Minutes Before The Miracle

CHAPTER - 17

Dedicated to all my readers.

Hope you enjoy.

Happy reading!

-x-

Thought of the chapter :-
Being male is a matter of birth.
Being a man is a matter of age, but,
being a gentleman is a matter of choice.

-x-

EMMA

I find myself in a dim, damp room. It is tiny, filthy and looks uninhabited for decades. The couch looks atleast a hundred years old and creaks a little as I get up. Every object is hidden in a sheet of dust and then suddenly, I hear raucous laughter mingled with lewd words.

I walk towards the door and a burly man abruptly barges inside. He gives me a wicked grin and I feel petrified in here. He looks ferocious in his dark skin, toned biceps and scars; a lot of them spread all over. He shouts something in another tongue which brings about a dozen guys inside the room.

Sanguinely, all of them come together in a semi-circle, surrounding me. I feel claustrophobic as they jeopardize my personal space. There is only the distance of a couple footsteps when I scream...

"NO"

I bolt up from where I am lying with laboured breath and sweat soaked skin. My head is hammering and I feel knackered to the marrow of my bones. I look around myself and to my utter horror, I am sitting in some unknown place. On the other hand, to my relief this is a completely furnished, squeaky clean room, unlike the one in my nightmare.

Thankfully! It was just a nightmare.

Getting down from my bed, I suddenly topple over and fall on the floor. I squeeze my ankle as a reflex but it goes on aching like hell. Damn sprain!

I hear footsteps. First, the intensity is low but with the tick, the sound pierces the peace that blankets me. Fear settles heavy on my throat and I reach for the nearest weapon - which turns out to be a metal vase - frantically.

The door creaks a tad and I am all set to attack. As soon as there is a considerable opening, I release the vase into open air and it hits straight.

I clench my eyes shut, then open them after about a few beats. Through the fog of my sight, I look at a hazzy masculine figure with a coffee mug in one hand and the vase in the other.

Here goes nothing!

"Whoa. You are a good shot."

My eyes might betray me but my ears can never. I can never in my entire life forget this deep voice.

I blink off the mist and undoubtedly, there stands my boss, or should I say my ex-boss.

-x-

Anticipation is the best foreplay there is.

This statement stands true only when you haven't thrown a heavy metal vase at a man who happens to be your ex-boss.

Steven steps inside and the moment he does, the gigantic room feels so tiny. His gait is that of a predator; jaguar like. I start looking at everywhere but him.

A light mauve shade covers two of the walls and the third is painted in a chinese white tone. The prussian blue drapes compliment the abstract paintings hung on the central wall.

Two connected wardrobes stand in one corner and a solid glass coffee table with a couple of books, is placed in another. The suite is furnished to its exactitude and every single object is placed with precision.

This man definitely doesn't know anything except accuracy and perfection.

Steven crouches down before me and I have no choice but to face him.

"It's so ironical, isn't it? I fire you one day and you find yourself at my place the very next day. Nice choice of weapon, by the way," he raises the vase and thuds it back on its place. My eyelashes drop at the sudden noise with my heart skipping a beat.

"Why don't you come down and have something? A mug of coffee, a glass of juice or a bottle of wine."

Why does this man has to be so rude and sarcastic?

He wiggles a brow and I roll my eyes for a reply. As I try to get up, I immediately fall down with a sharp ache in the ankle. I hold and press it tight with my palms.

"Let me," he says.

I push his hand away and give him a death glare.

"I am so very thankful for your display of chivalry but I feel you didn't have to do that. It wasn't necessary to bring me to your place just a few hours after rendering me unemployed. You didn't owe me anything and I don't want to owe you a single thing either."

It wasn't meant to be this harsh but my torrent of words simply couldn't stop.

He looks at me with angry eyes but who cares.

"Are you even aware of what you're speaking or are you in a frenzied condition yet? Actually, you are right! I should have left you in that helpless state of yours near a pool of your own puke. That must have served you right! I helped you when you were in an inebriated state, drove you to my house for God knows where you threw your belongings, tuck you to bed and you repay all that with a snappy comment of yours. Why do you have to be so thankless?" he yells at me.

And there, he answers all of the queries running wild and dashing in my brain which was completely blank, except a nightmare a few minutes ago.

"You know what, you didn't have to do that." I am not letting myself down in this debate.

"Easier said than done."

He reaches for my ankle again.

"Don't touch me," I shout at him.

"Don't fight me," he shouts back.

After a few moments of struggle, I give in to his vice-like grip. He holds my ankle with care and his eyes find mine. We both try to probe into each other but I guess our stories will remain incomplete without each of us helping to fill the gaps. All of a sudden, he twists my ankle and...

"Ahhhhhh." I wince in pain and face feels contorted.

He rubs my ankle continuously and tells me to try rotating it. So, this is his way of vengeance. Breaking bones of people.

I try rotating my ankle, pretty sure that it will fall off.

Whoa!

This is miraculous.

"Thank you," I whisper when I can move my ankle with ease.

"Come down after getting freshened up," he says and walks off.

I get to my feet and enter into the huge en-suite bathroom. I check out the shelves to find bunches of fresh towels and robes. An array of washroom essentials and non-essentials line up neatly.

I quickly brush my teeth and stand below the double shower after adjusting the temperature. The lukewarm water cascades and flows down, taking all my worries with it.

However, the mind is a notorious animal and taming thoughts is way arduous than people believe. I close my eyes accepting my rough, streaming thoughts in resignation.

-x-

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