Hues Of A Bloom- Chapter-2
Sam got in the her small flat huffing and puffing. She was breathing hard trying to strain in deeper gush of air into her lungs. It had been busy day and sun had been upon on her head hot and humid. It wasn’t a usual work day.
The damn stingy café manager had made Resha and Sam work extra time and he didn’t give the needed compensation for it. Her life had become square back to one circle once again. If only she had taken care of the boutique. Her thoughts turned sad and she was on the verge of crying hot tears.
But a swift sharp knock at the door turned her attention to it. She rubbed the back of her hand over her eyes and drew up straight finding some pluck from deep inside her soul and brought it our into her face.
She moved towards the door and slid it open.
She saw a tall lean young man about in his twenties smile across at her through the door. He wore a sharp looking blue suit and Sam wondered at the presence of a professional employee at her door. A sudden fear curled up her body. Was her assets being liquidated again? but she had nothing left but this small flat. Dear god. She gulped hard. Were they going to throw her out of this place too? If so she had none the choice but to live off the streets.
All these frantic swirled in her mind and dazed her senses. Before she could mutter hastily something he beat it to her.
“Are you the original owner of the boutique ‘New Trendz’….”He asked frowning and his face cleared suddenly of it as he continued addressing her…”A certain Ms. Samaira Khanna?” He asked her carefully.
Sam surprised into silence nodded her head. He smiled again through the large glasses.
“Good. If you showed me the proof of it then….” He started talking.
A new spark of hope rose up in her heart.
Before he could go any further she hurried into her bedroom in a fast run and she flung open her wardrobe. She got out a few papers from under the drawers and she ran back again to the front door.
Breathing heavily she showed the papers to the man hastily.
He observed and read each one of those and took out something from his briefcase after going through the lines thoroughly.
“These are the original documents of the place. The company had put on hold the decision about buying it but I don’t think once you get these back you would want to sell the place again?” He asked her enquiringly.
Sam took the documents into her hands and she looks down in shocked wonder. Her boutique. She couldn’t believe the joy. No more waitressing. No more cutting off dinners. No more worrying about the rent. Oh dear lord.
“No. I would never let it on sale again.” She said fiercely while her body shook with deep emotions.
The suit looked down at her smilingly and he walked towards the first floor steps bidding her goodbye. Sam looked across at her flat in wondered bewilderment. This was crazy.
He gave back her hard work.
She didn’t know if she should laugh or cry. Not knowing how to handle the rush of such emotions, Sam did both. She laughed and cried at the same time.
She had to thank him for this. He didn’t know what he gave back. It was her life the boutique.
Smiling and with happy tears in her eyes Sam moved towards the bathroom hurriedly. She needed to see him today. He would find her crazy and brand her as a stalker but she had to do it.
Finally after sitting through the weeks and days and a month he had finally relented.
She got ready after fifteen minutes and treaded her way out into the evening. Through her stalker ways she found out from the office employees that he was at his hotel in a big meet now.
Well, sigh, she was going to follow him. She had to thank him for helping her out. Though late she was going to make good with him and perhaps apologize for her father’s crimes. She wondered if he would not throw in jail for it.
Sam got into the lobby taking a fake id of the hotel staff. Well, now she was really getting into the stalker mode.
She spotted across the hustle and bustle. He looked more handsome than usual wearing a blue suit. There were twenty of foreign delegates surrounding him. He was having a conversation with an important looking man while entering into the main hall.
Sam moved fast but she collided hard with an anxious looking woman. She was wearing the hotel uniform. Pink skirt and shirt . Her hair was dishevelled and her eyes were wide and frightened. She fell down across where Sam was on the floor. The woman hurriedly gave back her purse while apologizing profusely.
Before Sam could talk to her the woman thrust the purse in her hand and ran towards outside in to the parking lot.
Her forehead lined into bewilderement. She moved into the entrance only to be surrounded by three to four security people.
Two black uniformed men gave her a sharp look. The first one nodded to the other and a few of the security women too came running. Sam felt her heart thud in her chest.
“Check her bag.” The first man said to the woman.
Sam gasped. What the hell.
“Check my bag? Excuse me?” She asked moving back a little.
The woman came around looking all hefty and serious.
“Large money stolen from the counter. We’re checking the premises.” She explained while putting out her hand for Sam’s bag.
She looked around to see others were also being checked like her.
Well, she didn’t have nothing to hide.
Sam gave the bag to the woman reluctantly. She stared flatly while the security turned her bag upside down.
A buddle of something fell on the floor and everything fell silent around her. Sam frowned and moved her eyes sharply to the floor.
Her eyes widened and her ears started to ring. Money. Lots of it in a buddle. Dear god, when did that come in her bag.
She started breathing heavily while looking around the security.
They looked across at her accusingly.
“No…no..I don’t know how it came in my bag.” She tried to explain vainly.
The first security guy stared across at her grimly.
“Check her id.” He ordered the woman.
Sam’s eyes widened. Oh dear lord no.
The security woman came hefting towards her and snatched the id from her hand.
They looked across at her and down at the small photo.
“It’s a fake one.” The other man observed.
Heavens help her.
“Turn her in to the police.” The main security head ordered it curtly.
Immediately the security women came each one towards her arms. They held her hands tight.
Sam struggled.
“No…please, listen to me. I know the director of the hotel. Let me see him once and it will clear the misunderstanding here…”She pleaded as tears burned her eyes.
This couldn’t happen to her. Crap. She should beat herself repeatedly for coming here and falling into this mess.
They exchanged sympathetic looks and the woman holding her right hand signalled the other.
“Shirly, run to the director or the manager and tell them to come here. Hurry.” She said worriedly.
Sam sighed relieved. Thank god, now he will come and save her from this mess.
The other girl ran faster inside the hotel. Sam waited anxiously and after ten minutes she came back looking pale and unhappy.
“He ordered us to turn her in to the police.” She said in a low grim voice.
Sam’s face whitened. New tears glistened in her eyes. He couldn’t say that. He would never say that.
“I didn’t steal the money. You have to listen to me….”Sam said repeatedly in a tear filled voice.
They dragged her out of the hotel while giving her pleas and cries to deaf ears.
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Neil looked back at the commotion at the front door grimly. blo*dy hell, right when the delegates were here for the important meet the pandemonium starts here. He had to have a conversation with his employees. This is not the way his hotel should be. Icy anger burst into his veins.
One of the important man looked across at the gathered crowed in the lobby frowning heavily.
Neil distracted them with a conversation and pulled their attention to the assignment in hand. He lead them into the private elevator.
Before he could move into it somebody called over his shoulder.
“Wait!” He heard a woman’s voice…”Sir!”
Neil turned around to see the front desk receptionist come running towards him.
“A woman stole all the front desk money.” She said panting heavily…”And she says she knows you and…
His jaw hardened.
So, this is how his hotel was becoming. There was a thief caught and his employees had least knowledge about what to do. Imbeciles freaking all. He muttered a curse under his breath. All the problem arises only when he was stuck in an important meeting.
“Call the police and tell the security to handle the matter.” He muttered out an order.
He turned around dismissing the matter right there and then.
Two hours into it and he forgot even about the surroundings. The meeting held onto the night and continued until the day after in the hotel. It was leisure and business and both. Leisure wasn’t his though because he had been working frantically since weeks now.
Along with him the employees of the office worked hard so he spread a little lunch party in the dinning hall of the ground floor. His employees were mingling about relishing the Thai food.
He took a sip of a drink while the accounts manager cheered along.
“The company has achieved new heights today, boss. Congrats.”
Neil chuckled lightly.
He moved towards the drinks counter to get more of a glass but he froze hearing to the gossip he shouldn’t.
Two women employees of his office were talking in whispers and he was turned to the wall unseen.
“Do you know about the girl who used to come to the office?” One woman asked the another shorter one.
“Oh, yeah…what about her?” She asked curiously.
The former whispered more.
“You don’t know?” She asked gasping…”The whole company is talking about it.”
The other frowned.
“What happened to her?” She asked again in an uncaring voice while munching on the chicken starters.
“Oh, really bad stuff. She was arrested by the police for stealing money from the hotel staff.” She murmured scandalously.
The other showed her sadness.
“Oh, dear, she never looked like a thief when she was here.”
Neil’s back stiffened and he could feel the heart beat going faster under his chest. The receptionist at the office had said that the woman knew him.
Fear curled around his back. He wondered about her absence and thought that she would come looking for him. He closed his eyes in a curse. Damn, she must have come to the hotel to meet him.
He turned around walking faster outside of his office. He sweated suddenly and impatience ran into his blood.
He got into his car and speeded it fast onto the road uncaring about the traffic and his safety. Half an hour later and still it was becoming more anxious by the minute.
He finally reached the hotel and pumped his feet towards the security room.
He flung it open and people got up hurriedly in shock to see the director in the small room filled with CCTV footage room.
He turned to the security head breathing hard.
“Two days back. Evening. Check the footage. Now.” He growled in a low threaten.
The man about in his forties looked frightened as hell. He immediately did what he was told.
The footage came circling around the screens. He waited for the images to appear across. He saw her vision fill up his eyes.
She walking across at lobby and her eyes were on the front. Neil looked at himself walking front. He cursed at her. Damn her stalking ways.
Why would she follow him everywhere?
He frowned while an unseen woman ran knocking the girl down. The bag fell of her shoulders. The woman took it and slid something in that and then later the girl was caught by the security guards.
Neil straightened and looked across at the security guard flaring daggers at him.
“Have you seen this footage when you had the girl arrested?” He asked in a low dangerous voice.
The man looked guilty as hell and his jaw gritted. He looked across at the women security who put down their heads in shame.
“I didn’t expect my staff to be this careless. You turned an innocent girl to the god damn police?” He thundered, his voice flinched and jerked their bodies in a shiver.
“But, Sir, we found the money in her bag and you said…”The guard started in a defensive tone.
Neil stared hard at him.
“I told you to do your damned job not send innocent girls to the prison!” He roared.
He closed his eyes and rubbed the back of his neck to control the rising anger coursing through him.
He opened his eyes to a narrowed slit.
“How long has she been in the prison?” He asked slowly fearing the worse.
The woman looked guilty as hell.
“Two days.” She replied meekly.
Neil turned around muttering curses under his breath but he turned to face the frightened guard.
“You are fired. Neglecting the allotted work is a crime in my hotel. Pack your stuff and get lost.” He muttered coldly.
He breathed hard turning around to walk out of the hotel. Damn it, what a mess it was now. He dialled the number of his lawyer. The company had sent her to the prison and now only legally can he help to get her out from there.
He gulped hard feeling guilty as hell. He had sent a woman to the prison. One order and he had sentenced an innocent to a punishment she didn’t deserve. Why the heck was she there at the wrong moment?
He cursed her for it. Her stalking him was getting out of control now.
He got into the car grimly following his way to the police station.
Fifteen minutes he was sitting across the table with his good friend Vinay Thakur. His lawyer who was putting out the papers. Neil sighed turning a deaf ear to the man in front. He was the inspector here yakking about how the girl would sue his company for damages and undeserved punishment and how the director too would be jailed for it.
He didn’t care for it because he had a meeting starting in fifteen minutes. He needed to leave soon for it. It was in London. He had to catch a flight urgently and here he was stuck in this unwanted mess.
Damn the woman had the tendency to fall into quite a few problems. And yes of course she would involve him in her mess. Always.
He signed the papers and got up tiredly. He almost walked forward but his steps faltered when a movement far across turned his ears to it. His forehead lined looking across at a shadowed figure.
His body froze the floor recognizing the thin short frame. It was her. Her face was shadowed though. She walked slowly near the aisle of the cells. Neil’s eyes strained to look at her face. It came slowly into the light a second later.
He stiffened seeing the pallor of her skin. The weakness of her gaze. The unsteady walk of her step. Her face still was lined into a deep serenity. He gulped hard feeling strangely the morbidity of her body. His eyes widened suddenly when his eyes fell over her left hand banded protectively across her stomach. She was wearing a deep blue dresses which reached upto her knees. He couldn’t see properly where it hurt her….
She drew closer and immediately the smell of the roses hit his senses.
Her pale lips moved into whisper words. She took a deep pained breath and it reached his ears and hardened his form to the floor. His eyes glued to her hand around her stomach. His heart beated painfully in his chest.
She was in pain. f**k.
“What is it?” He whispered in a strained breath.
She took another long breath and her eyes glazed up immediately into unshed tears.
His throat convulsed seeing those swim in her eyes.
“I didn’t steal the money.” She whispered in a gruff, before her eyes rolled and she fell over his chest hard in unconsciousness.
Neil started breathing hard as his hands stayed by the sides and they turned into fists. A hiss of a breath left his lips feeling the cold skin of her body. His eyes burned as his right hand uncurled and moved up shaking and slowly.
He f**king couldn’t feel her heartbeat. His body started shaking while his hand went over her stomach. He shook all over again feeling the damp soak through his hand and fingers.
With gasping slow breath he moved his hand slowly to his vision.
And right then he convulsed into deep harsh hard silent sob. His eyes burned as he saw her crimson blood seep into his hand. He drew down taking her wait to the floor while his face scrunched up in pain. He didn’t know he was crying deep tears while her blood coloured his shirt red and soaked into his skin piercing into his heart. The slice of it hit his chest and took the very breath away from his lungs. He groaned while trying to put his hand over the blood wetting up her t-shirt over her stomach.
“Somebody f**king call an ambulance. She’s been stabbed.” He shouted at the top of his lungs while circling his arms around her cold body protectively against his chest while dissolving finally into visible tears.
Vinay shocked and paling a little looking at his state and in such a broken manner came running to hold the girl off his chest.
“f**k you! Don’t dare to touch her!” He roared while straining hard to breath.
He looked down into her pale face. His insides tearing apart, with his eyes flowing heavily and with hands soaking through he cried hard in a mess on the floor. His body covered with her flowing crimson all over his skin branding his soul forever to hell….
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To be contd….
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Didn’t wanna make u wait for my stories. Well if ur waiting that is since I write blunders everywhere in my hurry to update. Cud write betr but den again in too a wastrel. Well u’ll get ardhika update which I didn’t write since a while now. It wil be with different title that is ‘Heart Strings’…….its changed into ‘Heart Strings’ series now so check for next update of melting of the ice snowy mornin in that name.
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Take care. Goodnite. Keep smiling. Always be happy. Always be loving. Don’t go to bed unhappy because u get up in the morning wit the same thoughts so always keep them pleasant. Small things u do and the care matrs a lot so keep caring about the oders n live life to the fullest?
Or watch Disney cartoons while in a bad mood it wil set u straight?. I like Donald duck n all the squirrel fights. All Disney series are just awesome. I watch all these in the YouTube. And also I had watched recently the episodes of ‘Dekh Bhai Dekh’.? Its an old sitcom but awesome series. U got to watch it. Hum Panch is another old funny one. And there are lots of those.
Some things:
It’s too hot these days?
Summer brings icecreams???????
I love caramel popcorn ? (did I say that already)
Its no fun when the fan is moving but the air isn’t circling around and you’re sweatin like crazy.?? scowling heavily up at the ceiling while vigorously trying to move to and fro the newspaper across ur face frantically. Nowadays sadly the newspaper is not for readin anymore.
Don’t do that becoz it makes u sweat more.
Did I say I hate summers?
Summer also brings hours of power cuts leavin u FReakin without wifi. Shudder. It’s like a black hole then.
Drink lots of water. Lol everyone knows that.?
Breakfast is very important. U eat it large. That’s good. Bcz ur breakin the fast of all night hence good for the health. Eat less rice for lunch. Even more less rice for dinner. Leave some space in the stomach. Why I’m sayin that. Simply. I don’t have any work. Phukhat ka advice?
Wear a strong SPF while goin out in the sun but frankly I sure am goin to bake myself outside if I venture out?
Hear soothing music.? my fav is Bolna these days. Nice ?? song
If it is still too hot go irritate someone until u get a slap for it.(word of advice lol don’t do that) summer also brings the worse in people.
Why I’m sayin all this coz maybe I’m crazy n I want to irritate u all.
Conclusion of this random stuff is oh dear god I miss my winters?? Alot. Sniff. Sniff.?
Alright. Enough blabber jibber jabber lol?
Til den.
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Credit to: Blue