Tale of Silent Longing

16| Some Unexpected Revelations

When Tanya reached the cafe, she found that Professor Anna was not alone. A tall and handsome man accompanied her. He had a chiseled body, well-trimmed hair, clean-shaved face, he seemed to be in his thirties. He was wearing a black shirt and was waiting for Tanya while sitting with Anna.

"Hey, Tanya . Come, have a seat" Professor Anna asked her to sit.

"Hi Professor," Tanya  spoke politely while pulling out a chair.

"Meet my fiancé Alaric. He is a cop" Professor Anna introduced the man to Tanya .

"Oh! Hello Sir!" Tanya  greeted him with a smile.

"Hey, nice to meet you Tanya ," Alaric replied with a grin.

"Professor, tonight is the prom. So, why did you call me here suddenly?"  Tanya  inquired.

"Yeah, I know. I needed to tell you something really important. I shared everything that you told me with Alaric and now he has some questions for you to understand things better," Anna replied.

"Hey. You don't need to be intimidated by me. I want to help you and your classmate," Alaric added.

"I am not intimidated by you at all. I completely trust you guys. You can ask me anything you want. I will answer it all" Tanya  replied with confidence.

"Anna has already told me everything. You just tell me, have you seen the man's tattoo? I mean, what does the tattoo look like?" he asked.

"Yeah, I had a glimpse of his tattoo but I do remember that it was the tattoo of a tiger's face and it was on his right arm," She answered.

"Hmm... the tattoo of a tiger's face," Alaric thought to himself.

Then, he fished his phone out of his pocket and said, "Ok, have a look at this and tell me if this is the same tattoo". Tanya  looked at the phone's screen and then to be sure, she held his phone close to her face and spoke, "Yeah, it was this exact tattoo. I remember it clearly."

"Are you sure, Tanya ?" Alaric asked.

"Yes, I am totally sure. This is the same tattoo. In fact, I can even re-cognize this arm. Look at this scar near his thumb. That man had the same scar" Tanya  assured him.

"If that is so, then your classmate Mariah is in deep trouble" Alaric spoke.

"Why do you say that? Do you know him?" Tanya  asked.

"Yeah. He is Shardul . He is a very infamous drug dealer and smuggler. He has been very active in the city for the last two years. I have heard that he majorly targets universities. But only Mariah can tell us how he got in touch with her and how she got into this mess" Alaric told Tanya .

"What the hell? Drugs? Mariah is not that kind of a person. She is very sincere. I have known her since col- lege started. She comes from a very plain background. How could she afford drugs?" Tanya  exclaimed out loud.

"Only Mariah can answer these questions. But there is no use in asking her these questions directly because we don't have any evidence. But if Mariah is really in trouble then her career, future, and entire life are in danger. After all, shardul  is not a good person. He is a wanted criminal. You should be careful too. Avoid any direct contact with that man. You need to focus on Mariah now as she is going through a very critical problem". Alaric was saying the right thing and from a professional point of view too.

"Now, you should go to college and attend the lectures. Don't forget you have an award to receive in the evening. And don't tell anyone about Alaric, ok? We need to find out the entire truth from Mariah first" Professor Anna instructed Tanya .