Chapter 7

Dhruv decided to drive on their way back. Back at the vendor's place Dhruv was getting bored waiting for Poornima and went out to check the surroundings. He noticed the black Scorpio parked on the other side of the compound. His intuition told him Poornima was in danger and he went looking for her. His sharp senses could hear the muffled commotion of someone fighting. He followed her scent and found her soon. He wouldn't have forgiven himself if anything had happened to her. He was glad she was unharmed. More than glad he was shocked to see that she could tackle both the men on her own. For once his chest swelled with pride.

"So you really don't know who attacked you back there?" he asked.

After being asked for the thousandnth time in less than ten minutes, her patience snapped, "I really don't know who they are. I can't think of anyone whom I have offended. Your questions are giving me a headache." She said pressing her fingers to her forehead.

"May be its Lisa who sent them. May be she is jealous you came with me." She suggested sarcastically.

Now it was Dhruv's turn to be angry. "Or may be its your ex who sent them to get you." He countered her.

"Nah! I don't have an ex. I am not interested in men." She replied seemingly unaffected at his jibe.

"What do you mean by that? Are you.. " he did not complete the sentence and was anxious. For a second his heart stopped beating. But then he was quick to gather his thoughts and reminded himself not to get involved with her.

"She doesn't like men? Can she be…" his thoughts were interrupted by her. "It's the same as you said. I too want to remain single for the rest of my life."

"Oh!" he relaxed.

"Lets stop by to get a cup of coffee." He suggested.

"Sure." Came her reply.

They went to a café called ' The Coffee Place'. They sat under a gazebo on either sides of a round table and ordered coffee. As they waited for their coffee, he asked curiously, "How did you fight those men?"

"I am trained in martial arts. When I was young my mother insisted on learning self defence. She would say – 'I won't be there forever to protect you.'" She said sadly as she quoted her mother's words.

"Sure enough she didn't stay for long." She sighed with a bitter smile.

"Why? What happened?" he asked.

"She died in a car crash when I was fifteen." Her voice was barely louder than a whisper. She cast her eyes down to hide her pain. She had never discussed her mother's death with anyone. She did not want others to see her weaker side and always put a brave front. But something inside her made her blurt this in front of Dhruv. She felt at ease with him for inexplicable reasons. It took her not more than few moments to keep her emotions in check. With a smiling façade, she raised her head to look back at Dhruv.

She felt a warm hand wrapping her hand across the table. The warmth melting her cold façade and tears welled up in her eyes as she met Dhruv's worried face. She quickly batted her eyelids to suppress her tears. Dhruv felt he was seeing the real Poornima for the first time. The Poornima he knew at office who was competitive, blatantly straight forward and short tempered seemed to be a totally different person from the person sitting in front of him. She sat silently for sometime and Dhruv did not know how to console her. Though she could fight to defend herself few minutes back, she now looked like a meek cat. He wanted to hug her and protect her for the rest of his life. He was confused at his own trail of thoughts.

After the coffee was served, Dhruv asked, "Shall we go to the police station to file a complaint?"

"Complaint on whom?" she asked. Thinking of her mom, she seemed to have forgotten the assault.

"Those people who attacked you. They might attack you again. Though you are capable of handling them alone, what if they come better prepared next time? I think we must seek police protection until they are caught."

She sipped her coffee and pondered for a while. "I don't think they were weak." When she came in contact with their body during the fight, she could feel the strong muscles on their arms and torso. "They did not use their complete force on me. Their intention was not to harm me I guess. May be they wanted to rob me." She deduced.

"But why would they follow us all along if they were here to just rob?" Dhruv's logic made more sense.

"We cannot file a complaint with the clues we have. We haven't seen their faces due to their masks and so cant describe them. There were no CCTV cameras where the assault happened. I can't think of anyone who has a grudge on me. So it is like shooting in the dark if we file a complaint now. The police will forget about our case as soon as we file it." She added.

Dhruv looked rather worried now. He had a frown on his face. He seemed to be thinking deeply of all possibilities. "Where do you live? inform your family to be on guard. Who knows the assailants may actually be after one of your family members."

Hearing his concerns Poornima let out a dry laugh. "My parents were divorced when I was five and I don't have any contacts with my father. I don't have any siblings and was raised by my mother until she died. Later I stayed with my grandmother until she died two years back. So I don't have a family. Which means your worries are unnecessary and out of place." She assured him. "Oh My! That was one depressing story to narrate." She realised after hearing her story in her own words.

On hearing this, he felt pity for her. She seemed to be as lonely as him. Yet shows a happy face to the world. "Do you have roommates or live alone?" he asked.

"I live alone. But the place I live is a gated locality with good security. I live on the 10th floor which is under surveillance 24x7." She assured him.

"I would suggest you to go and stay with any of your friends until these people are caught." He said.

"Its getting late. Lets head back to office." She said as she got up from her chair. She didn't want to think about it now. She herself was not aware of who intended to harm her. But at any conditions she did not want to pull Dhruv or anyone else into this mess and she decided not to discuss it further with him.

As she turned to leave, Dhruv pulled her hand to stop her. Her heart gave a jolt at the touch of his warm hands. He couldn't fathom why he did that? But didn't want to leave her soft and cold hands. It felt simply nice to the both of them. As she looked at him questioningly, he looked into her brown eyes and asked, "Are you scared?". He seemed to be concerned. Poornima furrowed her brows and replied, "It could be a mistaken identity. May be they got a wrong person. Who knows?" she replied with a smile. "Or may be I have a mysterious identity unknown to the world." She said grinning at her own logic.

"Mysterious as in a Werewolf?" he asked.

She laughed out loud and said "I am not as silly as I seem to be. I know that werewolves are a myth created to scare small children. I meant I might be some under cover officer investigating national breach and terrorist activities." She scoffed as she clapped her hands in mirth.

Dhruv did not want to clear her misunderstanding on werewolves. But could not stop wondering how she would react if she knew she was talking to a werewolf. On a lighter note he said, "You need not get every report reviewed by me. Just go and give your best at work." While they reached office. As she walked in front of him towards the elevator, his eyes never left her with a look of concern written all over his face.

Unknown to them a figure was lurking in the parking lot who happened to see the couple leaving the car together. To him, they looked like a couple with certain level of understanding. He dropped his cigarette stub on the ground, putting it out with his shoe. He pondered as he moved slowly to take the elevator.