It's been raining since the morning. Sometimes it was a drizzle and sometimes a heavy shower. But it had never stopped ever since the sun came out. Or rather it was like they came together and is having a show off on who is mightier. And thanks to that, there was still daylight though it was raining continuously.
Liya folded her red umbrella and looked back at the city, now dripping completely wet. Even after five years, nothing much had changed in Poonj. It was still the same wet and damp place, where it could rain anytime. A few new buildings had risen, some quite remarkably tall for a deep, shady valley surrounded by mountains and forests. Liya took a sigh on realizing to whom the new buildings belonged.
Although Liya had folded her umbrella, she was yet to step inside the coffee shop where she had a meeting arranged. The cold wind blew hard, sending a shiver inside her. She turned and looked at her blurry image on the cafe's French window. As she stood there, she was getting more and more wet. Water droplets dripped down from her waist long black hair as well as skirt. Fully laden in black and holding a red umbrella against a grey but wet background, surely attracted spectators. Liya sensed the eyes on her and quickly entered the café to take a seat.
Liya had returned to Poonj from abroad only yesterday. She had decided that she would never return to this nightmarish city when she had left five years ago. But here she was, back to where she started. And all that because of a man she met just five days before - Yul Amarok. Maybe it was because she had gotten wet, another cold shiver went through her body, as she wondered if she was doing the right thing. After all, it was because of another Amarok she had left this place in the first hand.
Since it was cold and raining, the café was filled with youngsters, especially couples. The day for a beautiful date was getting washed away and coffee and chocolate was the easiest remedy everyone could find. Under the fancy decorations and dim light, men and women chatted and laughed merrily. Liya looked around to find a seat but there were none. She was getting uneasy to stand at the reception and getting watched by the occupants in the café.
The restlessness made Liya decide to leave the café and wait outside. As she pulled the large glass door to leave, a man in official suit pushed the other door inside. She watched the two men in black suits enter the café. Their entry attracted everyone present, but on recognising the man at back, everyone went about their business without further noticing. Liya could obviously sense the change in the atmosphere. The loud chatter and noises had hushed down. It was like the students who suddenly go silent on noticing the teacher entering the class room. Liya felt it funny although she knew it was more fear than respect that made the room silent.
Yul Amarok and his assistant were the men who came in. The same man she was waiting to meet. On recognising them Liya stood there itself, holding the door she had pulled. On seeing her leave, Yul looked at her with a doubtful expression and then watched the café. "Follow me." That was all what he said after analysing the situation and walked in front towards the elevator. Liya wondered how he understood why she was leaving. 'What if it was because I had changed my mind? What if I was planning to run off before meeting you? How could you guess it correctly? Have you never been wrong?' Liya asked her doubts to Yul but only to hear herself. As an obedient student following the teacher she went to a private room upstairs.
The room they sat in wasn't at all comparable to the environment downstairs. It was clearly designed for the business meeting between people like Yul. Fully sound proofed, secure and at the same time very extravagantly furnished. Liya sat at one of the chairs present across Yul. She looked around for another door in that large room, just in case of emergency, but didn't find one. The only other door which was of hard wood seemed to lead to either washroom or an inner bar counter or maybe to a hallway that lead to these. She again became uneasy on realizing how trapped she was in this room with two strangers.
Yul who sat across Liya was reading her like a book by this time. Her tension and hostility was evident in her raised eyebrows and large eyes. The wet hair and dress, along with that scared expression made her look like the ugly duckling drowned in rain. It slightly amazed him because it never suited the women he knew as Liya and what she had done.
Liya looked at the assistant named Devin who was busy sorting out some documents from a file, sitting next to Yul. It was the same as when she met them five days before - Devin handling the papers and other matters, while Yul kept observing and ordering. And this character of him was exactly the one made Liya more anxious. He was able to grasp the situation before saying a word and much faster in taking action before the other person can even think.
This was only the third time they were meeting, that too, under totally different circumstances. She doubted if she was making a mistake by believing this cunning man; especially because of the fact that he is an Amarok.