The Lawyer In The Kitchen.

Chapter. 45.

Suvarna's POV.

Three hours before she enters Shishir's office.

I looked around the room not really taking in much of the surrounding. Am I nervous? I don't know. Perhaps I am.

I glanced at Paresh as he sat beside me going through some documents. He is a true friend, always supports me.

"You can go in now."

I gulp visibly as the guard steps into the room announcing it.

Paresh stands up immediately "Thank you." He says then turns to me as I stand with my head bent low.

"Are you sure you want to do this Suvi?" He asked me.

I nod. "I need to." I state, my tone matter of fact.

"I will be right here if you need me." He said with a reassuring smile.

I nodded and followed the guard inside. It is a long hall with hardly any furniture in it and walls bare. I stifle a shudder at how depressing and gloomy it seems with hardly any light in it. There are no windows in the room and dimly lit bulbs are the only source of light.

"Sit." The guard says pointing towards a table with two chairs on either side. "You can meet him for no more than twenty minutes."

I nod once again not trusting my voice at this moment. I doubt I will need more than five minutes.

I have no clue what I am going to talk to him about. I don't even know if I will be able to utter a single syllable.

I sat down on the chair, suddenly feeling weak in the knees. I stiffened as I heard footsteps. I heard a throat clear and knew Ricky is in the room.

Keeping my head down I study my entwined fingers resting on my lap. Suddenly I regret coming here. It seems too overwhelming to be sitting in front of him. I wanted to get up and dash out of the room. I probably would have, had my feet supported me.

Couple of minutes passed with neither of us making any move or uttering any word.

That's it. I am done. I cannot go through this. I need to get away. I clutch on the side of table starting to get up. I risk a glance up at Ricky who is still standing.

I am not prepared for what I see. A trembling young lad with his head bent and tears flowing down his cheeks.

He looks in my direction, probably feeling my eyes on him. "I –would never-" he manages to say before abruptly stopping.

I am not supposed to feel bad for him then why do I, even for a brief moment? I gesture with my eyes for him to sit down.

My hands fist together as I feel fear clog my chest at his close proximity.

"Sunny- Aditya had caught me stealing some tools from the apartment's stock room." Ricky says softly. "I had made wrong friends and had taken to drugs. On my sixteenth birthday things went out of hand by way of excessive celebrations and I ended up having debts." He continued.

"He- Aditya blackmailed you?" I managed to ask, though I already knew the answer.

Ricky took a deep breath. "He threatened to tell Charles if I did not cooperate. I refused." My eyes widened at that. Refused?

He looked at me, meeting my eyes. "He then threatened he would frame Charles along with me and tell everyone that Charles was also involved. He said he would make sure he loses his job and is blacklisted from getting another reputed job ever."

I gasped at this. Aditya had gone to this extent?

"Charles has been taking care of me and Rita since we were very small. Our parents are not rich but very honest. My father used to work as a security guard. An accident ten years back rendered him handicapped and bedridden. Charles was only nineteen then and me and Rita were six. Charles has taken up full responsibility of the family since then."