"Here's the tea," I said)If there was a fire, and you only had enough time to save one of these books, which one would it be?(The question caught me e...tirely off guard, but I answered honestly. "This one." I took down the autographed copy of James Thurber's "Carnival" and handed it to her. She'd obviously never seen the book before, thumbed through it for a minute or two and smiled at a couple of the cartoons. The first intimacy between us was a literary one.)I wanted to talk to you today after. The coolness was due to the fact that there appeared to be only one tiny window. Of course she looked utterly fantastic dressed in fine silk top and loose fitting harem pants. We talked, mainly about me and soon the sun disappeared and the room and courtyard became dark although in the street the afternoon sun still shone. Emm asked me why I had not worn the clothes that she had presented to me. I said that I did not want to spoil them. So into a bedroom she led me to discover that she had. Ria may have been Indian but was studying in London which was only three hours away by train.On camera, Ria was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen, doe-eyed with tanned olive skin and straight black hair framing her refined model-like features. Her Indian accent was soft and she was intelligent, sincere in her love and very witty.Studying at a good university Ria also had a bright future in the bio-sciences as a researcher.Unfortunately we met during the runup to exam season so Ria was too. Later he felta lesser need to be 'proper' and would wear lycra or even ham it up 50sstyle with pedal pushers and a tank top. The school itself was on theridge behind the village, so cycling up there was a bit of a chore. Atleast the downhill home ride was easy. The rest of the ridge wasmillionaires row. Expensive fancy houses taking advantage of the waterviews and cooling sea breezes to cut the summer heat.So he started coaching. Usually he swam with the girls so as demonstratewhat he was.