she spoke in a matter of fact way.

“Tell me about that”, Dave muttered under his breath. “The lights look fine to me, I like to be in brightness. I picked it. But if you are uncomfortable then you can sit at the empty seat on the very corner of this row. It’s dim there”.

“I can’t leave you now”, Liv smirked. “You are too pretty to wander around alone. And with a brain as yours, I’m pretty sure you will bump into another idiot”.

“Thanks for your kindness, but I won’t be needing your help. I can take care of myself”.

“Who said anything about help. It will be fun to watch. I don’t want to miss the moment. Might even help me figure out why you don’t have any female friends”.

His jaws dropped. What is it with this girl. How did she know that. How can she know that. She never met me before. We haven’t been in the room for more than 20 minutes. Is she guessing again.

“Who are you?”

“Albert Einstein”.

“Okay, that explains the hair atleast”.

Liv looked at him in surprise. Witty and sarcastic, Great!. He wasn’t as dumb as he behaved. Brain works. She smiled.

“Call me Liv”.

Going around, coming around

“Oh god, not now, not again!”, whispered Olivia to herself. Tiny drops of sweat were forming on her forehead as she walked faster than her usual fast pace, muttering to herself every once in a while, “C’mon Liv, this is seriously disappointing. How the hell do you manage to get lost everytime, even in the tiniest of places”

The directions given by the Receptionist were very crisps and clear. “Take the right door and walk straight”. Also there were direction boards hanging from the false ceilings everywhere. Yes, that is as simple as it could be and yet I am cluelessly going around this place. Why is there no one with the same kind of confusion strolling around. Am I in the wrong section? Will I find a secret room here? Who knows, people in big buildings might be very evil. Maybe Nobody will find me locked for a week… Shut up.. Concentrate Liv, you were sent to school for a reason, read the useless signs and ask around.

“No!”, Liv’s brows furrowed. First day, and she didn’t want to look clueless already. She decided that she will find the stupid auditorium in that stupid building with her stupid determination. Or whatever. She might have a faulty internal GPS, she still had her stubbornness in up-and-running condition. She stopped, looked for anyone around. A couple of people just exited the corridor discussing something seemingly important. She straightened her back, chin up, sporting a clever little smile with spark in eyes and started walking briskly while looking for directions again. Within few minutes and a couple of right turns she was standing outside the door of auditorium.

“Now you listen to me Olivia Oakcrest, you have messed up enough for the day. This isn’t what we had planned for. You already look stupid, stop acting like one. Losing your way while coming to office was supposed to be the end of screw-ups. Now that we are finally on track, get inside, find a seat, sit and learn from the experts. And oh, find a friend who is good with remembering routes. You only need one. This shouldn’t be hard. How many idiots can a room contain at once, you’ll find one”, Liv felt a shudder as she pushed the thick wooden sound-proof door to enter.

One step inside and looking up she realized she was wrong. This auditorium could contain a lot more people than sitting there, and there were atleast a hundred people hushed into awkward silence while watching her enter.

Liv couldn’t believe her luck, she might as well be struck by lightening today. What is wrong with the world!

“Damnit”.

She walks in..

“Excuse me ma’am, can you direct me to the Auditorium. I have an induction session to attend”, a voice called out in a strange mix of request and authority that made the receptionist look up from her desk. Infront of her stood an average looking girl, panting lightly, with a heavy file stuck under her right arm while she checked her watch with the time showing on the clock against the opposite wall. She wore glasses that didn’t suit her face, her hair was made in a austere pony tail with ringlets coming out, which were unceremoniously pulled behind ears and showed signs of wind blown which she had not realized yet. Although the girl scaled on the chubby side yet somehow her shirt seemed loose for her, she didn’t seem to mind it either. She also sported a slight smile which gave a cheerful impression about her. Another new kid.

“Good morning ma’am, I am Rose. May I know your name?”, inquired Rose while checking the list on her system.

“Olivia Oakcrest”.

“Sure Ms. Oakcrest, take the right door on the far end of the room and go straight, you will have boards around the corridor to guide you to your destination. Please Submit your documents here and make an entry against your name in the register with the security person”.

“Thank you Ms. Rose, umm.. where will I get some water? I.. umm.. had a quick run to the office and had to climb stairs. So a bit out of breath”, Olivia explained sheepishly.

“You climbed Seven floors? We have lifts at the ground floor that you could have taken”, Rose looked at Olivia, shocked. She offered her water bottle out of concern. Olivia drank a small amount and put the cap back. Rose continued to observe her, still a bit confused. Who does that kind of thing, why would anyone do it. So that’s why she was panting when she came in.

“I guess I took different gate and came in from the wrong side of the building and then it was easier to climb than go around looking for directions to the lift. I was already running late and I didn’t want to waste more time. Besides, I could use a bit of exercise. Who knows what a loss of couple of 100 gram would do for me”, Olivia giggled. So did Rose.

“You have a beautiful smile Ms. Rose, Thanks for water, I hope to see you around”, Olivia gave a warm smile, a friendly nod and moved on with a purposeful gait.

Rose couldn’t help smiling more for the unexpected compliment. Olivia Oakcrest was not the usual new kid.

Just another boy meets girl story

Dave- Sweet, polite, generous, charming, stubborn, ambitious, handsome, tall and inquisitive

Liv- Witty, volatile, vicious, popular, headstrong, caring, chubby, casual, weird and curious

This is the story about how they found answers to their questions.

Getting Started with WordPress

I recently started my blog on WordPress and am new to working of any Blogging platform, so it took a lot of searching on Internet to decide how to begin. I’d personally recommend WordPress to a newbie for the simplest reason that it’s very convenient when it comes to setting up one’s blog and get the wheels turning. However, WordPress may not be the ultimate answer to all the requirements and specification you would want your Blog to have eventually. WordPress is atmost a very elaborate framework to facilitate creation/hosting of a blogging site/space. But, being an open-source CMS, it enjoys the characteristic of having a enormous range of plugins available to cater to more customized needs of the user. The best way to learn more about it will be by getting started at once and exploring along the way.

At the bar

“Can I get you something?”. Dave knew he’ll regret it even before words formed in his mouth, but this was getting really awkward. They have been sitting at the corner table of a bar with nothing to drink since past 45 minutes. Even the waitress had stopped bothering to attempt an approach for order. The Manager however couldn’t be so indifferent. He kept throwing anticipatory glances at them. “C’mon Liv, won’t you have anything?”

“No”.

“Seriously? Nothing?”

“You know I don’t drink. Why ask it at all”.  Liv turned to him bemused. The boy really was very stubborn. He wouldn’t give up easily. She liked it. Smiling at his confusion she added, “But I think you will fancy a drink so go ahead and order for yourself”.

“No I don’t feel like drinking today. Lemonade was good enough. Why do you even come to a bar when you don’t drink? We could go to library or museum or any other god forsaken place on planet to hang out”.

She knew, he wouldn’t let it go this time. She could see it building up slowly inside him. Liv felt a little irritation too. She really didn’t feel like talking at the moment, and somehow she was going to have a long Q & A round in a short while. She evaluated the situation at hand. Is there an escape route? Am I too fat to squeeze through that narrow space and dash out? Will I be able to out-run this idiot? Will it make things go away? Why do I have to bring him? Does he know he is my best friend? Is he in-expendable? Gosh. This is ridiculous. I’m not bringing him with me anymore.

“Dave, I don’t come to drink here. I come to have a quiet time. I didn’t intend you to not have a good time. By all means, enjoy. I am. This place is good. I like to watch people getting drunk actually. Now you know what to do to grab my attention”. She winked. He flustered. She laughed.

“Shut up”. He really felt very confused when she started teasing.

She laughed harder. Her usual belly laugh.

“You know Liv, my aunt used to say that people who can laugh from their heart are very transparent and simple. But you aren’t like that. You are weird and confusing. You don’t make sense to me. What is wrong with you?” He grinned knowing that he has nailed it this time.

“Has it ever occurred to you that the reason why I am unfathomable to you could be very simple and direct?”

“Enlighten me”

“You might be extremely stupid”

“Shut up!”

“I said ‘might’, that’s a possibility”, she chortled, “You are adorable Dave”.

“Yeah right. Thanks. Can we go now?”

“What already? We haven’t even ogled at girls yet”

“Gosh Liv, Enough for today, we are standing on the brink of our dear Mr. Manager’s patience. Have mercy. Lets go”

“Okay, as you wish”

She stood up and marched out the door without a second glance. Dave stood, stretched and paid for the order and walked out, knowing that she’ll be waiting outside. Will it kill her to walk slower, pace along with me. Who knows. She’ll come up with some crazy theory for it. God have mercy on me, I got a lunatic for a friend.

And it’s a new thing all over again…

I have always found myself surrounded with overwhelming choices of colourful outcomes. Needless to get into the details of all of them, but let’s just be content with knowing that I have endlessly been restless in pursuing any of it.

The reason being that at the back of my mind I have stories, events, histories, possibilities slowing bubbling to be chased. I guess, it’s time to chase them, share them, to put all the trivial abstract ideas to a broad spectrum of opinions.

I plan on achieving nothing more ambitious than just talking, boasting my tiny array of words of wisdom, all the random narrations, few proses, some quotes that inspire me and so on. In short, every random thing that comes to my mind

Let’s see how this goes..

All the best to me!