Entering the nearby waiting lounge, I immediately sat on the sofa that stood facing the glass wall of the room. Putting my left leg on the right, I leaned a little towards the guy who stood quietly in front of me, a distant look in his eye. 

“What the fuck are you doing here?” My voice resonated throughout the place, making him recoil a little. “I warned you not to cross my path, don’t you fuckin get this thing? Shall I drill a hole straight through your skull to deliver this message to your useless brain?”

 Charles the Cop stood, not uttering a single word. I raised my eyebrows, annoyed, my anger pumping my blood faster. I felt as if electricity was passing through my veins.  

“Master, I didn’t do it on purpose. I -“ I cut him off by snapping at him “You better fucking have a decent reason this time Charles!” 

“Don’t you dare lie to me again. I’ve spared your life twice, this time I won’t. So speak up!” I threw him off-guard by throwing a hard blow on his face, suddenly standing on my feet. 

“Master, I’m sorry but I didn’t know that Ms Liara is your friend.” Charles rose from his slumped position straightening his dress as if nothing happened and I didn’t just hit him on his face. This guy is a brick, I tell you.

“Tell me, why are you handling this case?” I asked him, my breath unsteady. I took a few deep breaths to calm my nerves. This man didn’t just come to ruin my life now. 

“My senior handed me an FIR stating an attack on Ms D’Waner. That’s it.” He said shrugging as if this is no big deal. But I knew better than to believe his words as he is no simple cookie. There’s something more if he is taking care of this. 

“I am still your Master, remember this, and you’ve learnt all those mind-numbing techniques from me. So you better spit the whole matter, otherwise, I’m going to break your every single bone today." I threatened him, and he knew very well to not disobey me. 

“What is she to you?” He asked, avoiding my last warning. I stood stunned for a second, asking the same question to my inner self. A weird sensation inside my stomach that made me uneasy at the moment. “That’s none of your business,” I said, grabbing his collar again and hitting him straight on his nose, a crack easing my senses. I took a step back, leaving his shirt and he fell down holding his nose and whimpering. 

“You assume that you’ve grown horns by joining the police department of the U.S.? Did you overlook that I was the one who protected you from the evil parents who compelled you to beg on the streets in Italy?” I glared at him, challenging to convince me otherwise... 

“But you deceived me. You remember what you did five years ago, or shall I fill that brain with those memories when you used to get nightmares and I would share my bed with you!” I felt a pang of pain, remembering the events from the past.

“I’ve always been devoted to you Master. I never deceived you. She just had to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I always honoured her, but I knew the fact that she had this all plotted to feed you with lies and make me your enemy.” I studied him, his eyes full of pain and hurt. 

“You are lying again!” My words betrayed me this time. His intense gaze threw an additional question the way that I understood. 

“Master, you don’t even sound so certain about that now, do you?” He questioned sitting down on the floor near my legs. This used to be his favourite position. I used to stop him from sitting on the floor, but he never listened to me. I recalled his words, ‘Master, I feel as if you are my safe heaven in this world filled with enemies if I sit near your feet. I feel so much better.’. My eyes started getting fuzzy, and I studied his attire for the first time after we met.

His pale face, no more boyish charm but a masculine feature- subtle moustache going really well with his police uniform-broad shoulders double than what he used to have before. A mark cutting his eyebrows into two, a bruise when he saved my life. 

“Loving what you see?” He asked laughing at me from the ground sitting in the folded position. “I still didn’t forgive you, Charles,” I said, ignoring his awful attempt to relieve my mood and remembering why I drove him out of my life. 

“You never allowed me a chance to explain myself, Master. I don’t blame you though, I never would.” He took a deep breath, voice quivering a little and his eyes trailing outside the glass door, watching the bustling city.

“Since the day you drove me out of your life, I’ve tormented myself the same manner you should have tortured me when you discovered that I was guilty, which I was not. But I would have valued it. You cut the last cord that kept my sanity at bay.” His eyes misty, looking at me as if directly questioning my soul. 

“You are my soul master, the last cord that is still holding me at bay.” His hands gently landed on mine. Warmth surging through my body, an intimate feeling as if I recognize this person and the decision that I took five years ago was unfair, clogging my throat, suffocating me. 

“You raped her, damn it!” I snapped at him, pushing him away. He stumbled back. Hurt overcame his charming face. “You still think I did that to Samira, don’t you?” His voice rising accusingly at me. 

My heart clenched at the thought of her in that distressed state rushing to my room in the middle of the night. I felt nausea hit my senses and a lone tear tumbled down my eyes. 

“Five years away from my Master was hell lot of pain. I didn’t just sit idle, instead, I wanted to prove to you I’m honest and her being in that horrible condition was not my doing!” He rose from his seat, irritation visible on his face. 

He stomped towards the exit but halted just near the door, angling towards me he said, “I’ve gathered all the proofs that would easily confirm that I’m not the felon. You know what, I will not convince myself anymore. You are my guardian and when you don’t understand me, then I don’t want to prove to the outside world that I’m trustworthy.” His words hit my heart as daggers, I drew a sharp breath because of the immense pain surging in my chest. 

“That whore no way was faithful to you.” He chuckled, and I felt as if he was laughing at me. “Don’t you dare, Charles!” I uttered in a deathly yet calm way. 

“Forget about it, I will not ask why you are here nor what is your relation with MS D’Waner.” He took a deep breath, followed with a wince. 

“She is in trouble. That’s the reason my senior sent me to monitor her surroundings. If you care about her a bit, I bet you do though, you can come to my office so I could give you some details about her foes.” He peered at me pointedly and grinned. “But Master, she is a tough cookie. You are so damn lucky.” He left me hanging with my thoughts that fogged my senses after listening to his words. 

I tried to concentrate on the things he spoke. Clenching my forehead hard I laid on the sofa, slightly inclining towards it and straightening my back to relax a little. Samira planned all the things and accused Charles? Why would she even do that? She has everything she ever demanded. Why harm my man? I’ve to find out why she did this. I’ve to visit Charles again as soon as possible. 

******

Rubbing my eyes gently, I shifted positions in a tight place that felt uncomfortable. I slowly lifted my eyelids and a white wall came into my view. I tried recalling where I was. The sudden realisation jolted me awake fully as I found myself half lying on the couch in the hospital waiting area. 

“What the fuck? How come I fell asleep in this God awful small couch and nobody bothered to wake me up?” I asked myself, peering at the clock at the top left corner of the room. 

“Shit! I fell asleep for three whole hours?” I cursed under my breath, realising that Liara will still be there in the hospital. I should check on her once, before heading towards Oldie’s Warehouse. 

“You are lucky,” Charles’s voice resounded in my head about his presumptions about Liara. I smiled at the thought and entered her room, but found it unoccupied. A sudden uneasiness clouded my thoughts when a nurse out of nowhere came and announced, “The doctor discharged Ms Liara two hours ago, sir.” 

I thanked her and left the hospital. 

******

Not bothering to knock at the office door of Oldie, I flung open the it, shuffling the refreshments in the polythene and announced, “Hey, Oldie! Look what I’ve brought for ya, man!”

“Zearo, look who has come to meet us today!” Beamed the old man sitting at the end of the room, his face glowing as the light of the after sun fell directly on it.

I gawked cluelessly at his face, took a step towards him but then a man engulfed me into an affectionate hug making me jittery. 

“Hey, Zearo! This is a surprise! I never got to thank you for your help, thank you so much, man!” Anthony, Liara’s bodyguard, said patting my back. ‘Huh? Anthony is here?’ And then I noticed a graceful figure sitting on the other side of the table, back facing me. I felt my heart stop for a nanosecond. Her mere presence was a kind of torment to me. I then found Anthony looking at me.

I cleared my throat and replied, “You don’t have to thank me, buddy, I just did what I had to.” 

“Zearo, meet Ms Liara D’Waner!” Ugh, this old man will give me a heart attack one day. My eyes settled on her head as she slowly rose directly facing me. Her eyes spoke so much, yet it perplexed me what exactly was that emotion.

I took a gentle step forward and saw her cheeks flushed and a subtle movement on her throat as if she was gulping down her saliva. Inner me busted with heat when I somewhat guessed that she was nervous about my presence. I winked at her to which her eyes widened, surprised by my action.

“I hope you are doing well now?” I asked with genuine concern and shook her hands. She nodded instead of responding properly that disturbed me. The aroma of her perfume hit my nose, increasing the rhythm of my heartbeat. I reminded myself that I have to ask her about the brand of her perfume one day.

“Maam, I’ve completed my task, but I need to get back to SAMS to work on certain things.” I heard a hurried human entering the chamber.

A tiny mortal stood beside Liara, not acknowledging my existence. I shrugged at her hostility towards me and grabbed a piece of burger and stuffed inside my mouth. 

“Mr Stone, thank you so much. My secretary will let you know when you can get your advance cheque and then you can start with your work.” I heard Liara glancing at her silhouette as a proud feeling erupted inside my body. 

“Oh no, it was my pleasure. May I know when I'd get the cheque?” Asked the nervous old man. I stopped eating because I knew his dilemma.

“Within a month?” Said the grumpy little mortal besides Liara shuffling through some papers and then continued, “there’s still much time for the consignment and I need time to arrange the stuff.” 

I glanced at Oldie and found his glossy eyes staring at me at the same time. 

“Wait!” My voice rose without my approval when I noticed the dread of failing his precious daughter enveloping Oldie’s features.

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