"What was your name before you decided to reset it?," I repeated the same question, wording it differently every time, and got ghosted once again.
This woman in a white gown is done treating my arms and now moved onto my face. No lie, but this is first class service right here. I have been to hospitals and clinics, but none can be compared to this level of treatment she provided on wheels. This is one more reason why I can't be angry with her.
Half of the time, I feel maybe she is a victim, and the other half says otherwise. She showed no signs of hostility until now, so perhaps I am in her safe hands.
She is still smiling as she cleans the cut on my forehead. I can figure it out if this jolly face of hers is actually a poker face or her natural emotion.
"Is the leader of the Bad Beaver's forcing you to do it?" she shook her head.
"Black mailing you?" again she shook her head.
"Is it some fetish of his?..." I asked doubtfully, but once again she shook her head in disagreement.
After an hour of smooth sailing on this car, I still know the same amount of information about her as I did at the beginning.
"Hey mister, can you take me to my house instead of my base."
"Sure, tell me where it is or point it on the map." the driver replied respectfully. On the screen behind the front seat, I marked the location of my rented apartment, which I took for some personal time. Our team base was earlier my own house, but since the girls hang out all there at my place, it became a base.
When I marked the location of my apartment, she looked at it curiously for a moment, but then she resumed sticking the band-aid on my cut.
"Oh no no No No, not again!" I rubbed my cheek. Every time my eyes roll somewhere, she finds the chance to peck me somewhere on my face and shows me her mischievous smile narrowing her eyes.,"I am not in a playful mood. We have a matter to settle once we reach my apartment."
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By the time the car stopped by my apartment, all my wounds were covered with bandages. If I had a little more cotton roll wrapped around my body, I would have been mummified.
The reason I chose my apartment here in this area is because, this is the only place in the city with undeveloped houses. Which means these apartments were built long before I was born. These lack modern technology like electronic doors, scanners, elevators, and other features; and that's exactly what makes them so good. Since, most of the people moved out from here, it's less crowded and silent most of the time, leaving me with a lot of peaceful time.
"I have a question." I asked, turning towards her.,"Is there any official record that we are married? I mean, there was no licensed pastor or someone like that, right."
Hurriedly, the woman raised her hand to show me the wedding ring on her ring finger.
"Aah, the ring...,"I clicked my tongue.,"I totally forgot that." The ring is still stuck to my finger, I hope it's not one of those stupid cursed items.
As for this marriage, it's officially an unofficial marriage, like a child's play. This is my chance.
I opened the fancy car door and blasted off it, "I will return this ring later. Thank you. Sorry." I don't know if she could hear this or not, but still, I yelled it out aloud. I feel bad doing this to her after what she did for me, I hope things get sorted out for her in a better way.
The first many steps were painful, I felt my muscles ache with every movement I made, but soon as adrenaline kicked in, I didn't feel a thing.
Efficiently traveling the farthest distance possible in this maze of old buildings, I ran towards my real apartment which has a satellite phone which I kept for emergencies. I have to call the girls and let them know they might be in danger.
There is no sign of anyone following me. Since the streets are barely lit, it is harder to track me in this darkness.
"It was rude of you to run away like that, sir." I heard a voice from ahead. From behind the wall in front of me, a man in uniform with grayish hair stepped into the dim yellowish-light, with his hands behind his back.
How? Why is he here? There is no way anyone can do this. How are they tracking me? I don't even have my phone or watch on me.
"I must humbly request that you get back inside the car, sir, and please tell me the correct location this time, or I will drop you off at your base." He didn't sound as if I had an option.
"I don't know how you did it, but please stop following me. Also, I would appreciate you, if you tell your boss not to play with other people's lives."
"Well you left me with no choice then" adjusting his white gloves, he took some stance, but I was long gone by then. Running in the opposite direction, I rerouted my way to the apartments, taking a longer route.
"It's futile to run away from me, sir." Stepping out of the shadows, he stood in front of me confidently once again.
I noticed the wetness on his shoes and the bottom of his pants as I scanned him for hints. The streets are dry and the only way he could have gotten wet was on the roof where the water might be leaking out of a few tanks. "You are fast. I guess, you were in the army years ago.".
The driver smiled. "Absolutely true, sir. You must now realize that you cannot outrun me. No one has ever."
I now know what to do.
Turning right, I bolted into the five-storey apartment beside me and took the stairs up. Since it was the only way to follow me, he used the same stairs too.
By the time I reached the third floor, the driver was already adjacent to my stairs. Waiting for the right moment, I continued climbing onto the stairs.
When the driver felt I was close enough, he stretched forward his right hand to get a hold of my collar, and that was it.
Using the handrail for support, I stopped, and swung my leg behind into a back hook kick.
The driver was caught off guard by this unexpected kick. He was thrown against the worn down wall because he was unable to avoid it before it impacted directly beneath his lower jaw.
His body fell onto the ground and didn't move. He is still breathing, which means he is probably just unconscious.
Leaving him behind, I stepped down the stairs. The pains are returning slowly as I jog. Just 200 meters and I will reach my apartment.
Stepping outside the entrance door, I realized that I could have used the driver's phone to call my team, but I didn't want to take any chances of getting caught.
Somewhere during this, I lost half of my bandages, but none of my wounds were bleeding. That woman did a good job. Her alluring face flashed in my mind.
Now that I was all alone on these dimly lit streets, I thought about all the things which happened this night. My stomach grumbled again, I am starving now.
I reached my apartments, my room was on the second floor. Times like these are when I hoped this building had an elevator. The steps took forever to climb.
The main door's frame bulged a bit outside the wall, so I hid my keys on top of them with a double-sided tape.
I reached out to take my keys, and found them exactly where I put them last time. There is only one working light for the entire floor and the light barely reached my door, but I made the key into the keyhole on the second try itself.
"So this is where you live." I heard a familiar voice behind me, which instantly gave me the chills. Suddenly, my breath stopped, my eyes turned blind and I lost myself.