by Anna Collins
"Okay sis, by the way, how long are you planning to stay over there in San Francisco? Isn't the convention done already?" He asked.
"My work here is almost done, and I will be back in two days," I informed.
"How is San Francisco treating you? Is it fun?" He inquired.
"Have no idea of fun. I was swamped with meetings. The investors can be pretty needy," I said.
"Oh, that's bad. Come back home, we will have some fun. Bye for now".
"Bye!" and the call ended.
Chapter Fifty-Six
Freya
It had been almost a week since I landed in the busy city of San Francisco. And all I had been doing was taking meetings with investors and attending conventions. I barely got the time to go out and see some places.
I could take a vacation if I wanted to. There was no one to question my activities, I was the boss, I could do anything. But the carefree part of me who just liked to go out and have fun had died with Robert. I no longer had the urge or the craving to enjoy life. If breathing was the definition of life, then yes, I was living my life.
I had everything that one could ever ask for. I had money, fame, and power; these three things were all I wanted, but why couldn't I recognize myself in the mirror anymore? The bubbly, smiling Freya was lost somewhere. All I could see in the mirror was a confident businesswoman, wearing the most expensive label of clothing.
I looked out of the car window to take a pick at the night sky. The roads had only a few people, maybe they slept earlier in that particular area. I wish I could sleep at nights. I sighed, feeling a certain kind of hollowness inside my heart. I heard that time heals everything, but things were different in my case. With each passing day, the pain was getting worse. The memories of Robert Hudson were as adamant as him; they were not ready to leave me alone.
With a loud squeaking noise of the engine brakes, the car halted abruptly. I looked at Chris in alarm who was sitting next to me. He looked like he had just fallen from the sky.
"What's wrong, driver?" I asked.
"Madam, there must have been a problem. Let me check," he informed.
"This is why I don't trust these rental cars. We should have brought my Mercedes Benz by cargo. Damn, it has been two hours since that useless driver has gone to find help. How long do I have to wait?" I asked in an annoyed tone, moving around the vintage car in that almost empty road.
"Mam, he is not even picking up the phone," Chris hesitated.
I clenched my fists. "Then stop looking at me like a fool and go and find him. If you don't find him within ten minutes, arrange a new car for me. Now get going." I instructed, trying my best to stay calm.
Chris left, and just then I realized I was a big fool. I shouldn't have let him go! I was standing in the middle of the road in a total unknown city. I started feeling cold, so I pulled over my black jacket close to my chest.
I decided to sit in the car, and that's when a loud volume of music reached my ears. I looked around, and it seemed to be coming from a place which was only a few blocks away. It was a one-storied building and had the word 'PUB' written on top of it with shining pink LED light. I guessed it was a cheap bar or something like that.
I was just staring at the on and off movement of the pink light when two people appeared on the street. "They are still behind us, don't stop running!" Said one of them. The voice was coming from about 4 feet away. It was clear and sounded very familiar. It felt like I knew the owner of that deep voice. Jeez! It totally sounded like Robert's voice.
My heartbeat became faster as I realized that, it was impossible for me to forget the tone of that voice.
And before I could think of anything, I saw the face of someone in that pink light. It was Robert.
I opened and closed my eyes a few times to make sure that it was not my imagination. But he stood right there, under that pink light, there was also another guy with him whose face I couldn't see clearly, and before I could react, they ran inside the pub in speed.
O-M-G! Was I hallucinating? Because there was no match between my vision and the reality.
I agreed that the pink LED lights didn't offer the clearest view, but I could never go wrong in recognizing that face and voice.
I realized that my whole body was trembling. But how could he be alive? I just attended his funeral one and a half years ago. My hands reached up to cover my face as the reality of the situation hit me.
Just leave it Freya, it's nothing but a segment of your wild imagination, said the echoing voices of my head. Yes, probably I was hallucinating. There was a 99.9% chance that my brain was showing me the image my heart was yearning to see. Still, there was a chance of 0.1% possibility that it was not my imagination. And that 0.1% could change my life. It was a risk worth taking.
"I should go there and see for myself," I said to myself. I had no idea where I was stepping into, but my heart told me that something big was going to happen for sure
Chapter Fifty-Seven
Zack
The music was loud, almost too loud to detect even the slightest of movement. But I could hear them loud and clear, their animalistic groaning, those cursing words and the ringtones of their constantly ringing cell phones.
"I don't think they are going to attack us amidst the crowd. We are surrounded by people, I'm feeling safe," Sam spoke in relief.
That dickhead had no idea that trouble was standing right behind us.
Then a hard blow of something hard hit my back. Instead of finding out who did that to me, I concentrated on balancing myself. I had no intention of falling flat on the ground and break my precious jaw.
The music stopped, and the crowd stepped aside. I turned back and was greeted by the sight of four ugly looking men. Their matching stiff ripped off leather jackets, tattoos, and rainbow colored hair told me that they were from the same gang with whom Sam and I had messed up. And now they were after our life.
"Boss-man, we are so dead," Sam swallowed as he tugged on my gray T-shirt.
"Dude, the film is not over yet," I winked, turning my head to him.
"You rats! How did you ever think you can get away with my money?" The fat one growled.
"Hey, it's not like we were stealing or something. We just lost a poker game. And we have full intention to return your money. We just need some time, right Boss-man?" Sam looked at me for approval, but my face remained straight.
They laughed.
"Boss-man? This Hollywood hero is your boss?" Asked one of them in a mocking tone.
Now that was a direct hit to my dignity. But I need not say anything, not yet.
"He might look all tall and handsome like a romance hero, but he fights like a villain. Have you seen his body? He has 8 pack abs," Sam said with pride.
Our rival party was still laughing.
"Boss-man, the time for words is over. Now show them what you are built of," Sam said.
I smiled, which gained me a few confused gazes from the people near me, "dude take a chill pill, too much anger is not good for health. Let's not fight. Give me six months' time, and I will return that 60 grand to you. I'm not in a mood to create a circus out of this place. Look at the people around you, they are here to have fun, don't make me do something that I might regret later," I said in a cool casual way and then formed a 'peace' sign with my fingers.
The big guy, their leader, was giving me the looks of a killer. I showed him my teeth, patted lightly on his fluffy cheeks and then went over to the drinks counter to grab a bottle of beer.
"You think we are a bunch of jokes? Now see what we can do," warned a man from the group.
My face clearly conveyed the message ‘I-don’t-give-a-damn-about-you’ as I ignored them and got busy with my drink.
"Boom!" "Smack!" These loud sounds diverted my attention to that group of rainbow heads. My best friend Sammy was lying on the floor, he had got a black eye, and the other men were laughing at him.
Now they had crossed the limit, no one hits my friend like that.
Without giving them any warning, I went ahead and grabbed the big man by his neck, pinning him to the wall and making his feet rise up in the air. His round face had gone red by now, and he was suffocating too as he tried his best to break free from my tight grip.
His men kept hitting on my back with their hands and hockey sticks, but I didn't let go off their boss. My hold didn't loosen up, not even for a second.
"Man, he has got a body of steel covered with flesh. Just look at him, nothing seems to affect him," the men spoke amongst themselves.
By now my eyes were burning with rage, I wanted to kill each and every one of them. I released the boss, and went for the other ones, just a punch from my fist and all those heavily built guys were smitten on the floor just like some broken trashy objects.
"Son of a bitch!" One of the men cursed on me as I broke a beer bottle on his head, smearing blood all over him.
I was about to give him the stroke of the dead when my ferocious eyes met with a pair of terrified eyes. No. Terror was not the right word to describe what I had seen in those eyes. Those eyes had an emotion in them which made me want to leave everything and stare into those baby brown eyes forever. The owner of those eyes had the face of a fairy, so gentle so beautiful. As our eyes met, I just couldn't remove my stare from her. Whoa! What was that? And everything about that girl, her dress, her attitude, her beautiful eyes were yelling that she didn't belong in a dirty pub like this. Who was she? And why was she looking at me like that?
"Boss-man, that's enough please stop it for now. The others have already run away, now leave this one, I don't want to eat the bread of jail, come on let's run," Sam's pleading shook me.
What was I doing? Where was I? Fucking Hell. I had just recovered from a cloudy state.
I looked down to find an unconscious guy lying on my feet.
I shook my head, "I lost control, move your ass, police can arrive here at any moment," I said, and when I turned back, the girl had disappeared, just like a smoke of fog.
Freya
My hands were as cold as an ice cube. He was right there, in front of my eyes and his eyes had the brutality of a hunter. He kept on hitting the guy, but as our eyes met, he stopped hitting his opponent. I was trembling with fear when Chris came and took me with him. He said it was not safe for me to be at such a place. I didn't know why I walked away with Chris, I should have stayed there and approached 'him', but maybe a part of me was too scared to go near 'him'.
I kept tossing and turning in my bed for the whole night. Whenever I tried to sleep, that scene of bloodshed would appear in front of my eyes. I feared the color of blood; it used to creep me out. No, he couldn't be my Robert. I had never seen Robert hitting someone like that. 'He' was just a local goon. But why did he look exactly like Robert?
I tried to picture 'him' in my mind again. No, 'he' was not an exact copy of Robert. Robert's eyes were deep blue, and his were inky black. Apart from the face, everything else was different. I sighed. Freya, what's wrong with you? There was no way that guy could be Robert, so stop running the horses of your brain and go to sleep, advised the voices in my head. No matter how much I tried, I couldn't stop thinking about this whole thing.
Zack
"Stop whining like a pussy. It's your fault that landed us into this fucking problem!" I pushed the ice pack on Sam's back as he lay there on the couch, just like a lifeless piece of meat.
"Don't put this shit on me. I wanted to leave after we won the first round, but you chose to stay and play. I can't believe you bet this house too!" Sam yelped in pain.
I stood up from the couch and went near the window, "shut your face. I am already thinking about this, and your commentary isn't helping," I stomped, running my hand over my hair.
"This jet black hair, the stiff tattooed body is not going to help us with anything. Jackson called, and he is mad. You thrashed his best men. Now we have only 6 days to return the money. Otherwise, he will kill us and will feed us to the dogs," Sam whined again.
Now this was turning out to be irritating. "Shut up fat-ass. Can't you see I'm trying to think?" I yelled and punched on the glass window which caused blood to leak out from my fist. And right at that moment, the terrified expression of those baby brown eyes haunted me. And I got this certain pinching feeling inside my heart.
Freya
A banging noise on the door of my presidential suite caused me to open my eyes in a jolt.
"Rick, what are you doing here?" My eyes went bigger as I saw him standing on the door, throwing me his trademark smile.
"Surprise! You sounded very tense last night. So I decided to show up so that we can investigate everything!" He informed giddily.
I was still waking up, so none of his words made any sense to me.
"Now step aside, let me breathe the air of this presidential suite," he pushed me and got inside with his bags.
"Sis! This place is heaven!" He commented as he admired the great interiors and mini-bar of the room.
I shook my head.
"How did you get all this information? This file contains his full life story!" I asked in awe as Rick and I turned the pages on the tea table. Chris was standing beside me.
"It was nothing difficult mam. His best friend Sam, gave me all the information as I threw 100 bucks on his face. His name is Zack. Nobody knows his surname. He was raised in an orphanage, and when he turned 15, the orphanage authority kicked him out. Then he got involved with the mafia, doing small works for them like delivering drugs, etc. Now he runs that small pub, where we went last night. Plus I also heard that he is an MMA fighter." Chris informed with a plain face.
Rick let out a whistle as if these whole details had made him tired. "In short, he is not Robert Hudson. Sis, problem solved, chapter closed." He took a sip of coffee.
I gazed at the photo of Zack that Chris had attached on the top of his report file. And I smirked, "I don't think so. There is more story to unfold," I said as my brain hatched out a plan.
Chapter Fifty-Eight
Zack
Freaking Hell! Who did this? Every fucking thing is broken, the music system, the chairs, the bottles of drink. Just everything. The place looked as if someone had run a bloody bulldozer over it.
I had just been out for the day, and they did this? I held my head in frustration. I saw Sam standing at a corner leaning against a wall. His golden hair was all messed up, and his chubby white cheek had turned red.
"Sam, how did this happen?" I touched his face.
"They did this; they couldn't compete with you, so they chose to thrash your place," he informed sadly.
"Boss-man, please pay off their debt. You are super strong, they can't kill you, but they will kill me for sure. Please save me," tears formed in his eyes as he begged.
I closed my eyes and sighed deeply.
It was 2 am when we finished cleaning up the whole place. It took a lot of effort but was nicely done. Now we needed to replace some broken parts, and the pub could get started full swing.
"Ya, we have averted the problem for now, but a bigger disaster is yet to come," Sam frowned as he arranged the broken beer bottles in a pile.
I wanted to say something that would cheer him up. But the reality was I had no fucking idea how to deal with that fucking problem. 60 grand weren't a matter of joke; it was a huge amount of money. I tugged on my hair, feeling angry with my own self. I hated it when things went beyond my control.
"Don't tear your hair, only a miracle can help us now," Sam shook his head.
I squinted my eyes at him, he frowned and looked away.
"Excuse me, is this place open?" The sweet sound of her voice tickled my ears.
"We are pretty much out of stock for now....what the heck?" My words froze as my eyes captured her vision. She was the same girl that I had seen last night. The owner of the most expressive eyes I had ever seen in my life.
Again her attire and style seemed like a total contrast to where she was standing. She was wearing a navy
blue top, black jeans and an expensive black jacket that had a few gold designs here and there. Her black pump shoes looked very shiny and brand new. But I didn't notice all this at first glance, I was watching the way by which she was flipping those silky waves of brown hair.
It was too difficult to guess the size of her breasts, but I was certain that they would be as beautiful as her looks. I so wanted to see her without those heavy layers of clothing. It would have been fun if I could fuck her right there on the counter top.
"Hello," she waved her hand in front of my face.
"Yes, what can I do for you?" I said in a husky tone, and I meant it dirty.
She looked around, "can I talk to you in private?" She asked in an expressionless tone. And why wasn't she looking at me? Look at me babe!
"Sure" I twisted my mouth and winked at Sam, who winked back and showed me a thumbs-up sign.
It looked like she had full plans to get lucky tonight.
I took her to the empty room behind the drinks counter. We used to stock booze there and most of the time used it as a fuck pad. The room didn't have much, it just had a worn out couch, a counter, some racks, and those old unpainted walls.
She covered her nose with her hands as we entered. I made sure to close the door behind us as soon as we got there. Then I wasted no time in taking off my white T-shirt that had the word "serial kisser" written on it in bold black letters. I was waiting for her to turn back because once she saw my naked chest, she would be begging me to fuck her.
Freya
I wanted to puke. Jeez! Where had he brought me? I bet even dumpster smelled better than that dirty, dark room.
Whatever, it was not like I had any plans to live there forever. I just wanted to make a deal with him.
