Akira immediately placed the idol back into her bag . A brief touch of Raymond had made her turn into scarlet red . She hung her head low and took a few steps back . Then she again looked inside her bag with a worried expression .

"Oh no", gasped Akira .

"What happened?", both Raymond and Mike asked at the same time .

"Looks like I misplaced my diary somewhere", Akira said and pinched her brows out of disappointment .

Katherine threw a look at Raymond as if she was accusing him of keeping the diary away from the girl for so long . She said,

"Don't worry . I guess when you fell down yesterday, by mistake your diary stayed in this room under this morons bed . "

"Oh", said Akira . She looked even more worried now . Worried because she was scared if Raymond found out that she had a soft corner for him . Scared to expose her vulnerable side to him . So she asked,

"Sorry for asking, but did you read it?"

"Honestly I would have loved to read it . but it is impossible to do so when you have a living example of moral police sitting in the room", Katherine said and looked at her brother .

"Here, take it . ", Raymond said and picked up the diary which was still present under his pillow and handed it to Akira . He didn't say anything because neither he could lie nor tell the truth . He didn't want to break her heart and he had hardly read a few pages .

"Thank you again for . . . " and Akira's voice just trailed off .

Katherine couldn't miss the way they were looking at each other . Even though her brother vehemently denied, she knew that his heart was speaking something and his mind was speaking something else . So to give them some s.p.a.ce and time she said,

"Hey, Mike . Will you accompany me for a cup of coffee? I am dying out of hunger here but looks like n.o.body cares for me", she said candidly and got down from the bed .

Mike followed Katherine towards the cafeteria without a clue of what was cooking inside that lady's head . Only Raymond knew what was the intention of his sister behind all this . He laughed inside his head because of her childish activities .

Akira stood there silently, fiddling with the notebook which she had just received from Raymond . Suddenly there was an awkward silence engulfing the entire room because both of them were at loss of words . A few moments later Raymond tried to sit upright on the bed but struggled a bit because of an injured arm and multiple drip connections on the other .

Seeing him struggle like this Akira came to him immediately and tried helping him out . She supported his back with one hand, and covered her other hand around his waist and tried to prop him up on the bed .

Locks of hair were all over Raymond generating a mesmerizing lavender note . Her face was inches away from his . She was embracing him with all her attention, scared to touch or disturb any needlepoint . Then she straightened the pillow behind his back and slowly let him rest . Her hand was still placed at the nape of his neck . She looked at him and asked,

"Better?"

She was still leaning close and for moment Raymond thought that the loudness his heartbeat would give him away . Her breath on his bare skin gave him gooseb.u.mps, tingling each of his nerves . His head wasn't thinking straight after seeing her so close . She always smelled the same . A faint smell that caused his heart to race and blocked his mind .

He wanted to take the locks of her hair and push them softly behind her ears . He wanted to graze his fingers against her soft cheeks, but all he could do was to say,

"Uh huh . Thanks" .

Akira gently smiled and removed her hand supporting his neck . Then she stood back and looked at her watch wondering what was taking Mike and Katherine so long . Before another phase of awkward silence could start between them, she said,

"I will complete the activities that you had a.s.signed yesterday . Is there anything else that needs to be done in the office today? I mean if you want to pa.s.s on any information to anybody I can do that . "

Raymond smiled and said,

"Thanks but just focus on your work . If anything is needed I will directly contact the concerned people . You just rest and focus on your work . If possible go home early . Don't stay up too late . "

Akira smiled and was about to say something but she was interrupted by a phone call .

"Hi Vikram!!!", said Akira and moved a bit away from Raymond's side .

"You have to go to the police station to give your statement about the incident that happened yesterday", Vikram said .

"Police station? But I haven't lodged a formal complaint yet", she asked in a surprised tone .

"You haven't, but I have . Will come and pick you up in say 40 minutes?", said Vikram calmly .

"Umm, no need to pick me up . I am already outside . Mike and I came to the hospital to meet Raymond . I will start from here directly . Just send me the address in WhatsApp" . Akira said .

"How is your boss doing?", asked Vikram with a hint of curiosity in his tone .

"He is ok . The recovery is good . He will be discharged today . " Akira said and cast a glance back at Raymond .

"And what about you?", asked Vikram .

"I am totally fine . Actually, more than fine knowing that he is behind bars right now . No way I can forget the things he did to me", Akira said with a huge resolve reflecting in her tone .

"Akira . . . " Vikram said and paused .

"What?", asked Akira all worried .

"It's nothing . Will meet you at the police station in 30-40 mins . Inform Raymond beforehand that they might come to collect his statement as well . " Vikram said and disconnected the call .

After finis.h.i.+ng the call Akira walked towards Raymond and said,

"My friend has reported this incident at the police station so I have to go and give my statement . I don't know how long the formalities will take there so I might be late at the office . "

Raymond just nodded

Akira then continued, "They might come to collect your statement as well . Not sure when though . Will that be ok for you? I am really sorry for all this trouble" .

"It's fine . Part of the protocol . There is no need to be sorry about it", Raymond said and started looking towards the door .

Katherine and Mike just entered the room with coffee cups in their hands . There was one for Akira too . Akira thanked Katherine for the coffee and collected her stuff to leave .

Just when she was about to leave Katherine interrupted her and said,

"Stay strong Akira . Even though that guy was your ex, he isn't worth even 1% of your attention . Whatever happened was for your own good . Take it that way" .

"Thanks, Katherine", Akira said and left the room with Mike . She understood that Mike probably had told her everything about Anthony .

There were many things left unsaid in the heart of Raymond . But most importantly he just wanted to tell her sorry for misunderstanding her as a gold digger . He didn't care what relation she had with Vikram because in his heart he just respected her for who she was .

P . S . Someone very dear to me had told me once - "First you should respect a person . Love follows automatically" .

Akira immediately placed the idol back into her bag . A brief touch of Raymond had made her turn into scarlet red . She hung her head low and took a few steps back . Then she again looked inside her bag with a worried expression

.

"Oh no", gasped Akira

.

"What happened?", both Raymond and Mike asked at the same time

.

"Looks like I misplaced my diary somewhere", Akira said and pinched her brows out of disappointment

.

Katherine threw a look at Raymond as if she was accusing him of keeping the diary away from the girl for so long . She said, .

.

"Don't worry . I guess when you fell down yesterday, by mistake your diary stayed in this room under this morons bed . " .

.

"Oh", said Akira . She looked even more worried now . Worried because she was scared if Raymond found out that she had a soft corner for him . Scared to expose her vulnerable side to him . So she asked, .

.

"Sorry for asking, but did you read it?" .

.

"Honestly I would have loved to read it . but it is impossible to do so when you have a living example of moral police sitting in the room", Katherine said and looked at her brother

.

"Here, take it . ", Raymond said and picked up the diary which was still present under his pillow and handed it to Akira . He didn't say anything because neither he could lie nor tell the truth . He didn't want to break her heart and he had hardly read a few pages

.

"Thank you again for . " and Akira's voice just trailed off

.

Katherine couldn't miss the way they were looking at each other . Even though her brother vehemently denied, she knew that his heart was speaking something and his mind was speaking something else . So to give them some s.p.a.ce and time she said, .

.

"Hey, Mike . Will you accompany me for a cup of coffee? I am dying out of hunger here but looks like n.o.body cares for me", she said candidly and got down from the bed

.

.

Mike followed Katherine towards the cafeteria without a clue of what was cooking inside that lady's head . Only Raymond knew what was the intention of his sister behind all this . He laughed inside his head because of her childish activities

.

.

Akira stood there silently, fiddling with the notebook which she had just received from Raymond . Suddenly there was an awkward silence engulfing the entire room because both of them were at loss of words . A few moments later Raymond tried to sit upright on the bed but struggled a bit because of an injured arm and multiple drip connections on the other

.

.

Seeing him struggle like this Akira came to him immediately and tried helping him out . She supported his back with one hand, and covered her other hand around his waist and tried to prop him up on the bed

.

Locks of hair were all over Raymond generating a mesmerizing lavender note . Her face was inches away from his . She was embracing him with all her attention, scared to touch or disturb any needlepoint . Then she straightened the pillow behind his back and slowly let him rest . Her hand was still placed at the nape of his neck . She looked at him and asked, .

.

"Better?" .

.

She was still leaning close and for moment Raymond thought that the loudness his heartbeat would give him away . Her breath on his bare skin gave him gooseb.u.mps, tingling each of his nerves . His head wasn't thinking straight after seeing her so close . She always smelled the same . A faint smell that caused his heart to race and blocked his mind

.

He wanted to take the locks of her hair and push them softly behind her ears . He wanted to graze his fingers against her soft cheeks, but all he could do was to say, .

.

"Uh huh . Thanks"

.

Akira gently smiled and removed her hand supporting his neck . Then she stood back and looked at her watch wondering what was taking Mike and Katherine so long . Before another phase of awkward silence could start between them, she said, .

.

.

"I will complete the activities that you had a.s.signed yesterday . Is there anything else that needs to be done in the office today? I mean if you want to pa.s.s on any information to anybody I can do that . " .

.

Raymond smiled and said, .

.

"Thanks but just focus on your work . If anything is needed I will directly contact the concerned people . You just rest and focus on your work . If possible go home early . Don't stay up too late . " .

.

Akira smiled and was about to say something but she was interrupted by a phone call

.

"Hi Vikram!!!", said Akira and moved a bit away from Raymond's side

.

"You have to go to the police station to give your statement about the incident that happened yesterday", Vikram said

.

"Police station? But I haven't lodged a formal complaint yet", she asked in a surprised tone

.

.

"You haven't, but I have . Will come and pick you up in say 40 minutes?", said Vikram calmly

.

"Umm, no need to pick me up . I am already outside . Mike and I came to the hospital to meet Raymond . I will start from here directly . Just send me the address in WhatsApp" . Akira said

.

"How is your boss doing?", asked Vikram with a hint of curiosity in his tone

.

"He is ok . The recovery is good . He will be discharged today . " Akira said and cast a glance back at Raymond

.

"And what about you?", asked Vikram

.

"I am totally fine . Actually, more than fine knowing that he is behind bars right now . No way I can forget the things he did to me", Akira said with a huge resolve reflecting in her tone

.

"Akira . " Vikram said and paused

.

"What?", asked Akira all worried

.

"It's nothing . Will meet you at the police station in 30-40 mins . Inform Raymond beforehand that they might come to collect his statement as well . " Vikram said and disconnected the call

.

.

After finis.h.i.+ng the call Akira walked towards Raymond and said, .

.

"My friend has reported this incident at the police station so I have to go and give my statement . I don't know how long the formalities will take there so I might be late at the office . " .

.

Raymond just nodded .

.

Akira then continued, "They might come to collect your statement as well . Not sure when though . Will that be ok for you? I am really sorry for all this trouble"

.

"It's fine . Part of the protocol . There is no need to be sorry about it", Raymond said and started looking towards the door

.

Katherine and Mike just entered the room with coffee cups in their hands . There was one for Akira too . Akira thanked Katherine for the coffee and collected her stuff to leave

.

Just when she was about to leave Katherine interrupted her and said, .

.

"Stay strong Akira . Even though that guy was your ex, he isn't worth even 1% of your attention . Whatever happened was for your own good . Take it that way"

.

"Thanks, Katherine", Akira said and left the room with Mike . She understood that Mike probably had told her everything about Anthony

.

.

There were many things left unsaid in the heart of Raymond . But most importantly he just wanted to tell her sorry for misunderstanding her as a gold digger . He didn't care what relation she had with Vikram because in his heart he just respected her for who she was

.

P . S . Someone very dear to me had told me once - "First you should respect a person . Love follows automatically"