Change of URL

For these and more such posts,please check http://animeshsri.wordpress.com

The Known Stranger Part-2

Soon, they were talking about their lives since they had last met. Kelly, because of her experience as a high school teacher and great personality, was now a career counsellor. She also taught kindergarten students as a hobby.

As the train slowed to a stop, somewhere in Brooklyn, she started getting ready to get off.

"Would you like to have a cup of coffee with your old teacher?" she asked Steve. The next day was an off day, so Steve agreed.

They walked from station to Kelly's apartment and relived some memories from his high-school over hot mugs of coffee. Soon, they were swapping tales from their work over some wine.

"...and if I can pull this assignment through then I will be the head of my group," Steve told her, draining his glass again.

"I am sure you will you can do it Steve. Let me get you another drink," she said, taking his glass. As she stood up, she staggered and fell right onto Steve's lap. They both looked at each other and started giggling.

Steve suddenly became aware that his hand was on her waist, under her shirt. He was mesmerised by the soft skin there. She was still a very attractive women. All  his teenage fantasies came rushing back to him. He was aware of how aroused he was.

He looked at her face. She had stopped laughing and was looking at him with a curious and nervous expression on her face. He knew she could sense his feelings. Still unsure of what to do, he slowly moved his hand. She moaned. He moved his hand upwards, and she moved on his lap, causing amazing feeling go through his body. He couldn't hold himself any more. He leaned in and closed the distances between their lips......

When Steve woke up the next morning, he was startled to find himself naked in an unknown place. Then he looked around and saw Kelly sleeping by his side, a stray strand of hair on her face. He remembered the last night and tucked the stray strand behind her hair, smiling. He got out of the bed slowly, so as to not wake her up and started getting dressed.

"Where you off to?"he heard a sleepy voice.

He looked around and saw her getting up. He kissed her forehead and said,"I need to go home and change."

"Will you be back?"

"Sure dear. You sleep for some more time," he said kissing her on the lip this time.

"Ok. Can you do me a favour?  Will you drop a package for me on the way?"

"Sure," he said, then took the package and the address and left. He was feeling very happy as he walked to the station. It had been a great night, and he couldn't wait to get back.

"NYPD! Get down on your knees now!" Suddenly, he was surrounded by cops and sniffer dogs. He was bewildered, but did as told.

His pockets were searched, and the package he was carrying for Kelly was opened and checked. It contained some white, powdery stuff. A senior looking officer stepped forward and said,"Mr. Steve McKay, you are under arrest for illegal possession of drugs," and he was handcuffed.

Steve was shocked as he was taken for interrogation. In his panic, he blurted out Kelly's name and address. He didn't know what he would tell her when she was brought here.

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

Meanwhile, a dark tinted Chevrolet Camaro, carrying a man and a woman, raced towards the airport.

"That was a close escape," the man said.

"Yeah, I knew the police were getting onto something, so it was necessary," the woman replied.

"What about the boy?"

"Ahh..well, I am sorry it had to be my sweetest student. May Steve be released soon. But lets not worry about that and head to Hawaii."

The Known Stranger Part-1

Just as the doors of the underground were about to shut, a man leaped in panting heavily. He had apparently run for it. Murmuring a few apologies to the people around, he found a seat and sat down.

Steve, a 30-year old accountant with one of the leading firms of the country, was seen as a promising prospect, a diligent worker, smart while planning, witty with friends, polite with superiors, courteous with colleagues and subordinates, not really handsome, but a gentleman with the ladies and a flirt at clubs.

As he got settled comfortably on his seat, he started observing people around him. When travelling, he enjoyed observing people and thinking what their stories might be, an imaginative exercise based on observation, done just as a pass time, not necessarily correct or even close to being correct. In fact if all his stories were correct, then the city of New York would have had more masked vigilantes or hidden mafia-lords or undercover agents than normal people!

He noticed a woman sitting a few seats away from him. Middle-aged woman, in her early 40s probably, must have been quite beautiful in her youth and still retained the grace and beauty that would be a subject of envy for many young women and a lesson in ageing beautifully for the older ones. She was dressed casually in a pair of jeans, white shirt and a brown leather jacket, carrying a small handbag. Somehow, she seemed familiar. Steve tried to think where he had seen her but couldn’t recall immediately.

Just then, she looked up to check the stops and he recognised her. She had been one of his teachers back in high school! She was the youngest teacher in the school, and rather attractive too. She was always a subject of gossip among the teenage boys who had just hit puberty, and a role-model-of-sorts for the girls. He too, was rather fond of her, as he had been called to carpet quite a few times by her. But since he had been a good student, he also shared a good rapport with her. And like every other boy in his school, he too had had a crush on her.

He got up and walked upto her.

“Good evening, Miss Rogerson.”

She looked slightly taken aback at being addressed so formally by an apparent stranger.

“You probably didn’t recognise me. I am Steve McKay. I was in your literature class in 1998 in The Country Side High School,” he told her when she didn’t reply for a while.

“Oh yes! Pardon me, Mr. McKay, but I couldn’t recognise you immediately. How are you?”

“I am fine ma’am.”

“I am no longer your teacher Steve, you can call me Kelly,” she said.

“Thank you ma’am, but the memory of all those detentions you put me in will take some time to fade,” he replied in an innocent voice, causing his former teacher to laugh a musical laughter.


To Be Continued.....

A Second Chance...

Pacing behind the bars that held him, he had just one thought in his head. He wanted out. An assassin by profession, sentenced to death, trying to appeal in a higher court, without much hope. At almost a certain end of his life, forced to reconsider his life. He had been forced into the world of crime because of his poverty, and seeing his family dying. Now his family deserted him because of what he did. He thought again to his last assignment, seeing the fear in the eye of the victim, his family as they watched. He had decided that would be his last killing. Ironically, his momentary softness inhibited his escape, and here he was. He wanted his life, to repent for his crimes, to help the families of his victims, to use his money for some good of the society. If only, some juror saw the change in his eyes, believed in him. If only, he got a second chance...

What is a parrole? Its the judicial system's way of giving a second chance. Most mistakes made by men are not deliberate. But, thhat makes them a victim of judgement. No one trusts them ever again. Even after a parrole, they are seen as prime suspects to a crime. The society shuns them out. All they wish for is one person to trust them, for the one chance at redemption, at one moment where they can prove themselves and people can see.

Not only criminals, but common people, who make common mistakes, want that chance to set it right. An official at a huge MNC makes a mistake and incurs losses for the company. All he wants from his boss then is to see his hard-work, his determination , to set it right, and give him another chance. A guy may say something rude his girlfriend, but later he begs for her forgiveness, and shows with his behaviour that that won't happen again. He hopes for another chance. Rahul Dravid, one of India's best batsmen, had been all but written off the team at the end of 2010. But, in what was being called as his farewell series, he was the only batsmen who performed, and is now back as "the Wall".

No person is forever wrong. All they need is trust of that one person. All they want is a second chance. All I want, is a second chance....