"Who do you think you are? How dare you bring an unknown person into Boss's cabin without-" Ryan was about to scold Neha when suddenly Arthur stopped him.
"Ryan! Calm down. Neha! Who is the man accompanying you?"
"His name is Oliver Spaulding, and he is our friend. I am sorry I didn't have time to get him a badge-," Neha was talking loud and fast because of worry and fear. But this fear was not due to her boss rather it was the fear of watching her senior bleed.
Arthur reassuringly placed his hand on her shoulder to ease her mind and said, "that's ok. I understand." He then turned towards his secretary and commanded, "Holly! Get him a visitor's badge." Holly went outside to get a badge.
"What are we doing about her injury?" yelled Oliver.
"Neha! I know you are friends with this lady but ask him to please let the doctor do his work." Instead of talking to Oliver directly, Arthur chose to address Neha. Both Meera and Oliver exchanged looks and Oliver mouthed "rude" which made her smile.
"He is right. Lovepie! Simmer down. Junior! Everything is ok. I am fine," she assured both of her friends. The word 'Lovepie' was a dagger to Arthur's heart. His hands started sweating and his heart was filled with sadness and anger and jealousy. He was disappointed that the girl sitting in front of him had a boyfriend and she nicknamed him 'lovepie'.
"How is this ok? You are losing so much blood," Oliver shouted back.
"Oh no, I lost so much blood, I am losing consciousness," she taunted him and acted as if she was getting dizzy. Arthur covered his lips with his hand and hid his smile.
"You are funny, you are so funny," said Oliver in an irritated tone and moved towards Meera.
His moving near Meera peeved Arthur further and he shouted at Oliver, "we are doing everything to stop that. Can't you see?"
"Yeah, can't you see?" Repeated Ryan.
"Everybody shut up," Dr Pear shouted. Everyone went silent after getting scolded by the doctor. Oliver went and sat down next to Meera. He took her other hand in his hands and smiled at her tenderly. Neha stood behind her and placed her hand on Meera's shoulder. Meera looked at her and winked to pacify her.
Holly entered the room and halted for a second as the silent atmosphere was highly uncomfortable. She slowly approached Oliver and handed him the badge, "here you go, sir, your badge. Please return it before you exit the building."
"Of course, anything for you." He fluttered his eyes at her. Neha rolled her eyes at his flirtation and Meera kicked him on his shin.
"Flirt," whispered Meera.
"Prude," Oliver whispered back.
"Shut up."
Arthur was stunned. No boyfriend in the history of human civilization has the nerves to call his girlfriend a prude, he will be dumped the next moment. It meant that the man sitting next to the cute girl was either a stupid man who was about to be dumped or not her boyfriend. This thought made Arthur very happy. But why, why was he happy? Why a few minutes ago he was sad and jealous and now he was happy? Why was the relationship status of a girl stirring emotions after emotions in him?
Dr Jordan Pear opened his bag and took out a suturing kit.
"Whoa! You move with these all the time?" Liv asked the doctor surprisingly.
"What? No, Holly told me there might be a need for stitches. Good job, Holly," said Jordan while wearing surgical gloves.
Holly beamed at Doctor's praise.
"But is… this… really… necessary, doctor? As he said before, I'm scared of needles" said Meera, pointing towards Oliver. The moment her eyes fell on surgical needles, she pulled her hands out of Oliver's hand and jumped on the couch and tried to run away from the room.
Arthur ran and stood in front of her and tried to get through to her, "I swear you won't feel a thing. He is a good doctor."
Her fear turned into anger. She was furious at him as he was the reason, she was going to be jabbed by needles which were her fear.
"No one asked you to poke your nose. Keep out of this as this would never have happened if I had not met you."
"Miss, listen to me you are losing blood. It's can result in complications." Jordan too stood in front of her blocking her path.
"Oh, get a grip, it is just a cut. Blood will clot on its own in a minute. How are you a doctor?" She spoke sharply to Jordan.
"If that would have been the case your blood would have clotted by now. It's been almost 15 minutes since I arrived, you are still bleeding."
"Di, please listen to him," pleaded Neha.
"Sweetu, listen to them," ordered Oliver.
"Did he just call her sweetu? I have to go back to the tried and tested technique," thought Arthur and without warning, picked her up, threw her on his shoulder, signalled Jordan to move out of the way and dropped her on the couch. Doctor Pear moved in a flash and sat next to her.
"How dare you touch me… ahhhhh…" her rage turned into pain, and she shouted at the top of her lungs as the doctor inserted the needle into her skin. She was trying to pull her hand away from the doctor not because of pain but due to her fear. "Please stop it, please stop it. I can't take the pain… aahhh…," she kept shouting with her eyes closed and painfully squeezing Liv's hand.
"Ah… ah... Will you stop shouting and listen to me? He is finished. You are all stitched up. He finished his work a minute ago." With his free hand, Oliver shook her vigorously and shouted his loudest.
"What?" She slowly opened her eyes one by one.
"A minute ago. Finished stitching." He was pulling his hands away and she was still squeezing his hand tightly.
Very embarrassed, she released his hands, "yeah. I know."
Arthur was looking at her with adoration. Her cuteness overload filled his heart with warmth.
"May I know your name?" asked Dr Pear.
"Why?" she asked sceptically.
"I have to write a prescription."
"I don't need a prescription." She tried hard to not divulge her name.
"Her name is Meera Thakur," interjected Neha.
"Hey!" she groaned at Neha.
"Here, take this prescription, have these medicines regularly. I have mentioned when and how to take them," said Jordan while looking at Oliver as it was clear that he was about to open his mouth and ask the question regarding the intake of medicines. "This is my card; visit me at my hospital after 3 days. We will have a look at your stitches and then decide when to remove your sutures. Till then stay out of trouble."
"Oh, I doubt that very much," she replied looking at Arthur who was trying to hide his smile from everyone. "Because few people in your town tend to hurt people and then force them to say sorry as if it was their fault they got hurt. Anyways thank you very much, doctor."
"Call me Jordan or Dr Pear."
"Dr Pear, it is. Thank you." She got up, took Liv's hands, signalled Neha to move out and started moving towards the door.
"Wait!" Arthur's voice made them turn around. "Ryan, please take the prescription and make sure she gets her medicine."
"No, thank you. I have had enough help from you two. I think that will be sufficient for my whole life," rebuked Meera, looking at his blood-smeared cufflinks and stormed out of the building.
Arthur kept staring at the place where she was standing while his fingers were absent-mindedly touching the cufflinks.
"Where… did… you… find… her? She was… was… something else. Not even kids jump out of the couch in my hospital" The doctor was unable to find words to describe her.
Neha exited the GC building with Meera and Oliver.
"I am sorry di," said Neha in a heart-breaking tone.
"What? Why?" Meera was shocked at her apology.
"You got hurt because of me."
"What? How? You dumbo, you were nowhere near me. That idiot bumped into me; everything is his fault. Stop feeling guilty." Meera flicked her forehead gently.
"True, I hate him, he hurt you."
"Vivek will be so happy to hear that. Now he truly has no competition, thanks to me."
Neha wrapped her hands tightly around Meera and gave her a bear hug. Meera patted her head and with the loveliest possible voice said, "Hey I am ok. See, I am all stitched up and new."
"But you hate needles." She was still hugging Meera.
"That I do, but it is ok now," she comforted Neha.
"Indeed, and you broke my wrist in the process," complained Oliver.
"Yeah right, sometimes I have small hands and sometimes I have hulk hands. Everything is according to your preference. Idiot!" Meera scolded him.
"Look at my hand, it's all red." He shoved his hand in her face.
"It proves you have a good amount of blood in your body. You should be proud," she said nonchalantly to mock him.
"You should be proud." He repeated her words in a nasal tone to show his annoyance. This made everyone smile.
"Now, take me to the Inferior GC building," she patted Oliver on his hand and spoke.
"Which building?" Neha was confused as there was not a single building in the whole of NY by that name.
"You see, this is the Main GC building, next is the Secondary GC building which houses real estate and other important businesses and last but not least is the Inferior GC building which houses the least important businesses." She started laughing before she could finish the sentence and both of them joined in.
They laughed so hard that they had to hold their stomach to ease the pain. Their cheeks started burning with laughter and tears of happiness trickled from their eyes.
After a few minutes of laughter, Meera said while wiping the corner of her eyes, "I will see you at home. And yes, I am fine."
"For your kind information, it's Main Building, Innovation Building, and Vision Building."
"The names I gave are better."
"Be careful," said Neha in a serious tone.
"Don't worry I will take care of your senior." Oliver hugged Neha and reassured her.
"Thank you." She thanked him, smiled at Meera, and went inside the Main GC building.
Oliver brought his SUV and drove Meera to the Vision Building.
"See that coffee lounge over there, meet me there after your meeting."
"You are going to flirt with all the baristas till I finish my meeting, aren't you?"
"You know me, I am the lady charmer." He flipped his hair in style.
"So true, that's the ultimate truth, that's Nirvana," said Meera mockingly yet in a serious tone.
"Hey!" He shouted and pulled her ear to punish her.
"Ouch! I am already hurt, and you are hurting me more." She slapped him multiple times with her right hand.
"How are your hand and your ear connected?"
"Every part of the body is connected. Go study some human anatomy."
"Trust me when I say this, I may not be an expert in the theory of human anatomy, but I am a professional when it comes to practical."
"Ew… ew… let me come back from my meeting and I will tighten your screws for you."
"Looking forward to it." She was about to open the car door when he pulled her and kissed her forehead and said, "as junior said, be careful."
"Always, see you soon, lovepie." She kissed his cheek and got out.
*****
While pondering over her past, Meera realized that she abruptly disconnected her call with Oliver which meant he was trying to call her back. And poor Toby was lying on a pathway. She hoped for a good Samaritan to help him get to a hospital.
The next moment, the door opened, and the same two goons entered with a trolley filled with delicious food and drinks and two dress racks that had gorgeous dresses hanging from them. She moved far away from the door as soon as both men came into the room.
"Boss has sent all these for you. He wants you to have all the luxury at your feet," said the short man.
"So, this is your phone," said the tall man and threw her phone on the bed.
"Phone? You are giving me my phone." She was surprised as never in the history of kidnapping; a perpetrator has handed the victim's phone to them.
"Don't worry, everything is disabled except games, so if you get bored you can play games. I have also loaded some of my favourite movies. Hope you enjoy them."
They were about to leave when Meera asked, "your Boss wants to provide me with every facility yet there is no bathroom. What am I supposed to do about that?"
The man with a paunch moved towards her but stood in front of a wall near her. He hovered his hand in the middle of the wall and magically a portal opened. She peeped inside and a hidden bathroom was revealed. She was astonished.
"There you go princess," he taunted her and both of them left.
"What is happening? Where am I? Who wanted to kidnap me yet provide me with every amenity possible?" She said out loud.