THE PUZZLE

The box looked smooth from the outside, deep brown in colour. A regular wooden box…about the size of an orange. It’s on the table, next to a bottle of water.

‘’Don’t say Orange. Use another fruit.’’, she interrupts his thought.

In a quick second, his face contorts with disbelief. He looks up at her, the confusion slowly settling in. Surely, he didn’t say those words out aloud? He was pretty sure he didn’t. Yet, she responded like she had heard him. How did that happen? He had to have said it out loud. There was no other way. She was looking at him with that confident look, one which seemed to intimidate him as much as it intoxicated him.

‘’What did you say?’’, he asks quietly.

‘’The size of the box, don’t use an orange to describe it. Use some other fruit.’’, she repeats, before she shifts her attention back at her book. She is reading a book about traveling, while sitting by the window. Behind her, raindrops stream down the window, like a curtain of flowing beads. The light is soft, and wraps around her like a light blanket, enhancing her small frame. Her hair flows over her shoulders, her neck, falling over her face, as he sits and watches her immersed in her book. He wants to grab her, toss her book away and plant his lips on hers. He can already taste her lips as he imagines rolling his tongue in her mouth. She tastes of tea. Her morning tea, which she brews in a white pot with flowers plucked from the garden. His hands are firm and hold her tight, while his tongue, playing with hers, moving deep inside her, sucking the air right out, knocking her sense of balance- and then her knees will begin to tremble. This is his cue to slip his fingers down till he can feel the softness of her lace. He liked to push- make her go weaker than she thought she could. As his fingers slide down and reach her other lips…

‘’What are you staring at?’’, she asks, snapping him out from his erotica.

‘’Umm..nothing…I was just wondering why you asked me not to use ‘Orange.’ ’’ He says, confidentially covering up the sudden sense of shame that rose up from within.

‘’No. you were lusting.’’ She is nonchalant yet accusatory. ‘Cool as a cucumber with a loaded gun.’, she liked to say. He doesn’t feel good when she behaves this way and makes a quick mental note to tell her about it later.

He starts to feel the flush settle and the bizzare-ness of their conversation begins to unsettle him.

‘’No I was not.’’, he quickly defends himself before he trails off in his head again.

‘’Yes, you were.’’ She is looking at him straight in the eye, her gaze deep and knowing, her expression unfrazzled. Focused.

‘’Is that wrong?’’ His voice is low and calculative. He is prepared for what is to follow. She likes to have the last word, especially when in disagreement. In his mind, he begins to sharpen imaginary knives. One quick stab. Right in the heart. In and out in a single smooth motion. He is wiping the blood off the knife now, wondering if he should feel like a ninja or the KGB.

‘’Ninja’s use swords.’’ Her voice is cold. Her eyes a deep brown.

Dammit! She’s done it again! He can sense a faint disappointment, but he is not sure. Surely, this cannot be true. This means he is safe nowhere, not even in his thoughts. Should he stop thinking? Can she hear him now? Wait. Silence. Stay. Silent…Hush….Nothing….keep looking at her, don’t take your eyes off of her…Shhh…

‘’It’s called a thought gatherer. The totem rings I got us last week? Yours is on your finger, mine is on this thread, around my neck.” She tugs at the dull brown thread around her neck and pulls it up to show the second half of the set of rings she had bought them as an anniversary gift. He hadn’t thought much of it back then, and wore his on his finger. He found them cute. He now looks down at his hands, at the deep brown coloured band on his finger and suddenly, a wave of cringe washes over him. He is trying to pay attention to her words, struggling to not let her casual manner disorient him.

She has put her book aside and is speaking with a tone he playfully taunts her by calling it the tone of a “researcher who has sold her soul” Usually, this tone amused him. Today, he feels unsettled as he listens to her speak.

“When they are within each other’s range, they sync up. Together, they analyse, trace and remember your past patterns - body stats, the way you move, your micro facial changes, there are 21 parameters in all. Along with a list of pre-set questions I answered about you, it runs it through it’s algorithm, and bam! I get a notification on what your most likely present thought could be. And, I can set the priority on which patterns I would like to be notified of. Come see, the notification on my phone.”, she says, her hands outstretched, inviting him to come closer.

He is stunned and overwhelmed at the same time. Did he hear her right? The thought what? A million questions come to his mind all at once. He gets up from his chair, and walks over and sits next to her. She shows him her phone, with the same kind of excitement as she does when she’s found a new unique flower to add to her morning brew. For a minute, he forgets about the phone and gets lost in her eyes. Thin shards of chocolate flakes laid out in an overlapping circle. Wide with wonder, complimented with a grin. His eyes follow the curve of her lips and…

Her phone buzzes, snapping him out yet again.

“Look!” She says, pushing the screen closer to his face. Read it!

‘’Wants to kiss lips’’ the message reads.

He stares at the phone in disgust and disbelief. ‘’Wants to kiss lips?’’ He says out loud. ‘’What a oversimplified assessment’’

‘’It’s right, is it not?’’ She asks.

His head feels like a swirling mess. He can’t get a grip on his thoughts. An app? It can’t be true… he looks back at her and her amusement begins to irritate him.

‘’Even if this was true, and I’m not saying it is. Isn’t this an invasion of my privacy?’’ He says, with as much calm as he can gather.

‘’Oh boo hoo. It’s an invasion of my privacy when you undress me so much all the time. Yesterday you did it 8 times and it was just 2PM by then! What the hell is wrong with you?’’, She says. She is quick with her words.

‘’I don’t know how I feel about this.’’ He says, suddenly feeling that shiver down his spine. A moment later, he adds inquisitively, ‘’Can we switch them so I can get to read your thoughts?’’

She stares at him unfazed. Her voice is playful, “Nope, my device is pre-programmed with my DNA.”

“Your DNA?! What the fuck, T! You gave them your DNA?!” He takes a step back, suddenly feeling light.

“Oh please, tone it down a bit! This is just a prototype”, she says, her voice sternly dismissive before she calms down and continues to explain, “Remember O, the friend I go bird watching with? She’s been working on this project. It’s actually developed as a device to help with elderly care , especially for those who are unable to communicate easily.

His breath begins to relax but his body still feels tense. She looks at him in silence, assessing. She doesn’t need an app to understand what’s going on with him.

“Relax, N. It’s not out in the market. Major privacy issues. Besides, the glitches that need ironing will take years of data collection and restructuring in order to minimise errors. They will probably shut it down. A pity, I say. It’s been quite exciting, all this attention I’ve been getting from you these last few days. I wouldn’t have thought you spend so much of your time doing such dirty things to me in your mind.’’

His body relaxes as he takes in all that she is saying. He can still feel it in his gut though, a sense of being violated and he is tempted to seriously address it. But one look at T, her big brown eyes and her cheeky smile, and he decides it can wait until later. He hears his voice as he shifts his focus back on to her, “That’s not fair now, is it? I’d like to get a chance to hear your thoughts.’’, he says as he comes closer, his lips barely inches away from hers.

‘’How about you go down on me and I’ll make an exception and I’ll let you hear my thoughts - no need for an app.’’ She says, with an invitingly deep voice.

‘’And you’ll delete the app after?’’ He asks her as he slides his hands under her skirt, his fingers slipping between her legs only to be submerged in her responsive nectar. She leans back and let’s out a deep sigh. He is slow and circular with his movements and the deeper his fingers reach inside her, the louder her moans get. He leans in closer, planting small soft bites on her neck and as his lips reach her ears, he whispers again, ‘’you’re gonna delete the app yeah?’’

‘’Yes!’’ she moans. ‘’Oh yeeesss!’’

She may have a way with her words, but he knew exactly how to make her surrender.