In California,U.S.A, On a day where the radiance of sun is so dim that it can't even properly melt away the fog or clouds around it yet the heat is reaching down to the surface level.
On that day, An 25 years old pretty woman went into one of the most famous cafe in California, 'the Griddle cafe'.
She went in for a blind date set up by her parents, it didn't take much time for her to find her blind date as all of the tables were pretty much occupied by pairs or family and only one was occupied by a good looking single man aging 26 years old with a newspaper in his hand.
She went towards him and asked " Are you aryan?".
That young man lowered his newspaper and looked at her with his attractive eyes.
" Well... If I say I'm not....will you move out?" Said that handsome young man with a mid-pitched yet sarcastic voice.
" Judging by your bad temper, you must be aryan, I've learnt a little about you from your family" said lilly.
" Oh! sit down and you must be.... some lotus or cactus, I don't really remember, but I do remember it's some flower name" said aryan.
" Well I'm lilly...atleast you remembered my name's related to flowers, I'm glad" said lilly by being little awkward.
She understood that he didn't order anything except a cappuccino for himself and then she ordered food for herself.
Both of them are not spilling a word out, it's very silent not at all seeming like a date.
" I think.... this is supposed to be a date...., well...it would be better if we talk about something than muting ourselves" said lilly with a little awkward yet stuttering voice.
Aryan replied with " You start first then".
After gathering up a little of courage, lilly asked " I've heard you've been to quite a lot of dates, but you rejected everyone, may I know why?".
" I don't want to date any woman now" said aryan and in a blink of an eye, she asked " Are you interested in men then?".
Aryan spilled out a little of cappuccino from his mouth after being shocked due to her response.
" That's not...what I mean, it's just that I'm not interested in relationships at this current time, it would be very distracting to my career, I have a lot of goals to achieve and relationship would just affect my career" said aryan.
" I mean, after you achieve success, you can be in a relationship, right? and maybe you could wait until then after finding and accepting someone now, wouldn't it be better?" Asked lilly.
" I don't think so and I'm more of success craving machine than a lovely boyfriend, it takes quite a lot of time for me to achieve success, and even if i did, I'll crave for even more success, the meaning of love or relationship doesn't exist in my life, all I care about is my career and not something boring like relationships to waste my time on" said aryan.
" Then why did you attend this date?" Asked lilly.
" What else? Just to reject you, my mother would always set up a date for me, I can't win against her, so I attend those dates and I'll reject every one by saying some stupid reasons" said aryan.
" I mean even if you have to reject me, you need to have a reason, right? For that, atleast we have to build up a conversation and who knows, you might get interested in me" said lilly.
" I'm already getting bored by your questions, atleast ask me something interesting" said aryan.
" Well, do you have any love story in past, I mean like one-sided love story or two-sided?" Asked lilly.
" Well...During my high school, I did have a one sided love story, but I think it's better to call it a mere attraction than love, it's just due to immaturity of age and nothing else" said aryan.
Lilly asked him about what happened later and aryan replied " Before I even gathered up courage to confess my feelings, she was already in relationship with someone else".
" That must be heartbreaking for you" said lilly with a low, down voice conveying pity towards him.
" Not at all, I mean..my emotions were little inconsistent for a day or two, but I moved on from it so quick, I already told you, right? It's just a mere attraction" said aryan.
" Well, your home nation is india, right? I've heard you've been transferred here due to sudden shift of your father's job, don't you have a friends there whom you miss?" Asked lilly.
" I'm not that sentimental, I already told you...relationships, friends and all don't have a meaning in my life" said aryan.
Then aryan suddenly got a phonecall, he answered it and ended the call quickly by saying few words like "what?..oh I see".
"Hmm... don't you want to know about me?" Asked lilly.
" Well! I don't want to, I actually have to leave now" said aryan.
Being little shocked lilly asked " But I don't think our date has ended yet and you don't found a reason yet to reject me, right?".
Aryan replied with " Well..I already did, you're too interested into my past and I hate it".
She was shocked by how silly his reason was and shouted " What!!".
But aryan didn't mind her at all and left to a funeral.
He was informed in his previous phonecall that his master who taught him stock marketing and also the person who coincides with aryan's mentality in terms of passion and character build-up has died due to some heart disease.
That old man used to be very close to aryan, he not only taught him stock marketing and betting, but that old man's the reason why aryan craves more for success, He taught him how to live in this competitive world, he guided him the way now aryan was in.
That old man's personal assistant went towards aryan when he attended the funeral.
" Master jin already knows about his health condition, but he never wanted anyone to know about it, he had everything, money, luxury, house, cars and almost everything a rich man had, but still he was never treated well by his family, they were all too busy to even attend his funeral, but I think 2 days before or more, after getting to know about his worsened condition he wanted to pass you a letter before he die, but before giving it to you by himself, he had already passed away, I think it's his last wish for you to read this letter, I don't know what's in it, but I think you need it" said jin's personal assistant and he passed that letter to aryan.
'...THE LETTER.....
Dear aryan,
I know my death might surprise you a little, but I also know you wouldn't care about it much, cause I was the one who taught you to be emotionless and career-focused to face the harsh realities of our world, but I think rather than facing the reality, we have escaped it until now, I thought being like this would make us flawless and perfect human beings, but it turns out quite contrary, I feel very guilty for diverting you into the messy path I was in, just before few days, I've got to realise how meaninglessly we spend our lives being self focused, I recently hanged out with my old friends, I had tons of fun and that's when I realised what I had been missing all my life, and that's when I realised my life was filled with regrets but not happiness, all the richness and success I achieved couldn't compensate for the happiness I missed, I was the one who told you that relationships, friends and all are meaningless in our lives, but recently I was enlightened that they were the things that add depth or meaning to our boring lives, but what makes me more regretful is that I was the one who directed you into my regretful paths,....I had everything, luxury, freedom, fame and all, but my life lacked proper enjoyment and meaning to it, even though I realised many things now, it's already too late for me, but that's not the case for you, you still have a long life and I hope you change atleast now, I heard people say that when we're on verge of death, our entire life will be flashed before our eyes in 7 seconds, but I don't even have 7 worthy seconds in my life to flash before I die, I know you might not take all these words to your heart, but even if it brought a little change in your mentality, I'll feel less regretful, I truly hope...you don't end up like me.
Yours lovingly,
Your failed stupid master... '.
" What a lousy old man, it turns out he's so old fashioned and boring too" aryan whispered to himself.
After the funeral ended, he went back to his home.
Aryan lives with his parents and his elder brother, but still he got a separate room for him to feel peaceful and do what he want.
When aryan went to his room, he was reminded of both that lilly's words 'don't you have a friends there whom you miss' and that old man's last words.
His brain felt like messed up for a second.
" What's wrong with me? Why am I thinking about all that crazy outdated stuff? Is my brain not functioning properly or what?" Aryan questioned himself with shock.
But he calmed down and opened his cupboard, at the down edge of his cupboard, there was a photo of him with his friends that's almost torn apart and about to move away from the cupboard.
Aryan took it and looked at it.
" I don't really regret parting from them" aryan said to himself but unconfidently with a low-pitched voice.
He searched up his cupboard and find my many things that remind him of his friends, but all these days he never cared about it and even now, he's not completely certain if he care about them.
Then aryan's elder brother eden entered into his room.
" What's that noise? What are you searching for?" Eden asked.
" Nothing, I am just cleaning up cupboard and some things fell down, that's it" said aryan.
Eden said " Oh!" and was about to leave, but aryan called him and asked " Are all my friends....still alive?".
Eden laughed a bit and asked " What's that question bro? Rather than asking how they are doing, you are asking if they are alive or not, you truly need to learn how to talk better".
Aryan replied with " Alright! Stop nagging", eden continued talking and said " Well, you remember my best friend lin's younger brother alan, right? If I'm not wrong he's one of your bestfriend too, right? I've heard they are planning on a reunion, that's all I know".
" Are they all in India?" Aryan asked.
" Yeah! I think all your stupid friends are in India" said eden.
" You sure know a lot about my friends than I do" aryan said.
" I'm not as heartless as you to not contact my friends, stupid brother" said eden.
Continuing his talk, eden said " I think today we are going to have a big storm, my so called self focused brother has talked about something unprofessional".
" Just go out and talk to your lousy stupid friend" replied aryan.
Aryan slept peacefully that day, but suddenly in his dream, he crossed paths with his master again.
" What is this place? Am I dead or what?" Aryan asked.
" It's just your dream, you dim-witted idiot, don't be so shocked, I'm just your imagination" said jin.
" Why have you entered my dream, do you want to say goodbye, ok goodbye, now you can leave" said aryan.
" Shh, you spoiled brat, that's not why I'm here" said jin.
Aryan asked " Then why?" And jin replied "I think my last words didn't reach you well, so I'm here to revise my last words, I know you didn't care anything about the letter I've written, but I truly want to change your path".
" Enough, old man! Stop being so nosy and outdated, I didn't expect you to care about those non sensical emotions" said aryan.
" Non sensical? Then why are you unconfident and confused when you looked at things that remind you of your friends, and why did you suddenly ask your brother how they are doing?" Jin asked.
" How do you know?" Aryan asked and jin said " That's not important now, you do have a soft spot in your heart for your friends, and I know you used to care about your friends in past, but you're not admitting it, don't try to escape from reality,....I get it that you're pretending too hard to not care about them, then let's make a challenge, you love challenges, right?, Go to India and spend some time with your friends, if you don't feel regretful, then you can curse me as much as you want, and live in the way you are living in, but if you don't even try, I'll haunt you in your dreams, you stupid spoiled brat" said jin.
Aryan suddenly woke up and said " What a lousy old man" to himself in a uneasy tone.
Aryan packed his luggage, spoken to his family and left for India in a aeroplane.
" Alright old man, it's not because you challenged me, but even I want to know about how I feel, but if I don't feel regretful, then after I die, I'll haunt you in afterlife for wasting my valuable time" said aryan to himself loudly while being in airplane.
The passenger beside him requested him to shut his lousy mouth.
Aryan landed in Hyderabad, India.
He took his friends contact numbers from his brother eden.
He went into his guest house owned by aryan's parents, there were 2 young security guards appointed to guard him though it's not required.
It's late night, but aryan wanted to test drive the maruti xuv700 that's parked in his guest house.
He went out by himself, and he traveled for a while slowly thinking about his past, after traveling for a while, he saw a dead end to that road, but the brakes suddenly didn't work.
Brakes worked well up until that moment, but they stopped working well all of a sudden, and aryan fell down onto a stream.
The newly bought car got crushed completely and aryan got severely injured.
Aryan slowly opened his eyes, but was shocked after seeing his surroundings as his car wasn't nearby and he was standing in midair by being uninjured,on the surface level, there is lava and in the midair where he's standing, there were hundereds of galaxy-like looking things with mix of crimson red and reddish brown colours surrounding him, and the upper level looks pitch black.
He saw someone infront of him standing in midair along with him with a sharp bladed sword.
Aryan's vision is little blurry, so he rubbed his eyes and looked at him clearly.
That person was armored like a knight with a sword in his hand.
His face and body were covered by some armor-like thing.
Aryan was so confused and shocked.
" Don't worry, you're not in afterlife yet, but you are already dead 'once' " said that knight like looking person.
" Where am I?" Shouted aryan by being very shocked.
TO BE CONTINUED....