Avoiding Truths

4th March 2032

07:45

Purbachal, Dhaka, Bangladesh

A bedroom on the 2nd floor of a 2-story semi-detached house. The room is medium-sized, a door to the washroom and a wardrobe on the east side. A table with a desktop PC on top and a large bookshelf beside the table on the south side, a large window is taking up some of the space of the north wall and lastly, on the west side, a bed and the door to the room.

Sohel is sleeping on the bed. He's wearing navy blue trousers with a black full-sleeve t-shirt. The door opens and Luna gets into the room. She goes straight to the bed and tries to wake Sohel up.

"Dad, Dad, wake up."

Sohel slowly opens his eyes and looks at Luna. He gives a warm smile and pats Luna's head.

"Good morning, Luna."

"Good morning, dad. Sister Mitali sent me to wake you up. She's cooking breakfast today."

Sohel sits up and says, "Oh! Then I better freshen up and go downstairs."

Sohel gets up and goes into the washroom. He brushes his teeth and washes his face. He then gets out of the washroom and picks up a pair of black leather gloves kept on the PC table.

He gets out and goes downstairs. As he enters the dining room, Sarah and Naomi greet him good morning.

The dining room was a big rectangular room with a window on the north side, a door on the west side that leads to the living room from which Sohel came in, and another door on the east side that leads to the kitchen. On the south side of the room, there was a big showcase with a lot of cutlery in it. In the middle of the room was a medium-sized rectangular table with two chairs on both the north and south sides and one chair on both the east and west sides. Naomi and Sarah were sitting beside each other on one side.

Before them, across the table, were Luna and another girl who looked the same age as Sarah.

Sohel didn't recognise the girl, so he asked, "You are?"

The girl stands up straight at the question and says awkwardly, "I'm Sarah's classmate, sir."

Sohel gets a little uncomfortable at this but handles himself and says, "Oh. You can call me by name. I'm Sohel Chowdhury, Sarah's older brother."

Sohel extends his hand for a handshake. The girl looks at the hand for a moment and grabs it with both of her hands. She says, "I'm Tanisha Zaman. Nice to meet you... umm... Sohel bhaiya. (bhaiya means brother.)"

Sohel again gets uncomfortable at the rigidity of Tanisha. He gives a small smile and sits on the east side seat.

Naomi was going to say something to Sohel, but Sohel doesn't realise it and says, "So, Tanisha, what brings you here today?"

"uhm….eh…."

Sarah says, "I called her over. There's a college project we're working on and I wanted to talk to her about it."

"Ohh."

At that moment, Mitali gets into the dining room with a plate full of hot parathas. She puts it in the middle of the table and says, "Breakfast is ready, guys. Come on, eat up."

Sohel notices there is already a pot on the table. He takes off the lid, and the aroma of freshly cooked vegetables fills the room.

Sohel praises Mitali: "Wow, Mitali! They smell brilliant."

Mitali blushes. She tries to hide his blush and says, "Come on. Try it."

Sohel flips his plate and takes some vegetables and a paratha on it. He takes a bite and says, "Woah. They're good. Thanks for the great food, Mitali."

Mitali blushes more. She sits on the opposite side of Sohel, and all of them start eating. Towards the end of the meal, Naomi again tries to say something to Sohel, but Sohel again interrupts her and says, "Oh, I'm full. Thanks for the food."

He gets up, washes his hands in the kitchen sink, and comes out to the living room. Naomi, too says she's done and follows Sohel.

The living room was a small room with a staircase going up on the south side, two doors, a large glass wall with a glass door that leads to the garden on the east side, and the front door of the house on the north side. In the middle of the room was a three-piece sofa set with a small glass tea table in the middle. There was a TV mounted on the west wall.

Sohel tries to go upstairs, but Naomi grabs his t-shirt. 

"Sohel, why are you avoiding me?"

Sohel turns to Naomi and gives her a fake smile.

"I'm not avoiding you, Naomi. Why would you think that?"

"Yes, you are. Ever since you came back from the yacht at Holly Beach, you've been trying to avoid talking to me face-to-face."

Sohel tries to get away, but as he realises that Naomi won't let go anymore, he asks Naomi with a serious face, "Naomi, do you know anything about something called Project Spectre?"

Naomi lets go of Sohel's t-shirt and says, "No. What's that?"

Sohel decides not to reveal anything else before he himself finds out more about it. He again smiles and says, "Nothing, don't worry. I was just worried about Luna and happened to avoid you. I won't anymore."

Naomi gives a happy smile and says, "That's okay then."

Sohel didn't feel good about lying to her, but he felt he had no other choice. He says in his mind, "Sorry, Naomi. I promise I'll tell you everything once I figure out what's your connection with Shadow and Project Spectre."

He gets back in his room. He takes off his gloves, grabs a book from the bookshelf, and sits on the chair in front of his PC table.

As he was reading, suddenly his phone rang. He picked up the phone and was shocked as he saw General Overlord calling him using his official number. He knew it was something serious, as General Overlord only calls him using his official number if it's a mission or any other official discussion. He brainstorms as to why Overlord would call him when his suspension isn't over until the 7th of March.

Sohel picks up the call with a thousand questions running on his mind.