Something Between Red And Violet by Rahee De - HTML preview

Epilogue

14:10 pm, 14th February 2016, Bucharest, Romania

I sit at the reception area uncouthly waiting for the Chief of this Intelligence Agency. The journey this far has not been easy at all, but the ultimate reason behind this tour kept me going. I have come here for answers and a strong belief that I would not return empty handed.

“Mr. Renzi is ready to see you now Mr. Cooper.” The receptionist’s thick accented voice brings me back on track. She motions for me to follow her and we come to a stop in front of a large wooden door. She knocks and opens the door for me to enter.

Setting a foot inside I spot a man sitting behind a desk, holding a news paper upside down. Strange!

As if sensing my presence he puts down the paper and clears his throat.

“Have a seat Mr. Cooper.” He says and nods toward the receptionist’s direction.

“I take it you’re doing good.” He adds once the girl leaves us alone. I cannot help but smile in response looking at his beaming face. There is something in him that can easily put you at ease. I thought of him as an old, frightening personality given his position and here I am sitting before a charming guy with bright hazel eyes who looks everything but intimidating.

“So, what can I do for you Mr. Cooper?” He asks, smiling. “I’m here for Seren—err—Agent Calme.” I stammer out.

“Per l’aeroporto.” I tell the driver of the cab once I settle in. Nodding he gears up the car.

Millions of emotions surge through me. Getting information out of Mattia about the whereabouts of Serenity has not been fruitful in the end. The moment I told him about my cause of visiting Bucharest, he became somewhat downbeat. He practically started interrogating me, but I remained honest till the end. He kept refusing my hustles, on the other hand, I was too stiff-necked to take a no. Unfortunately, it was all of no advantage whatsoever, because even if he tried, I could not meet her. She is out of the country due to work and Mattia could not be more specific because it is all classified information. I knew from the very beginning before boarding the plane that I was on my way of an already failed trip, but still I was too tangled up in the trap of hope to see past. I hoped for a chance, a chance to make her mine. The illusions of having a chance with a woman like her beside me was far too appealing then and now the “illusion” is justified and I am on my way back home with shattered hopes.

Looking outside the window I see the ancient city blurring past. I close my eyes and the events from the last seven months flood my mind.

I was comatose for over a month after that godawful day. When I reclaimed my consciousness the first thing that came to my mind was her. I asked for her everywhere, but no one knew where she was. I even visited Clarke several times but all he could say was that she was admitted to the hospital that night along with me; she was not hit due to wearing a bulletproof vest, but the impact of the shot was enough to benumb her. Howbeit, she was not there the next morning when they came to visit. He never bothered to find where she was because she was well known for disappearing once she’s done with her missions, which of course did nothing to comfort my aching heart.

The murder cases of my family and Shivanya was opened again and put on trial and Jason was found guilty for each one of them, including Jeremy and Bethany’s, which didn’t come as a shock to me since everyone knew it was him and strangely he confessed everything. I was only a bit appalled when I found out that it was not me but him who killed Rajveer and Shivanya. But the more daunting information was when I came to know that he killed my family, which was in fact his family as well.

Somehow I feel sorry for him. I feel sorry for losing a healthy sibling relationship which we could form together if he weren’t possessed by the Devil himself. What did the vengeance bring him at the end? What exactly he was out seeking revenge for? Probably nothing. It was the blinding rage that corrupted his conscience, only if he knew the truth about us not being a part of his life. It was our father who tortured mother to an extent where she could do nothing but escape for the sake of her two little children. But sadly she could take only one of her kids with her as she was offered a condition which would have either taken her kids away from her or her from her kids. She could not bear to let any of that to happen, so placing an unmovable rock on her chest she decided on leaving one of them alone and promised to never be back in their life and till the end she kept that promise.

I have seen her dying every day, not knowing what the reason was, although the gaps were filled when I found her diary.

“Noi siamo qui, Signore.” The driver says jolting me awake.

Paying him I clamber out of the cab and make my way inside the airport. Checking my watch I realize I still have seven hours before I board. Initially I thought I would come here and go straight to meet her and confess, I did not care about the what-ifs because I knew those what-ifs could slow me down on my journey and now even if I did not care about those what-ifs, I am practically standing right where I started my journey.

Letting out a disappointed sigh I take a seat. They say if something is meant to happen it will happen eventually. Maybe, I and she were never meant to happen. Commonsensical people will call me feebleminded for being an emotional wreck over something which was never really there in the first place. Even now that I contemplate the situation I am in, I do find my stupidity. Whatever happened in the past few months between us was merely a pretense from her side. She stumbled in my life for the sake of saving her mission, she got intimate with me to win my trust, I was her bait. However, even if my head tells me it was just her duty she was doing, my heart tells me it was not only that. Even if I did not know a single thing about her, not even her name, I felt for her and now after seven months for the sake of that feeling I came here for her. No matter how stupid it sounds, I love her. I probably