22 Meera and Aden

"Aden?" Meera called.

Aden raised his eyebrows. Folding his left leg, he placed his right leg on top and sat down on Meera's bed.

Aden caressed Meera's hair and asked gently, "What is it, Love?"

Meera looked into Aden's eyes. The gentleness in his eyes melted her soul. She said, "Darling, what's wrong with Boss nowadays? He looks so lost all the time. Also, what's the scene with Emily? First Boss asked us to investigate her. Then he invited her to work with him. Even with all the rumors around him, he doesn't plan to fire her. What is going on?"

Aden sighed. He said, "I don't know, but I think it has got something to do with that night three years ago. The same night Boss met us and promised to give us a job. The same night Boss vowed to stop drinking anymore."

Aden remembered the day when he met a drunk Gerald at Excalibur. He was hanging out with Meera and their friends when they spotted a drunk Gerald. He couldn't stand straight. He looked ahead and smiled at them.

Stumbling all the way, he came and stopped at their table. With a big grin on his face and the manager at tow, he shamelessly asked them to pay the bill. Showing his id, he said he would return their favor by giving them jobs.

They thought he was joking. Seeing the manager's angry face, Meera and he paid the bill. Who knew he would keep his promise.

The next day, Meera and Aden got a call from Gerald saying that he had an awesome proposal for them. They thought he was bluffing, but they went to the nearby cafe. That was when they learnt that Gerald was the youngest son of the Whitmore family.

He was unlike other rich kids and totally different from the drunk person asking them to pay last night. He wanted to make a fortune for himself without relying on his father. He wanted to make his own identity.

He convinced Meera and Aden to work for him. They went there without any actual hopes of getting any job but luck shone on them.

Aden smiled at the fond memory. He said, "I used to think he fooled us till the day I actually started working with him."

Meera nodded. Her face turned grim all of a sudden. She said, "But, he never likes to talk about his past, nor his family. But something tells me Emily is connected to everything. She is the missing thread of his life. He is always seeking something and my heart tells me, it's her."

"Maybe…" Aden shrugged. After a long pause, he said, "Who did this to you?"

"I'm not cent percent sure, but I am guessing it has something to do with Ira."

"Ira? How can it be her?"

"I don't know. But the way she was speaking to Boss and the way he let her speak like that to him made me think that it must be someone from the family. Besides, who else would come and badmouth everyone in front of Boss except for Ira and that bitch… erm… I mean, Paris."

"Why do you hate Paris so much?" Aden asked. Meera hated Paris to the core but she refused to answer why.

"Don't ask me about her. I don't know what Boss sees in her to keep her around. Just… Just don't talk about her right now, okay? I don't know if I'll be able to control myself if you keep mentioning her name."

"Ok ok… No talking about her. But I need to speak to the doctor. Are you sure you don't want your family to know?"

"Aden, we spoke about this. Why are you so adamant in doing all these, huh? You know that I don't like speaking about this. Actually, nevermind. Do one thing. Just go away. I'm fine alone."

"Hey, I'm sorry. I promise I won't talk about this anymore. You stay here. I'll go and talk to the doctor."

Aden got up and walked out of the ward. Meera stared at his sturdy back. He had always been there for her, just like she had been for him. They joked with each other, called each other 'love', but there was always this wall between them that neither could breach, no matter how hard they tried.

"When will you tell me your true feelings, Aden?" Meera asked. Silence followed. She knew Aden had already gone out to speak to the doctor. What she did not know was, Aden was standing right outside the door.

Aden looked at Meera. He did not want to confess to her. She would never be able to accept his past, and not saying his true feelings was better than giving her hope. He could not reject her outright, but he could always pull his guard up so high that she would never be able to break the barriers between them.

Why was life so hard? He had always wanted a simple life, but fate had its own way of playing with him. He made him fall for the only person he could never be with. If she knew his story, she would never be able to accept him. And he did not want to pour salt on her wounds. She had been through enough.

Aden slowly walked towards the reception. He could not leave her alone. Neither could he face her right now. She was adept in reading his face and his emotions.

"Hey sister, can I speak to the doctor in charge of the lady in Ward 3?"

"Dr. Holmes?" she called the doctor, who had his scrubs on and was coming out of the emergency room. She said, "Dr. Holmes, this is the family member of the patient in Ward no. 3. He wants to talk to you."

Dr. Holmes nodded. He looked at Aden and said, "Ms. Meera is doing well. Don't worry."

"Doctor, when can I take her home?"

"She needs to stay here for a week. Even though it is nothing major, Mr. Whitmore urged us to be careful and we don't want to take risks either."

"I see, Doctor. Thank you."

Aden did not know what else to say. He called Gerald, "Boss, can you… nevermind…" Saying that, he hung up. He wanted to take Meera home, but whatever she asked earlier, came to his mind. He did not want to give her any more false hopes. Whatever he did was enough. He would let Meera stay here for a week. That was for the best.

Aden closed his eyes and sat down on the bench outside her ward. He did not want to think anymore. He wished he could run away from the whole world and hide himself away from everyone. He wished he could run away with Meera.

A single tear fell from his eye on his phone. On the screen flashed, "Game lost."