PLZ VOTE + COMMENT + PROMOTE
Dedicated to @zzoonikhan for admiring my writing so much.... :* :)
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"Oh...um... I just called to ask, have you checked up on my parents, like I asked you to? How are they doing?" the girl spoke in an anxious tone. But she was met with only an eerie silence from the other end of the line. "Avi? You there? I asked you something..."
"Your parents are fine, Zahra!" Avi suddenly answered, her tone exasperated. "Stop annoying me with your endless queries, okay! I'm hanging up, now. And don't call me again." "But... Avi, listen..." Zahra tried again, only to hear a long beep indicating that her call had been disconnected. What was the matter with that girl?! She'd never spoken to her like that, ever!! Was something fishy going on? No, she was imagining things a little too much. Avi wouldn't lie to her like that.
And precariously hanging to that thread of hope, Zahra prayed aloud for her parents to be safe, ultimately falling into a deep slumber, and forgetting that walls had ears too.
The next morning, when she got up to go out, it was raining. Ugh! She hated this weather!! Nevertheless, she performed her usual morning ritual, tying her untamed curls into a messy chignon, wrapping a hijab over them, and slipping on her abaya, the girl in black was finally ready to go. As she passed through her doorway, a paper fluttered on the floor and came to a stop right in front of her. Curiously, Zahra picked it up and read. 'FINAL WARNING!'
'The LEASE of your apartment is ending on the fifteenth of this month.' Gosh! She had totally forgotten about that! 'If not renewed on/before that date, your flat, along with all your belongings will be seized. For more details, please check your mail.'
What would she do now? She had no money to pay for the lease. The sum was huge, and she'd already sent half of her salary to her parents. OH! When was that ill-moment when she'd refused that man's offer?! Well, nothing could be done about that now.
Zahra wasn't seeing her way out from this scrap at any rate. She could ask for a loan from her bank. Its costs will be heavy, she'd have to pay regular interests along with the principle at the end. But, at least, she wouldn't be made to leave this place she'd begun to call home.
Yes! Taking a loan of some thousand dollars would be best. She may be allowed some concessions if she asked nicely. Keyword: maybe. That is to say, if they didn't take any offence to her attire. With a deep sigh and a heavy heart, she unenthusiastically walked off to see to her duties for the day.
*********
After about an hour or so, the door to No. 415 opened and three men got in. When asked by the receptionist who and what they were here for, they simply answered that they were here to make some repairs about the whole flat, and Ms. Fatimah had sent them. And being terribly busy herself, she'd left her door open to, freely, let them in.
"Now, work as fast as you can, before anyone gets suspicious," one of them said to the other two. And all three of them scurried away into different directions. The next ten minutes were incredibly trying and, not to forget, busy as they went about their work. There were cameras and tape recording devices to be fixed in discreet places, and everything was to be left in its earlier shape. There were no footmarks to be exposed, and the front door to be locked at all costs.
All of this was done with an amazingly top speed and by the time any finger could be raised on their identity, the three of them were out the door and out of sight. Whew! However small it had been, the mission was accomplished. All that needed to be done was to activate the whole thing. And no action of the girl would go unnoticed by those who cared.
ððð
THE WALWORTH MANSION
The older Walworth was sprawled on his bed, his eyes closed in a state of delirium as the family doctor, Mr. Osborne, kept taking his temperature and checking his pulse every now and then. The old caretaker, Meredith, stood watching patiently on the other side of the bed. "His condition is deteriorating, Ms. Edith. You'll need to take extra care of him."
"His pulse is going fainter by each passing day. See to it that he doesn't stress himself with any kind of work, mental or physical," he said, and the old lady nodded in compliance. "If he needs to get out of this state......," the doctor paused, and then continued. "Ah! He's coming round. How are you feeling, Mr. Walworth?"
"Better, I think." "Well, then, I'd advise you to listen carefully to what I say next. Getting better will be a slow and uphill task for your body, if you stay here. The 'Trapeze' air is not doing any good to you. Take a vacation to the seaside, and you'll be up and about in less than two months, I assure you." "All that may be right, Osborne, but I don't think I have a choice. I'm needed here, by my organization and my people. If I'd go away, who will take all the decisions and whom will they ask for advice?"
"Isn't your son around to do all that?" "No, he isn't. He had an urgent matter to attend to on the other side of the globe, and he can't be here for some time." "What can be more urgent than a father's failing health, to a son?" the doctor muttered in a low voice. "Anyway, you can also do your business from outside the country, can't you?" he reasoned. "All I'm saying is that if you wish to have a speedy recovery, I'd advise you to act upon my words. And if you don't, then Godspeed to you, my friend." With that, he touched his hat, and prepared to go out.
"Wait! Where should I go, then?" Michael Walworth asked, finally giving in. The kind doctor smiled. "Anywhere you like, as long as you get your lungs packed with fresh, unpolluted sea breeze. Have a safe journey, Michael. And don't stress yourself too much. Good day." "Alright. Good day to you too." It was hard to give in to something for a Walworth. "Meredith, tell the butler to open my private Office. I'll have some visitors today." "Yes, Master," Edith answered, and left.
********
"I've heard quite a lot about your Agency... in a discreet way, of course," the senior Walworth vocalized to the man sitting in the leather-backed chair opposite him. "I'm sure you heard only good things." "Oh! No doubt, I did." "Well, then, how may I help you?" "A girl in my organization needs protection. I need two of your best and able-bodied men to look after her at all times, without the girl knowing anything about it." "And why shouldn't she know, may I ask?" "Let's just say... that she isn't ready to believe she's in danger." "What kind of a danger exactly? Danger of getting mugged? Harassed?"
"Her life has been attempted upon quite a few times now," Michael Walworth quickly spoke up, giving stress to the word 'life'. Now, the man sat up straight in his chair. "Where does she live?" "At the Aurora, I believe. I had her apartment no. with me somewhere here," he replied as he searched his desk drawers for some scrap of paper. "Yes, it's no. 415."
"I'll need to know all about her identity, her habits, routines, everything," the man rejoined, and Walworth Sr. nodded, looking weary. "Get that ready, and I'll come by in the evening with my men." "What about the money?" "I'll settle the matter only in the presence of my scouts." "And when will they begin the watch?" "As soon as the deal is sealed, I assure you. Till then, good day."
ððð
Trapeze, Clydesville.
As Zahra lay in her bed reading a book that night, a disturbing beep of her phone roused her from the enchanting world of Jane Austen's 'Pride & Prejudice'. It was one of her favorite books by the author, and she'd read it a dozen times already. Nonetheless, she unlocked her phone, only to see she'd got a text from...... David Walworth! Oh Lord! What did he have to say to her? It couldn't be good, at any cost, which she knew too well. 'Good evening, Ms. Fatimah,' it said. And then proceeded to the real substance.
D.W: 'Just wanted to inform you that you'll have security from now on. It's more for your own good than mine. The Company cannot deal with any more losses at present.'
Z.F: 'I think I told you I don't need your protection. I'm fine as I am. My life is in no threat of being taken, by human hands, that is. My Allah is enough to protect and save me. Would request you to not meddle into my affairs.'
D.W: 'Your Lord may be enough for you, but it is sheer imbecility to not take precautions beforehand. Let the men do their work. They won't distract you, by any means, I promise.'
Z.F: 'If you do not remove your guards by tomorrow, I'll go straight to your father, and ask him to tell you to leave me the hell alone! I do not need your services, in any way. I don't like this surety that you've got about yourself. I abhor you in every form, so please don't try to force your way into my life. I've already had enough. You may be my boss, but I'm not bound to take orders from you about the decisions I make in my life.'
D.W: 'Whatever you say. But the men will not be removed from the watch. If you like to be obstinate, well, two can play at this game.'
Z.F: 'I don't care what you do. I won't rest until I've removed them myself.'
D.W: 'You won't be able to identify them, in the first place. That's a tough task you've taken upon yourself, love ð
Z.F: 'You're going too far with this, sir. You don't know me yet. If I can't remove them, I'll remove myself.'
D.W: 'You're joking, right? Please don't do anything stupid. I seriously won't be able to forgive myself ð¡'
Z.F: 'Then do as I said. And please don't contact me by phone or text anymore. I'm prohibited to talk to any man, without necessity, outside of my blood relations or my spouse, if, and when I get married. And frankly, I'm not really a fan of talking to you or any other species of your gender. They're all tricksters.'
D.W: 'Lol, that last statement ;D Well said, Ms. Fatimah. I may be a trickster, and I hope that I'm able to trick you into 'un-hating' me some day. Definitely still trying.......'
Z.F: 'You're impossible!'
D.W: 'Yup. I. M. POSSIBLE! ð Well, took loads of precious time of yours. Won't disturb you any longer. Good night......love.'
******SOMEWHERE IN THE WHOLE-WIDE WORLD******
"What's the latest news?" the mystery man asks curtly into the phone. "The latest is that... those people have let us search the site, I told them about you and they thought the ancestry story was real," Conan answers from the other end, chuckling victoriously.
"They've even allowed us to go through all the old stuff that's there, the idiots. All that was needed, was to show them some foreign cash," he says. "That's good news. The moment you get your hands on something, inform me immediately. And yeah, send me some pictures too. I'd like to see the action." The mystery man rubs his hands in excitement. "But, Daniel, there's some problem too."
"Now what?!" "Her old man died before we had reached the place. The old ba**ard was a heart patient, he'd had one or two attacks previously." "And you're telling me now, you f**ker?!" Anger begins to run through his veins at lightening speed. "It wasn't mine, or my men's fault, alright!" "Then how will we proceed if we don't have any information, you tell me that?" "I don't know. We're questioning the woman. But, she doesn't know a lot, it seems. Her old man was one big secret-keeper." "I want answers, and concrete results matching them!" "Okay. We're on it."
"Otherwise, bring her here. I'll question her myself. Her girl will be my trump card. When she'll hear that her fake daughter's in danger, she'll spout it all out willingly. Then, I'll know for myself how much she's been hiding from me." "I'll tell you when I find something worth your notice," Conan says, and quickly hangs up, before his snake-sleeved friend can throw anymore venomous threats towards him.
There's a knock at the door. "What?!" Daniel snaps. Mac Leer, the huge right-hand man of Daniel, enters. "The cameras have been put in place, sir. Everything's good to go. Oh, and we have some data from her phone too." "What data? Don't just stand there and talk in riddles, man!" "See for yourself," Mac Leer counters gruffly, sliding a piece of printed paper towards his chief. In spite of being his master, the mystery man fears this giant rock of a man. He instantly picks up the piece of paper and begins to read through it.
"These were sent from, and received by the girl's cellphone just a few hours ago. It's the real David Walworth, we checked." "So, he's getting security to protect his sweetheart. That's cute." The word seems weird, coming out of the mouth of that merciless killer. "The girl's playing hard to get, I see."
"They all do, at first. But, when they see the money and the glamour it brings, they all change colors." "What is to be the next step?" Mac Leer asks, seeing as the chief is still examining the paper closely. "Hmm? The next step?"
"Why... hunt them out, and terminate them! I don't want any knights in shining armor ruining my fun."
---------AUTHOR'S NOTE----------
Assalamu alaikum every1!! Eid-ul-Azha Mubarak to all my awesome readers, voters and commenters out there :)) well..... belated :/ sorry, I wanted to update it on the 25th, but couldn't seriously find time to complete it.
But... now you've got it :D so enjoyee and don't forget to vote, and tell me how it was.... I wanna know your thoughts guys. Write something else besides 'update pleeez' :(
And yeah, updates myabe only and only after October 16th, coz I have my mid-term exams till then, and I seriously haven't studied a thing. Do remember this poor soul in your d'uaas sometimes :)
Have a 'goat'... er.. 'great' time.....!! ;D lol BTW, that has been stolen from somewhere :p