Author: Deepa
Duraisamy
Author Introduction: A software consultant by profession, a
blogger by choice, for Mumbai based Deepa Duraisamy, both engineering and
software happened by chance. If she could do it all over again, she would
rather try a couple of years each at a whole set of varied professions. Indian
classical music and her love for writing are two interests that have stayed
with her through the years. A huge fan of the blogosphere and the plethora of
perspectives it has exposed her to, she hopes that her writing would have a
deeper purpose eventually. She blogs at Deepa's
Kaleidoscope.
Story:
“You
can’t be serious Meg!! How much do you even know the guy? I have heard people
talk such nonsense before, but I hardly expected you to be a part of those who
have lost their mind! You know better than anyone the perils of trusting
someone online!” Rachel’s words of admonition kept ringing in Meghna’s ears.
After all, whatever Rachel had said did have a modicum of truth to it. Here she
was; an MBA graduate, the vice president of her company, reporting directly to
the CEO and yet hopelessly falling head over heels in love with a dude she had
met through an online game. Meghna had almost fallen victim once to the dangers
that lurked behind the shadows of cyberspace but that had been years ago, when
just as any adolescent teenager, she had been smitten by technology and chat
rooms almost agreeing to meet a 36-year man posing as a 15-year old boy but
thankfully her parents had found out in time.
In the years that had passed by, she had grown to be more mature, slowly winning back her parents’ confidence in her and her decisions. It wasn’t a surprise then that being single at 33, her parents weren’t too worried. They had faith in her judgement and held on to hope that in time, she would find her perfect match too. Meghna felt a pang of endearment in her heart, she had met many parents who would push their children to settle down soon rather than later and she thanked her stars that her parents were nothing like them. She wondered how they would react though if they knew who she was harboring romantic feelings for. She chuckled as the thought crossed her mind, even she didn’t know who really she was falling for.
The sharp raps against the door to her cabin jerked her out of her musings. Quickly minimizing the active window on her computer screen, she looked up to see Arup standing by, an apologetic look on his face. A wave of irritation took over her, she hated being troubled for petty IT infrastructure issues but Arup had this exasperating habit of running everything past her.
“What?!” Meghna called out.
“I .. I.. “Arup stammered. That was one more thing Meghna hated in this guy, the seemingly lack of confidence that showed up every time he talked to her. She had observed him unintentionally plenty of times, sometimes in the lobby or the hallways or conference rooms, talking to others of his own department and he always seemed to be completely in charge, knowing exactly what he was talking about. Yet, here he was, muttering indecipherable gibberish under his breath.
“Speak up. How am I supposed to know what you want unless you talk clear and loud.” She said in a condescending tone.
Just as others in the organization, she knew a little about him through idle talk over coffee and lunch. When she had learnt that had earned his degree and IT qualifications through a correspondence course, she had made up her mind that he wasn’t intelligent or qualified enough. In her mind, only losers went the correspondence route. The fact that he had done that because he had had to give up his education to help his family during difficult times had no bearing in her mind. She overlooked the fact that despite those pressures, he had not thought twice about joining a company as an office boy slowly working his way upward, studying and working at the same time. In her mind, he was just not good enough. Despite her attempts to keep her personal opinions away from her professional ones, such misgivings in the back of her mind would creep their way into her attitude towards people.
Now she fretted and fumed, communicating her displeasure clearly as she signed the multiple approval forms required to purchase new servers and cloud space.
“Why couldn’t you talk to Mr. Sharma for such things?” She asked him again.
“Mr. Sharma is only allowed to approve up to a certain amount Ma’am. I could have split up the invoices into different quarters but then that would only slow down work. Plus it would add up installation charges because we would need someone to come in every time we need a machine set up. As we make the switch from the low capacity servers to the high capacity ones, we would need downtime too when no one can work. This way we would be saving on installation charges, avoid multiple downtimes and also have everything ready in time so work doesn’t get affected.”
His clear explanation showed that he had thought this through, analyzed different possibilities sincerely and yet all Meghna did was mumble a ‘Hmm’ in response. Once Arup left with the signed approvals, she redirected her attention to the computer screen. Strider was still offline. As she sat twiddling her thumbs waiting for him to, she reflected on her addiction to ‘Thorvaders’, the medieval war game she had been hooked to since the past year. It had started out as a way to pass her time, but in the recent couple of months she had not been able to stay away. Thorvaders was a massive multiplayer online role playing game based on a medieval warring era. Multiple clans fought against each other to win the title, each member playing out their designated roles and responsibilities, and the game required a lot of strategic thinking and intellect. Meghna had started out as just another newbie, learning the ropes as she worked as part of a team. But her aggressiveness and passion helped her climb the ranks and in a few months, she had clinched the role of a faction leader. In her new role, she had been required to interact quite a bit with the clan leader, a man who went by the name Strider.
From her first online interaction itself, she had been impressed by his clear concise thinking, his quick wit, his decision making abilities and the fact that he was ready to act as a sounding board for all his faction leaders. Sometimes she faced trouble even pitching her ideas to the CEO, yet here was someone she didn’t even know, willing to give her ideas a shot. She was positive that in real life, Strider would probably be a corporate hotshot too. Day by day, she got the feeling that of all the faction leaders, she was able to connect with him the best. Together they worked on new strategies and improvements, learning from their previous mistakes, recognizing key players and critical weakness in their opponents. Before she could realize, she had made Strider a part of her daily life and somewhere deep down, she hoped she was becoming a part of his. She wished she could meet him in person, get to know him more. A generally stable rooted person, this was all very exciting for her. There was a feeling of understanding, admiration and deep respect for this unseen man which she had never felt with anyone else before. Painfully aware that her infatuations were slowly giving way to romantic feelings, she wasn’t sure whether to act on it.
A metallic ping from the computer indicated that someone had come online. Her heartbeat accelerated as she saw that it was Strider. Not wanting to seem clingy, she waited for him to initiate the conversation. However her joy was short-lived as her phone rang, the shrill sound seeming jarring to her ears. The caller ID indicated Shree from the purchasing department.
“Meghna here.”
“Hi Meghna. Shree here. I just received the approval forms for the invoices of those new servers...”
“Yes, is there anything else that you need?”
“Actually, there’s one form that you seem to have missed signing.”
“Did you not send that with Arup?”
“We did. Arup just got the whole binder back, one’s missing your signature. Do you want me to send it back?”
“I’ll be right there.” She sighed, ending the call. To and fro would cost more time, it would be easier to walk over and do what was needed. She hated re-work. Just like Strider did too, she thought, realizing that she wanted to get back online to talk to him. She decided to stop by Arup’s cube on the way to give him a piece of her mind. She had simply signed everything that he had put in front of her, skimming through the pages. It was his responsibility to double check the requirements of the purchasing department.
From a distance, she could see that Arup’s cube was empty. The blue screen of his computer was flickering. Not locking his computer while he was away was a security issue, but the breach hardly registered in her mind as she recognized the all too familiar images on the screen. The hutments, the tall brick walls, the heavy metal vested guards. Thorvaders!! Arup hardly seemed to be the kind of person who would be a part of such a strategic game. She wondered if he was the enemy or part of her clan, and if so, who would he be. Unable to resist, she peeked closer to the screen where his username would show. She gasped as she realized with a start, that it was none other than Strider. Questions clouded her mind, how was it even possible? How could meek, confused, unsure Arup be the confident, decisive, intelligent Strider she had been smitten with? Her mind refused to blend the two identities together as she struggled to grasp the reality of how she had completely misjudged someone based on her initial assessment without bothering to interact with him at a more molecular level or give him the time of day. Shame clouded her mind as she recollected snippets of information and advice that Strider, no scratch that, Arup had shared with her. She thought back of the umpteen decisions that they had agreed upon, how she had always appreciated him online yet had only thought of him in real as unworthy.
“Mm .. Did you need anything?“ Arup’s voice brought her back to the present.
“Is this? Do you?..” She wavered, unsure of what to say or do. “You play Thorvaders?”
Arup shrugged. “You know about it? ” He asked, not waiting for an answer as he continued. “Its not the game I love so much as the experience, the expectations, the people, my team. Its a part of me.” Meghna stood rooted as she observed the usually shy flustered Arup transform into this passionate, sophisticated person. She noted the spark in his eyes that came from the mention of Thorvaders and she realized he was just like her. Passion brought out his confidence.
He blushed suddenly realizing he had spoken much more than he used to with this lady.
“Did you need anything?” He asked again.
She took a deep breath, gathering her thoughts. An online personality couldn’t be so completely off compared to a real one could it? There’s only so much one can fake, like addresses and phone numbers, names and age. But a personality is something that you cannot invent. She had been completely wrong in judging him, she owed it to him to give him a fair chance.
“Shree called from purchasing, I missed a signature somewhere.” She said.
“Oh! I am sorry, I should have..” He started, as she interrupted him.
“Don’t be, I could have checked too. Do you want to walk over to purchasing so we can double check everything that’s needed?” She asked softly.
Her soft demeanour must have stumbled him, she noted as she saw the surprise on his face. She had always been snobbish with him. Just like everything she had learned from Strider, this was a learning too. To not be too opinionated and quick in judging people, to give them a chance and to be fair.
As the sounds of their shoes clicked on the hallway in perfect symphony, she decided she might come clean with him one day. But for now, this was enough.
In the years that had passed by, she had grown to be more mature, slowly winning back her parents’ confidence in her and her decisions. It wasn’t a surprise then that being single at 33, her parents weren’t too worried. They had faith in her judgement and held on to hope that in time, she would find her perfect match too. Meghna felt a pang of endearment in her heart, she had met many parents who would push their children to settle down soon rather than later and she thanked her stars that her parents were nothing like them. She wondered how they would react though if they knew who she was harboring romantic feelings for. She chuckled as the thought crossed her mind, even she didn’t know who really she was falling for.
The sharp raps against the door to her cabin jerked her out of her musings. Quickly minimizing the active window on her computer screen, she looked up to see Arup standing by, an apologetic look on his face. A wave of irritation took over her, she hated being troubled for petty IT infrastructure issues but Arup had this exasperating habit of running everything past her.
“What?!” Meghna called out.
“I .. I.. “Arup stammered. That was one more thing Meghna hated in this guy, the seemingly lack of confidence that showed up every time he talked to her. She had observed him unintentionally plenty of times, sometimes in the lobby or the hallways or conference rooms, talking to others of his own department and he always seemed to be completely in charge, knowing exactly what he was talking about. Yet, here he was, muttering indecipherable gibberish under his breath.
“Speak up. How am I supposed to know what you want unless you talk clear and loud.” She said in a condescending tone.
Just as others in the organization, she knew a little about him through idle talk over coffee and lunch. When she had learnt that had earned his degree and IT qualifications through a correspondence course, she had made up her mind that he wasn’t intelligent or qualified enough. In her mind, only losers went the correspondence route. The fact that he had done that because he had had to give up his education to help his family during difficult times had no bearing in her mind. She overlooked the fact that despite those pressures, he had not thought twice about joining a company as an office boy slowly working his way upward, studying and working at the same time. In her mind, he was just not good enough. Despite her attempts to keep her personal opinions away from her professional ones, such misgivings in the back of her mind would creep their way into her attitude towards people.
Now she fretted and fumed, communicating her displeasure clearly as she signed the multiple approval forms required to purchase new servers and cloud space.
“Why couldn’t you talk to Mr. Sharma for such things?” She asked him again.
“Mr. Sharma is only allowed to approve up to a certain amount Ma’am. I could have split up the invoices into different quarters but then that would only slow down work. Plus it would add up installation charges because we would need someone to come in every time we need a machine set up. As we make the switch from the low capacity servers to the high capacity ones, we would need downtime too when no one can work. This way we would be saving on installation charges, avoid multiple downtimes and also have everything ready in time so work doesn’t get affected.”
His clear explanation showed that he had thought this through, analyzed different possibilities sincerely and yet all Meghna did was mumble a ‘Hmm’ in response. Once Arup left with the signed approvals, she redirected her attention to the computer screen. Strider was still offline. As she sat twiddling her thumbs waiting for him to, she reflected on her addiction to ‘Thorvaders’, the medieval war game she had been hooked to since the past year. It had started out as a way to pass her time, but in the recent couple of months she had not been able to stay away. Thorvaders was a massive multiplayer online role playing game based on a medieval warring era. Multiple clans fought against each other to win the title, each member playing out their designated roles and responsibilities, and the game required a lot of strategic thinking and intellect. Meghna had started out as just another newbie, learning the ropes as she worked as part of a team. But her aggressiveness and passion helped her climb the ranks and in a few months, she had clinched the role of a faction leader. In her new role, she had been required to interact quite a bit with the clan leader, a man who went by the name Strider.
From her first online interaction itself, she had been impressed by his clear concise thinking, his quick wit, his decision making abilities and the fact that he was ready to act as a sounding board for all his faction leaders. Sometimes she faced trouble even pitching her ideas to the CEO, yet here was someone she didn’t even know, willing to give her ideas a shot. She was positive that in real life, Strider would probably be a corporate hotshot too. Day by day, she got the feeling that of all the faction leaders, she was able to connect with him the best. Together they worked on new strategies and improvements, learning from their previous mistakes, recognizing key players and critical weakness in their opponents. Before she could realize, she had made Strider a part of her daily life and somewhere deep down, she hoped she was becoming a part of his. She wished she could meet him in person, get to know him more. A generally stable rooted person, this was all very exciting for her. There was a feeling of understanding, admiration and deep respect for this unseen man which she had never felt with anyone else before. Painfully aware that her infatuations were slowly giving way to romantic feelings, she wasn’t sure whether to act on it.
A metallic ping from the computer indicated that someone had come online. Her heartbeat accelerated as she saw that it was Strider. Not wanting to seem clingy, she waited for him to initiate the conversation. However her joy was short-lived as her phone rang, the shrill sound seeming jarring to her ears. The caller ID indicated Shree from the purchasing department.
“Meghna here.”
“Hi Meghna. Shree here. I just received the approval forms for the invoices of those new servers...”
“Yes, is there anything else that you need?”
“Actually, there’s one form that you seem to have missed signing.”
“Did you not send that with Arup?”
“We did. Arup just got the whole binder back, one’s missing your signature. Do you want me to send it back?”
“I’ll be right there.” She sighed, ending the call. To and fro would cost more time, it would be easier to walk over and do what was needed. She hated re-work. Just like Strider did too, she thought, realizing that she wanted to get back online to talk to him. She decided to stop by Arup’s cube on the way to give him a piece of her mind. She had simply signed everything that he had put in front of her, skimming through the pages. It was his responsibility to double check the requirements of the purchasing department.
From a distance, she could see that Arup’s cube was empty. The blue screen of his computer was flickering. Not locking his computer while he was away was a security issue, but the breach hardly registered in her mind as she recognized the all too familiar images on the screen. The hutments, the tall brick walls, the heavy metal vested guards. Thorvaders!! Arup hardly seemed to be the kind of person who would be a part of such a strategic game. She wondered if he was the enemy or part of her clan, and if so, who would he be. Unable to resist, she peeked closer to the screen where his username would show. She gasped as she realized with a start, that it was none other than Strider. Questions clouded her mind, how was it even possible? How could meek, confused, unsure Arup be the confident, decisive, intelligent Strider she had been smitten with? Her mind refused to blend the two identities together as she struggled to grasp the reality of how she had completely misjudged someone based on her initial assessment without bothering to interact with him at a more molecular level or give him the time of day. Shame clouded her mind as she recollected snippets of information and advice that Strider, no scratch that, Arup had shared with her. She thought back of the umpteen decisions that they had agreed upon, how she had always appreciated him online yet had only thought of him in real as unworthy.
“Mm .. Did you need anything?“ Arup’s voice brought her back to the present.
“Is this? Do you?..” She wavered, unsure of what to say or do. “You play Thorvaders?”
Arup shrugged. “You know about it? ” He asked, not waiting for an answer as he continued. “Its not the game I love so much as the experience, the expectations, the people, my team. Its a part of me.” Meghna stood rooted as she observed the usually shy flustered Arup transform into this passionate, sophisticated person. She noted the spark in his eyes that came from the mention of Thorvaders and she realized he was just like her. Passion brought out his confidence.
He blushed suddenly realizing he had spoken much more than he used to with this lady.
“Did you need anything?” He asked again.
She took a deep breath, gathering her thoughts. An online personality couldn’t be so completely off compared to a real one could it? There’s only so much one can fake, like addresses and phone numbers, names and age. But a personality is something that you cannot invent. She had been completely wrong in judging him, she owed it to him to give him a fair chance.
“Shree called from purchasing, I missed a signature somewhere.” She said.
“Oh! I am sorry, I should have..” He started, as she interrupted him.
“Don’t be, I could have checked too. Do you want to walk over to purchasing so we can double check everything that’s needed?” She asked softly.
Her soft demeanour must have stumbled him, she noted as she saw the surprise on his face. She had always been snobbish with him. Just like everything she had learned from Strider, this was a learning too. To not be too opinionated and quick in judging people, to give them a chance and to be fair.
As the sounds of their shoes clicked on the hallway in perfect symphony, she decided she might come clean with him one day. But for now, this was enough.
When I read posts like this I realize how difficult it is to give constructive comments. I was about to say too small post or no X-factor. I counted the words and well over 2000 words. Your description of Meghana was so intense I never realized you had written so much and thought it was a small piece.
ReplyDeleteYou have not given much game description. But that is not at all necessary. You have managed well without it. Only one feeback.
Only one feedback - You could have used show instead of tell for Arup's history. Usually it is not considered good to give descriptions in a story. Better to leave the reader to discover through events and conversations. If you had set up something in such a way that reader discovered about Arup, it would have been nicer.
I still don't know what really the X factor means w.r.t writing. As far as game description, I am glad the post worked without much of it, because I honestly am not a gamer AT ALL and I guess that shows in my post. I should have done due research for this plot but call me lazy :( Thank you TF for the honest feedback around Arup's history. Yes the post did end up too much from Meghna's point of view so it didn't come out as well as it should have, point taken! Next time! :)
DeleteI have described in comments to Jaish and Naba what I mean by X-factor. What I mean is your post did have a X-factor. I said game was not necessary. Your post worked well without game. And you engrossed the reader real deep in Meghna's point of view that I never knew I had read so many words. So that was your x-factor. Only point I made for you is you should have shown Arup's background rather than tell. It is perfectly fine to have story completely from Meghna's point of view. In a short story intensity will be lost if you bring multiple points of view.
DeleteExcellently written, Deepa! Like TF, I am finding it a stretch to give any constructive criticism. I have the same point as TF - in terms of Arup's persona you could have gone the 'show' route rather than the 'tell' route.
ReplyDeleteThe other thing is that the relationship between the two is bland - so the realization part is not stark. Of course, with a romance looming on the distant horizon and the sort of character you have for Arup, the blandness is quite in place. But, there is no sense of drama in the relationship. All this is, of course, reaching for something to say :)
On English - one small stumble :)"Her soft demeanour must have stumbled him..." "....surprised him....", yes but I have not seen stumbled used like this, :)
Thanks Suresh! Completely agree though I didn't realize it at the time. My story was too much from Meghna's perspective so it didn't strike me that I could build up Arup's character too! Point taken for next time! :)
DeleteAs for the blandness in their relationship, I guess those two couldn't interact much in real life because of varying levels of hierarchy but I probably could try being a little more innovative. Again, learning for me! :)
He he, I guess I didn't want to use the surprise word because that line also has surprise one more time. What I did mean though is stumped but typo :)
Yeah! You know there is a bit of ambivalence in the relationship there. She is exasperated with his running everything past her, his nervousness and, at the same time can see the clarity of his explanation. This sort of hating one attribute, liking the other thing is normally the relationship of boss to subordinate with no other emotion in the relationship. That is what made her relationship with Arup bland to me. Also, her reactions to Arup seem reasonable (not liking his running everything past her, nervousness etc.) - thus not really setting up any base for the reader wanting her to change her attitude. If she unreasonably disliked the guy - just for being an IT guy etc. - there is visible need for change.
DeleteSo the bland thing is a good thing or a bad? I guess because Meghna never knew that Arup is strider her relationship with him was extremely professional considering she's a VP and he just a senior IT technician. Its only after she finds out that she goes a little soft on him.
DeleteDeepa! I probably will attempt answering the X-Factor question as well as the one addressed to me. When TF is talking of the X-Factor, what I think he means is that the reader should want Meghana to change her attitude - which means that the change of attitude should really matter to either Meghana or Arup. Alternatively, the change in attitude should result in a climactic ending in the story - ideally catching the reader by surprise. If the reader is left with a "So-what?" feeling when he finishes the story and finds that Meghana has changed her mind, the X-factor - in TF's terms - is missing.
DeleteI suppose I am also referring to the same thing when I say that the relationship is bland. If there is a strong negative feeling to start with and it turns neutral or positive then the change seems significant. More zing will probably added if that change in attitude causes a material change to either Meghana or Arup.
You are writing to someone else's plot and with the ending set at a certain point. Think about your own stories and you will easily see what I mean - that you would probably never write a story about someone who had a lukewarm dislike to another which over the course of the story changes to a lukewarm like :)
Do not take me otherwise - What you have written is very good. We are only trying to gild the lily here.
Hi Deepa!
ReplyDeleteI felt that the paragraphs could have been broken up. Because, and this might just be me, I tend to skim through long paragraphs. Narrating long incidents may be supplemented with smaller and broken paragraphs.
The descriptions are intense, just like TF said, and you really didn't use the game very much, which is good considering (I'm just going out on a limb here) you don't play these games. Instead of creating a new game and inventing strategies, you decided to go on with minimal support from the game, which is commendable.
The dialogues could have been separated from each other, thereby making the story a bit more presentable.
That is all, from my side and I do hope that you take my criticism (if it qualifies as that) in the right manner.
For the rest we have our very own CS!! ;)
Whoops! You have no idea how reluctantly I write these comments and how odd it feels to be writing as though I am some sort of expert. My fingers are perpetually crossed hoping that what I write makes some sort of sense :)
DeleteWell, it is good to have a learned person to guide us through and it is so much better when that person is someone we look up to.
DeleteAnd as far as keeping your fingers crossed goes, keep them that way, because you are doing a great job! ;)
I actually had done the breaking up into paragraphs for another short piece of mine The Butterfly Effect. This particular post was written towards the purpose of - working towards eventually publishing and I don't know why but I thought in published stories/novels they don't have too many short paragraphs, most of it is descriptive. But I may be wrong! I'll definitely take that into consideration II.
DeleteBang on about my not being a gamer, I guess its evident in my post. I could have done some due diligence and researched it, but was too lazy! :(
Dialogues - point taken! Thank you for all the honest feedback!
CS: Keep them coming, they are deeply appreciated! Kudos to you and TF for such a helpful initiative!
Good, good, very good. I had a very pleasant experience reading your post for Blogaton and this one matched my expectation. You have very strong narration. Very good.
ReplyDeleteI like the detailing on Megahan in the opening paragraphs. That plunks her squarely as our heroine. Very good. I also like Rachel. As writers mature, they are able to pick up characters from other cultures and write about them confidently. I like that touch. I like Arup stammering in his opening scene. Brilliant.
You are a work-horse. You might not be dressed up in fancy clothes and leading a parade, but when it comes to looking for a horse that won't flinch under fire, you are it. Great content. Yes, I know some might dislike the big paras and the dialogues might seem a little on the lesser side, but this is good narration.
:) Thank you for the comments. I have no idea what the last para literally means (as in a work horse, not dressed up in fancy clothes, leading a parade) except that I understand at the the end, its probably a compliment :)
Deleteups
ReplyDeleteExperts have already given you much. Nothing extra from me :)
Downs
1. dude - I think such words should not be used in narration.
2. even she didn’t know who really she was falling for - I would write this as 'she didn't even know who she was falling for. 'really' is not needed here in my opinion.
3. That was one more thing Meghna hated in this guy - 'one more' should be used when you have already mentioned two or more things. In this case, I would use 'another' instead of 'one more'
4. plenty of times - Should it not be many times? 'plenty of' is used to show quantity of uncountable nouns. And if that is what you meant, 'plenty of time' would mean 'much time', which I don't think is appropriate here.
5. clear and loud - Or, 'loud and clear'?
6. went the correspondence route - through' missing...as the correspondence route is not used as an adverb.
7. The fact that he had done that because he had had to give up his education to help his family during difficult times had no bearing in her mind - you should have used 'was' instead of 'because'. And, 'fact' might have been replaced with 'reason'.
8. that would only slow down work - should be 'the work'
9. There’s only so much one can fake - Is 'only' needed here?
1. Now that you point it out, I agree. Colloquial or slang or use within dialogue is fine, but not in narration.
Delete2. The way my statement sounded in my head was - an emphasis on SHE - so even she herself doesn't know - and then an emphasis on Really. So she knows him online but not in real, so she doesn't know who he is really. But I get your point. As a writer I only get one chance to get the point across, if I have to explain it, it's not effective anymore!
3. One more because she hated being pestered for petty things but Arup had a habit of running everything by her (just the previous statement)
4. Had no idea! What was that red cover book we were all recommended for Grammar? I got to read that cover to cover again I think!
5. :) Yep, loud and clear!
6. So went through the correspondence route? Really? Because don't books have stuff like 'He didn't want to the divorce way' which would mean he didn't want to pick that option?
7. I honestly didn't get what you meant, but now that I read it again, my own statement seems confusing!
8. Why? I am sure, I have read work being used directly without the the! :) But grammatically if it's wrong, do let me know!
9. Yep, this one is needed here. There's only so much to indicate that you can only fake a little. Removing the only would mean you can fake a lot. In this context, you can fake address, name, etc but you can't really fake what you are, your basic nature. Hope that helps!
Thank you so much for going through the post in such detail! Definitely helps when I re-read some stuff!