Breathless

by Sarah Sanders

  Breathless

  By

  Sarah Sanders

  Copyright 2019 by Sujata Garimélla

  All rights reserved.

  Published by O Word

  Breathless

  By

  Sarah Sanders

  Contents

  pqrst

  U -- v

  xyz

  a to z

  pqrst

  pqrst

  Written in elegant cursive, the unpronounceable name said nothing about what the place was. Since it occupied an uncommonly large space in the fairly large rotunda, the town centre, Lara assumed that it was some kind of shop. There were two large glass windows on either side of the glass entry door. Intimate tables by the windows made Lara peg it for a café, but there were piles of books on each table, so it could be a bookstore. Except that the books were piled too haphazardly to be a bookstore. Library then?

  It wasn’t like Lara had anything in particular to do, so she was content to sit in the small park in the centre on a bench facing pqrst and trying to solve the mystery of what it was. She’d been observing it for close to two hours now but just couldn’t figure out what exactly this strange-named place could be. During this time the bakery had made deliveries; the florist had taken in armfuls of colourful flowers; at least eight people had unloaded piles of books and taken them inside; a number of people in ones, twos, and larger groups had gone in; and most intriguingly, about fifteen minutes back there was a parade of women in exercise gear and little kids with violins going in.

  The last lot entering the establishment broke Lara. Now she had to go in and check it out. She got up and walked determinedly to the eclectic shop (?). She walked across the park, crossed the street and entered in.

  The smell of coffee crashed into Lara as soon as she stepped in to what seemed like an overly large drawing room with all manner of mismatched furniture – from a couch to armchairs to beanbags to cute tables and chairs which admittedly were garden and patio furniture rather than indoor furniture – on which a fair number of people lounged; some talking, some reading, one was writing and one couch held what seemed to be a knitting class being conducted by a little white haired lady for two preteen boys.

  The far wall had an end to end counter on which there were no less than four coffee makers, two electric percolators, one professional coffee machine and one larger machine dispensing readymade coffee in various flavours plus tea and hot chocolate. There were a couple of electric kettles for hot water and a huge number of sachets which looked like various flavours of tea, instant coffee, hot chocolate, soups (really!) and apple cider. These people sure take their beverages seriously, especially coffee. There were trays full of croissants, muffins, chocolate (wow!) and something that looked like pieces of tofu.

  There was a pool table on one side and a table tennis table on another where a couple of tweens were playing. And there were books. Piles and piles of books everywhere. Every wall had shelves overflowing with books. Books lay on tables and were stacked along the walls in tall piles.

  Trending music set the background score, and the vibe was at once relaxed, energetic, welcoming and chilled. Lara fell in love with the place immediately.

  “Hi,” a fresh-faced teen almost reclining in one of the bean bags called out. Lara smiled at the young girl with long blinding blonde hair and bright blue eyes.

  “Hi,” she responded.

  Surprisingly, a number of greetings flew her way from the people around and a few ‘welcomes’ were also heard.

  “So…umm…what is this place?” Lara asked, looking at the girl in the bean bag, who’d now got up and was walking towards her.

  “Music school,” a childish voice answered her from behind. Lara turned to see a little girl of about six with a violin.

  “It’s a club,” one of the table tennis players called out.

  “Café,” said one guy in a ponytail as her made his way to the coffee counter.

  “Library,” a voice called, barely supressing laughter.

  “Ask Sonny,” the white-haired knitting teacher said, eyes twinkling.

  “It’s a gym,” someone else said, giggling.

  Clearly there was some good-natured hazing going on here.

  “I’m Vic,” the girl to whom Lara had addressed her question stood close and offered her hand in introduction.

  “Lara,” said with an exchange of a firm handshake.

  “Want something to drink? Or a snack?” Vic offered.

  “Sure…thanks,” Lara was still bemused.

  “Everybody,” Vic said loudly, “Lara is new and doesn’t have a mug. Anyone care to spare one for her?”

  “Here,” a low-pitched voice said from beside Lara and a hand thrust out what could be called a mug only in the loosest sense of the word. It was outsized and misshapen in improbable ways.

  “Sonny!” Vic sounded chagrined and a small frown marred the smooth brow, “This is so embarrassing.” Okay, so this is Sonny, probably the owner.

  “You’re embarrassed of my mug?” the voice held mock indignation. Lara turned towards the voice and met the most sparkling chicory brown eyes she had ever encountered. The round face was framed with dark, wavy hair shot with white strands. The hair cascaded to just below the shoulders. Something about this woman made Lara feel breathless with a sudden tightening in her stomach.

  “Hi, I’m Sonny,” Sonny smiled warmly with every part of her face. Even her nose and ears seemed to smile. “And this mug is unique…Vic made it for me at the age of six…twelve years ago,” Sonny continued and Vic huffed and walked away. “C’mon, let’s see what’s there today for you.”

  Sonny walked towards the coffee laden counter and Lara followed taking Sonny in and wondering at her own weird and rather visceral reaction. Sonny was distinctly overweight, but carried herself with unexpected lightness. She was less than half an inch shy of Lara’s 5’6” and was wearing comfortable, though completely washed out, calf-length black-turned-almost-grey yoga pants, a simple olive green crew-necked t-shirt and black flip flops. Her weight should’ve made her bulky and ungainly but something about Sonny made her tall and springy.

  One thing certain, though – there was nothing so dazzling about her that should’ve made Lara breathless. Presence…she has presence. Magnetic presence.

  “I heard you asking what this place was,” Sonny turned to look at Lara and smiled. Clearly Sonny smiled a lot and very easily. And the smile was an event by itself. Stretching wide, lines running down from the sides of her nose to the edge of the widened lips, a lovey neat set of teeth with the last incisor on the left shaped like an eyetooth making it quite memorable, the smile reached the glorious eyes making them shine and twinkle. Lara’s attention was arrested and she lost words. So she just nodded. Cat got your tongue? Come on, Lara, you can do better than being literally struck dumb by someone’s presence.

  “This is just a place. A space. People come and chill here. Nothing’s sold. It is undefined. All that coffee here, all the food, all the furniture, books…everything really…is what people have brought in or ‘donated’. So what do you fancy?”

  Lara was so mesmerised by the low-pitched honeyed voice that the sudden question jerked her.

  “I…ummm,” Where are the words? I’m known for poise and presence of mind…where are words?

  “Look around, take your time. When you’re done explore the place. There’s a nice garden and outdoor seating back there,” Sonny pointed.

  “Thanks,” Lara was thankful that she could finally speak, even if it was only one complete word.

  “Have fun,” Sonny smiled and moved away.

  Lara heaved a deep breath. What just happened?

  ******

  Lara chose iced tea, carefully filling the i
ce tray after taking the cubes from it. She picked a couple of croissants and heated them in the microwave oven before turning around to go find the outdoor seating. Her eyes were immediately drawn to Sonny leaning against the pool table and unabashedly gazing at Lara. Is she checking me out? Cruising me? Lara felt an unaccountable flutter at the thought. Lara was used to being stared at. Being lusted after. It evoked no emotion in her anymore. But this was different. She didn’t think Sonny knew who she was or was gazing at her because of her celebrity.

  Lara was wearing shorts printed with bold blue flowers, a black cami, multi-coloured flip flops, her hair up in a messy bun and no make-up. But what she wore the most was success and confidence and her almost otherworldly beauty. She sashayed towards Sonny with a smile, heart beating faster, holding Sonny’s eyes as Sonny’s gaze pinned her. She felt a heat crawling into her limbs as she drew nearer. What is it about this woman?

  “Will you join me?” she asked a tad shyly when she was close enough.

  Sonny brightened. “Sure. Let me just grab something.” Lara walked back to the counter with Sonny who swiped Vic’s huge mug on the way. Apple cider with cold instead of hot water, clearly not a rule follower or an expectation conformer, this Sonny.

  Sonny guided Lara toward the back. It opened into a medium-sized hallway with four doors. “They hold music and exercise classes in these rooms,” Sonny supplied. “I had them all sound-proofed so that all of them could do their thing without getting disturbed by others.”

  She pushed open the door and climbed four steps to a large patio enclosed in glass and beyond that a fairly large garden dotted with seating choices as disparate as in the drawing room. A number of picnic umbrellas and all manner of trees offered shade. Sonny led Lara to the very edge of the garden which had a cosy seating area. Lara gasped at the vista in front of her. They were sitting atop a hill and in front lay endless miles of rippling blue waters.

  Kyse was one of the tiny, unknown Greek islands. It was breathtakingly beautiful and had been quietly claimed by the rich of the world as a hideaway. It was large enough to have a permanent population of ten thousand five hundred and thirty eight people but small and remote enough to escape becoming a tourist spot. Lush, verdant hills, pristine beaches, and the gorgeous turquoise waters spreading all around made Kyse a little bit of heaven in the world. And this corner of the garden was a vantage point to take in the beauty of nature.

  “Wow!” Lara breathed.

  “Yes,” Sonny said softly looking at Lara. Lara turned and caught the tail end of Sonny’s admiring look as Sonny’s eyes quickly skittered away to look down at the drink in her hand. Lara blushed slightly and was surprised to feel elation flowing through her. No, seriously…what’s happening?

  “So, the name of your place,” Lara said easing into a comfortable cane chair, “how do you pronounce it?”

  “What do you think?”

  “Peak-Rest? Since you are on a hill and it is so restful?”

  “Why not.”

  “Or maybe, the ‘p’ is silent and it is crest?”

  “That sounds good.”

  “Pique-rest…for piquing interest?”

  “Hmmm…not bad, but not the same class as your previous two possibilities.”

  “So what is it?” Lara said with a little laugh. I’m behaving like a teenager with a first crush. What next? Giggling? Flirting?

  “It’s just the alphabet,” Sonny said with a small smile, “I couldn’t think of a smart or sassy or any name for that matter when I was opening up so I just used the alphabets.”

  “Really?” Lara exclaimed with amusement.

  “Yeah, really. Every name seemed like I was giving the space a label…limiting it. Labels do that, don’t you think?”

  “That’s interesting,” Lara said slowly, musingly. She had never thought of it that way, but yes, Sonny was right. She thought about it and realised how large this concept was. It encompassed practically everything. It was how human beings interacted with the world and every single person and thing in it. While Lara ruminated on what Sonny just said, Sonny was content to sit back quietly.

  Lara glanced sideways at Sonny. She was staring off into the distance towards the endless horizon. Relaxed. Completely comfortable with herself, her surroundings, and the silence between them. There was a quietude about her. A singularity of being. “You’re so zen,” Lara blurted without thinking.

  “Thanks, I think…but then being zen sounds like a good thing, so I’ll just own it,” Sonny chuckled.

  “Is that why your name is purposely agender?” Filters…filters…filters…where have you gone? “Sorry…that was…” Lara blushed with embarrassment.

  “Sonora,” Sonny didn’t miss a beat, quickly following that this question was in continuum to her statement about labels. “Sonora Barot. But you’re right, I don’t subscribe to genders so I prefer Sonny.”

  Don’t subscribe to genders…questions roiled in Lara’s mind but she held her tongue biting into a croissant instead. Buttery goodness exploded in her mouth and she moaned with pleasure. Chicory eyes skidded across Lara’s face. A split second of an expression Lara couldn’t name and then Sonny was grinning. “Yeah, they come from the best bakery in town.”

  “So what’s the deal? You buy all this stuff and just let people take what they want?”

  “No,” Sonny laughed, her laughter flowing over Lara like a caress, spreading unexpected joy through her being. “Folks around just bring in stuff and keep it. I owned this lovely place and a long-time dream was to have a library where people could come and just be. I have a thing for coffee, so my vision for the library definitely had coffee. I opened up this place with that in mind. I kept it all free and then the folks around here started bringing in things – some kind of I don’t know, payment or appreciation. And then it just grew and grew. This place is evolving almost every day and becoming whatever it wants to be with zero input from me – except for some very firm lines: no alcohol, no drugs and only vegetarian food.”

  “What’s it in its current avatar?” Lara smiled.

  “Right now it is everything that those people inside told you.”

  …and the conversation just flowed on and on. Lara sighed at the sense of peace she got being with Sonny. She had not felt so peaceful in…like…ever. She blinked in surprise at the realisation. Being with this woman, having the conversation that they were having – it was all new but felt strangely familiar to Lara. Something that was happening all her life. Being here, with Sonny felt comfortable, comforting and cosy.

  ******

  Lara Rai was an unusually focussed and intelligent individual. She was only eight when she had decided that she was going to own the world. Her family was rich owning rolling hills of tea estates and coffee plantations and Lara wanted for nothing. But like Alexander the Great, Lara was ambitious. She completely felt the story of Alexander the Great as a boy lamenting his father’s victory with tears saying something to the effect that there would be nothing left for him to conquer when he grew up. Ambition. Lara had the same ambition. To conquer. To leave her indelible mark on the world for all time. And she wanted to do it quickly.

  Since she was in a hurry to get it all, Lara chose acting as her vehicle towards the goal of world domination. Successful actors got fame, celebrity and wide open doors to anywhere they chose to go for the rest of their lives.

  Lara wasn’t leaving anything to chance. She began to spend all her time acting…at school, at home, with friends…everywhere. Her life was all about putting up plays and enacting skits. She joined dancing classes master a number of dance forms. She set up an exercise regimen which she followed diligently to ensure a killer body. She joined acting classes. She learnt dietetics.

  By ten she figured out that the fastest way to get a respectable break in films was via winning a beauty pageant. She set about grooming herself further. She developed unmatched people skills. She made anyone she spoke to feel they were the only person in the world and were i
ncomparably interesting. She became well-read and well-spoken. She was always a quick thinker but learnt to modulate her voice and pace her delivery. By fifteen she was ready.

  Fortune had favoured Lara in the looks department. She had a tender round face, milky white complexion, soft thick light brown hair, eyes that were so light green that they seemed a different colour – from blue, to green, to grey and even brown – depending on what she was wearing and the weather. Her mouth was a perfect pink rosebud with a devastating Cupid’s bow. She was slim built with a deliciously curvaceous figure. Lara was simply exquisite perfection.

  At sixteen, Lara Rai ruled the world. She was crowned Miss India and then went on to conquer Miss World.

  Two hours after she was crowned Miss World, films offers from across India started pouring in. India produces the largest number of movies in the world majorly in four languages: Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam. But only Hindi movies produced in Bollywood had pan-India and worldwide audience, so that was her ultimate goal in India before she moved to Hollywood.