Mafia's Girl

Part 5

Shehnaaz's P.O.V.

The man came up to the desk and looked at everyone as Suman ma'am smiled and said, "Sid, come, I have your book for you." He nodded and followed her as Aditya remained with me. He came out with another book and looked at me for a brief second. As he was leaving, I stopped him saying, "Excuse me." He stopped and looked back at me. I stood up and went to him. "Thank you for that night," I said. Again, he didn't respond and simply stared at me. "You're...welcome," he said eventually. I tried to smile even a little bit for him but it couldn't come. It was lost somewhere. The book slipped out of his hand as he was looking at me and we bent down together to pick it up, hitting our heads in the process. "Ouch!" I said, rubbing my forehead. He stood up, taking the book and said, "Sorry." He left. "Mom, this Sidharth is something else, isn't he? A lawyer doesn't need as much law books as much as he need them being a businessman," Aditya said leaving me confused. He was weird indeed. A lady entered the office and Suman ma'am went inside with her. I went back to my desk. "Shehnu, are you comfortable in your house?" Aditya asked. I nodded. "I need to go later and buy some groceries though," I said. "Great! If you want, I can come with you," he said. I frowned at him, surprised. He smiled and said, "Mom always taunts me that I cannot buy groceries so, I want to show her that I can. Perhaps, you can teach me," he said, resting his hand on my head. I nodded saying, "Ok." After a few hours, Suman ma'am left for a court hearing. I was closing the office when I heard a voice message on her office phone with a man saying, "This is Sidharth. I hope that you didn't tell your secretary that it was I that gave you the house for her. I know that you have to lie for me but I know that she needed a place to stay desperately. Please, tell me if she is comfortable there otherwise I will arrange another place for her." Strangely, I wasn't angry that I was staying in that house. In this situation, I would have felt hurt before but I wasn't. This man has helped me a lot, knowingly and unknowingly in the past and this was one more time. I will meet him tomorrow and thank him for all that he did. I will even ask him about rent since I can't stay in a stranger's house for too long for free. It is against my principles.

Aditya came into the office and apologised saying, "I'm so sorry Shehnu, but I have to go and meet Mom in court. I will come another time with you." "It's ok," I said. "Can I drop you somewhere?" He asked. "It's ok. I'll take a taxi. Besides, the market is in the opposite direction of the courthouse," I said. "Ok. But take care ok?" He said. I nodded. I took my belongings and left the office. He hailed a taxi for me and instructed the driver after paying him where to take me. I went to the market and bought as many vegetables as I could with the amount of money I had. Holding the bag, I was walking on the street when some men came up to me. Judging by their appearance, they looked like goons. My trauma began flashing before my eyes as I trembled and stuck to my spot. My muscles began weaken and the vegetables dropped from my hands, scattering around. Just as the men were coming closer to me, one person came in between and stood in the middle. "Hey, hero, who are you? Let this girl come with us," one said. The man stood still and said in a low voice, "Look at this. If you want to live until tomorrow, run." The men looked at something the man had and ran away, scared. He turned to me and it was the same man, Sidharth. He took a step closer to me and looked down at the pavement. He crushed my tomatoes and then looked at me. I knew that he was helping me with accommodation. But why? It scared me a bit now and I needed to know. "I'll drop you home," he said. He turned to leave but I stood still. He looked back at me and said, "You can do it." Frowning, I asked, "What?" "Trust me," he said. I contemplated and wanted to but still, I couldn't. I walked straight and didn't respond to him. As I was walking quickly along the road, I kept turning around and he was following me. This scared me even more and I began running. I kept looking back and when he was nowhere in sight, I stopped and turned back forward but bumped into him. My heart raced and I stepped back away. "Shehnaaz," he said panting. "Who are you? And why are you stalking me?" I asked. His face held no emotions. "I am not stalking you. Don't use that term to describe me," he said. "Then, what are you?" I asked. "I'm protecting you," he said, surprising me.