My palms started sweating.
"Someone is stalking me."
"Just like you do with me?" Why does he have to smirk every single time? I wanted to hit him on the face with my chappal to wipe that smirk off his face.
"I don't know how they look or who they are in that case."
"So how can you tell they are stalking you?"
"They keep sending me mysterious letters."
"You might have seen them by the time they gave you the letter."
"No. They always leave it on my doorstep. They ring the bell. And by the time I go out to take it, there's no one."
"So they know where you live."
"Yes, but not just that, they know my every movement."
"Will they know that you're here today?"
"I guess we'll know that in the evening."
He nodded and zoned out. He seemed to think really seriously.
"Let's do something."
"I'll have my men standing near your doorstep to catch the culprit"
"No." I said very quickly that it made him doubt me.
I can't risk Manohar gaining knowledge of this whole situation.
"Is there something wrong?"
"No, but I'm someone who lives alone in my home. I don't want my neighbours to have some bad opinion about that. They can wait on the ground floor and see if anyone is suspicious."
He seems to consider my opinion.
"Let's do that then. Shiva, have four of our men to be waiting in the ground floor of her building. Make sure they raise no suspicion to the stalker."
Shiva nodded and left.
Pradeep relaxed back into the sofa with his arms stretched on the head rest behind him and his legs stretched forward. A cheetah relaxing.
"So you live alone?" He asked with something different and curious in his eyes.
"Yes."
"Family?"
"I lost my mother when I was a child. And my father… I lost him last year."
I couldn't let him see my agony when I told him about the death of my father.
I stared at the floor.
"No companion?"
"No. I'm all alone."
That's the last word to be spoken in the whole room.
The next 15 minutes, both of us sat in silence. Nothing awkward, nothing uncomfortable. Just a calm peaceful silence.
I stood and was about to leave.
"Kalyani, be careful."
I don't know what he meant but I just gave a light smile and nodded.
I left without turning back.
My heart was racing even after returning home. All those thoughts of him fogged my mind I even forgot that Manohar was leaving town tonight on some business.