It's Kinda Complicated

17. Living Conditions of Aliens on Pluto

There were the two guys you will least expect to see in each other's company.

Nick and Jay were standing a little far from the elevator facing each other. If we considered only the looks they were giving each other, they looked like two boxers standing in the middle of a ring waiting for the other to strike.

Oh god! What now?

"Nick? Jay? What are you guys doing here?"

The two of them were shaken from their kick-boxing stance. It was so clear from Nick's fake smile and Jay's absence of eye contact that something happened. I slowly walked to where they have been standing. Nick was the first to talk.

"I just came to check on you and I met your friend" Nick said while looking at Jay,

"I just wanted to make sure you are fine and I bumped into your best friend's boyfriend." The two of them were looking at each other when Nick's phone rang. He excused himself and walked away while answering his call. We were both looking in Nick's direction when my father called from somewhere behind me,

"Riya, why are you standing there?" he walked and stood beside me and looked at Jay. Then suddenly his eyes narrowed and asked

"Is this him?" I nodded. I felt bad for bringing Jay into this, but it was necessary. The poor guy stood there confused. My father looked at Jay and had an unbelievable expression that read 'HIM?'

"Riya he is short" and yes I had to control my laughter at this. Jay was not short, he was around 5 feet 10 inches and according to my father all true men were tall. Hence why, all my childhood bed time stories had heroes with above 6 feet height.

"Listen here midget, what is your name? Where do you live? Where are you from? What do you do for a living? Who do you work for? How do you know my daughter? Where are your parents? Do you have any criminal record? When was the last time..."

"DAD. This is...," think, think, think of something "Nick. He owns a company, it's called Nlogics. And he will answer all your questions, but some other time. Not right now. I told you, it is nothing serious." I added the last part in a whisper, trying to calm down my father who was in CSI mode.

My father held out his hand to a bewildered Jay and said, "I will meet you soon." I am pretty sure dad crushed Jay's hand but Jay was too shocked to react. I walked behind my dad to his car and looked back to see Jay still watching us with a confused look.

"Riya..." he got inside the car and paused "just don't do anything stupid" and drove off. Why did I get a feeling that my father added 'like me' very quietly?

I was looking at the fast disappearing car,

"Your father called me a dwarf. What the hell? You are short."

"I am a girl, what is your excuse?"

"Well I... I ... I am not Nick. What were you telling your father?"

"I am so sorry, I had to lie to my father about having a boyfriend, who is not Ryan, and just then he saw you. I jumped at the chance and introduced you as my boyfriend."

"But why did you say I am Nick?"

"Trust me; it is for your own good. If I told my father who you really are, he will track you down and burn the life out of you with his cold stare."

"That was the most scaring two minutes of my life and he called me a dwarf."

Nick was nowhere in sight. Jay and I went back to my apartment and all the way up Jay did not let go of my dad's 'midget' comment.