What Dreams Are Made Of – Episode 20

Episode_20

After resting a few days, she had fully recovered from the influence of whatever she had eaten at Mrs. Clark’s party. She met the doctor and he confirmed the same. These days at home, gave Chrissy the idea that she should make most of this break. While she thoroughly enjoyed the days, there was a certain man who kept occupying her mind every now and then.

She had not heard from him since the night of the party. She had asked him how does her actions concern him and he had confirmed, they didn’t. He was not bothered about her. She was too insignificant a part of his life.

She had informed Swaroski House that she would not be able to manage the shop for few days because of her sickness and there was no response. May be he was alright with her taking sick leave or maybe he just didn’t care.

But it still disturbed her that he cared so less. And she wanted to feel nothing. Nothing with respect to him. And she needed time to be immune from him before going back to the hotel where she would have to face him inevitably, sooner or later.

That’s when Alice came up with the idea of a small trip for three of them and Chrissy had thought it to be fitting perfectly with her heart’s plans.

And so the Smith ladies decided to go Bath, a small Georgian city near London where they had gone many years back on a vacation and had beautiful memories of the place. Mrs Smith’s distant aunt lived there and was one of the very few relatives who had not turned their back on the little girls when their father had expired.

Though not very well to do herself, Betty Granny had always been very kind to them. She and Chrissy had always got along well and that’s the reason Chrissy readily agreed for the Bath trip.

She called Swaroski House to inform about her leave extension. Mr. Swaroski was not in office and one of his manager received her call. She was not sure if she needed his approval before going ahead with her leave plans but since the manager had no clue on when Mr. Swaroski was expected back, she thought she had done her duty and there wasn’t much else that she could have done.

He would anyways be busy with one of his business deals and wouldn’t be affected by her absence. For all she knew, he would not even notice it.

Then she called Linda and informed her of her plans as well. Linda was quite worried for her and as a friend, she wanted Chrissy to rest. When Chrissy quickly

explained that she was feeling much better, Linda was very happy with Chrissy’s recovery and wished her well for the holidays.

Chrissy also called Mrs. Clark and said she was doing well now but skipped speaking about her trip. For some reasons, she felt it was best for less number of people to know about her plans.

That done, she packed her bags along with her sister and mother and Smith ladies were ready for their trip. Next day morning, they took a train from the Paddington and reached Bath in two hours. From the train station, they took a bus to get to Betty Granny’s place. It was the early April, so the weather was quite nice and bright by the time they reached the small house in the beautiful country side.

Betty Granny was delighted to receive them. It was more than four years since she last saw them during their father’s funeral. She expressed her pleasure by telling them how beautiful both the girls had turned out to be. Chrissy smiled but she knew her Granny was being sweet like always.

She took them inside her home and they all settled in the cosy little living room. It was wonderful to be away from the hustle and bustle of London. Chrissy was glad to leave behind her professional demeanour and be her natural self in the homely surroundings.

They spent the day at leisure, catching up with each other’s lives. Though quite senior in age, Granny Betty loved to talk and she had ample stories to share with the Smith ladies; all that was happening in the extended families and their cousins and their cousins. It was quite entertaining actually.

It was even more fun along w

ith Chrissy’s favourite desert, apple pie. Granny knew Chrissy was extremely fond of it. After her husband had expired ten years back, she had not prepared deserts for anyone, except the times when Smith daughters would visit her.

She could sense a calmness in Chrissy which brought her peace and that was the reason she always welcomed Chrissy and her sister Alice. After a day spent well in her company, she tucked them in beds quite early. Chrissy and Alice had planned

to go for a city tour next day with their mother, visiting the various historical and monumental sites of the city.

Next day Chrissy, Alice and Mrs Smith got ready quickly and set out to explore the city. Granny had packed them some sandwiches for the day. They had not planned too see many places, knowing Mrs. Smith would not be too comfortable with a highly packed itinerary. They set on foot and started with the famous Bath Abbey.

The Abbey Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, commonly known as Bath Abbey, was an Anglican parish church existing since hundreds of years. The church was constructed in beautiful Victoria Gothic architecture and was very peaceful.

Ladies spent good time in going round the church and did the bell tower tour which though a bit tiring, especially for Mrs. Smith, but was loved by all of them.

By afternoon, they reached the famous Roman Baths. After grabbing a quick lunch at a nearby patisserie, they went inside the ancient ruins of Roman Baths. Some of them still flow with thermal spring water. Mrs. Smith was glad she could make it here but all the walking was catching up with her.

Going to a bench in the side gallery, she decided to take a break from the tour. Chrissy and Alice wanted to stay with her but she insisted that they both see the place first and not be hassled because of her. After some cajoling, the girls agreed to be back with her soon and went further towards the museum section.

Chrissy enjoyed seeing the Roman artefacts set across the place. They told the story of an era gone by. A majestic history of the Roman Empire and their traditions.

She wondered what it would be to live in that era, understand their culture and experience the roman baths like they did. Were these places open to commoner like her or were they meant for royals only like…. She stopped herself from thinking any further.

She was aghast at the chain of her thought process. Why would she go back to thinking about him at this place of all the places in the world? Did she really want to know how he would look like in Roman era? She chided herself internally and pushed all his thoughts out of her mind, moving to the next section.

It was only then that she realized that Alice was not with her. She turned around to look for Alice but what met her eyes was the last thing she could have imagined in the world.

Standing just inside the entrance of that section was Nikloi Swaroski. He was dressed impeccably in one of his black suits and was looking stunning as usual. There were two middle aged guys standing next two in similar black suits but nowhere close to being as handsome as him. It was much later that she noticed, one of those men was Steven Alexander.

But at that moment her legs were rooted on the spot and eyes were fixed on that hard chiselled face that had no expression on it.

Too many thoughts were flowing through her head while her body had frozen. What can he possibly be doing here of all the places? Was he following her or was it just a coincidence? And what were those other men doing with him? They seemed to be showing him something but it was difficult to understand what they were talking.

As if sensing her stare, suddenly he turned his head and lifted his eyes in her direction. There was quick flicker in his eyes in which Chrissy was not sure what she saw.. Surprise? Recognition? Shock? A fleeting gladness? But whatever it was, it was quickly covered with.. what? Anger? Rage? Disapproval?

She was slightly hurt noticing his disapproval but for the life of her, she couldn’t turn her eyes away. Neither could she walk herself ou

t of the museum.

She kept watching and wondering if this was real or her mind was playing with her.

Few minutes back she was thinking about him in the Roman era and looked as if her mind had conjure him up from imagination to reality, though, thankfully not dressed like those in the roman days.

Standing at the same spot, she saw him walking towards her in long strides and stop right in front of her.

He said, “What are you doing here?”

She could almost sizzle under his scorching gaze but still couldn’t find her voice.

When she didn’t answer him, he said, coming further closer to her, “I asked you a question, Ms. Smith. What are you doing here?”

His voice had gone softer but she could feel his anger just below the surface. She couldn’t understand why he would be so angry. Didn’t they agree last time that they shouldn’t be concerned with each other? That remembrance also brought the memory of her night at his room.

She was annoyed with his behaviour but more so with herself that in spite of that she was still affected by him. She couldn’t let him control her like this. Taking a step back, she created some space between them to gain her control back. She knew he would not leave her in peace, till she answered him, so she replied, “I was here to see the Roman Baths”.

He narrowed his eyes further and said, “I can see that. What I am asking is why? I was told you have taken sick leave but instead I see you here! Visiting Roman Baths, as if you are on a vacation!”

“But, I am on a vacation”, she managed to speak in spite of if his obvious displeasure.

“And who gave you the permission to be on a vacation? He continued to grill her in the middle of the museum. Chrissy felt exasperated with the conversation. Why did she need anyone’s permission to be on a vacation with her family, she wondered.

But she could see there was no point in asking him that. She also knew that he was not going to let go so easily.

She quickly glanced around the room to see if her sister was around. She didn’t want her family to see him or any of his reaction. They would be shocked if they found out how he treated her and she didn’t want them any distress because of her. It was best to tell him what he wanted to know and then get out of here.

She said, “I had called Swaroski House and informed them about extending my leave for another one week. I was told that you were not in office and they didn’t know when you would be back. So I left the message that I would be back at the Hotel by next week”.

“I never got any message”, he said.

She didn’t know what to say to that. Again her eyes went around looking for her sister or mother, thinking if she could excuse herself without appearing impolite. His eyes followed hers around the room and as if reading her mind, he asked, “Who are you with on this vacation?”

She hesitated, not knowing how to evade the question. She didn’t want him to know about her family. “I.. I am..”, she stammered.

He cut her in between, “So, I was right about you. You are here with…” but before he could complete what he was about to say, a loud voice stopped him.

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Story_Continues