"None of this would have been possible had you not helped us in the first place! Thank you so much Ansh!"

"Stop thanking me so many times for the same thing!"

"Okay okay. Now tell me what do you want? You must be tired after the journey. Should I make something warm to drink, or something cool?"

"I'll help myself. You get back to work inside."

"As you wish. The refrigerator has everything you'll need. We've been paying our bills on time, so we get all the facilities for 24 hours."

She left for her room, and resumed working. I opened the refrigerator and found it stocked with food,. I took a bottle of cold water and gulped it down in an instant. I was hungry, thirsty and tired. I made myself a sandwich and began to eat.

Just when I finished my sandwich and was getting up, the doorbell rang. I thought it was Meira, and so it was. She jumped in excitement and gave me a quick hug, and we sat down together to talk about the months that we didn't see each other for.

"There's so much that I need to tell you Ansh! A lot of good things happened after you left. Aliya must have already told you quite a bit of it."

"Yes, she did tell me that both of you are quite stable now. It's good to see that you're doing so well."

"Thank you. I do miss home quite a bit though. I haven't seen my father in so long. He would have been so proud to see his baby girl grow up. He would have never imagined that I could fend for myself this way."

"Well, you are now. It's so good to see you two working so hard."

"It's even better now that you are here to visit us. How many days are you here for?"

"I'll leave in a few days. I came here to check on you two, to see whether everything is as you tell me over the phone.

There's one more thing I wanted to discuss though. Call Aliya here too. Also, I think you may need to close the door for that."

CHAPTER 24.

"I think I was followed here. I'm not quite sure about it, but last night, when I was asleep on the train, I saw a face stare straight at me, and then walk away without doing a thing. I think Gujjar has kept his eyes on me, since I had been very interested in you two from the start. You two will have to be a little more careful about your activities henceforth."

"How can you be so convinced that the man who looked at you was sent by Gujjar? It could just be a co - pa.s.senger looking around for his berth."

"I'm saying that I'm not convinced! I'm just a little worried that the person may have been Gujjar's man. Gujjar had threatened me earlier that he would keep an eye on me, and this is the first time I've left town since then. All I'm saying is that you two should be a little more careful with things for a few days."

"As you say sir, you're the boss," Meira joked.

"I have a lot of work to do now. I'll get back to it. Meira, have your lunch and leave soon, the break won't last forever," Aliya said.

"Yes, I know. Let's all have lunch together. Aliya and I will resume working after that, and you can rest in our apartment."

"Thank you for the honour ma'am. Can I help with making lunch?"

"That depends on how good you are in cooking. We don't want to end up with stomach upsets, you know. You've already advised us to be careful!"

"That was just a courteous offer. I don't know how to cook. I can help with arranging the plates, but I don't think I can do more than that."

We had a good meal, and Meira left for work soon after that. Aliya went to her room to continue what she was doing, and I lay down on the couch to take a quick nap.

I woke up in the evening, as Meira was returning from work. The train journey had tired me out completely, and it felt good to take a nice quick nap.

"Why don't we all go out somewhere?" Aliya suggested "That's a great idea! I haven't seen the city since we came here. Both of us have been so busy with work that we haven't really been able to go out!" exclaimed Meira.

"Didn't I ask you two to be more careful just a few hours back? Gujjar's men may be around, and we cannot take the risk of being seen by them!"

"Really? You think he would spot us here? You're worrying too much Ansh! I think you should relax a little bit. Let's go out and have some fun now! We haven't enjoyed ourselves in a really long time. I think all of us deserve a break."

"Alright, we'll go, but we'll go to some place nearby only, and all of us will stay together at all times. If at any point of time you see someone following us or even think that we are being followed, you will let me know. Is that understood?"

"Yes sir!" said both of them, mock-saluting me.

"Okay then! Let's have some fun!"

We roamed around the area for hours, went out to eat in a decent restaurant. Both of them insisted on paying, and made sure that I didn't. We roamed around on the street, and then went to sit on the beach. We returned late at night, and all of us fell asleep almost immediately.

The next morning had a similar routine like any other morning they had. Meira got up, got ready, packed some fruits in her bag, and left for work. Aliya got to work almost as soon as she woke up, with the toothbrush in her mouth. I looked at both of them going through their daily ch.o.r.es through sleepy eyes as I woke up from my sleep.

I got ready as lazily as I could, since I had nothing much to do in the day. It was nearly lunchtime when I finished getting ready. I took my tablet out and began playing games on it to pa.s.s the time, hoping Meira would be back from lunch soon too.

A few minutes later, the doorbell rang. I thought it would be Meira, so I went to open the door with a wide smile. The smile changed into a look of horror as the colour drained off my face. I looked at the person standing at the gate in utter shock. My eyes felt like they would pop out immediately. The person in front of me grinned.

"So, you didn't have anything to do with it Ansh?"

I had nothing to say. Even if I did, I was too shocked to move. I just stared at Gujjar with an open mouth.

"Well, we meet again, and in a scenario that you wouldn't like. Thought you could run away forever? Well, I'm back now. My girls will go back to Kolkata, and you won't."

He grabbed me by my collar and threw me down on the sofa there. Aliya walked in because of the noise, and recognised the face immediately.

"The two of you together. What a story. Sit down, both of you. We need to talk."

CHAPTER 25.

"So, Ansh, you were saying you weren't involved in this."

"I...I..."

"What!" He shouted at me.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do anything to hurt your business. I just really wanted to help them out. Please don't do anything."

"Help them? Wait. There are more?"

"No! I meant help her. She's my childhood friend, as you know. Please don't hurt us. Please let us go."

"Oh, I won't. Aliya has been one of the most experienced young girls we have. She has been with me since her childhood, and knows all about the execution of the business. I need her there to help her manage and perform her job. I don't need to listen to your bulls.h.i.t."

"What if I make you a counter offer?"

"A counter offer? She's not for sale to you. Your life is something you can buy off right now, not hers."

"What are you talking about?"

"This conversation that we're having is not for her. You've made me travel so much, worry a lot about things. Somebody will have to pay for the expenses that I've incurred. Since you're the one in question here, the person paying will have to be you. So, call up your parents, little boy, and ask them to send over twenty lakhs for your life."

"My parents know nothing about this, and I intend to keep it that way. Get your goons. I'd rather die."

After saying this in a melodramatic and heroic tone did I realise that this was not a Bollywood movie. He was not going to admire my courage and let me go. I was going to be dead soon.

"I don't need my goons for you, I am enough," He said, as he knocked me down on the ground with one blow. I got back up, just in time to avoid a second punch coming my way.

Aliya screamed and tried to fight him as I got back to my senses. He pushed her away with ease. She fell on the sofa, her head hit the edge and she fainted there.

Gujjar now turned all his attention to me. He threw another punch at me, and I dodged it again. His hand rammed into the wall, but the wall seemed more injured than he did.

I tried to land a few blows on him, but they didn't seem to have any serious effect. It seemed like an ant's bite would do more damage.

He picked me up by the collar and flung me on the sofa beside Aliya. "I am going to enjoy this a lot."

"Please leave us. We won't ever interfere in your life again."

"Beg as much as you want to, Ansh. You're not going to get out of this alive now. You've given me a lot of trouble, a lot of stress. This is going to be a long and painful death for you."

He picked me up again and slapped me multiple times. I tried hitting him with a chair nearby, and he staggered back. The only way for me to deal any damage was to use the things lying around. I picked up two gla.s.s bottles from the refrigerator and flung them at him. Both hit him hard on the chest, and he moaned in pain, but this just seemed to get him angrier.

He charged towards me, and I dodged again. He went running into the wall, and banged his head against it. I had to use his anger against him. That was the only way I could get out of this.

His rage was building up, as he walked towards me with his fists clenched. He kept throwing punches, and I kept dodging them. Suddenly, out of nowhere, he landed a kick on my stomach. I flinched with pain, and came down holding my stomach. He jumped on top of me, but landed on the floor as I rolled out.

Gujjar was as hurt as I was now, but I still couldn't escape. This fight was to end in one of us being eliminated, and both of us knew this.

He got up from the ground and landed multiple punches on me. I was bleeding from the nose and gums, and could barely move my right hand. He tried to kick me again, but I turned him around using my left hand. He flew up and landed hard on the ground, flat on his face. His nose was bleeding too now.

Gujjar had had enough now. He walked in and knocked me down again with a ma.s.sive punch. He sat on me and pressed my neck so hard that I felt that any instant could be my last. I was choking now, and the light in my eyes was fading. I could barely see the anger in his eyes, or anything apart from his blurry face.

I saw blood coming out, and I was feeling pain. I knew this was the end. His grip was loosening on me, and I couldn't breathe even with effort. After a few moments of me giving up I realised that the blood was not mine. A knife tore into Gujjar's chest from behind, as blood spurted out of his mouth and chest. He had been stabbed right in the heart. His grip on me became looser, and he fell to my side. I was still in a semi conscious state, when I felt water being sprinkled on me. I had no strength to move, but I didn't need to. I was shifted to the sofa, where I could see Aliya too. Another large splash of water brought me back to senses.

"It's all over Ansh. We are free now," Meira said, smiling as she looked at Aliya and me. Aliya seemed to be recovering too, and needed help in sitting up.

"What happened? Did you..?"

"Yes. I heard the noises from the floor below, so I walked in very carefully. When I got in, Gujjar had knocked you down on the ground. As he was trying to kill you, I stabbed him with this knife." She said, pointing to the knife stuck in Gujjar's chest.

"But where did you get the knife from?"

"I keep a knife with me in my bag to cut the fruits that I eat. I like to eat them that way. It was fortunate that I had it with me, isn't it?"

"Fortunate? It was a blessing from G.o.d. Thank you so much Meira, for saving our lives."

Aliya came back to her senses completely, and broke down crying. I put my arm around her to try and comfort her. "It's all done now. Gujjar can no longer trouble us. We are safe to go back to Kolkata and start our life happily again. Be happy Aliya, for you don't need to hide again."

"We should start making preparations to go back to Kolkata now. We can take a train for tonight." I said to Meira.

"Actually I have some deposits and other things to clear out. Plus, we will need to explain ourselves to the police here. Can we please wait till tomorrow?"

"Okay. I'll go and report this to the cops then."

"Before all of that, go to a hospital."

"Yes ma'am!" I exclaimed, with a small smile. The fight was over now. We had won against Gujjar.

CHAPTER 26.

"You're bleeding all over your face, and have multiple fractures! Why did the media not report this accident?"

"It wasn't an accident to be reported. Can you please fix me up?"

"Calm down there, young man. What happened to you?"

"I slipped and fell down hard."

"I'm a doctor, not your local shopkeeper. I know which injuries come from falling. Tell me exactly what happened."

"I got into a fight with someone, and managed to get myself out of it with this much."