I am sorry

Akira stopped in front of a cemetery near her house. Both her parents were buried there. Although her Mom was of Indian descent, she was also buried alongside Akira's Dad because it was her Mom's wish to stay next to her husband even after death.

Akira slumped on the ground and started crying. She placed her head on her father's tomb and her tears started seeping into the concrete. She was a strong girl who was not easily affected by the opinion and perspective of others, but somehow today Raymond's words stabbed her heart and made her feel like she was all alone, deserted by everybody whom she had ever loved in her life.

Raymond saw Akira stopping in front of the cemetery. The burden of regret instantly increased manifold inside his heart. He rushed inside and saw Akira's frail figure slumped on the ground. She was crying like there was no tomorrow in store for her. When Raymond saw the same surname written on the tombstone as hers, he immediately understood the depth of pain that she was undergoing at that moment. He himself knew the pain of losing one parent. He couldn't imagine how she was feeling right now when she had lost both of them.

Raymond clenched his fist because his insides were raging with anger. He was disappointed with himself and his choices.

"How could you do this to her?", he was screaming at himself in his thoughts. Finally, when he couldn't bear it, he punched a tree nearby. Warm blood started oozing out from his bruised fist, but it didn't help in any way. He was still angry with himself but he had to do something. He was desperate to find a way to reduce her pain which was, in turn, haunting him.

He took a couple of steps forward and stood behind her silently.

Akira could hear the ruffling sound of leaves. She could sense that someone was there near her. She stood up and turned back thinking it was Mike, but she couldn't believe that it was Raymond. The person who made her feel cheap for no reason. the person who accused her parents of having low morals and values. Her insides started churning out when she saw his face. Right now she loathed him, probably wanted to slap him for his degrading remarks. But before that, she wanted to ask him why he was there. But before she could even ask him anything, he raised his finger and put it on her lips. He slightly leaned forward, and whispered into her ears - "I am sorry".

He looked into her eyes without even blinking once. Probably he wanted his eyes to convey how sorry he was. The moment Akira looked into his eyes, something just triggered deep within. All the dams and flood gates which had encompassed her pain were let open.

He hugged her tight and let her cry her eyes out. A few seconds later she hugged him back. The destroyer had become the savior for her. She found strange comfort in his arms. She let go of all her inhibitions and cried till her pain was contained.

His one hand gently stroked her hair while the other was wrapped around her waist like a protective shield. They hugged each other and shared the pain in harmony for a while until they were interrupted by the ringing of Akira's phone.

It was a call from Vikram.

Akira suddenly distanced herself from Raymond as soon as she heard her phone ringing. She couldn't understand what had gotten into her. She cried in the arms of a stranger man, who was the cause of all the pain but somehow she found comfort in him. She was embarrassed and flushed at her own behavior.

She immediately rushed to pick up the phone.

Raymond saw her all flushed and confused. He could clearly see that she was feeling torn. He could sense it in her eyes. She was melting his heart which was ironclad before and he couldn't understand how and why. Before he could think any further he saw her taking a few steps ahead and turned her back to him and took the call.

"Hi, Vikram," she said.

Raymond heard her taking Vikram's name and suddenly reality dawned in. SHE WAS TAKEN.

Raymond sighed and silently turned back and returned to his car. His face had turned all grim. He looked like someone had just stabbed him with a hundred knives. He asked his driver to go back to the office as soon as possible.

He reached his cabin and went inside. Her resume was still on top of his desk. He reminded himself that she was just a part of this contract and nothing else. He had to do something about his feelings which were clouding him, making him take all irrational decisions.

He sat on his chair and looked at his wounded fist and then at the picture of his mother. He took a deep breath and then called Chloe and said,

"Finalize this candidate for the internship position. Send her a confirmation email ASAP".

"Ok sir," said Chloe. "Anything else sir?" Chloe added.

"Well since the candidate has good potential and can be an asset for our new project, please make sure her remuneration is equivalent to a graphic designer. Let her designation be that of an intern. Hope this is clear?", Raymond asked.

"Sure sir. I am on it", Chloe replied.

Raymond disconnected the call. He had his brows knitted, this girl was trouble.