Blood Ties

12 - London, 2019.

Flashback to 2019. London, United Kingdom.

How bad can this day get? First, those unprofessional bastards, forgetting my umbrella, and now this so-called blind date. Where the hell is she? I will kill Dhruv for this. He had to send me on this stupid blind date, his blind date.

Now I'm here at this beautiful restaurant by the Tower of London overlooking the Tower Bridge. Why did I even agree to come to this date? I have better places to be than sit and wait for some woman who has no sense of time whatsoever.

My phone pings with a notification. I check it to find a message from that bastard friend of mine, Dhruv.

Dhruv: How's it going man? I hope she isn't too hot.

Me: She hasn't shown up yet.

Dhruv: OMG! Did you just get stood up on a date? The Prajwal Gowda stood up on a date!

Me: Shut up! It is, sorry, it was your date. I'm leaving.

Dhruv: Bro wait! She might show up soon.

Me: Yeah right!

Dhruv: If not her, then someone else. I have this weird feeling you are meant to be there, you will find someone.

Me: What bullshit are you talking about? Are you high? You are a freaking racer, not some astrologer or tarot card reader.

Dhruv: I know my profession very well. I worship it. And no I'm not high. I just felt like saying it.

Me: Whatever. I'm not staying a minute longer here.

With that, I kept my phone in my pocket, paid the bill, and got up to leave. For the mood I was in, I wanted to head straight back home. But, something told me to walk towards Tower Bridge and I abided.

I was now near the Thames, looking at the Tower of London and Tower Bridge. London never fails to soothe the eyes. And today was going to be a treat to my eyes. I was casually looking around, the tourists, the locals, students, and couples, and that's when my eyes saw her.

I didn't know her name, just that face. The face I could never forget. The face of my first love. It was so sudden, I blinked my eyes to make sure I wasn't hallucinating.

Guess what? I wasn't! She was there. Right there. Waiting for the ferry.

I was so blank on seeing her, I didn't know what to do. I just kept staring at her. Lucky for me she didn't notice.

The ferry arrived and she started moving towards it. It then flashed to my mind to take a picture of her. I scurried for my phone. By the time I found the damn thing, she was almost on the ferry. I managed to take one picture. I was happy.

Once the ferry departed I watched it till I lost sight of it. I can't believe it. I saw her. Finally the answers to all our prayers. Appa's prayers to be precise.

I took my phone out and opened the gallery to check the picture I had just taken of her. I was disappointed to see a very hazy picture. It is easy to make out that it is a lady but her features aren't clear. Damn it! I should have checked once I took the picture.

Not a problem, I'll ask Ayaan to clear the picture. Use his tech knowledge and get stuff out about her. I need information to make a file on her.

Can't believe I found her. I just hope this time I don't lose her. I'm sure she is the one. And I just at any cost don't want to lose her. She's the missing link of our family.

So, before handing it over to Ayaan, I need to think of a reason. I cannot let him know the actual reason I want details on her.

He will do the work for me without asking for any reason but I just need one for safety purposes. Knowing Ayaan's professionalism I'll just say I'm obsessed with her and want to know more. I just love her and need her in my life.

I wouldn't be completely lying but just twisting the truth. So it works.

Now to text Ayaan. I unlock my phone, open Ayaan's contact, and send him a text...

Me: Let me know when you're free. Have work. Important work!

I wait for a few minutes but there isn't any response from his side. I keep my phone back and head to my house. The day just turned good. I had a smile on my face, which is rare.

Once home, I freshened up and lay on the couch. Waiting for my phone to ping. I knew messaging or calling Ayaan was useless. That bastard of a friend would reply or call back when he was free.

Time skip.

It's been around 2 hours since my message to Ayaan. There isn't any reply from him. If he doesn't reply I'll have only one option, my best friend, Kunal Grover. He's currently in London which is a plus point. I should've reached out to him first. He knows a lot about my family and he'd help me in a blink.

Ayaan: What's up? Was busy. I'm all ears now.

Ayaan's message stopped me from reaching out to Kunal.

Me: I need you to clear a picture and get as much information as possible on it.

Ayaan: Is it a person, thing, place, animal, gang?

Me: A person. Try as much as possible or else just clear up the picture, it's too hazy and zoomed in.

Ayaan: Fine, send it.

I sent the picture to his chat.

Ayaan: Ouch! This is too bad. Who the hell took such a bad picture?

Me: I did. Now how long will it take to clear it?

Ayaan: Technically I can do it in a few hours, but I'll need a day or two. I'm packed with other work.

Me: Fine! Two days tops.

Ayaan: Send it over to my mail. I'll get on with it right away.

I sent the attachment to his mail. Now, that the picture part is sorted I better start looking for agencies who'd do the digging for me. I need all and every detail about her. I'll then ask Guru - my most trusted person to keep an eye on her after I get details.

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