Reminiscences

Sometimes a gesture, a tone, a familiar scent take you back in time. When there were problems but everyone was together. Fighting the battles of life alongside. Even the tough days became an adventure. It wasn't full of laughter, there were tears too. But at least there was a shoulder to cry on. Someone to rely on. Someone to hear all the stories. Even though there's nothing perfect on this earth, these reminiscences feel so perfect.

"All I am trying to say is what's wrong with him?" The lady with a rose tattoo behind her ear spoke while sipping on the cold coffee.

"Why do we always think that there's something wrong with people when we can't love them?" The other lady softly chuckled as she talked. She looked around her. Her eyes lingered on the young waiter who was working around in a rush.

The rose tattooed lady noticed her staring at the waiter. "Ravana, if you keep pushing away all the people who love you, you will end up alone! How long will you return to an empty ghost house?"

"Don't you need to go home? Your home isn't a ghost house. It has your daughter and husband."

The rose tattooed woman stared at Ravana for a while. She got off the chair and stood in front of her. "Do think about what I said." She looked at the young waiter and added with a sneer, "And he is too young!"

Ravana looked at her and smiled.

The tattooed woman left after taking another look at the young waiter.

Ravana kept sitting there sipping her cold drinks. Her eyes were looking for something that will spark some old memories in her head, when life wasn't good but at least she enjoyed herself.

Suddenly the sound of plates breaking caught her attention. The young waiter looked at the broken pieces of plates with fearful eyes.

"What are you looking at? Clean it! Fast!" The hotel manager shouted from afar. The young waiter quickly cleaned everything.

Ravana was sitting watching everything from the corner of her eyes. The sounds were getting on her nerves. She walked out of the restaurant and went in an isolated area around there to lit a smoke. That place was near the staff room. While Ravana was smoking there standing quietly, she heard the manager shouting.

The young waiter was standing fearfully in front of the manager.

"Do you have any idea how expensive those plates were? Your monthly salary won't be enough to buy those! How do you plan to repay this!" The manager shouted at the waiter.

"I am sorry, sir. It wasn't intentional. Please sir, forgive me. You know that I am a student, I can barely pay for my tuition. I won't have any money left if you charge me for this..." The waiter pleaded.

"You should have thought about this before you broke them." The manager sneered. The young waiter kept begging. But the manager left without paying any heed to him. He sat there hopelessly.

Ravana slowly blew away the smoke while hearing the manager shouting. She blankly stared at nowhere.

The waiter pulled the large trash bag out when he saw Ravana standing beside her car. Such a luxurious car, he thought.

Ravana was a beautiful woman in her late thirties. But she looked too elegant and attractive for her age. Her age couldn't beat her beauty.

The young waiter thought it must be amazing to be rich and beautiful. He focused on the thrash bag and his miserable life.

He changed his clothes and left for home. When he reached the parking lot he saw Ravana smoking beside her car. He didn't look at her and kept walking without making eye-contact.

Ravana blew away the smoke and looked at her cigarette. She asked loudly, "Does life without money sucks?"

The young waiter looked at her. He stopped and pointed a finger at him asking if she was talking to him.

"Want a ride?" Ravana opened the car's door with a smirk.

The young waiter looked at the car. He could only dream of riding a car like this. He didn't understand why she was asking him. "Why are you asking me?"

"I would like to propose a job to you. It might help to temporarily solve your problems. Wanna hear about it?" Ravana smiled.

The waiter felt confused but then he thought he had nothing to lose. He was already living a miserable life. He had no one in this world to mourn for him even if he died. He could barely eat two times a day. If things went well at least he would be able to eat properly. Thinking all these, he got into the car.

Ravana started the car. She looked so attractive driving it. The young man felt shy looking at her. He wondered if she was actually rich or if she was just a "daddy" person. There were girls in his college who slept with the old geezer for money he heard. While that thought came to his mind he shockingly looked at her. "She is not going to ask me to be her sugar baby, is she?" He wondered. This thought made Ben nervous. He started to pant.

"Are you okay?" Ravana asked.

"Yeah, it's just..." The young man answered nervously.

"Relax, I don't bite." Ravana looked at him. Their eyes met. "Not without consent." She added with a smirk.

The young waiter's heart skipped a beat at her smirk.

Ravana asked, "I am Ravana Rosewell. You?"

"Ben... Ben Rowskey."

"Nice to meet you, Ben. Are you always this nervous or am I doing this to you?"

Ben laughed nervously. "Where are we going?" He asked.

"Just driving around. The night air feels nice. I thought you would like a bit of fresh air after all that." Ravana smiled sweetly at Ben.

Her smile was too pure and innocent, Ben thought. "Fresh air won't pay for my tuition." Ben mumbled.

"Haha, true that. What if I pay your tuition?"

"Why would you do that?" Ben's voice hinted at surprise.

Ravana smiled sweetly and said, "I will pay your tuition if you become my boyfriend..."

Ben's eyes widened in surprise.

"For a day..." Ravana added with a pause.

"What!?" Ben's face is covered with an unknown fear.

Ravana laughed looking at his expressions. "It's nothing like you are thinking! I just want you to pretend to be my boyfriend for a day. That's it."

"Oh!"

"So?"

"Why me?" Ben asked. His face was covered in confusion.

"No particular reason. You just looked pitiful."

"Pitiful!" It wasn't an answer Ben was expecting. His shocked face became sad instantly. The thought of a beautiful, rich woman like Ravana seeing Ben as a pitiful, poor creature made him sad.

Ravana realized her choice of words saddened Ben. She rephrased, "You are good looking too. So I thought you would work."

Ben felt a bit better listening to her. His expression changed back to confusion. "But why do you need a fake boyfriend?"

"To show off!"

"Show off?"

"Hum. I am a businesswoman. I have to attend a lot of high-end parties and meet influential clients. I just want to brag about a young, hot and sexy boyfriend. It makes a powerful impression."

"You think I can do that?"

"You should know about that."

Ben thought about the money but the whole pretending to be a fake lover made him uncomfortable. Suddenly he felt hunger and realized he had many reasons to accept this deal and only one to reject. His dignity. He thought about how he was treated by the manager everyday and smirked.

"As if I have one!" Ben mumbled.

"What did you say?" Ravana looked at him.

"Sorry, nothing. I will do it. Tell me the details."

"Alright."

Ravana smiled sweetly at him.

Ben also smiled back. He thought how could he lose something that he doesn't have? He agreed to the job and Ravana dropped him at his place.

The next day Ben rented a suit and dressed to the nines. Ravana checked him from top to bottom.

Ben nervously asked, "Do I look okay?"

"Hot enough to make them jealous." Ben laughed nervously. Ravana added, "Now put on a confident smile. That's going to be your cherry on top!"

Ben took a deep breath and smiled.

When they reached the destination, Ben looked at the huge corridor of that five star hotel. There wasn't any party happening around. He started to feel scared and wondered, "She did feel a bit fishy from the start. She is not going to sell my organs, is she?" Ben looked around nervously.

Ravana noticed him looking around nervously. She asked with a smile, "All okay?"

"I see no party here..."

"There is no party party."

"What do you mean?"

"It's a different kind of party. More like a meeting."

Ben swallowed air and wondered, "She is not going to play with my body with other ladies, is she?" He trembled a bit in fear.

They entered a huge door and the first thing Ben noticed was a pool. A hot girl in a bikini was swimming there. His eyes scanned the other details.

There was a small table and a few chairs around it. A bald man in his forties was sitting in one of the chairs. He looked like a mafia don from some famous action movie. Ben couldn't remember the movie name. But he could tell that this man was important. He looked like someone who would make others uneasy by seeing his fierce persona.

Ben looked at Ravana. She was staring at the man. Ben realized they were here for this man.

Ravana looked at Ben and met his gaze that was already staring at her.

It caught Ben off guard. His gaze instantly became nervous.

Ravana softly smiled and whispered, "Act natural!"

Ben took a deep breath and said under his breath, "Yosh!"

The bald guy noticed them entering and cheered, "Look who is here... Our queen!" He noticed Ben beside Ravana and said with a confused smile, "And who is this?"

Ravana walked to him and sat in a chair. She said in a confident yet soft voice, "Ben Rowskey, my boyfriend."

Robert checked out Ben top to bottom. He could read him like an open book. A rented suit that wasn't his size, wolf cut hair nicely parted and gelled at the side. Ben was trying too hard to fit in that was visible.

"Mmm... Tight skinned young product! I am Robert Barner." Robert offered a hand for a handshake.

Ben shook his hand. Robert looked at Ben's hand. His grip was firm yet gentle. He looked at Ravana and laughed, "I didn't know you were into young flesh!"

Ravana scoffed, "Why? Is that only your thing?" She looked at the girl swimming in the pool. Ben followed her gaze to the girl. He immediately understood the situation.

Robert softly laughed. He whistled looking at the girl.

The girl looked at him and gave a huge smile. She came out of the pool and ran to him. The girl came and sat on Robert's lap. She briefly looked at Ravana and Ben with a sweet smile. She cupped Robert's face and placed a kiss on his lips. Robert held her body close to him.

Ben's mouth was slightly open seeing what was going in front of him. He has never experienced something like this. He noticed the old, bald Robert holding a girl of his daughter's age on his lap.

Ravana noticed Ben staring at them. She couldn't help but to smile seeing his reaction. She looked calm. As if she was used to seeing such things.

Ben stared at the girl. She looked around his age. He couldn't help but wonder why she was doing such things! There's no way she liked this old man! Was it because of money! Was this how money controlled the people against their will.

It took him a moment until he realized he was in no different situation than her. He was also here because of money. Ben's expression soon got bitter.

Ravana noticed the change in reaction on Ben's face. She looked at Robert and said, "Now don't start in front of us!" Her voice brought Ben back to reality.

Robert looked at Ravana and pushed the girl. He signaled her to leave from there.

The girl in the bikini slowly left the place.

Robert watched her leaving with a smile. He returned his flirty gaze to Ravana and smirked, "Why do you look so uncomfortable? You also do the same things to him, right? Or is he not good enough? Want me to help you?" He started to laugh loudly.

Ben's eyes filled with anger. A brief thought of Ravana being with this old geezer made his blood boil. He slammed the table and said, "Don't talk to my woman like that!"

Ravana's eyes widened in surprise by Ben's abrupt reaction. The boy who couldn't even act confident a while ago, stood up for her like she was his responsibility. His to protect and provide. Her lips curved into a soft smile.

Ben looked at her. His gaze became loving as it moved onto her. He softly called her, "Ravana..."

Ravana's eyes shook in that sudden address. At that moment, Ravana found herself years ago in a distant memory that was hidden in a corner of her head. But his demeanor, his tone... reminded her of that moment again.

Ben leaned towards Ravana and gently gave her a peak on her cheek. He said while standing up, "I will go to the washroom for a bit. This baldly gave me a bad taste in my mouth." He looked at Robert. His eyes practically threw lasers. He growled, "If he says anything stupid to you again, tell me." Ben walked off staring into Robert's eyes.

Robert watched Ben walking away in shock. This little kid who was wearing a rented suit, speaking up in front of him like he was no one. This was a new feeling to Robert. He watched as Ben walked away from there.

Robert looked back at Ravana with a smirk. His voice was calm and friendly, much different than before, "You got yourself a brave guy, Rose."

Ravana started to laugh loudly. She put one of her hands on her cheek and joyed,

"Ain't he the cutest?"