Veronica went to bathroom for a shower as Papa at ten o' clock headed for a friend at Ceni to arrange some fake visa and other official papaers for they were planning to go to Trebat – their last stoppage – their last hope.
After the shower she felt refreshed. She felt that she was hopeful. When she went out of the hotel's attached bathroom she found her diary was a foot away from the place on the bed she had put. Someone was inside my room. Or is the intruder still in my room? After shower she had worn a blue frock for convinence. She saw her jeans were dangling on the hanger on the wall a few furlong away. She leapt toward them; put her hand into jeans back pocket and fetched the revolver out. She said to herself: Don't tell me this is the tall lady assassin. She silently jumped over the bed and looked down. There was no one under the bed. May be the cupboard: thought she and leapt toward the cupboard and suddenly opened it. No one was there too. Then she relaxed a bit. Loosened her tensed muscles. But a doubt crept into her mind: Did I put my diary there where I found after the shower? Was it really displaced? Or was it my imagination? – Am I afraid after the shooting incident at Belamundis? – I am sure that someone has come to my room and played with my diary. I am certain: she reaffirmed to herself. It is a daunting task to accept your intuition – understand your gut-feelings. She went to the door and checked its lock. It was open. No, I am sure, I left it closed: one voice was saying thus; and another was saying: Perhaps it is all your imagination. You left the door opened; and you fear that that lady assassin had come after you.
She hid the revolver under the bed mattress and went to the front desk locking her room. There was a man in his mid thirties. She said to the man at the desk, "Sir, I have to register a complain."
The man at the desk was rooted hearing the word "complain." He pleaded, "What mistake did we commit, ma'm?"
"I do not know, perhaps it is some of your house-keeping staffs or someone else, I do not know, but someone has been sneaking into my room either when I am asleep or in the bathroom. Today morning I found my diary misplaced. The things scattered…"
"Couldn't it be a case of forgetfulness ma'm?"
"No," said Veronica sternly.
"Then I will have to inform the manager and we will contact you later…"
"When will that later come?"
"Please ma'm, have patience. We will see what best we can do. In the meantime please enjoy staying here."
"Yeah," said Veronica and came back to her room. She saw two men on the way. She doubted them to be the culprits. Her knuckles were aching to pin them both, but she controlled herself. In this world I have to prove their guilts before beating them: she said to herself. To divert attention from the unknown intruder she watched some music videos on the television. Then there was a call on the landline in the room.
"Yes," she took the call.
The man from the desk said, "Ma'm, would you kindly come to our manager's chamber? Manager Sir has something to speak to you with."
She went to manager's chamber. An albino with a thick nose was sitting on a costly leather chair and the man from the desk was standing beside him. The manager asked her to take a chair.
"Thank you madam, for bringing up the matter. We have investigated the matter and found something," said the manager.
She was shocked hearing the word "investigated." She asked herself: Are police involved?
The manager continued, "There are hidden cctv cameras near your room. We saw the cameras. We found this…" saying so he pointed toward the laptop screen on his desk. She saw a lean old man with white beard and hair was standing at her room's door. He opened the door by a pin poking into the lock. Then he entered inside the room and within five minutes emerged out of it.
The manager said, "This is around nine am today. But we can not locate the old man in any other camera."
He then played a video captured by the cctv camera near the lift. She saw the old man enter the lift. The lift stopped at the ground floor. The cctv camera at the ground floor showed a tall cute boy with a grimace emerging out of the lift with a bag on his shoulder. The manager said, "So, we presume this young man has disguised himself as the old man and intruded your privacy. We have also confirmed that he stays in this hotel and his room number is thirty four. What do you want madam? What action should we take?"
Veronica smiled; but she was angry too. She straightly went to room number thirty four and knocked at the door.
"Who is this?" a boy's sound from inside the room came. She knocked without answering.
"Who is this," again the boy's voice was heard. She could notice a slight touch of pain in the voice. She knocked at the door again.
"You do not answer, I do not open the door."
She said, "Room service."
"Oh room service! I don't need room service now. Thanks but no thanks."
She smiled, but she was angry too. She was wishing if she could smash the door. She knew she had to drop the drama. She said in a controlled tone, "Matthew, it is me, Veronica. Please come out."
"Oh, my queen, do enter. The door is open for you."
Matthew was lying on the bed without the beard and mustaches. She was willing to burst; but she controlled herself when she saw him wake up with a grimace on his face. She ran up to him and asked, "Just sleep. Don't wake." After a minute he lay still and she asked, "Why did you come here? Why did you follow me?"
"I know you are in a dangerous mission. I know. I want to be a part of everything you do in your life," he said.
"Do you think you will come here and follow me around and surprise me doing all these childish things and you will be still able to please me?"
"Yes," he said smiling.
"No, you are spying on me. You – and you are hurt. I am concerned for you. I was coming to you, ultimately," she said.
"I know, if you succeed in your mission. Otherwise you will burn yourself. Thanks to my spying activity and thanks to your diary entries. I am concerned too. I don't see you coming to me."
"Do not make me hopeless; hope is my only asset that I have now."
He smiled. A mature smile. Then he smirked and said, "Can't you alter your promise, if not allowing it to totally break it?"
"No, a promise is a promise."
"Hmm, I know. But I was telling you if you just burn your left little finger, wont that suffice?"
"Why are you so sure that I will fail," she asked.
He took a moment, then said, "No, I was just hoping for the best and preparing for the worst. You should too."
"I am already hoping and prepared."
There was a moment's silence.
In order to lighten up the situation he said, "I read your diary."
She looked furious.
"Haha," he continued. "I am sorry for that. But please tell me if I had not read your diary how could I have known that you love me so much…"
She resisted the wish to punch at his shoulder. He continued, "And I did not know that you are willing to spend your rest of life with me. How lucky I am! Thanks for conferring such a beautiful honor on me. – We will buy a little hut in a hill station – there we will together go fishing all day long – come home and cook those fishes and eat…"
"Stop flirting," said she. "You should go away. Papa won't be happy seeing you here."
"I am not here to talk to meet your Papa…"
"Yes, I know, but one thing you don't know that you slow me down. I get emotional when you are around. I forget about my mission. I don't want to forget my mission…"
"What mission? Leave it. You are on a mission to find a boy who wants to live; and you want to find him and offer his head. This is not a good mission. This is murder. Leave this mission, at once. I beg of you. Change your mind. When you were there in your own village you thought it was good – it was noble. But now you see it – it is a bad bad job dear. If you love me I ask you to leave this mission for the sake of love – for the sake of your newly budding good sense."
She said joining her hands together, "Enough, you have argued enough. I plead you to stop it."
He seemed like he was willing to say so many things; but he silenced himself. They remained silent for long two minutes. They could hear a gush of pipe and slow unrecognizable mutterings of a couple from the adjacent room. This was an eerie experience. He said, "By the way, you are after a boy and you want to spend the rest of your life with me. Are you aware that this is infidelity in our world?"
She smiled.