. for now."Marie" she answered after a brief pause."Pretty name" he said more to himself.Before she could reply the door opened and in walked Esther a...d another man. She could see she was being motioned and reluctantly walked towards the older woman. The man was whispering something to Lucius and from the look on his face it was serious. She wished she was in ear range as she was certain it was to do with her village. However Esther told her it was time for bed and took her out.Back in the. ” Mom seemed surprised.“Are you saying you don’t want to kiss your own son?”“No,” Mom seemed flustered. “It’s just that it feels different, that’s all.”“I should hope so,” I replied.“Eric, I hope I haven’t given you the wrong impression.”“What impression?” I was enjoying this awkwardness from my normally in-command mother.“You know. Asking you to look at my bruises for me. I would have asked your father if we were getting along better.” What she really meant was she didn’t want to encourage. His looks, style and talent attracted me very much. Later when I saw him at the canteen, I went to him and introduced myself. I got to know that his name is Kishor and he too is from Chennai. I told him that his dance was excellent and he thanked me for the compliments. Later we had lunch together and exchanged our email ids and other information. He was there at the stage while we were performing. Immediately after getting down from the stage, I went to him and asked how it was. He said that. And I wasn’t about to give anything away.My spot was on the bed with my pillows propped against the headboard. Mark sat in the big red chair, Jem dragged a bean bag from his room and anyone else who turned up took a spot on the floor. Imogen quite often sat on my bed, further down and crossways from me, leaning up against the wall under the window. Vanessa, when she came, typically sat on the floor with her back against the bed, her head by her friend’s feet. But this time she sat on the bed,.