Promises are meant to be broken

Chapter 14

July 19, Wednesday
8:45 am

"Wake up, Shivaay." Meera instructed, patting Shivaay's cheeks and pulling him up from the couch. As he finally stood up yawning and stretching his back, Meera went to get the lemonade she'd brought for him knowing that he'd be suffering though hangover. That's what people suffer through after nearly emptying a whole bottle of whiskey.

When Meera turned around, she saw that Shivaay had already slouched back to the couch. Huffing, she strode back to him and made him hold the glass.

"Jab raat ki chaddhi utar jayegi, tab neeche aa jana.(Come down after you turn sober)." Meera told him. Her lukeworm tone made Shivaay sit upright.

"Where?" He asked, still not in a clear state of mind.

"On the eighth floor. The ice goddess, I mean, Annika is here." Meera knew what could turn him sober without much efforts. Hearing her name, a distaste look appeared on Shivaay's face, which internally surprised Meera.

"Why is she here?"

"She came to meet a guest, who's found dead inside the bath tub. So it'd be better if you fix your appearance and come down asap." Meera asserted and turned on her heels. Shivaay gulped down the lemonade, shook his head and stood up with perplexed look.

"You mean, she found a dead body inside our hotel room?" Shivaay questioned, racing to the door. Meera followed his trail, humming in response.

"When?"

"Seven minutes back." She informed, noticing that he was back to The Shivaay Singh Oberoi (SSO) form as they hurried to the eighth floor.

"Close down all the entrances. No guests should be unnecessarily disturbed and no can leave without my permission. Alert the security team. I want no media to be sniffing round the gate at least for next two hours and the details of the guest should be on my table in next ten minutes." Shivaay shot his orders to Meera, who registered everything he said without missing a single word.

"Room 803." Meera guided him when they reached the eighth floor.

Shivaay's eyes immediately spot Annika, who'd just walked out of the bathroom. When their eyes met, their unshrinking professionalism was crystal clearly seen by the way they looked at each other. When Shivaay took a step in, Annika stopped him.

"Mr. Oberoi, you can't enter in." She told him.

"You can't stop me from entering into my own hotel's room, ACP Trivedi" He was very certain with his intentions.

"This is a crime scene."

"This is my hotel." Shivaay stated, authoritatively and walked in, carefully scrutinizing the surrounding. As he took few more steps, Annika obstructed his path.

"Out, Mr. Oberoi. You're disturbing the investigating officer." Her statement made Shivaay scoff.

"Manager Rathore?" Annika leaned a bit towards right, so that she could see Meera standing out. The manager said nothing, but just nodded her head, silently conveying that she was ready to do what the officer's gonna ask to do.

"Mr. Oberoi might've given you the few instructions. Along with them, I want all your staff to stop they're work immediately and get them assembled in the lobby in next fifteen minutes, including you. Ask the guests to stay inside their rooms for next few hours. My team will be here in five minutes. I need all the footages of this floor, all entrances, staircases, elevators and details of the guests of this floor, and also of the author who was staying in this room. You got what I said?" Annika asked, cocking her head.

Meera replied a yes and left instantly. Then, Annika frowned, focusing on the stubborn hotelier standing in from of her with sparks of challenge in his bluish green eyes.