45 Chapter 45

Rohan rolled the remaining curried fish into a large piece of roti for Sneha.

"No, no, I can't eat another bite!" she protested as she flopped back on the bench and held her stomach. "You eat it."

"I'm full, too, but I can't let this delicious fish go to waste," Rohan said before eating the last fat roll of fish and potatoes. He laid his head on Sneha's lap and she began to massage his scalp. They watched the rays of the sun on the water slink back into its home and disappear. Sneha smiled as she felt Rohan rub his face against her thigh.

I'd better eat something! She decided to come out of her hiding place slowly. She didn't want anyone to see her. It was 11pm, and the guards were changing duties. This was the right time to come out. She slid past the guards easily without drawing attention to herself. She walked to a nearby restaurant; it was a quiet place with very few people now. The restaurant was about to close. She ordered a hearty meal. An hour later she came back to the place where she was hiding, hoping that Rohan and Sneha were back. She managed to stay awake till the wee hours of the morning, but couldn't resist sleep any longer.

***

Two days before.

She reached City J around 6:30pm and checked directly into a small hotel which seemed dull, to say the least. The manager on the front desk matched the surroundings very well. There wasn't much activity, but that was what she needed. She wasn't looking for any attention. The manager handed over the keys to the room and offered assistance to take the luggage to her room. She was tired and allowed him to help her.

The room was small but had all the necessary things needed for comfort, including a small refrigerator and a TV. As soon as the manager left, she fell onto the bed and switched on the television. A few minutes later someone started pounding on the window of her room. She got up in the darkness and tried to find her way to the window. Upon reaching she saw a man beating a woman. The blood was oozing from her head, nose and hands. She shrieked so loudly that when people nearby heard, they started banging on her door.

She got up, frightened and sweaty, and realized it was a dream. Her attention was diverted by the doorbell. She went to answer the door and saw a waiter with a bemused expression on his face.

"Ma'am, are you okay? I heard someone shrieking!" he said.

She laughed and said that she saw a lizard under the bed which made her shriek. The beads of sweat on her forehead contradicted the lizard story, but he left, satisfied in the knowledge that nothing terrible had happened. She closed the door behind her and went to sit on a nearby chair. She needed to calm down…

She went to freshen up. She washed her face with cold water, but that wasn't enough, so she decided to take a bath instead. After that she got ready, went down to the front desk and asked the girl on duty there, who had replaced the afternoon manager, about dining places in and around the hotel. She said that there was a good restaurant inside the hotel and a few restaurants around the corner. However, she suggested that it was safer to have dinner in their hotel restaurant at this hour of the night, even though it was only 8pm.