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Long lost friends (Mila Stark and Deerpoob)

RippledStatic

RippledStatic

Star
Joined
Jan 19, 2009
A taxi drove through the suburban streets, inside a young man sits gazing out the window, he looks to be about 23, the age when most people are out in the world travelling, partying, or finishing schooling, he was that last type, headed home from university. Green eyes stare at the passing houses, a park, a small plaza of stores, it was all very familiar. Daniel was the mans name and he had lived here most of his life, 4 years prior he had left to go to university and lived there, coming back only for a few weeks at a time a few times a year, and most of that time was spent with family. Now he was home without any constraints, his classes weren't on break or summer vacation, he was done and he could do as he pleased, it felt good to be free.

A few minutes pass and the car pulls up to a house, he steps out, reddish brown hair catching in the breeze slightly and he raised a hand to fix it, the boy was thin and somewhat lanky, combined with being fairly tall it made him look even thinner. Stepping up to the house he was a little worried his family would think he was overdressed, wearing a white dress shirt and dress pants, but he didn't think they would care too much, he had alot of people he wanted to get together with again, but none as much as a certain girl.

His family greeted him with as much enthusiasm as he could hope for, his mother was of course eager to hug him, his father just gave a handshake and a small nod, he had to poke his sisters headphones off for her to even realize he was home, but she threw her arms around him in greeting. Hours passed and he had dinner with them, soon it began to feel like old time, this however brought even more feelings of nostalgia back to him and after leaving the dinner table he walked outside and up the road, to a park where he played alot as a kid, and hung out alot as a teenager, taking out his cellphone he dialed a number and took a deep breath, what was he suppose to say after such a long time?
 
Time had passed rather slowly for Ananya Patel. At the meager age of twenty-two, Ananya - or Ana as she was better known to her friends - was already bored of her everyday life. The daughter of an immigrant from Western India and a second generation Portuguese-American, she'd always thought that the culture from both sides of her family would bring excitement to her life. Had she known how wrong she'd been as a child, she would have started planning an escape long before her teenage years. But by the time she realized exactly what life had in store for her, it was too late. When she was sixteen, her parents had already set about planning her marriage - her mother was incredibly respective of the fact that her father wanted to keep to traditional Indian customs. By the age of eighteen, she was engaged and soon to be married, but she begged her father to let her go off to college. She wanted to enjoy what little freedom she could possibly grasp before she was forced to marry a man for whom she cared very little. Much to her surprise, her father had agreed, letting her go off to school so long as she stayed close to home. She studied English with the hopes of one day becoming a teacher, a small fact that she hid from her father. Teaching was not a respectable career in her father's eyes; but it was what she wanted to do. But now that she had graduated and her wedding was mere months away, she was at the mercy of her future husband. Only he would be able to decide if she could go back to school and continue her studies so that she might one day be able to find a job as a teacher.

As she walked down the sidewalk with her older brother, she held her two year old niece in her arms, smiling contently as the young girl babbled away about anything and everything. One day she hoped to have children of her own, but not with the man she was due to be marrying. He was a kind man, and was on his way to becoming a successful chemist, but he had never managed to spark her interest. He was handsome, yes, but he just... he wasn't Daniel. Hearing her phone ring in her purse, she paused, handing her niece over to her brother before answering it without checking the caller I.D.; she just assumed it was one of her parents. "Hello?" She tucked a strand of jet black, silky hair behind her ear. Her voice had grown sad, weakened over the years - as did her eyes. The once dark, vibrant pools were hollow and cold, any joy they once held long gone. She was miserable at best and completely numb at her worst, and she wasn't sure how much longer she could carry on living this way. And she knew that as soon as she was married it would only get worse. Tugging at her shirt, she fixed its positioning while she waited for a response. Her parents hated the way she dressed. Well, her father did anyways. He said she dressed too provocatively. Ana didn't think she dressed provocatively at all, stating that her father simply couldn't grasp the fact that he had raised his family in America, and he refused to accept that it was culturally acceptable here for her to dress this way.
 
For a moment he thought he might have accidentally called Ana's mother, the woman on the other end felt older and tired then the woman he remembered "Ana?" He said, quieter then he meant to, years of memories flooding back to him and making him feel like a shy teenager again, debating if he should tell her how his feelings had changed for her over the years. Taking a deep breath he sat down on a nearby bench and rested his elbow on his knee, to her his voice would sound much as it had years before, thought obviously matured a bit. He had gone off rather suddenly to university without the chance to really say goodbye to her, studying in as many science courses as he could get and still after 4 years he wasn't certain where he wanted to go. That was Danny, he always seemed to wander without much forethought all the time and while he was smart enough to do most of the jobs he now had access too, it was just like him to be unable to decide.

Taking a deep breath he started to speak "Ana it's me Danny, I...I know we haven't gotten alot of time to talk lately but I'm home for a while now and I'd love the chance to see you again" he said the first things to come to mind, did it sound too foreward? nonsense she was his friend. He had heard a bit about what she had done since he left, in truth there families never got along well, his father while tolerant of her as his friend was borderline racist and wouldn't speak to her while she was in the house and her own father wasn't much better to him, viewing him as a horny young boy after nothing but to get into her pants.
 
She paused momentarily, not sure if the voice she was hearing was who she thought it was. It wasn't until he said that it was him that she eased up, a small smile tugging at her lips. "Danny? Hi! It's been so long, of course... of course we should get together," she could hardly contain her excitement. It had been a long time since she'd been this happy, but Daniel had always managed to get her to break out of her shell. When she was around him, she could be herself; she didn't have to worry about her father's customs and uptight restrictions. Sure, his father was a tad racist and it was a bit hard to stomach at times, but she refused to let that get in the way of their friendship. Daniel was the best friend she'd ever had and she never wanted to let him go. And to say that she didn't feel a little something more for him would have been a lie. "When... when would be a good time for you?" She pretty much had all the free time in the world now that she was done with school, and seeing that she refused to have any part in planning her own arranged marriage.

"How have you been?" she asked, trying to make small talk as she walked, "I miss you... a lot." Brushing a lock of hair behind her ears, she glanced around as they slowly approached the park. It had become somewhat of a weekly ritual, she and her brother taking the young girl to the park for an hour or two. As they grew closer, Ana paused once more. "Danny, I... I think I see you," she said with a nervous chuckle, staring over at a figure who vaguely resembled her old friend from afar.
 
He smiled, glad to hear she seemed as excited to hear from him as he was to hear from her. Nodding even thought she couldn't seem him he beamed "well Im free right now.....I've been great! I mean besides not seeing my best friend..." he hoped that didn't come across strangely, but as she mentioned that she saw him he looked around "ya im at the park we always use to go to by my house, oh I think I see you! o-oh...." suddenly he sounded dejected, seeing a man and what appeared to be a baby in the mans arms, but that went away as quickly as it came as he recognized her brother "so your brothers done well for himself..." he said hopefully, surely she hadn't had a kid in the time since he last saw her? her brother was a few years older then him and could no doubt have done it, If Danny remembered right he was getting married just after he had left for school!

Standing up he waved to them, confirming that they were who they thought they were, and grinned "ok I'll talk to you in a sec" he hung up the cell phone and jammed it into his pocket, jogging towards the three, unable to hide the grin on his face. As he reached them he beamed at Ana, she had only gotten more beautiful in the past few years and his heart leaped at the sight of her, unable to hold himself back he pulled her into a tight hug, no doubt her father would chase him from the house seeing this alone.
 
She could hear slight disappointment in his voice and she scrunched her nose, confused. It didn't make sense to her why all of a sudden he had gotten so upset, but then it made sense. He was just surprised, is all - at least, that was what she assumed. She was walking down the street with a man and a child, no doubt he would have jumped to conclusions. "Yes, he has. Married five years, good job and a beautiful daughter - he's doing alright in my book," she said with a slight laugh, looking over at her brother and her niece for a few moments. He gave her a questioning look, like he knew that if their father was there he would have made her hang up the phone. But her brother - thankfully - said nothing, knowing full well how their father's restrictions were slowly eating away at Ana's spirit. She waved back before hanging up the phone and tossing it back into her purse. When he hurried over, her face lit up even more. It was great to finally see him in person after all this time. Wrapping her arms around him, she held him tight, the familiar scent filling her nose. He always smelled so nice, that she remembered.

"It's so good to see you," her voice was slightly muffled, as she was still holding him tight, refusing to be the first to let go. Him holding her like that... it was nice. She felt at home, safe - it just felt right. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see her brother continuing on his way, obviously not wanting to play the part of the third wheel.
 
He held her body tight to his own, and rested his chin on the top of her head teasingly, she was always so much shorter then him. Leaning back slightly but still not letting go he grinned at her "its great to see you too, you've changed alot and yet...your exactly the same" she had gotten even "worse" since he last saw her, by that he meant she wore more normal clothing, no doubt her father was always stressing about it and although she seemed somehow tired and a little lost she hid it behind the same smile she had all those years before.

Looking around them, it was dark and they were alone "now where should we go?" he asked, looking back down to her with something of a mischievous smile, finally he let her go, too long and it might feel a little strange, he might find himself wanting something more, so he pulled away "we could go get some food or....see a movie or something? I dunno whats still around here...." He turned and looked around once again, the park was lit now by moonlight, a pair of streetlights at either end of the road were the only artificial lights besides house lights.
 
"Same with you," she said with a smile. His voice was different, but it was still his... it made sense in her own head. And he still had his quirky sense of humor, always finding ways to remind her of just how short she was. At 5'5", she was average compared to most women, but incredibly short compared to Daniel. It seemed neither of them wanted to let go, but they had to eventually, or else things would just get... weird. Not a bad kind of weird but just, weird. She didn't quite know how to explain it. It had gotten dark rather quickly, and there was no sense in her walking around trying to find her brother and niece; they were no doubt already on their way home. Without really thinking, she slipped her hand into his, giving it a gentle squeeze. "Or we could just stay here..." she said, hopeful, "When was the last time we were in the park together? Four, five years ago?" Ana had a lot of good memories associated with the park, and all of them had something to do with Daniel. The park was so pretty at night - so peaceful. Compared to how crowded and noisy it was during the day, it was almost like a completely different place at night. So quiet, serene - and aside from the occasional 'rebellious' teenagers looking to party, always nearly empty. The perfect place to get away.
 
"Ya I guess..." he said with a small smile and looked around, the park was very peaceful, it wasn't that he was worried about a kid trying to cause some problems or something, he just didn't want her to be stuck out here with him, sure she seemed happy to see him but was she busy now? alot could change in 5 years and although he hadn't heard anything definite he had heard she might have been engaged...

Taking a deep breath he stopped short as she took his hand, but smiled to her again and led her off down the asphalt path, towards the little park set up for the kids to play in, a slide, monkey bars and anything else you'd expect to find in a park, he remembered he was always creeped out by the place at night when he was a kid, the quiet and dark mixed together in a way that always felt off to him, but now he found it peaceful. After a few moments he sighed "Ok Im not making any comments about it whatsoever but I just need to know." he stopped and turned to face her "are you....getting married?" it had been bugging him for a while, and had only temporarily hidden itself when he saw her face light up, and although he said he wouldn't comment his voice sounded a little hurt "and is it you...or your father who wants it?"
 
It seemed so surreal, being there with him in the park. She hadn't seen him in so long and was beginning to doubt she'd ever see him again. Yet, there they were - just like old times. It was enough to bring a smile back to her face, something she hadn't done in a long time. The last time she'd been genuinely happy had been, well... how long had it been since they'd last spent time together? It seemed almost silly that her happiness could be so dependent on one person, but she didn't let that bother her. Instead she took it as a sign - a sign that she couldn't let him walk out of her life once again. But in a single instant, the mood faded. She felt her heart grow heavy and her smile quickly faded. "Yeah... I... I am. In three months..." Until then, she'd all but forgotten about the wedding. Being with Daniel usually had that effect on her. With him, everything was fine; nothing could hurt her. "I... it was my father's idea. But I should be honored to marry him. He's smart, successful, kind, handsome... but..." she paused, looking down at her hands before looking back up at Daniel, "He's just not the right guy for me."
 
He nodded, trying to hide his obvious distaste for the whole thing, naturally her father and himself had never seen eye to eye and although Daniel had never made any sort of mention or showed any sort of interest in Ann romantically, her father always seemed to think that was all he was after. For that Daniel couldn't blame him, it was practically a male instinct to be protective of your daughters, but what Daniel didn't like was how far her father took it sometimes and this was just about the highest point, but just how could he deal with it? the only woman he had ever felt any true connection with was marrying someone else, was he ok with that? certainly not "the right guy...." he said absentmindedly "and do you just plan on listening to him? you can't let him make the decisions that will stay with you for the rest of your life" of course she already knew this, no doubt she had thought the whole thing over in her head a million times, but he still felt it needed to be laid out between them "you need to find the person right for you, its not his place to force you to do that, not in this country." he stated firmly, turning to face her "there's no way my Ann is going to marry anyone but the guy who she wants." the more he spoke the more he suprised himself, and the more determined he grew.
 
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