"Do you think he may be willing to give away his position as the top shareholder?" Cindy whispers on the phone with her Father.
"Yes he will for sure. He is the son of a businessman and he would prefer to give a small amount rather than giving his position away completely as a shareholder." a wicked voice replies.
"What if he denies?"
"What are you then doing there? You have to convince his father with anything it takes." he shouts at her.
She trembles, "Yes I will do all it takes." she says with confidence.
Ending the call she sat in the armchair holding her head down. She doesn't look like the way she appeared in the office. The way she is trying to cut off from this matter by constantly trying to convince her father that Jim might not give away the shares, clearly shows that she do not want to do it herself but for her father.
Thinking about a few months before when Richard went there for making the deal of that hotel.
"You have to start this plan here itself." says her father in her ear while she enters the elevator on the ground floor of the hotel. She is nervous that he might recognise her. As the door opens there stands Richard with his two assistants briefing him the plan. On the other side of the door stood Cindy in a dark blue suit with white shirt and hair open reaching upto the shoulder. Greeting him nervously she enters the elevator.
Pointing out the mistakes from the plan as the assistants were briefing him, she caught his eye. He was impressed with her intelligence and asked for her name. After they introduced each other he asked her to meet him at dinner in the hotel restaurant. She agrees with delicate smile and then walks away on 10th floor while they have to go on the 11th floor. "Such an intelligent girl." he said.
During the dinner he asked about her living and ambitions. She told her she just completed her masters in business management and is interested in starting her own business. Richard is a person who is known all along to give chances to new and ambitious people in setting up their careers so he adviced her to join him in his this trip. He will observe her performance throughout the deal and then decide what should be best for her. She agreed to the offer and stays with him from morning till night on her toes trying her best to impress him. He also observed her hard work, intelligence and her management skills. She showed all the qualities of a good business woman but her plan was to go beyond that line with him.
As the deal finalized and they enjoyed through the party, she talked him out in buying some of his shares. She was trying something which would make her a trustworthy person to him. She has been trying to be in his eyes the entire day and even after that.
Knock... Knock....
This knock by the maid on the room door brings Cindy back from the past. She flipped her hair back and calls her in.
"Richard Sir is leaving for the dinner party. He wants to know are you ready to go?" she asks with head bowed and low voice.
"Yes. I'm coming in a couple of minutes." Cindy says and went into shower while the maid left the room and informs Richard.
At the moment Irene comes to the living room and saw him sitting with his tab in his hand and all dressed up to go somewhere.
"Are you going somewhere?" she asks sitting opposite to him.
"Yeah." he replies without even looking at her.
"You didn't told me. Should I join you?" she asks hopefully.
"No need. Cindy is accompanying me." he says.
This made her very upset because things are changing so fast and she cannot find a way back from here.
As Cindy arrives in her evening gown in black Richard looks at her instantly and got immersed in her beauty for a moment. Watching all this before her eyes has been a daily phenomenon for Irene but everytime it hurts the same. They left holding each other's hand leaving her behind. She asks for her anti depressant and taking 2 pills at a time she just went inti her room.
"I wonder what is happening at the house." as this thought crossed his mind while he brews his coffee he immediately calls his Mother but no answer. He checks the time and it is not too late as it's just half past 7 in the evening. He wonders what's wrong so he called again and again for a couple of times and still no response. So he decides to call on the landline number and fortunately the maid answers it telling him that his mother might have been asleep because of the medicines she took. She also told him about Richard and Cindy living in the same house and their usual partying and visit to places. He got furious hearing all this and what makes him more mad was the thought of her mother going through all this. What was her fault that his father did this to her.
He left the house without any destination and just drove the car to somewhere silent and alone. He reached the highway and just stops his car. The highway being built at a much higher level and gives a beautiful view of the city. His chest feels heavy than usual but ignoring this he picks up his cigarette case and lights up one. He feels something heavy being stuck on his throat making it hard to breathe but he kept smoking one after the other until the case was left with only two out 8 cigarettes. He don't know what he would do if things didn't turned right. He has no one to share his stress at the moment. Though he wants to talk to her but considering her mood and health he avoids talking on this matter. Also things are becoming complicated from her side as well. He may not show it but he felt it in the hospital as well the change in her behaviour and the way she gets awkward in moments. He is unable to figure it out hence cannot decide whether to talk to her or not. As he starts getting short breathed he decides to stop.
His manager has been calling him since morning but he didn't bothered to answer him as well.
He just put his head on the steering and closes his eyes trying to push all this to some dark corner of his head. He wants to scream, he wants to run away somewhere but all he can do is to just sit amd wait.
"Why isn't he picking up?" Anna says to Lisa.
"Maybe he's busy." she says munching doritos.
"No, something is off. I can feel it."
"Now don't tell me you started watching dramas."
"Stop talking nonsense." she replies.
"Call the driver I need to go." Anna says picking up her coat and keys.
"Wait wait.... what?" Liz asks tumbling over her own leg.
"Do you want me to drive myself." she replies with a raised eyebrow.
"I'll drive, Madam. Driver is unavailable at the moment." Isabelle says taking the keys from her.
Both of them looking with surprise at her.
"I drive well. You can trust me." she assures them wearing her coat.
"No I trust you but why are you bothering I'll take the cab." Anna says and Liz nods agreeing with her.
"And what if you have pain or something? How will you handle it alone?" Belle asks with a frown.
"You are scaring me." Anna says with a pout.
"Let's go." says Belle.
Holding her hand Anna makes her sit on her bed and says, "Belle I will take cab. You are not bounded to be at your toes all the time for me. I can manage things you know. I want you to be here and if anything happens I will call you the first." in a soft and sweet way knowing Belle will not be able to argue with her when she acts all sweet.
Taking a deep breath Belle gets up, picks up the woolen cap and put it on her head, it covers her head completely till the neck and ears. Anna smiles, "Do not take this off. The air is chilling you might get pain from it." Belle says.
Hugging her Anna smiles at them and left wearing her coat and booking a can on her phone.
The cab arrives within 10 minutes in the meantime she kept calling and leaving text to him but no response from him is making her anxious.
Keeping her phone in the pocket of her coat she wonders, "He may be busy but he somehow manages to sneak one or two text back to me always. But today he isn't even responding to neither text nor calls. What has gotten in to Jim."
On receiving the call she rushed to the main door and left for his house. The weather is gloomy with clouds covering the sky and it may snow as well. But she didn't bothered about anything at this moment because her heart is racing fast. as she reached the building she rushed to his floor but suddenly felt dizzy in the elevator. Taking a moment she closes her eyes leaned on the was facing it while the elevator reaches the floor. As it opens she walks towards his apartment but found it locked which made her more worried because if he is not here then where he might be. Catching up her breath she calls him once again yet with same result. She tries hard to think whether she has any other person to reach out to ask about his whereabouts. Then she remembers she has the address of his studio where he records, so without wasting a moment she went down but the cab was gone so she walks a bit towards the main street where she hires another one. The studio is 15 minute ride from his apartment. The building seems closed but upon asking the guard she get to know that few people are still inside. She just have to find Mr. Bren, his manager. She asks at the reception but without appointment she cannot meet, also she get to know that Jim hasn't been here since past week, so she asked her to convey a message to manager. "Tell him Anna Jones, a friend of Jim Smith is here and it's really important."
Nodding at her the receptionist calls Mr. Bren and conveys the message.
" Ma'am you can go to meet him. It's the third room to your left." she informs and Anna rushed there.
Knocking the door she enters and he greets her by standing from his seat and offers her a seat. Anna is known by everyone in the business industry but here she is also known as his friend.
Sitting on the chair she wipes the sweat from her forehead with the handkerchief she found in her pocket. When she looks at it she realised it is Jim's, she smiles a bit and it makes her long for him even more.
"Would you like some coffee Madam?" he asks.
"Can I get a glass of water please?" she asks.
He gives her one while she gulps it down he told her that Jim is not receiving his calls either.
"I have been calling him since morning today but he didn't answered even one. I need to fix a date for the fan signing event." he says.
She don't want Jim to ruin his image in the company so she says, "Ohhh... is that so. I apologise on his behalf because he have been busy in the hospital since past week. Also today he is with his mother as she was unwell. He was been involved in all this." in a confident way to make him believe she knows where he was all the time.
" He could have texted me atleast. I need to know where my artist is for I also have to answer the upper authority." he says politely.
" Yeah, you are right. I'm sincerely apologizing on his behalf. I'm just going to visit his Mother and I'll make sure to convey your message and I'll also see to it that he calls you back as soon as possible." she assures him with a straight face but a sinking heart.
She felt disappointed after hearing what manager said because she don't have any other place to find where he could be. Getting up from the chair she says, " Here it's my card. Please do give me a call if anything else comes up." she handed over the card.
Taking the card he greets her and she left the room. She needs to protect his image at this moment also she cannot let it become a headline that he is or maybe missing. Her heart is sinking with all this, because she knows he is upset about his Mother. She had a feeling that it might be the reason behind all this which makes her more worried.
"He might have been really upset to ghost out like this. I should have told him that I know everything, so he wouldn't have to take himself somewhere for easing his pain. " she groans to herself and sat down on her knees. The receptionist rushed to her, holding her arm she asks, " Are you alright Madam?"
Looking at her she nods while she helps her to get up. Adjusting her coat she thanks her and moves out of the building. She had skipped her medicine which is making her a bit dizzy but she is not ready to give up now. She needs to find him at any cost. Slowly she moves towards the street thinking where he might be, where should she look for him. She sat on the roadside, the air is becoming cold as the time passes. Looking at the phone she realised it's quarter past 8 by now. She calls him once again hoping to hear from him but this time also no response. Closing her eyes hard she tries to remember is there any such place where he could be?
More often he was either at his studio, or at his apartment. When in leisure he was either at her office or some cafe writing lyrics or having meals with his mother. While searching through her thoughts something clicks her mind, an incident from their college days when once he was really upset about something he just ghosted out somewhere without telling anyone. Then he was found at the walking on highway.
"It's far away and I like it. I can detangle myself." these words which he said to her back that day when she found him, echoed in her ears once again.
She opens her eyes, hires a taxi and heads over to that highway. Their are numerous highways but she decided to go to that one first where he was the last time. Her heart racing faster than ever, but she kept on praying amd hoping for him to be all right.
"Please drive fast." she says.