Between the Lines: Chapter 4

The sound of thunder woke me up. I stretched. The alarm clock read 8:15. Hubert was probably in his favorite place. The smell of fresh coffee was enticing. I went to the kitchen and poured myself a cup from the still warm pot. I took a quick shower and changed into my clothes that I had worn yesterday. Then I headed downstairs to find Hubert. 

Hubert was working in his experiment room near the garage.  His speakers roared “You've got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, know when to walk away, know when to run.”  He was sitting at his desk, working on his hobby, computing. He was designing a functional robot for homes. Though his thesis was on Programming Languages, his main area of expertise was Artificial Intelligence. He loved computing, analyzing, and designing, and everything to do with it. He had designed his first robot when he was ten.His latest Robot walked, and he called him Genie. Genie could say “Hello”, and walk a few steps. But that was about it. It didn’t do anything else. Hubert was designing it be a homeworker, who could wash dishes, iron clothes, vacuum homes and even have a camera and high functioning security alert system. Genie was all steel and seemed right out of an ‘Iron Man’ movie.  Hubert was typing furiously. He had not touched the coffee cup beside him. He was on to something.

“Hubert, I am going out. I will see you tomorrow”, I said. He turned, smiled and said, “Just another hour, and I will be done”.  “No, I have to wash my clothes and arrange my wardrobe, and I also want to shop, I'll go now”, I proclaimed. My stipend for the month had been transferred to my account, I was rich again! “You want to start your Sunday morning washing clothes?”, he asked jokingly. “No, I will first go shopping, to buy some dresses. You want to join me?”, I asked. “No, you go ahead. Maybe we can go for a movie in the evening”, he suggested. Hubert was looking at his computer now. I tried to step inside the door. Genie stood in the way. I found him creepy.  “I’ll call you”, I said and dashed off to the car park. I was cheerful again. There was so much going on in my life. Shopping would definitely help.

I drove downtown, and checked into Bedford Coffee shop for my favourite ‘value for money’ breakfast. I then called Karina. “Hey Girl, got a Sunday to spare?”, I asked. Karina was Italian, and my then best friend.  “Umm, Mario and I were planning to go bicycling today, actually, let me call you back”, she said. I had my breakfast in leisure. I texted pictures of a few beautiful dresses that I had spotted in a boutique last month. “Am planning to buy these, ditch the bicycle, hit the car”, I texted to Karina.  “No way”, she replied. 

Most shops were still closed, it was only 10 am. I strolled through the streets, and then remembered, there was a sale in JC Penny. I decided to drive to Berkley Mall. “Change of plans, am heading to B mall”, I texted Karina.  Karina called. “Mario says, they are planning to do the whole North Campus Tilden route, that’s probably too much for me. Ill join you. Where are you right now?”, she asked. Heading to Berkley Mall, I replied. “Ok, I’ll see you there, around 11:30”, she said. 

I tried a few dresses. The ones that I liked seemed to be pricey or did not have my size in stock. Karina joined. We checked almost all the shops. We saw shoes, dresses, makeup. I did not find anything I liked. Karina bought a bright yellow blouse. It was almost 2 in the afternoon. “I am starving”, complained Karina. “Let’s eat”, I replied. We had Italian. “Can I ask you something?”, asked Karina. “Yes, for sure”, I said. I wondered what it was and why she looked worried about asking me. “Are you having an Indian wedding anytime soon?”, she asked. “No why do you ask”, I replied perplexed. “The ring on your finger, you never talk about it. We’ve been wondering, I meant to ask you, I mean, we didn’t know “, she blabbered. “No, No, I didn’t mean to hide. We were just waiting for the right moment”, I said. “We, when did that happen?”, Karina asked jokingly. “I hope it is not the handsome Indian guy, who chased you outside the pub last year?”, she added. “It was your birthday, remember”, she reminded me. “Wow, goodness that was scary. He just kept asking me for my number”, I recollected.  “And he chased you to the taxi stand”, Karina recalled. “No, I wouldn’t get engaged to a random guy, I met in the pub, especially not someone who tried to stalk me”, I replied. “Did he speak to you inside the pub”, Karina asked. “Yes, he did, He just introduced himself, and gave me his number. The music was very loud. I asked him to fuck off, but he wouldn’t. He just kept following me”, I explained.  Karina covered her mouth and remarked, “Gosh, I was too drunk to keep track of anyone. I think Robocop escorted you back home, that was really sweet of him”.

I nodded. “Yes he did, he very much did”, I said and winked. “What, no, don’t tell me!”, shouted Karina. “I absolutely can’t believe it. You mean you and Robocop”, she reiterated. “Me and Robocop, sounds like a movie, right”, I replied. “Sounds like a horror movie”, she replied. “No, it’s actually an erotic movie”, I shouted. We did a Hi5. We laughed and giggled in symphony.  Karina said, “I am so happy for you girl”. “None other than our Robocop, hmm, I always thought you two were just good friends, frankly I didn’t understand how you were friends either. Perhaps the erotica changed your mind”, she said, and we burst out laughing again.  An old lady sitting in the opposite table was giving us stern glances. We were certainly a noisy duo.  “Some people most certainly don’t want to watch our movie”, I shouted. “Let’s get out of here”, we said almost simultaneously. 

Next we went to a bakery to pick some bread, and then decided to head home. “I’ll see you tomorrow at the drama club”, I said. “I am not coming tomorrow. Why don’t we  meet on Wednesday. There’s this new place not far from school that gives free drinks, as many as you can have. Wine, Beer, cocktails, you name it”, Karina said. “Count me in. I will ask Hubert to change into my clothes”, I joked. Karina laughed. She dropped the bread packet in the rear seat of her car. She replied, still laughing, “By the way, what are his dimensions”.  “That you are not going to know”, I shouted as I opened the door of my car. “Chow girl”, Karina yelled. “Chow”, I yelled back. The tyres of her expensive car left whirlwinds of dust. I waited for it to clear, before I started my engine.