Next Morning, they had appointment with the Visa office. So, Pia woke up bright and early and did her chores including her morning prayers. After offering her gratitude to her gods she decided to wake her friends up who were up partying late last night. She knocked at their room. Seeing the awkward positions, they were sleeping in. A smile broke on her face. A family away from her own. It is such a rare thing to find.
"Breakfast is served" Pia shouted. And all of them suddenly was up and surrounding her.
"Kya banaya?"
"what is for breakfast?"
"Damn I am starving"
She laughed at their reactions. They are always will be a foodie. But she loves them anyway. "Eat up girls, my special treat for you" Pia said placing their plates in front of them. "You are a very good cook Pia, thank you for this. How you slept last night? Any nightmares?" Disha asked and all of them looked at her face knowing if something triggers her memories, she always gets these horrible nightmares she cannot cope up with. "Like a baby, surprisingly there weren't any nightmares." They all relaxed.
"We were worried when you refused to go out last night, we knew you were upset Pia," Reva told her as she pulled Pia next to her seat and set a plate for her too. "Here eat up, you need to keep your strength up." Pia wasn't very hungry. Her mind was still on that person who she had met yesterday. "Eat up then we will leave for the visa office."
After the breakfast they all left for the Visa office together. But luck had it that Pia drew the shorter straw and her interview was last on the block that too was after lunch break was over. "Pia... are you going to come or are you going to stay? It will take time... and..." "You all should go and enjoy I will join you afterwards." Reva shook her head. "You don't know anything around here. We cannot just leave you here and walk away." She smiled. "I will be fine. I know the way to the apartment." She reassured them.
"Just call us if you need anything." Pia nodded. And they walked away. "I don't feel good about leaving her all by herself" Disha told others. "Neither do I" Mia said. "How about this, first we buy somethings for her and then one of them set them up for her birthday while another one returns back and take her to the apartment?" Reva suggested. "That should do it. She needs a break after all that happened to her anyway." All of them agreed.
The Lunch break was over but she wasn't called in yet. Pia's mood dampens and she felt a little tired and hopeless for some reason. It is like that she is not going to be called in after all. Maybe she could do it tomorrow. She will just a call to her mother. She was about to get up and walk away. But she heard her name call in.
She took all her documents and checked them again. She walked in and she was told to take the seat beside the gentleman sitting down there. She sat down not looking anywhere but the empty seat in front of her. The man came in and took the seat in front of them. "Miss Ray is it?" She nodded. The man beside her snorted, she can tell he was annoyed for some reason. "You haven't solved my problem yet and you had called her in for the interview do you not know anything about priority?" The man asked angrily.
Pia froze at his voice she had known him well, in fact she had known him a little too well. It is the same person who had insulted her yesterday. "We are trying Mr...." "Don't you dare, I have been sitting here for past one hour and still you haven't found any solution." He told the officials. "we have been working hard to amend the situation. Miss Ray, can you hold on for few mere moments? You can see we are facing a little difficulty here" Pia nodded and the official left talking with someone.
The man finally looked at her. "You again? Why it happens that if I get into some kind of trouble in this country, you are present somehow." "Look Sir, whatever your problem is you cannot..." He cut her off in the middle. "I cannot blame you? How can I not? First you ruined my Armani, next it is my passport get detained for god knows what reason, and all because of few of you immature personal, who don't know how to handle equipment nor do they know how to maintain a management system." He said particularly to no one.
"Just because you got detained that doesn't mean that it is fault in our system, maybe you forgot to do something you needed to. It can happen..." "You think you are better than I am lady? I manage people like you day and night, forget something? I forget to do what?" "Sir, you have forgotten to update the validity of you Visa, it's alright we have taken care of that..." He looked at Pia angrily. "Pathetic people, I never want to see your face ever again... Just immature, uncoordinated people, have no knowledge about anything." He muttered under his breath.
"Miss your Visa had been approved." Pia nodded after the interview had concluded. But her mind was on the words he said. Take her back to her past again and again. Somewhere she had lost her way. The street was unknown and she didn't know where to go, she decided to find a payphone and call her friends. She may be able to return back then. Somehow, she found herself surrounded by some very bad people. They begin to surround her and call her names. They even tried to touch her and she somehow managed to escape injuring her in the process.
She started to run. Without looking where she was walking to, she almost collided with the car. The man got out of the car and looked at her. "You again?" She almost cursed her luck running into him third time in a row wasn't very productive. He saw her and he stopped talking. She saw him accessing her. "What happened?" his tone turned a little softer. But there was an anger still lacing his words.
He didn't waited for her answer. He held her hand and she gasped. He loosen his hold and got her into his car. "Where are you..." "Shut up you are just making my migraine worse." He told her and she shut up. He laid her to his suite. "Stay put I need to check if you are alright." He took off something, she recognized as stethoscope. "You are a doctor?" she asked. "yes, you got problem with that too?" "N...No" She shuttered badly. For some reason she just feels so afraid of him.
He cleaned her cut, and then bandaged it. "No major injuries, thankfully. Now it is not my place to ask you but care to tell me why you were running like your life dependent on it?" He asked. "N...Nothing c...can I c...call m...my friends?" She asked still very much shaken, still very much shivering. He knew she was not very much alright.
"Relax you can call your friends, you can dial them from my phone, or phone in the suite." He said and gave her some water. "Here drink this." He gave her some water. He looked at her as she drank unable to avert his gaze. She has a strange kind of attraction no one can look away from it.
"Now, are you ready to tell me what happened?" he asked again, which goes entirely against his nature. He never repeats himself and he had repeated himself twice now. "Miss Ray..." He called again. "C...can I call my friends?" She asked again. He wanted to bash his head on something. "Fine, go ahead Miss Ray, call whoever you please to. I have missed the deadline anyway so why not entertain the liking of you till you are here." She dialled Disha's number. Disha picked up after two trials. "D...Disha..." Her voice quivered.
He took phone from her hand and spoken something. "Yes, Oberoi right, ask for Royce, they will know." He told Disha and the call went dead. "Your friend will be here in few, apparently you were not very good at following orders are you Miss Ray? This could be a big problem in the company you are going to work for." He sat down in front of her. She was clutching her file. He knew she was afraid at the moment.
He tried to take the file away from her hand. But she refused to let go. "If you want to wash up, you may do so Miss Ray." She nodded. As she stood up, he saw her dress was torn and for some reason a wave of anger swept through him. "Hooglians, have no self-respect at all. Attacking a helpless woman like this..."She came back still clutching her file in her hand.
"Are you feeling better now?" he asked. A moment of silent passed between them. None of them have moved from their places. Now, he understood what might have happened to her. And he wasn't happy about that. There was a knock on his door and he got up to look. He saw a girl almost Pia's age. "Do I know you?" "Are you Royce? I am here for my friend Pia."
He stood aside and she entered. As soon as Pia saw Disha she hugged her tightly. "Pia, Kya hua tumhe? Are you alright? How you ended up here..." "I can tell you how, she walked out on her own and she lost her way. And then some very bad people attacked her. She somehow managed to escape and ran away. Fortunately or unfortunately she almost ran over by my car and I guess those men saw me with her and ran away thinking I know her and also, I always carry protection around with me."
He slid his suit jacket to reveal a gun on his waistband. Pia looked at him horrified. She never ever been fan of firearms and Disha knew that. "Please sir, if you keep that away, my friend don't feel quite comfortable around fire and firearms." Pia hold her hand so Disha could stop talking. "Very well then, here is your friend and now, I shall regain my peace." He told them. "Thank you for everything Sir." Disha said and Pia nodded not telling a word to him.
As they almost neared the door of his room, he called them. "Wait, how are you planning on getting home. It is not very safe." He asked. "We will manage. This is my hometown, I know how to reach my home." "Still I insist, the hotel car will drop you off and also..." he took off his Suit and placed it on Pia's shoulder. "Her clothes are torn," he reasoned and Disha nodded.
He told his driver to drop them off to their house. Why he was bothering himself for a stranger? He don't know. He don't know what about her had attracted him towards her. But he cannot make himself stay angry or fight seeing her frightened expression. He had to help her. He cannot just leave a girl helpless in middle of the street that is not what his mother had taught him.
That phrase left a bitter taste in his mouth and a wave of bittersweet memories rushed through his brain. "If she makes me think of my mother again, she is definitely not very good for my health. It is good that I am meeting her for the last time. He watched their car meeting the skyline and walked inside the hotel, to enjoy his rest of the stay.
As they neared their apartment, Pia was only thinking about him. In spite of being a stranger and in spite of hating her guts he helped her. If he haven't came when he did maybe she would have...
"Pia, everything be alright. Now that we are together. Everything will be alright." Pia pulled his suit closer to her and hoped what Disha says is right.
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