ISA...
I watched her from behind the bushes. She entered the
room. Her nose was buried in a book, like always. She murmured a few words now
and then, and then noted them down in the book. For the thousandth time, I
wondered what she was doing. Books were a foreign concept to me. I didn't know
why people wasted so much time on them. She kept the book on her table and went
into what I presumed was the bathroom. I rejoiced. She wouldn't be back for at
least ten minutes. I knew her by now.
I crawled up to the window and took a peek inside the
room, just to see if she'd changed anything. The slightest change and my plan
would go kaput. Everything was the same. The bedroom was still in shades of
blue. A few photo frames were hung on the wall but the light reflected off them
and I couldn't see any faces. It irked me that I hadn't been able to see her
face. I'd been watching her for weeks now, but the door was at an impossible
angle. It never allowed me to see her face. She was small. Petite. This was
going to be a piece of cake.
Once again I admired Dmitri for his thorough planning.
He'd told me that her house was the best place and he'd been right. 21 years
old, female, Indian, lives alone, parents visit once a month, wakes up at 5 am
every morning, jogs till 7, is ready by 9, goes to the office, is back by 5.30,
evenings are spent alone, no boyfriends, no friends, zero social life. I
smiled. This was going to be a piece of cake.
I crawled back to my hiding place. I'd been hiding in
her shed for weeks now. Good thing she doesn't do a lot of gardening. I sat on
the floor, vigilant. My sleeping hours were her job hours. Apart from that I'd
been instructed to stay awake and alert. I heard her bathroom door click and I
knew she was out. I rested my head on the wall trying to think of something.
Anything. I couldn't afford to be bored. Being bored meant a whole in my
vigilance and that wasn't something I could afford. The sunlight reflected off
the dust-covered walls, creating a ghostly luminescence.
My thoughts involuntarily led back to her. That had
been happening a lot lately. The way she walked, her hips swaying from side to
side, the way she sang songs in the bathroom, the way she talked on the phone,
her voice so low that I could barely hear it...everything. Each action was
embedded in my mind permanently. She'd been more interesting to watch than the
others. The others had been frivolous. Always talking about shoes, clothes,
bags. He'd almost wanted to shoot them to death. But Dmitri had been right.
They were the easiest. He wondered if she would put up a fight. She would, he
decided. From what he'd seen in the past few weeks, she was fiery and strong.
But not stronger than him. No one was stronger than him. That's why Dmitri had
sent him, hadn't he?
I tried to make a list of all the things I DIDN'T know
about her. Her name, for starters. I'd tried everyday in the past few weeks,
but she had never left her driver's license on the table by the window.
Sensible woman. Her job. I didn't know what she did for a living. Must be
something that pays, or maybe it's daddy's money, I mused. I wondered why she
didn't have too many friends. In my time here, I'd never seen her leave the
house for something fun, except for Sunday. Every Sunday I'd seen her leave in
her car and go somewhere, dressed casually. I'd been instructed not to leave
the premises of her house. I'd done as told.
I peeped out of the window to see the setting sun. As I
was about to sit back in position, I heard her voice. She was speaking to
someone on the phone. My heart soared. Maybe the moment had finally come. I
heard her say that she would be there in a few minutes. She took her car and
drove away, in the horizon, the sunlight reflecting off her raven hair. I
wondered if it was the right time. I still didn't know 2 important things about
her. Her name and her job. Maybe I should've followed her to her office one
day. But then I rejected the thought. Dmitri had his men everywhere. If he came
to know I disobeyed him, he'd be upset. And no one upsets him. Ever.
I looked around and decided to wait for twenty minutes.
If she didn't come back by then, then the time had come. I looked around me,
trying to make sure that no one was out. The streets were empty. It was a small
town. People slept early. Once again I wondered why Dmitri had sent me here.
Why he'd told me to do this. He never gave me reasons. Told me I was too young.
But that's okay, isn't it? After all we're working for the good guys. I swept
my eyes over the street one last time, before I grabbed the small back pack
that I'd been carrying around. It had everything I needed to survive.
I walked out of the shed and used the spare house key
to break in. She kept it under the pot with the rose plant in it. I smiled.
This was going to be easy. My hands brushed over my companion. She'd been with
me since years now. I'd travelled all over the world with it. It was my most
cherished possession. I looked at her sharp edges and smooth contours. I ran a
hand over it, itching to use it again. Just once. Weeks of doing nothing but
sitting and observing my subject had made me restless. I wanted to DO
something. I hoped she'd put up a fight...I might get to use my baby then. I
grinned, as the lock gave away and I entered the house.
The house was done tastefully. Three bedrooms. Two
upstairs and one downstairs. One of the bedroom upstairs, had scores of books.
Kinda like a library. I frowned as I looked at the tattered, dog eared pages of
the books she'd frequented oh-so-often. Running a hand over them I wondered
what drew her to these books. Shaking my head, I moved on.
I came downstairs and saw the rest of the house.
Looking to my left, I saw her bedroom. I walked quickly towards it. The urgency
to finally see what she looked like, took over me and I quickened my pace. I
opened her bedroom and went in, going towards the photo frames. There was only
one picture. Her parents presumably.
I looked away then, going through other areas of the
room, scanning every nook and corner. Finishing my work, I flopped down on the
bed, my legs dangling at the edges. I saw a photo album beside the pillow and
opened it. The cover said, "Moods" I opened the album to see her pictures and
finally give my target a face. To my surprise, there were no photos. The last
page read, "From the world's best photographer [and your sister], Muskaan :)"
I saw a few places, where the handwriting had smudged.
Had she been crying while looking at these photos? Telling myself to focus on
the task at hand, I kept the empty album aside, and stood up. I looked at my
gun, admiring it once again. A gift from Dmitri. Grabbing her, I stood as close
to the wall as possible, hidden in the darkness, waiting for her to arrive.
A few minutes later, I heard the main door open. She
made her way to the kitchen and a few minutes later, she turned the handle of
the bedroom door. I readied myself. I was right behind the door, there was no
way she'd see me. I prepared my gun, holding it in position.
The door to the bedroom opened and she entered. She
walked ahead, right up to the table and I followed her silently, hiding myself
in the shadows of the night. I went closer until we were almost touching. She
turned around instinctively, sensing danger. I pushed her to the wall and held
both her wrists in a tight grip, while my other hand held the gun that was
pressed into her forehead. She finally looked up, allowing me to see her face.
Her eyes widened in shock and filled up. My grip on her
hands loosened and the gun fell on the floor. She ran her hand over my face and
I closed my eyes, savoring her touch after years. "Armaan..." she whispered.
I felt the prickling sensation in my eyes. A lone tear
escaped and I whispered back, "Isa..."
She recoiled as if she'd been slapped. She pushed me
away with all her might and stared at me with nothing but pain in her eyes. My
heart twisted to see her like this and I cursed destiny.
With undisguised loathing and heartbreak in her voice,
she said, "You've lost the right to call me that. It's Riddhima now. Riddhima
Gupta."
~~~~~~~~
That was part 1. Tell me how it was. If receive a good response then I'll continue :)
Today [and tomorrow morning] is my last day of coming online...after this only once a week! :P So updates will obviously be infrequent. And I have LI on hand too so yeah.
Read. Like. Comment. <3
Goodnight :) PMs will be sent tomorrow!
xoxo
Aanya
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