The Romantic Adventures of Joe Hawley and Zubin Sedghi

Zubin's Old Warehouse

Zubin sets the taser aside, and sits down at a wooden desk. He takes out his laptop computer, and begins typing away.

Joe wakes up lying on the floor of what looks like an office.

He stands up, and looks around. He is inside a large room, which appears to be an old warehouse. There are rows of shelves along the walls, filled with boxes of different sizes.

Joe walks over to one of the shelves and examines some of the boxes. They're marked with various labels, including 'medicine', 'canned food' and 'weapons'.

Zubin comes into the room and says, "Did you have fun taking a nap?"

Joe nods. "Yeah."

"Good. Now you're awake, we need to talk."

Joe sits down in a chair next to a desk. He rubs his neck and asks, "Why am I tied up?"

Zubin puts his hands behind his back, and says, "Because you tried to run away. And I didn't want you running away."

Joe shakes his head. "I wasn't trying to run away."

"Bullshit," said Zubin. "You ran right past me without even looking my way. You just kept going, and I had to chase after you. Don't try to deny it."

Joe sighs. "Look, I'm sorry. I was scared, okay?"

Zubin snorts. "I don't care." He sits down in a chair, facing Joe. "Now, let's start again. My name is Zubin Seghi. I'm twenty-six years old, and I live in Michigan."

"I know," said Joe. "Your picture is on your website."

Zubin grins. "Right. I guess you did look at my website."

Joe nods. "Well, I've seen a lot of websites before. But yours is different. Yours isn't boring, like most other sites are."

Zubin smiles. "Thanks. That makes me feel good."

Joe looks at Zubin. "So, who are you really?"

Zubin leans forward in his chair. "What do you mean who am I really? I'm Zubin Seghi. I'm an engineer. I work for a company called U.S. Robotics. In a few days, I'll be heading to New York City for a conference on video game technology."

Joe nods. "Okay."

"But right now, I'm not working. I don't have any meetings scheduled until tomorrow morning. So, I figured I'd take a little time off. Relax a bit."

Joe shrugs. "Sounds nice. What are you going to do for fun?"

Zubin pauses, and thinks for a moment. "Actually, I was thinking about reading some books."

Joe laughs. "I don't think that's too exciting. I mean, just sitting around and reading?"

Zubin gives Joe a stern look. "Don't judge me. Reading is important. It teaches you about yourself and the world around you."

"Oh." Joe pauses. "Okay."

"It helps you learn new things," added Zubin. "And it opens up your mind to new ideas, and possibilities. It lets you see things from different perspectives."

"I guess."

"Anyway," continued Zubin, "after I finish reading these three books, I'll probably buy a fourth book. Then, I might rent a movie."

"Like what movie?" asked Joe.

"I don't know yet."

"Are you going to watch the movie alone, or will you invite someone else over?"

Zubin shakes his head. "No. I wouldn't invite anyone over. That's boring. Plus, I don't have any friends."

"Why not?"

Zubin shrugs. "I don't know." He takes a deep breath. "I don't really like people very much. I don't know why. Maybe because they're so unpredictable. People never turn out the way you expect them to."

"Really?"

Zubin nods. "Sure." He pauses, and looks at Joe. "Tell me, if I were to ask you to come to New York City with me, would you go?"

Joe's heart skips a beat. "Yes," he quickly answers. He wants to get this over with as soon as possible.

Zubin smiles. "That's good. Because I'm going to ask you that same question." He stares at Joe for a second, and then says, "Come here. I want to show you something."

Joe gets up and walks towards Zubin.

Zubin pushes a button on the wall, and a door opens to reveal another room. Zubin looks at Joe, and says, "This is one of the rooms in my house. Come in, and I'll show you what I want to show you."

Joe steps inside the room, and closes the door behind him. The room has several leather couches and chairs, along with a big TV. A large glass window dominates the far end of the room, which overlooks a private backyard.

Zubin walks over to a couch and sits down. "Have a seat."

Joe sits down in a nearby chair. "Thank you."

"Yeah, sure," said Zubin. "Do you mind if I smoke?"

Joe shakes his head. "Not at all."

Zubin lights a cigarette, and puts it between his lips. He inhales deeply, and blows out a long stream of white smoke.

Joe looks at Zubin. "So, why are you inviting me into your home?"

Zubin exhales a cloud of smoke. "Well, there's something I wanted to talk to you about."

Joe nods. "Okay."

"How long have we been talking?"

"About ten minutes," answered Joe.

"Good," replied Zubin. "Because I've always thought that our conversations should be short and sweet, like a shot of whiskey."

Joe smiles. "You've got a weird sense of humor."

Zubin chuckles. "I know. But I hope you can appreciate it. After all, when you think about it, life is pretty funny."

Joe nods. "I guess."

"So, what did you want to talk about?"

Joe thinks for a second. "Well," he begins, "I've been having trouble with my neighbors lately."

Zubin nods. "I can understand that. I had a similar issue with my old neighbor. He kept coming over every day, asking for help with his computer. There wasn't anything wrong with my computer, but he insisted that I fix it for him anyway."

Joe frowns. "What happened?"

Zubin sighs. "Well, after I fixed his computer, he thanked me, and left. It was only a few seconds later that I realized that I didn't actually fix his computer. All I did was let him use mine."

Joe laughs. "That's hilarious."

Zubin smiles. "Yeah. I told him that I fixed his computer, but he didn't believe me. He went back to my house two more times, and each time, I lied to him. I made up some sort of excuses, and told him that everything was okay. But by the third time, I finally admitted that I had no idea how to fix his computer. Then I shot him to death."

Joe looks surprised. "You killed him?"

Zubin nods. "Yeah. He came back again, and I shot him dead."

Joe looks horrified. "But he didn't do anything!"

Zubin shrugs. "Maybe not. But I don't really care. When I see someone's trying to take advantage of me, I have no problem killing them. In fact, I'd like to kill everyone who's ever tried to take advantage of me. And now that you mention it, I've also killed my last three dates. So, I guess I'm pretty good at killing people."

Joe laughs. "I'm sorry to hear that."

Zubin smiles.

They then walked all the way to New York City, for Zubins video game technology conference. Joe and Zubin arrive at the meeting.