I hadn't slept a decent amount of sleep for two days excluding the brief restless nap hours ago before my escape.
"Dear, you look it! Here, have a seat! Quick!" She drops her hand from my face inorder to pull out one of the leather chairs as she continues speaking "Mister Mirza will be arriving shortly, he has important matters to discuss with you before I can take you home with me."
"Do you want us to stick around, Rachael?" Bev interrupts, she's got her arm looped in around one of Grigori's arms.
Serge has his back leaning against the table while he studies us with curiosity.
"Oh no Beverly, thank you.That'll be all." Rachael nods once in gratitude. "Have a very a goodnight."
They begin to shuffle away and I jump from my seat in sudden remembrance. "Wait!"
Pausing at the entrance of the doorway, their questioning gazes fixed upon me.
I stride up to them with heavy steps and breath out "T-thank you for all that you've done for me tonight."
I lower my vision to my shoes and continue. "I don't know what would have become of me had you-" My voice ends up cracking and tears of despair slip down my cheeks as thoughts plague me of the doomed fate I could have been subjected to.
Sounds of clinking bangles nip the momentary silence as warm and slender bare arms wrap around my figure. I blink away my tears, Bev has encased me into a comforting hug.
She's as tall as Rachael so I can't see the expressions of the men behind her until she gently pulls apart from me seconds later. Serge scratches at the back of his neck as he and Grigori stare at me awkwardly.
"Don't fret too much. It's alright now, just relax girl." Bev beams. She reaches a hand in her tassel lined purse and produces out the box of allergy medicine. "Oh yeah, nearly forgot! Keep this in case you ever need it in the future-which I hope you never get another allergic reaction!"
"Thanks," I look them each in the eye earnestly.
"Alright, you're welcome!" Grigori quips tersely. He turns his attention to Serge. "We should get going now?I don't know about you man! But waking late and for that being subjected to a pissed off Vladimir is not how I want to start my day tomorrow."
Serge openly scowls. "He needs to at the very least, lay aside his fixed punctuality for Sundays..If only Huxley were to agree with us, I'd bet Vladimir would listen to him!"
Grigori scoffs derisively "Obsessive compulsive, perfectionists..Huxley the lesser of the two."
The mention of Vladimir only serves to bring me unease. My mind replays the images of the ill treatment I was subjected to by him weeks ago.
Apprehension claws at me as I shift uncomfortably on the aching soles of my feet. I successfully push his image away from my mind.
So Serge and Grigori are part of the Mafia ?
Didn't Mister Mirza assure me that Rachael wasn't involved with the Mafia ?
Why couldn't she have her security team pick me up instead of the Mafia members ?
I wasn't sure if I had the right to be disappointed in her or Mister Mirza under the given circumstances. After all had these guys not shown up, I was done for.
And I'm certainly sure that no regular security guard would have so easily engaged in an active gunfight out in the streets and then not remain on the scene for police presence to arrive.
"Alright Rachael and Sanam, have a goodnight!" Bev states and then adjusting her gaze on me she adds "Hopefully we'll be seeing eachother a lot soon!"
With that she waves her hand happily. Serge nods in farewell at us. Grigori just disappears out of the door without a word.
◆◆◆
Rachael and I are left in a momentary awkward silence till her phone rings. "Oh he's here ? Yes allow him in." She ends the call and smiles at me "Mister Mirza has arrived, I'll leave you two alone! When you're done, you will be escorted down with one of my security guards who is awaiting you in the lounge."
She departs the room in nimble and elegant strides. Around four minutes later, a worried Mister Mirza bursts into the conference hall.
"Sanam! Thank Allah, you're alive!" He rushes over to me and grips my shoulders "I was worried sick when I received the phone call from Imran that you had runaway! Ofcourse inwardly, I knew it was his fault. But you should have called me by pay phone!"
"I tried searching for one! but you wouldn't believe who I ran into!" I explain earnestly. I proceed to fill him in on the details of Hamdard Rizvi , the threatening note belonging to him and him stalking me.
"I'm grateful of Rachael sending in her valuable security team!" Mister Mirza heaves a sigh of relief but quite suddenly he furrows his brows in confusion. "I'm surprised though, however did they manage to find you on the streets when they never seen you before?"
I stare at him blankly.
So he isn't aware that Serge and Grigori are part of the Mafia.
I vocalize my thoughts. "That's because I've met them twice before and they aren't security..they are Mafia members."
The realization dawns on Mister Mirza's face and his expression shifts to shock.
He purses his lip in vexation "I'll need to have a talk with Rachael about this.I had clearly requested her not to involve the Mafia in this matter and knowing the terrible experience you were subjected to by the Mafia-"
"It's alright!" I interject pleadingly. "The guys and girl who found me were the good ones. Serge the one I mentioned to you before."
Mister Mirza studies me for a moment and finally replies "Very well then."
"How's Khalil?" I don't bother masking my obvious concern.
"He's fine, why do you ask of him?" He questions.
"Imran's gang friends were abusing him! You need to resign Khalil from his duties!" I implore. My hands clench into fists with fury as images flash through my mind of the burnt marks on Khalil's arms.
How dare anyone abuse their authority to hurt innocents!?
Mister Mirza slumps forward in his seat. He pinches his nose bridge while squeezing his eyes shut and states. "That has always been impossible for me to do."
"So you know of this abuse !?" I am alarmed at his response.
"Yes, it's..it's been happening since Khalil joined us."
My brows crease in perplexity and disbelief. "And you choose to do nothing!? Y-you just allow such horrible things to occur in your home!?"
"Sanam you must-"
"An innocent man is continuously tortured right under your nose!" I bolt up from my seat furiously. "You refuse to help him!"
Mister Mirza opens his eyes and looks up at me with complete guilt. "Sanam please sit down and listen to the reasons why I'm unable to help Khalil."
I shake my head at him in disappointment, my body trembles with ire.
"Please?" He implores forlornly. I grit my teeth as regret fills me.
why couldn't I have included Khalil in my escape?
But Yasir had obstructed my way and it was risky.
I sit back down reluctantly. "How do you know he's okay now?"
"I've just arrived from home, was my first stop before I got here. The gang must have dispersed as soon as you had escaped..they must have assumed you'd inform the police so they couldn't risk remaining there." He expounds. "Khalil is an illegal migrant, Sanam"
"So? Everyone's allowed some form of basic human rights here aren't they?"
"He's brought here unwillingly..he's.." Mister Mirza swallows hard as he squeezes his eyes shut again before continuing "He's a slave..brought and paid for by the Burq Al Nar gang."
"How is that possible?" I utter in shock. "I don't understand!"
"It is!" Mister Mirza snaps as he reopens his eyes and adjusts them on me. I wince at his raised tone and his eyes that have grown bloodshot with tears. "The world is a dark and disgusting place, Sanam! Terrible atrocities such as human traffickings are taking place right as we speak.Thousands of people are sold as cattle yearly! Families are torn apart!"
He slams his fist down on the table in a mixture of exasperation and anger "All for what? All for greed of a f
ew monsters in the guise of humans, all for the temporary life of this dunya! And what's worse for me is that it's occurring in my own home and I am powerless to stop it."
Misery engulfs me as I listen to his helplessness and the facts he's reminded me of.
The world indeed is a very dark and disgusting place for so many people out there, those enslaved, those suffering in war torn nations, and those from famine and starvation.
"Can't you request Rachael to hide Khalil ?" I question as I wipe at the tears in my eyes. "Surely she would be willing to?"
"If it were that simple, I would have done it the very first day Khalil arrived." Mister Mirza snorts derisively, lost in thought as he stares in the distance at glimmering skyscrapers ahead. "They threaten to harm his family members whom they hold in different locations unknown to me."
This information only serves to dampen my hope and flare up my anger. I want to help some way, somehow but I despise the fact that I couldn't and can't.
I detest the fact that I myself have to go into hiding!
"Please! Enough of this! We discuss this but won't get us anywhere! I must leave shortly and so should you." Mister Mirza readjusts his gaze on me. "Listen carefully to me Sanam, we may lose contact with eachother for many months or I may not be able to contact you again at all."
"But why?!" I gasp in astonishment. "What are you talking about ?what do you mean ?!"
Evading my questions, he slouches down and pulls up his briefcase which I hadn't noticed before. Clicking it open, he reaches in and produces out a sealed large manila envelop, thickened by a good amount of content.
Holding it out to me, he states in a grave tone "Take this, it's from me. Keep it in a secure location. But please don't open it till after a week. You must promise me that!"
I stare at him in further perplexity without taking the envelope from his hands. "W-What is it ?! Why must I wait a week to open it?"
"Please, it contains the answer to your question as to why we may lose touch and it has files of the utmost importance which could prove useful to you in the future inshaAllah." Mister Mirza explicates hurriedly. "You must promise to open this only after a week has passed. Don't ask me why, just for the love of Allah, promise me that you will open it after a week!"
"I-I don't know.." I whisper.
what did that envelop contain anyway?
Why the heck is he being so cryptic !?
"Please..." He trails off and the pleading look in his eyes has turned painful. Tears escape down his cheek into his short greying beard.
It agonizes me emotionally to cause anyone to cry or reduce them to so much begging. I berate myself inwardly for reducing Mister Mirza to such a state.
With a heavy heart I end up agreeing to his urgent requirement. "Alright I promise you I won't look into that envelop till after a week. Here, I pinky promise"
I hold out my pinky finger for his and this cracks a smile on his crestfallen face. He touches his pinky finger to mine and then hands me the heavy envelop.
"I must go now." He straightens up from his seat and pats me on the head. "Take care of yourself"
"What about Bilal?" My voice is laced with concern.
"We've had this discussion before." He sighs wearily "Your brother attends and lives in a very secure boarding school. A gang is unable to trespass that, now a Mafia on the other hand..that's a different story. Certain Mafias can easily trespass into government facilities. Since you're not running from a Mafia, you've got nothing to worry about."
What if I end up trying to escape the Mafia ?
A shiver of unease runs down my spine, not understanding why I even received such a thought.
"Any other questions ?" Mister Mirza asks.I shake my head in denial. "Good, now let's get you down to Rachael's limo."
◆◆◆
Majority of the short period on the limo ride had consisted of a very solemn kind of sadness.
Four bodyguards sat across from Rachael and I. Unlike the Mafia members, they didn't possess a sinisterly alluring aura and nor were they quaintly dressed.
Rachael had asked me a few formal questions about me growing up in America and then my move to Australia. But sensing my sullen mood, she left me unbothered.
Deliberately, I slip into deep contemplation of the events pertaining to the current night.
My thoughts drifted from Mister Mirza's envelop to Serge,Grigori and Bev. How easily they shrugged off the gun fight while I had been frightened senseless.
Sure, the gang members had initiated it, but it befuddled me deeply that the three of them weren't bothered at all by taking someone's life.
Ofcourse they had the right to self defense. Yet it was strange how they weren't serious either.
The limo parked before rows of classy town houses. As we stepped out into the crisp night air, I noted my surrounding appears a very upscale residential area.
I was sure of it being around 10 times more expensive than the Mirza residential neighbourhood and also since it is in close proximity to the thriving metropolis.
As Rachael and I stride our way beyond the wrought iron gates to her town house, two of her security guards depart our company inorder to guard in a dark security van across the street.
Unlocking her door, Rachael allows me in first. I'm accosted with the sight of a lovely and classy entrance hall including a mini foyer a few feet ahead.
The floors are tiled black and white, and up above a simple yet elegant chandelier emits a dimmed warm light. Right near the entrance sits a security desk, currently pre-occupied by two security personnels.
They immediately leave for the night, exchanging their places for night duty with the two security guards who had accompanied us.
She must be paying a fortune for so much security !
"The servant and cook are off for today since it's a Sunday, otherwise I would have had them fixed you something to eat! And have your duffel carried to your room, dear." Rachael whispers to me as we climb up the steps of the foyer. "I would have allowed you to use the lift instead of the stairs but it's being renovated, I apologize."
"Oh no it's fine and I'm not hungry anyway." I lie, in actuality I was starving.
I hadn't eaten anything for two days. But I'm very much exhausted and my eyes were ready to close any second, otherwise I could have fixed myself something to eat. I didn't need a cook to depend on.
"Why are you whispering ?" I ask as soon as we get to the second floor corridor.
"Finally! Miss Rachael you're here!"
The both of us spin around at the low voice of another female. A woman of about thirty years, stops infront of us.
She looks completely dishevelled and weary as she continues in a frantic whisper. "It took me hours to put your children to bed!"
Rachael turns to me and adds. "That answers your question as to why I am whispering." Then she focuses on the woman by smiling sweetly. "I apologize for the inconvenience, I had intended on returning home earlier but urgent business matter was to be taken care of. I hope the children haven't caused you a lot of trouble till such late hours ?"
Deviant Fixation Page 11
