LOVE & REVENGE

Chapter 7: Sophia in the Hotel

Everyone was horrified and uncertain of what to do. After a while, the hotel management dialed the police requesting that a detective and a doctor be sent over. Soon the doctor came and examined John's body. He opined that John had been bitten by a snake which left a visible bite mark on his neck.

Hearing the doctor's opinion, the three remaining buddies looked at each other in horror. 

At this time, Charles remembered a snake that was under the cart in the market and staring at him. He thought to himself, "The snake may have done it. But how did it locate the hotel and why attacked John?"

John's body was eventually brought to the forensic pathologist before it could be flown to New York and handed to his family.

Charles took a cigarette from his shirt pocket and went to the window, lighted it, and started puffing while looking out to the garden. He was really infuriated by what happened.

The next day, they all went to the airport to bid goodbye to their friend. Thereafter, they went to one of the well-known eateries and had lunch.

Mark and Albert wanted to go into town and hang out for a while, but Charles opted to return to the hotel to rest. 

 At the hotel, Charles took a shower, got into a sleeping ware, and went to bed. Before long, he heard a woman screaming for help. He rushed to the room where the screaming came from. Upon entering the room, he saw a woman standing on the bed in short pajamas and screaming. Charles couldn't see her face because her back was to him. She was screaming and pleading for help facing the open window. She repeatedly yelled, "Snake, snake!"

Charles went to the window and peered outside, but he did not see a snake. When he turned to tell the woman that there was no snake and that she could get off the bed, he was startled to discover that it was Sophia who turned to him saying, "It's good you came. A big snake tried to attack me, and when I screamed it turned around and escaped through the window."

Charles did not catch a word Sophia was saying as he was so delighted to see her again. He smiled as he took her hand and helped her get off the bed.

The terrified Sophia was crying and embracing Charles urging him to stay with her. She was worried that the snake might return and bite her.

Charles held her arms and gazed into her eyes saying, "I can't stay here, my friends might come by at any second, but I'm so glad to see you again. Promise, I will see you."

In order to prevent Sophia from opening the window, Charles then shuttered the window in the room. 

Sophia asked him to go out with her for the night, but Charles declined. This did not sit well with her so she shut the door behind him.

Meanwhile, his buddies, who had just returned, were shocked to see him in his pajamas in the hotel corridor and in front of another room. They became curious. It was at this time that Sophia opened the door. Her voluptuous body could be seen through her short and thin nightgown. She smiled at them and said that she checked in the hotel also and would be happy if they would accept her invitation to dinner at a traditional restaurant.

Hearing this, Albert immediately went to her, bowed in front of her, took her hand and kissed it, and said, "My friends and I will gladly accept your invitation."

Sophia took a closer look at Albert's face as she was going back to her room and warning them, "Be careful of Indian snakes, they are very dangerous." 

With that, Mark and Albert looked at each other and went to their rooms without saying a word.

Sophia was waiting for them at the hotel lobby in a very beautiful dress. She took them to a traditional restaurant in one of the old quarters. When they were sitting in the restaurant and the waiter brought the menu, they each ordered different types of Indian food, but Sophia only ordered a simple soup for herself. She listened intently to Albert and Mark reminiscing about the war in Afghanistan. Charles spoke very little and preferred to be a listener. Sophia tried hard to attract Charles's attention that night but he did not mind her. This annoyed Sophia.

On the other hand, Albert and Mark, seeing such a beautiful woman, tried to draw her attention to better their relationship with her. They were bragging about their achievements during the Afghan war and cracking jokes to get her to laugh.

Albert asked about Sophia's family and if she was single or married, given how stunning she was. He commented that a stunning woman like her could not be single. 

Hearing Albert's comment, Sophia, who had a cigarette on her lips, gazed into Albert's eyes first. When Albert looked into Sophia's eyes, he experienced the same level of terror that Charles had on the plane.

When Sofia saw Albert frightened, she looked away from him and smiled as she smoked a cigarette. Then she said, "My husband was killed years ago. I did not marry after him and I live alone. I occasionally travel to India as well. I came to see my mother to see how she was doing. She seems a little under the weather, and I worry about her." 

She didn't say anything more about herself or her family, and Albert didn't ask any more questions.

The buddies had drinks well until midnight. They were all intoxicated and bewildered. They were driven to the hotel in a taxi and went into their own rooms.

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