by MV Kasi
The news stunned her.
She didn't recall much, but she knew that her teacher had been young and healthy.
"How?" she asked, her voice breaking slightly.
"Who are you to her again?" the man asked, suspicion creeping into his voice.
She paused momentarily. "I used to be her old student. I used to live in this village with my parents. We moved away fifteen years ago. But I never forgot how kind Mrs. Chandra was to me."
The man made some sympathetic noises."I don't know the exact details of her death, but I was told that she took her own life," he said.
She was shocked again.
She couldn't believe that part. Her teacher had been a brave and kind hearted woman. How could someone like her commit suicide?
Her heart still squeezed in mourning. Her teacher had been the only one who made her feel safe even if it was for a short while.
And now, even she was gone. Yet another loss.
It was quite frustrating that even though she had plenty of money, she didn't have the right kind of contacts locally. All she had was the very exclusive teen hacker she had hired in the USA.
Luckily he was greedy enough and had loose morals to be tempted by her money. He worked diligently for her and found the people she wanted to find. He found the teacher's last address and also gave her other addresses and phone numbers that she couldn't otherwise dig up on her own.
She continued punching the bag at the gym in frustration.
Not having anyone to hold the bag still, it kept moving. She moved along with it, and kept hammering at it, until she could get most of her aggression out.
She didn't know how much time had passed, because all the songs on her workout playlist had also ended.
She removed the phone from the strap of her arm to hit the button of another playlist.
"Need help holding the bag still?" a deep voice asked her from behind.
She yelped in surprise, hitting the kick-boxing bag accidentally, and had to jerk back, away from the heavy swinging bag. Her sudden movement dropped her phone from her hands onto the gym floor. Soon she could see half a dozen pieces of what used to be her phone scattered around.
Shit. Most of her contacts were stored in that phone. Now she'd have to waste at least a couple of hours to buy a new phone and retrieve her contacts list.
But she had bigger worries, and a more immediate danger.
On instinct, she widened her stance, ready to swing around, and kick the intruder in his face, either to dislocate his jaw or at least break his damn nose.
"Whoa, whoa, easy lady," said a laughing man's voice, moving away from her swing.
Shit. Maybe she shouldn't have come alone to the gym at five thirty in the morning. But she was feeling restless that she didn't have a good enough lead. Wanting to kill time, she had decided to go to the exclusive gym that specialized in kick boxing. She had been frequenting the place since the past two days. And she preferred to practice during early mornings when not enough people were around.
When she had arrived, she could only see some bleary eyed receptionists at the front desk. The first floor was almost empty with only two or three guys lifting weights. Ignoring them, she had gone to the second floor where the punching bags were placed.
She thought it was a perfect timing to avoid crowds. But now she was paying the price of being attacked. As soon as she turned around, the air left with a whoosh from her lungs. And it wasn't because of her move. It was because of the face in front of her.
She kept staring at the amused boyish grin with twin dimples on the man's face.
"That looks like one hell of a fall," he said as he looked down at her broken phone.
She didn't even bat an eyelid when the man knelt down and picked up the pieces.
"I think I can salvage this," he murmured, and began to work on fixing her phone.
His eyes were focused on the job at hand and he had an intense look of concentration as he worked.
Sia realized that she was gawking at a complete stranger like an idiot instead of demanding her personal property back.
"Wait, you don't have to..." Her damn voice was soft and whispery as it drifted off.
The man looked up briefly at her and smiled.
That little stretch of his mouth muscles was causing havoc to her insides. And it wasn't because of the panic she usually felt, it was because of the beautiful face in front of her. And it was having a strange effect on her.
What the hell was happening?
Her usual cold and aloof protective barrier was having a tough time emerging. Maybe it was because she felt a false sense of security around him, especially due to his blindingly good looks combined with the boy-next-door smile.
But she wasn't the type of woman who usually got affected by some pretty boy's face. Then what the hell was so damn special about him?
It really didn't make any sense. He was just a guy. Weren't they all the same? Yet somehow she felt a strange sense of connection with him. Especially with his smile.
You are just horny. You are a twenty four year old with a good imagination and a healthy sex drive.
Yes. That must be it.
She rationalized it that way, looking at his ripped body that was barely concealed in his work-out shorts.
He definitely must be one of the personal trainers at the gym. Probably hired to attract the female clients with his smile and body.
"Like what you see?" he asked, without raising his head. He was still working intently on her phone, but had a small smirk on his face.
At his teasing remark, she snapped out of whatever had possessed her.
What the hell was she doing? She asked herself again.
"I think I can fix my phone by myself," she stated coolly, extending her hand as irritation slowly crept into her.
"I'm almost done. This is a newer model, so there are smaller parts that need to be placed in the right sequence. And besides, I caused you to drop it in the first place," he said.
"True. But you have already done enough damage. Maybe next time, you should stop and think before sneaking up on the gym members, especially this early in the morning."
At her stern set down, he stopped what he was doing to glance at her.
His eyes blazed as he looked at her face, and then slowly, and unashamedly, he dragged his eyes down the length of her body, lingering on her toned arms and legs.
Instead of being offended, she felt his gaze ignite something.
Soon, a warning siren went off in her head as images of them spending a dirty night ran in her mind. She recoiled mentally from those images.
She had stopped having random meaningless sex almost a year ago. And more recently, she had promised herself, she would not be distracted from her mission by anything or anyone.
But right then, staring at the beautiful man with a sweet, melting smile, and a contradictory brazen look, she was ready to jump on him on the gym floor, and take what her body wanted from him.
Before she pounced on a complete stranger, she grabbed her phone from his hand, and took a few steps away from him to give herself some space. She subtly took some deep breaths to calm down, even as she noticed his eyes continuing their assessment of her.
When his eyes met hers, he smiled again. "I'm Ajay, and you are...?"
Before she could reply, another man's voice interrupted them. "Good morning, Ajay. How have you been bro?"
A brief look of irritation passed on Ajay's face, but he turned, and smiled openly at the guy who had joined them. "I'm doing great Ravi. It's been a while. Quite a set up you have here..."
Before he could finish catching up with the other guy, she began walking out from there. After collecting her water bottle and work-out towel, she moved towards the stairs, and then glanced back briefly towards him.
He was still talking to the other man, but his eyes were on her, laughing at her in amusement. As though he knew she was running away because of him.
Dammit!