Chapter 21

July’ 2002,
Downtown, Manhattan Borough (NY City), NY.

It was the ninteenth day at work. Past eighteen days were intense and they lived up to the schedule by the sweat of brows. They never felt the heaviness because they knew they were in the pursuit to peg away the Holy Grail. It’s the same engross that kept the juveniles handle themselves every day. They started at 9’o clock in the mornings and ended it by either 5 or 6’0 clock in the evenings, it was just like that of typical job hours. Sometimes, they stayed for long hours till late midnight. Justin Amell tuned out to be a source for stupefaction to Aryan and Jenny. He was incessant and never caved in for diversions. He took pleasure, as he promised, to give tutoring even at a long stretch in the day.

It occurred to the crowd that an eminent pedagogue Justin would have been had he taken up teaching as a profession. Aryan and Jenny to the hilt were impressed with his edge over every talking point in the subject.

On the nineteenth day, the flock were left in amazement. Never had they ever envisaged that they would catch up with the pace of Justin, not at least in short time. After a brief period, they did transpose their perceptions as they finally consummated an artefact worth to wax-lyrical about.

“It wouldn’t have been possible without you,” Aryan said to Justin gazing into the monitor in the laboratory, “it wouldn’t have been possible without you”, he repeated.

“Master, great job” Justin was enlivened when he looked at the simulation results on the ANSYS GUI, “It’s your execution buddy, and I was just a supporter. This chassis for the car,” he paused thinking deeply about the results on the screen, “your car’s gonna throw you in the limelight if you’d be successful in bringing the design to live as we see it” he said, “Look at the aerodynamics, the flow around the rims of the car, and the total transmission efficiency,” he read out the numbers on the screen, “99.121%. Great execution”, he slapped the armrest with his right fist and got up from the seat, “Aryan, Boy! Have you been into automobiles before? It might just seem to be a stupid question to be asked in the first place because you own the industry but by the evidence of your age, I am nudged forward to ask you”

“It’s not been a long while since I indulged in the subject. A year and half or so,” He responded, “and Justin, coming to these results should help us with endurance and efficiency scores. They together compose around thirty percent of the competitions total score, isn’t it?” he asked.

“True that,” Justin walked towards the bookrack, “The car’s fuel efficiency and the Endurance Event will be appraised in simultaneity” he grabbed a docket out of the rack and he continued walking back to his seat, “The efficiency, as you know it, manifests the tuned abilities of the car. The event is on a middle ground as the efficiency and endurance scores will be gauged from the same heat.

“How about the refueling?” Jenny queried.

“Isn’t licensed chum. No refueling during an endurance heat,” he handed the docket over to Aryan, “this has rule book for the competition and other useful material which will guide you through your next steps. For now buddies, let’s get ourselves dinner”

Aryan, at that very moment, felt that they we chummy rather than being more of cordial or obliging that they had been in lately. Aryan’s prior experience, the acquaintance stemmed in through the driving sports cars since his puberty was to be a pivotal element for the fact in the results. The group was optimistic in fabricating the car in due time if they continued with the same pace. When one is plodding up the hill, it only gets harder and harder as one continues the ascent and this was no different with Aryan’s. Aryan and Jenny liked to be positive and they just hoped for the best to see them.

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On retirement eve of one of the head employee, the workers of the unit had arranged for a farewell dinner. Justin was to attend the adieu so he left Aryan and Jenny after joining them for a light dinner at the JAPMI Restaurant inside the Industry premises. Both of them were seated in the atrium outside the restaurant studying the aura.

“Missing you,” a messaged popped up on Jenny’s phone. “Me too,” he replied in no time, “I am with Aryan. I would have had you in my arms virtually otherwise. XOXO” he texted another message.

“In your arms? Under the light of zillion stars? Don’t you think they would know that we are in love,” she reverted in an absolute sarcastic tone.

“Honey! I don’t use it for an excuse but Aryan is right here. You may wanna talk?” he made it look convincing.

“I know you Sweet pie. You don’t want me to have a good time?” She questioned.

“Have good time by bullying me? So sick, you do this all the time and vex me of it” Jenny erased the message and made an amendment, “Have good time by bullying me? You love it, don’t you? Huh! Anything you need. Lots of love” He punched on the send button.

“Do you expect me apologize? Damn you! Alright, have a good time and much love to both of you” she sent kisses and hearts.

“From both of us as well. Have a good night sleep, will talk soon” he sent only the hearts back and pocketed the kisses. “By the by, forgot to mention, waiting for an invite into your dreams. You know what we gonna do. Don’t you? XOXO” He sent an immediate message following the previous one.

Jenny received a message but it was blank. He smiled and pecked on the phone as it did conveyed him the intentions of Saryu.

Aryan and Jenny returned back to the guest house in the late night. Aryan put on lounge set and Jenny wore the pyjamas. Each occupied a single seater couch placed poles apart in the hall room, while Aryan flipped the pages skimming the headlines from the evening newspaper, “That was awesome. I couldn’t believe we just did it”, Jenny gingered up in the house voicing out loud, “whoa! We did it” he continued exhilarating.

“Well hold on to your butt Jenny. You gonna get spanked and you might lose it off of you if you don’t bung up on your voice right now”

“Alright, but dude I have to ask you”, Jenny adjusted his throat, “In the last eighteen days, it was mouthful and you know,” he paused and approached in the area of a worktable, “At odd times I did feel pressurised and also I have asked to myself, why should I do this? What would I get if I do it? I had no answer, what would yours be?” he asked glancing at the portraits on the wall.

“I don’t feel I am working because this is what I love and this is my passion,” Aryan said folding the newspaper, “I flunked in my high schooling. Nothing excited me, literally nothing. I did choose to follow my heart. I started to race and that gave me an immense pleasure. I contended all through my high schooling and won all of them. I melt it down into my senior secondary schooling as well. In those heyday’s, as I felt, on a weekend, Nemo approached me to broach the subject on my graduate schooling. You know what he had to say? ‘If you love cars my king, you get into UTA and do the Automobile engineering. I wish to see you at UTA, would you be willing keep up with my hankering?’ I loved Nemo right from my birth, I would do anything it takes to make him happy. I kept my nose to the grindstone toiling myself at every hour, when it’s all done I got in. Then you knew what happened with us. Before I could have lost out from my tracks, she changed the new me and made me realize why and what for I was at the UTA”

“Who is that She?” Jenny quickly asked Aryan stumping right on the money and fogging up on his thoughts by interrupting him on the go. Aryan came to a standstill, pulled his socks up to regain consciousness for a control over the moment, he heaved and said, “My mother” Aryan believed he flimflammed Jenny and cautiously latched the door. He didn’t wanted to take any more chances and he absconded into a new direction, “I love this car and stuff just as you like and love Saryu”

Jenny was jerked off soon after he heard the appellation. He took his eyes off the portraits and gyrated to look in the eyes of Aryan knitting his brows. Aryan looking fixedly at Jenny questioned him, “what have you got to say my friend?” he winked to make it less windy, “You don’t get bored talking hours with her on the phone. You enjoy her companionship. You love Saryu and so does she. Just like it Jenny, just like that, I love this and that’s why I do; I don’t have to do it for anybody”

Jenny came to conclusion that he was no more in a liberty to defend himself. He conceded and asked, “How do you know that we are in love with each other,”

Aryan said, “Ah! I had my arrow in the dark,” and squeezed his eyes bursting his laugh out loud.

“Fuck your arrow”, Jenny giggled.

“You know what dude. You were terrible at stashing your love affair” Aryan said displaying his palms and fingers splayed, “Common on. Let’s talk some facts. I was sitting right in front of you at the coffee table and you were texting uninterrupted and your blush, my goodness it was just unabating. You assumed that I would never know but thanks to Pooja darling. It doesn’t mean I would have never figured that out by myself because dude, you snore the name Saryu a loud and you peck in public places” he pointed fingers at Jenny.

“Well it’s all in the love dear,” Jenny played it down.

“… and that’s why you are terrible at stashing your love affair,” he reminded Jenny of his previous remark.

“Alright! Saryu and I were having a hard time discussing on the subject of how we should divulge on the matter to you but I am happy that Pooja had done it by herself”

“Well she did it on the same day,” Aryan fetched his satchel and unzipped it. He opened the e-mail on his laptop to find himself in a total flabbergast. “Gosh! Looks like it’s another bird” he said it aloud and puffed the air out. “What’s the news?” Jenny rushed towards Aryan and gazed in to the laptop screen.

Dear Aryan and Jenny,

Both of you men have done a great job. Please continue with this design, the head of the department have agreed and granted permission to induct you for the apprenticeship in Germany. We will have an interview with the Automotive Company when you arrive at the university after the summer break. Please be successful in furnishing the complete design by the time when we meet in person.

Good luck and Cheers

Griffiths Mathew

Dean International Affairs (DIA)

“This is sort of stupefying,” Jenny requested for a clear validation on the email.

“Do you remember the company from Germany with which our university has signed an MOU, lately?”

“Yes I do,” Jenny replied. “We have got a chance to showcase our model to the company. DIA has granted us the permission,” Aryan won his heart.

“That’s awesome. I never knew that you were hitting on that apprenticeship,” Jenny uttered in his mild concussion, “how we arrived at this?” he asked.

“To be honest, I lead the design to its crown yesterday and I sent it to them after brunch,” Aryan said, “They were okay with the model and requested us to finish the design by our summer break. In fact, I was never hitting on them. A week ago when I was on our university website I found this and made up my mind to try our luck.”

“… and it turns out the lady luck is on our side,” Jenny added. “Not by my side though, it’s appropriate on you” Aryan reconstructed his remark.

Jenny drew his lower lip in between his teeth and gave a lopsided grin, “This is good news to hear, so we have a new assignment due after some success,” Jenny said.

“Yeah bud”, Aryan said sliding his laptop back into the satchel. “We have got some serious work due from tomorrow” They both walked into their chambers for a good night slumber.