(YEAR: 2020), Ranchi;

LIZA’S POV:

I started taking big steps toward meeting room; taking a big gasp I opened the door. I was always not this much nervous but didn’t know why that day I was feeling that something was going to happen. I was become habituating of this nervousness as I had been handling my status as the head of branch of MIST Company that’s situated near the heart of Ranchi for 3 years. I can see the people from back that were from higher executive directors from ACRON film industries, that’s from Mumbai. It was not common since MIST is a fashion designing company and I have to do the best as it can benefit my company.

I was going to bend down to greet them but suddenly the face that appears near me was not less than a nightmare. A man who was like a rose appears in my sight, whose petal was beautiful but if throne stuck in hand then of course we are the one who got hurt.

He could still read my mind after seeing my socked face; he took out his hand to shook and said, “Hi Ms.Liza, I am Ivan Raj, currently handling the affairs of ACRON, you must had known me…” I was just staring at his hand, the hands that I want most in my worse situation. “Ma’am? Ma’am?” my secretary who was just standing behind me take me out of my imaginations and I realised that my hands were already in his hands while he was smirking, it seems that I don’t wanting to let them go, I embarrassedly pull my hand back, he asked, “can we start the purpose of meeting?” I nodded. Neither my eyes moved an inch from him nor were able to concentrate on the talks that his secretary (man with him) was saying. He wasn’t uncomfortable with my stares oppositely I was the one who was uncomfortable because of his stares and it can be easily seen by anyone. “so what do you think about it?” his secretary asked.

I hurriedly replied “ye…yeah, can you leave the file of proposal of your meeting here…I ...i will then reply you then”.

His secretary said, “but..” Ivan interrupted in middle, “Okay then” take out his card “this is my number, call me when you make your mind. I will be living in Ranchi for the time being.”

His secretary ‘but we have evening flight to Mumbai? What about that? What should I say to his mom, she is an another fireball, how can i even think of lying to her about coming to Ranchi’

“okay” I replied. He stood up, so as I do thinking that I could be relieved then, I greeted “thanks for visiting here” when he turned and responded, “Can’t I have a look around the company?”, “what” I responded with my big eyes opened, “Can we talk while walking?” I glared at my secretary to go with him, “I wanna talk about some criteria with Ms.Liza about our business plan” Ivan responded just after reading the facial chats of mine and my secretary.

Both of us came out of meeting room and I was still like an arrogant near him. After talking about marketing, investments etc and etc and moving ahead on way, but suddenly he asked interrupting me, “How are you?”, I stopped for a second but he was walking continuously. “You become more beautiful. I have missed you each and every seconds that I have lived yet, I was anxiously working just to forget you but I couldn’t erase you, I always wondered what were you doing, maybe because I have many debts to pay you back, I am really sorry…” he turned back and he was seeing the girl who turned into a prettiest women was trying to control her weeps that were naturally coming out. He rushed toward me asking, “What happened?” I pushed him harder as much as I can and ran away from there to staff washroom, I locked the washroom door and started staring at myself, and I can see broken me in the mirror that was crying like this once during my school time, I smashed the mirror with dustbin can, not wanting to look my past, one of the mirror particle touched my chin and one of that particle hit my arm, “Aaah…” I cried in pain when I got to know that he was behind the door that I had closed “Are you okay?...Liza are you there? Lil reply me…” I was losing my conscious but can hear the sound of being someone worried about me from the door that he was trying to open, I saw him lifting me before losing my whole consciousness. I wanted to ask him where you were when I need you in my most difficult time and I didn’t want his help in my life anymore but when that time came, I was unable to say anything.

It was like I again flipped to the beginning from where my nightmares started.

That day in Ranchi, it was thundering hard, 7 year ago, the 16 year old me was sitting near the window, waiting for my father and mother to come home, as my mother hurriedly left the home just after receiving a call and told me that everything was perfect. I was alone in my castle where my father who dearly loved me calls me princess. It became evening, then night but neither my dad returned nor my mom, that’s making me anxious and worried. Suddenly I heard the sound of a car coming inside I just opened the door thinking it was my parents and without umbrella I came out of my door and jumped to the car, but my face colour changed when the car’s door opened. It was someone of my father age.

Next moment I was in hospital where my mom was crying hard and I hugged her tightly and busted out in loud voice, that was the day when my father died.

We took a flight and left our castle for the reason my dad was loaded by shark loans, in the beginning when my dad’s company was going to bankrupted. Might be that was the only reason for my dad to suicide, if I had known about that then I might had spent more time with my dad, to let him know he wasn’t alone.

When I could again sense anything I was in Mumbai, in the house of a stranger where a middle-aged woman was watching over me with big eyes, making me hide behind my mom. The man (Mr.Raj), who had took me to hospital, introduced, “hello Lily, don’t be nervous, treat this as your house only…I am your dad’s friend, Raj, you can call me uncle and I would like if you will call me dad, and this is my wife, Ashi. You can call her aunty or...” before he could complete his sentence aunty butted in, “Aunty is fine, I don’t like to be called something cheesy by others.”

Then I noticed a boy who was as same age as me, peeking from the upstairs pillar. I was not in the mood to appreciate his charm that I looked away, Uncle also noticed him and called him down “Ivan, see this is your new friend and she will live with us from now on and she is her mother, you can call her Varsha aunt, and Lily this is Ivan”, I was still hiding behind my mom. “Ivan takes her to guest room”, I started staring at my mom to know whether I should go or wait. “Lily go with Ivan, I have something to talk with uncle”, after my mother’s command I moved with that boy. while going climbing up the stairs, the boy I was following, looked behind, I startled for a second that time I noticed his big eyelashes , his shining pink lips, his perfect long nose, his bright face that was leading to an extent which was saying that he is extremely beautiful. His gaze was making me uncomfortable then without saying anything he started walking ahead and I was not in a mood to say anything so I again started following him back. “This is your room”, this time I get to hear his gentle but rude voice. And he flew away from there as soon as he delivered his speech.