Doorway to Fantastical Realms - Ivak

Double Espresso, One Cappuccino - Short Story

It was late afternoon. The Sun had reduced his ferocity, although still high in sky. But Earth was still burning hot. The drops of sweat were dripping from his forehead. But he was determined, not reducing his pace towards mall. Hoard of lazy (he would have called useless) people around him didn't bother him today. He was disgusted by crowds, but today was as if they were invisible to him. 

      He entered the mall, and started towards 2nd floor. People gave him a wide berth on escalator. Either they took pity on a old man, or realized this old man was not to be trifled with. On the 2nd floor landing, he turned and moved towards the video game shop. He was definitely an odd man inside. His legs moved towards 3rd aisle left side, as if they had a mind of their own. He reached the the rack, and seemed perplexed. His anxious eyes scanned around and relaxed. His walking stick fell down out of his hand and he picked up the controller. He overheard "Yaar, uncle phir aa gaya. Buddha shayad sathiya gaya hai". He didn't care. 

       Screen came alive with the game play. After numerous attempts and under breath curses, game play entered story mode. A smile appeared on his face. The avatar on screen moved towards a cafe and sat down on table. Opposite to avatar was another one, of a young woman. She had black hair, with strands of gold in between, dark big eyes, dark complexion. When the virtual avatar stood before the table, words came out of his mouth "One double espresso, One cappuccino", in a whisper.

"DEMO END. FULL VERSION RELEASE ON 20th APRIL", flashed on the screen.

       He dropped the controller, picked up his stick and walked out. He felt happy, he felt elated. He was eagerly waiting for 20th April. He had stumbled on the game play accidentally 3 days back when in mall. he could not believe his eyes. He hadn't seen that face for a long time. Not since the fire, that had destroyed everything. After the fire he was angry with her for long time, for having opted for "RIGHT TO BE FORGOTTEN". But that was now long ago. He didn't care who and why someone had violated her wishes. He was just happy to see her again, see her smile, even if for few seconds at a time.