"That's great to hear," Niranjan said.
"Let's go to the 86th floor observation deck and see the City of New York from there," Jennifer said.
"Okay".
Niranjan walked towards the one of the elevators, and when it descended to the ground floor, he stepped inside along with Jennifer and other visitors.
Niranjan was astonished to feel the speed of the elevators, and within few minutes he was taken to the 86th floor of the building.
While he stepped out of the elevator, he said, "Wow, the elevator crosses the floor by a fraction of second, and we are here within no time".
"Yes, very high speed elevators," Jennifer said.
Niranjan wandered around the floor to see the different office nestled within. He walked outside towards the observation deck along with Jennifer where many visitors looked at the scenic top view of the New York City.
"Everything looks so tiny from here, it's really a wonderful scene," Jennifer said.
"Yeah, look at the suspended Manhattan bridge across the East river, it looks beautiful within the city," Niranjan said.
They both looked at the different structures and Jennifer tried to identify them. They spent few more minutes around the observation deck and inside the 86th floor before returning back to the ground floor.
When they came out of the Empire State building, it was already an evening time.
"Let's go to the Pizza Hut and have something to eat," Niranjan suggested while they walked back to the subway to go to the Penn station.
"Okay, I feel too hungry" Jennifer said, and they walked into the Pizza Hut.
When they reached back to the Princeton Junction after travelling from the New York Penn station, it was dark outside. Niranjan walked towards his car and drove towards Jennifer who waited for him on the entry gate of the Princeton Junction train station. He drove the car towards the Deer Creek Apartments, while Jennifer rested her head on the head support of the seat.
When Jennifer reached her home, it was late in the evening. She climbed the staircase to reach her bedroom, and saw James watching television in the opposite room. She anticipated his interference once again but he was quite, watching the television program.
Soon after, her cell phone started vibrating and she glanced at the screen. It was Andrea calling. She closed the door and said, "Hi, what's up?"
"I am doing well, I tried to reach you in the noon, but I could not connect. Where had you been?" Andrea said.
"Well, I had been to Atlantic City with Niranjan, one who introduced to us in the Market Fair Mall" Jennifer said.
"Wow, you already hooked on him, I envy you," Andrea said. They both guffawed.
"He is a good person and treats me well. Intelligent and works hard at General Electric. He is a good friend to hang with," Jennifer said.
"Well you are not flattering I believe," Andrea said and giggled.
"Not at all, I feel safe around him," Jennifer said.
"All right, you have someone to hang on during weekend now, happy friendship with Niranjan," Andrea said.
"Thanks, and catch you later,” Jennifer said.
Jennifer was happy with the way she spent her day with Niranjan. She was glad that she informed her friendship with Niranjan to Andrea. She always sought Andrea's suggestions as a well-wisher. Niranjan's entry into her life changed her, and slowly wiped off the past bad memories of friendship with Andrew.
Chapter 18 Shenandoah Valley
A person isn't who they are during the last conversation you had with them - they're who they've been throughout your whole relationship - Rainer Maria Rilke
Niranjan glanced at the emails he had received in the morning, and noticed a meeting request from Sing Ming. He was invited for a one on one with her to discuss a technical matter related to the programming. Niranjan accepted the meeting request which was scheduled after an hour.
He replied to the remaining emails and spent time in going through the task list for the day. Soon after, he walked towards the meeting hall and met Sing Ming on the way.
"Hi Sing Ming, How are things?" Niranjan asked.
"Going good so far, but stuck at some programming issue," Sing Ming said.
"All right, let's discuss the problem," Niranjan said and he entered into the meeting hall along with her.
Niranjan pulled a chair for himself and waved his hand towards her to take a seat.
"Well, I have a peculiar problem in the current module I am developing," Sing Ming said. She explained in detail the problem she had been facing in her project implementation.
Niranjan listened to her keenly and thought for a while before giving suggestions.
"Well, I think the problem is related to the memory leak in the application," Niranjan said.
He explained to her in detail about the memory leaks and provided his invaluable suggestions to fix the problem. Sing Ming was pleased to know the solution for the problem, which was bothering her since few days.
"Okay, let me try out the solution you have suggested and get back to you," she said.
"Okay".
"By the way, how was your weekend?" Sing Ming asked.
"Well, I had been to New York City to visit the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State building".
"Okay, that's good to know. My husband took me to the Shenandoah Valley in West Virginia," Sing Ming said.
"What is the special about the Shenandoah Valley?" Niranjan asked.
"Well, it's a scenic place with mountains and caverns," she said. Sing Ming Explained in detail about the tourists spot in and around West Virginia.
Niranjan decided to visit to the place while he heard the details from Sing Ming about the Shenandoah Valley.
######
Niranjan remembered Jennifer's suggestion to become an American Automobile Associations member to avail the emergency road services. He spared an hour of his time on one of the working days, and visited the AAA office in Princeton. He inquired about the membership at the office and applied for it. During the discussion, he was informed by the employee of the AAA that they would provide services to plan a trip around the USA. Niranjan was delighted to know it, and he immediately called Jennifer.
"Jennifer, I am speaking from the AAA office at Princeton," he said when she received his call.
"Yes, go ahead and be a member of the AAA," Jennifer said.
"I became the member but they also offer trip plans across the USA. I was planning to visit the Shenandoah Valley this week end".
"Okay, for how many days?"
"My colleague said it will be a two days trip from here," Niranjan said.
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"All right, you can plan for it, and I will try my best to join you," Jennifer said.
"Okay, I will call you later," Niranjan said.
He discussed with the employee of the AAA to plan a trip to the Shenandoah Valley and they suggested him to halt at Fredrick of Maryland. The trip contained the hotel bookings at Fredrick and directions to teach to the important tourist places around, including the Shenandoah Valley. They gave the complete map of the trip with sketched routes in it.
Later on Friday evening Niranjan called Jennifer to be ready to go to Frederick, Maryland and then visit to the Shenandoah Valley. They decided to start by Saturday noon and check into the Frederick Marriott hotel by evening, as per the trip plan. Later in the next day morning, they would leave for the Shenandoah Valley and return back to Princeton in the evening.
Jennifer reached to the Deer Creek Apartment before noon on Saturday while Niranjan was waiting for her. She spent few minutes of time in his home before they started towards the Route One South. The Maryland state was located in the south of New Jersey.
"I like your dress today, you look great," Niranjan said. She wore a pale pink blouse with banana yellow skirt.
"Thank you, and where did you buy your suit?" she asked.
"Well, I got it from India, and I need to buy one here," he said.
"Okay, we shall go to Kohl's once to shop for clothing," Jennifer said.
Niranjan steered his car to the right to merge onto I-95 South to go to Fredrick. They travelled for about 140 miles on I-95 while taking rest twice in between. When they reached Marriott hotel in Fredrick it was evening time. They had travelled for four hours from Princeton, New Jersey.
"Wow, at last we reached the hotel," Niranjan said.
He parked the car and they both walked into the lobby while an American female receptionist greeted them.
"Welcome, How may I help you," the receptionist asked. She stared at Niranjan.
"Hi, I am Niranjan from Princeton New Jersey and, we had booked a room through the AAA".
"Okay, let me check for you," receptionist said. She typed on the keyboard and looked at the computer screen.
"Well, your room is booked today for two days and room number 277 in the second floor," she said, and handed the key over to Niranjan.
"Okay, thank you very much," Niranjan said. He stepped into the nearby elevator along with Jennifer and reached to their room.
Jennifer gazed at the room once. It was spacious with large luxury bedding inside, facing the entrance. The crisp linens covered the thick mattress, and the fluffier pillows with the custom comforters were kept on it. A large LCD television was placed on the desk facing the bed. A wide glass window on the other side of the room provided the scenic look of the Fredrick city, and a pale brown curtain was hung to it.
She saw Niranjan sat on one side of the bed immediately after entering the room. She was nervous at first but regained her confidence after looking at Niranjan's charming and calm face.
He is very confident as he was outside with me. Let me see what he is up to.
She slowly crawled on the bed beside him while Niranjan loosened his tie.
"Well, you must be tired driving all the way from Princeton," she said. She gazed at him with a pleasant smile.
Niranjan laughed delightedly and said, "Well, I don't feel tired when you are with me".
Jennifer gazed at his eyes while Niranjan glanced at her hourglass shaped body. Their eyes locked together.
"You have beautiful eyes," Jennifer said. She saw a pleasant smile on his face.
"You look pretty, and I am attracted to you when I met you first time," he said.
Jennifer held his hand and said, "I love you Niranjan, you are a kind person". She saw his face turn red while she came closer to him. Her heart was throbbing when he hugged her with his hands on her torso. They locked their lips and made a passionate love.
######
Next day morning, they stepped out of the hotel to go to the Skyline Caverns in the Shenandoah Valley. Niranjan pulled his car from the parking lot and drove towards the US 340 South Highway. It was two hours travel from Fredrick to the Skyline Caverns in the Shenandoah Valley according to the AAA trip plan.
"AAA has planned our trip well, and the hotel is very comfortable," Niranjan said while he drove his Acura on the US 340 South Highway.
"Yes, I liked the hotel restaurant with the bar attached to it," Jennifer said.
The previous night, they had spent good time in the pub attached to the hotel restaurant.
"Yeah, they provide excellent service to the customer," Niranjan said. He drove past the Fredrick City and entered into West Virginia.
Niranjan was astonished to look at the dark green forested mountains spread across the terrain filled with the greenery.
"Wow, look at the mountains filled with the green vegetation, the scene is very beautiful," Niranjan said.
"The Shenandoah Valley in Virginia is a mountainous terrain. The caverns we are going to visit are carved inside these mountains," Jennifer said.
Niranjan steered his car towards the parking lot near the cavern ticket counter. They both stepped out of the car and Niranjan purchased the tickets for the guided tour inside the cavern.
When guided tour started, Niranjan followed the guide along with the other visitors.
"Wow, the guide is leading us 260 feet below the earth surface," Niranjan said, while he listened to the speech given by the guide.
"She will take us to a mile of distance inside the cavern," Jennifer said.
When they entered inside the caverns, Niranjan saw limestone like stone formations which were pale brown. They were illuminated with the artificial lights.
"Are they natural stone formations?" Niranjan asked.
"Yeah, they are called Anthodites, and it takes 120 years for it to grow just one cubic inch," she said.
"Wow, then these stones here are grown so tall and must be millions of years old," Niranjan said.
The guide explained in detail about the history and features of the Skyline Cavern. According to the guide, this cavern was 50 to 60 millions of years old, and was discovered in the year 1937.
They also visited three flowing streams inside the Skyline Cavern, and water was dripped from the stone formations which revealed their continued growth.
Later in the evening they headed back to Frederick, and then returned to Princeton, New Jersey. It was late in the night when they reached to their place.
Chapter 19 Niranjan and James
Anger, if not restrained, is frequently more hurtful to us than the injury that provokes it - Lucius Annaeus Seneca
It was a day of hard work at General Electric for Niranjan, and he relaxed on the sofa in the main hall. A movie was being played on the television wh
ile Niranjan watched it with dimly lit light in the background. He had closed the balcony door and had covered it with the wide sliding curtain to do away with the outside view.
He remembered for a while about Vivek, his manager at the Summit Software Solutions in the USA and thought of speaking with him. He glanced at the wall clock and thought it was not too late in the evening to call him. He recalled his meeting with him few months ago when he initially came to the USA and had attended the client interview.
He grabbed his cell phone from the nearby wooden tea table and dialled Vivek's number.
"Hi Niranjan, how are you?" Vivek said with a cheerful tone.
"Hello Vivek, I am doing well. It was long time since we spoke with each other," Niranjan said.
"Yeah, you are right. Your client manager at General Electric called me once and informed about your performance few days ago," Vivek said.
"Oh is it, what did he say about my performance," Niranjan asked.
"You are doing good work with them, and he is happy to have him in his team. He has sent a detailed report to me," Vivek said.
"Oh really, I would be happy to look at it."
"Okay, you can stop by to my office when you are commuting to General Electric this week, we can have a detailed discussion," Vivek said.
"All right, I will visit your place on Friday of this week, and any news from Summit, India?" Niranjan asked.
"Well, we are in the expansion mode of our Summit operations and I need to talk to you about it. Please do meet me on Friday this week, we will have a detailed discussion," Vivek said.
"Okay, bye for now," Niranjan said. He disconnected the call and kept the phone back on the table.
Niranjan was happy to speak with Vivek and he always tried to keep in touch with his friends and parents. He tried his best to avoid the loneliness and depression by speaking to them, and on weekends he enjoyed the company of Jennifer. He could work hard with much enthusiasm with the support of his parents and friends.
While Niranjan was immersed in the thoughts about office work, he heard the door bell ringing. He reduced the television volume and thought for a moment about who it might be. He would not expect anybody at this time except the maintenance support staff. He tiptoed towards the door and opened it a little. He saw an American with well-built personality and with an average American height. He wore a black t-shirt with dark blue jeans.
"Yes, whom do you want to meet?" Niranjan asked while he peeped outside the door.
"Hi, I am James, and can I speak with you for a moment?" he said.