The Story of Meera Ch. 07

Meera wiped a tear as she got a hold of her feelings.

After some time, Aryan opened his eyes. Meera was lying next to him, looking at him with a faint smile.

"Are you OK?" she asked, lovingly touching his cheek.

Aryan nodded and turned towards her. He gently pulled her into an embrace.

"I hope I didn't hurt you," Meera asked, kissing his cheek.

Aryan kissed her back in return. "I am fine," he said, hugging her tightly, "Thank you."

"Thank you for?" Meera asked.

"Making me feel good," he said.

"Let me make you feel even better by cooking you a nice meal," she said cheerfully pulling his cheek, "What will you have?"

"Anything Meera," he said, pulling her closer and kissing her lips.

Suddenly, they heard the doorbell.

"Were you expecting visitors?" Aryan asked Meera looking at the clock. It was 8 pm.

"I usually don't have visitors," Meera said, sounding suspicious, "Lemme check."

She put on a gown and walked towards the door. She viewed through the peephole and found a man standing in a postman's uniform. She opened the door cautiously.

"There's a letter for you," the man said, handing over an envelope to Meera.

"Isn't this a weird time to deliver mail?" she asked the man.

"I'm sorry ma'am," he said, "There was a lot of mail to deliver so it couldn't come earlier. And there's this urgent stamp on this letter, so couldn't wait until tomorrow."

Meera received the letter.

"I need your signature ma'am, as an acknowledgement for the delivery," he said handing over a writing pad with some papers on it, "Initial on the first sheet and full signature on the next sheet."

Meera signed quickly and handed over the writing pad back to the man.

"May I please have a glass of water?" the man requested.

"OK," Meera said, "Wait here."

But the moment she turned to go towards the kitchen, the man grabbed her. He was strong and firmly placed one hand over the mouth so that she couldn't scream. Meera struggled with all her strength but couldn't break free. The man dragged her inside her apartment and began to drag her towards the balcony. Meera wished she could alert Aryan somehow, but the man's grip over her mouth was so strong that she could barely make a sound. As the man rapidly dragged her towards the balcony, she struggled violently to grab hold of some object to fight with or at least drop something that would make some sound enough to alert Aryan.

Aryan looked at the clock and realized that Meera hadn't returned for a whole 5 minutes. He sensed something was wrong. He reached for his gun and tiptoed into the living room. He was shocked to find a man trying to push Meera off the railing of her balcony. He aimed the gun at the man's shoulder and pulled the trigger. But the gun clicked and no shot was fired. He realized that Meera had unloaded his gun while they were in her bedroom. Suddenly, the man fell to his knees screaming. Aryan ran towards them and found Meera hanging on the railing with one hand. In her other hand she held a bloodied pen. Aryan immediately pulled her back to safety and then looked at the man. Meera had stabbed him in his right eye with a pen she could find in his pocket during the struggle. The man was writhing in pain. Aryan hit the man hard on his head with a butt of his gun, knocking him unconscious.

Meera was trembling in shock. Aryan helped her get up and sit on the couch.

"It's alright Meera," he said rubbing her back, "You are safe now."

"This was just so sudden," Meera said in a trembling voice, "I just received the mail and he attacked me..."

Aryan looked at the envelope that the mailman had handed over to her. Meera nodded and Aryan tore it open only to find that it was empty.

"Who would want me dead?" Meera said still struggling to recover from the shock.

"Someone who hates you, or someone who fears you, or someone who thinks you know something that's bad for them," Aryan said as he began to search the man's pockets for some kind of ID, but he didn't find any.

Meera started thinking of all the people who might have a grudge against her.

Aryan paced about thinking of a way to figure out the intention behind the attack on Meera's life. He noticed a writing pad that the man had placed on a table near the door before attacking Meera. He turned over the first sheet of paper on the writing pad. The second sheet of paper that had her full signature, he felt there's something off about it. He scraped off its edge with a fingernail, and was able to lift off a drafting tape that had the name of the courier company and other details about the package. He was shocked to read what was concealed underneath that tape.

"Whoever hired this man, wanted the job done quietly...he literally made you sign a suicide note..." Aryan said, handing over the sheet of paper to Meera.

Meera's eyes shot wide open as she read what was written on the paper she had signed. It was a typed suicide note.

I've been very depressed lately, but there's no one I can share my problems with. The kind of work that I do, takes a toll on my mental health, when I am treated as nothing better than a piece of flesh. I have money, but I don't have friends or a family. I'll never have a family as I know that no man would ever want me. I've been going for therapy but nothing is helping. It's like I have no reason left to live for. I've decided to end my life. I alone am responsible for my death.

"What the hell?!" Meera said looking at Aryan in disbelief, "What bullshit is it?!"

"Well," Aryan said, "Looks like the plan was to throw you off the balcony of your 22nd floor apartment and plant this note so everyone thinks you killed yourself."

Meera was still in shock. She closed her eyes for a moment trying to process the events. "How could I not see this coming? How could I sign this without reading," she said, holding her head between her palms, taking a deep breath in regret.

"It's OK Meera," Aryan said rubbing her shoulder, "The best of us mess up. The suicide note was well concealed and would have been missed by anyone unsuspecting. But just remember to be more careful now on, OK?"

"You know, Aryan," she said, "I had a feeling I was being watched for the last few days. But I never thought it would come to this..."

"Why don't you tell me things Meera?" Aryan said, sounding angry.

"I'm sorry," she said, "I thought it was just a feeling, nothing serious."

Aryan just looked away. "Nothing is ever serious for you!" he said furiously.

Meera sat down on the couch next to him and held his hand. "I owe you my life Aryan, I don't know what would have happened to me if you weren't here tonight," she said looking at him with tearful eyes, "I am sorry I didn't tell you that I sensed danger, I am sorry I unloaded your gun, I am sorry for signing that suicide note, I am sorry for being so stupid!"

Aryan hugged her and kissed her lips passionately. "Please don't cry Meera," he said, "You are a strong girl, and I just love that about you. The last thing I want to see is...your tears."

"What do we do now?" Meera asked.

Aryan smiled and said, "Just relax, Adil will know how to deal with this."

Aryan called up Adil and told him what happened. Shortly after, Adil arrived with a few men.

"What happened to his eye?" Adil asked, inspecting the unconscious killer.

"The fine lady here gouged it out with a ball pen," Aryan said.

"She never ceases to amaze me," Adil said, smiling at Meera fondly. "You OK?" he asked, cupping her face.

Meera nodded.

"I was tempted to put a bullet in his head," Aryan said, "But he is not dying till he gives us a name."

"He'll talk alright," Adil said signaling his men to carry the injured man away, "He'll be spilling his guts all over the place once we start asking questions."

"Any clients had any complaints about Meera?" Aryan asked, "Could any one of them be behind this?"

"No, never," Adil said, "Everyone loves her. She minds her own business and does her job well. I really don't know who would want to hurt her."

"What about that drug dealer gang she murdered?" Aryan asked.

"Well, they are all dead and no one misses a bunch of degenerates like them," Adil said, "In fact the rival gang was more than happy to take over their territory. Besides if someone from the underworld wanted her dead, they would have just shot her. This suicide note drama is an altogether different thing, this is the work of someone who doesn't want to get caught by the police, or alert Meera's associates. This person is someone who has something to lose."

Aryan took a deep breath making calculations in his mind.

"Thank you so much, both of you" Meera said, pulling them both into her embrace, "What would I do without you guys?"

"You are welcome, Meera," Adil said, "I had promised you that I'd do everything in my power to protect you."

Meera smiled.

"I'll take you leave now," Adil said, "I'll let you both know as soon as the man spills a name."

Adil left and Aryan stayed with Meera for the night, holding her, comforting her so that she could sleep peacefully.

Aryan was running his fingers gently through her hair, holding her close.

"You used to say that killing isn't your thing," Meera said, running her fingers through Aryan's hair, "And yet you were tempted to put a bullet in the man's head."

Aryan smiled and pulled her closer, "I don't know Meera, if someone tries to hurt you, they just make me...angry..."

Meera looked at him fondly, and they smiled at each other. "Aryan," she said touching his cheek, "May I ask you something?"

"Sure," he said with a smile, holding her close.

"Who is Saloni?" Meera asked.

Aryan's smile faded. He took a deep breath and turned over to lie down on his back. Meera realized that she had perhaps upset him.

"You said her name when we were...she must be very special," she said hugging him, "I understand if you don't want to tell me. I am sorry. Good night."

Aryan didn't respond. He was just lying with his eyes closed, as if a thousand thoughts were running through his head. She kissed his cheek and turned to one side and tried to sleep. After sometime Aryan turned towards her and held her in his arms. He kissed her forehead. She just snuggled deeper in his arms in response. Soon she fell fast asleep in his arms. He realized that his fondness for Meera was growing with each passing day. He lay awake thinking about who could be behind the attack on her life.

A thought occurred to him and he made a phone call, "I have a feeling Sharon is in this city. She will try to run but keep a close watch, do not let her escape."