Anamika looked back in shock, when an unknown hand reached her shoulder. It certainly was Varun trying some silly tricks on her. It failed to amuse her, similarly how the magnificence of the lobby failed to impress her. She hurried out of the main entrance. Varun handed the valet slip and they waited for the car to arrive.

“Hey madam! We’d be home in time!”, he said with a grin.

“MY home, you meant! Right?” The irritation in her voice was hard to miss.

Varun kept quiet, and simply glanced at her. Anamika was growing impatient and irritated, but neglected it all, for reaching home safely in one piece was of utmost importance. She felt a deep feeling of helplessness amidst all this.

The breeze was ruffling her hair, which she tried to put in order. He moved closer to her and started hitting on her, literally.

“You look beautiful with long hair!”, he whispered in her ears.

Hearing that, Anamika had goosbumps all over her. She struggled a smile. Usually such a compliment would have flattered her to a large extent, in spite this made her alert. He touched a lock of her hair and helped her put it behind her hears.

She was on high alert by then. Looking around she spotted twenty odd people. The security guards. Valets. Female Attendants. And far in one corner the jet black Labrador Retriever, who seemed to understand her the best at that very moment. She wished to cling onto him. The similar kind of relief she experienced on spotting the CCTV camera in the elevator. She hoped to be an attendant or a security guard for that night. She wanted to stay back in the hotel premises than cover the distance of two minutes that separated her cosy home from that luxurious place.

The loathsome feeling was back in her stomach. She wanted to perch onto the low wall a meter away. Her legs went too weak to bear her weight and stand steady. A gloomy feeling lowered her spirits. The importance of sunshine was evident from the lovely artificially lit night. She regretted having agreed to meet up over dinner. It all felt creepy to her.

Rather than calling her out loud, Varun touched Anamika’s shoulder to break her from her thoughts. A chill ran down her spine. She saw Varun’s car arriving into the porch, and her feet regained their strength. She waited eagerly to dive into the car and scoot off! 

The valet got off the car, as Varun approached towards the car. Another bunch of notes left their place off Varun’s pocket. Anamika was practically in no mood to contemplate over the money that was spent that evening, for her safe little life seemed like concern of the hour.

In no time Varun zoomed round the corner of the porch. And in a fraction of a second they were out of the main gate. He accelerated the car beyond limits. Anamika avoided looking into the car, and the speedometer. Trying hard to trust him; to take her safe back home.

[…to be continued]