What Dreams Are Made Of: Episode 45

#Episode_45

Though Chrissy was affected by the sudden news of Nikloi’s marriage and had a troubled night, the next morning was uneventful. If Mrs Smith noticed her daughter to be restless and disturbed, she didn’t ask her any question. She was an understanding soul and didn’t want to cause stress by asking questions Chrissy obviously didn’t want to answer. So, she decided it was better to give her daughter the time she needed. When it was right, she would herself share.

Being her mother, she already knew that her daughter’s troubles involved a man and it wasn’t difficult to guess who the man in question was. In all these years, there was only one man who had come to their place. And after meeting Nikloi, she was actually quite satisfied. Her daughter had been busy with responsibilities since a very young age and hence she was preoccupied most of the times to

recognize her own emotions but mother’s instinct was never wrong. So she had known and stayed silent for her daughter to experience it without any influence from her.

But when everything had fallen and her daughter had been heartbroken, it had taken everything Mrs Smith got to reach out and pull her frail daughter in her arms. Like everything else, her daughter had experienced and learnt the dark side of the emotion called love very quickly. And like always she had kept it all inside, never letting her mother know any of her pains.

But Mrs Smith knew Chrissy was capable of taking her decisions. She had been practically taking decision for the entire family since she was eighteen. So while it was painful, deep down Mrs Smith had been proud of her daughter and the way she acted in face of the heartache. And she accepted all her decisions. Her decision to move away from London, to start life all over again, and even her way of dealing with the pain on her own, Mrs Smith had accepted it all. That was the least she thought she could do to support her daughter.

Mrs Smith had really liked Nikloi Swaroski but when Chrissy decided to move on, Mrs Smith had stood right behind her, supporting her judgement completely. She would have been happy if things would have worked out between the two of them, but she knew Chrissy would never take a decision in a hurry. If they weren’t together, then maybe that’s how it was meant to be.

It had taken some time to get used to their new life but both mother and daughter had persevered silently. With Chrissy getting a decent job at the publication house, things had started to look up again. Chrissy had started enjoying her work. Alice would catch up with them once every month. And even though their hands were a little tied as compared to the time she was working at Swaroski hotels, they were doing fine as a family.

So seeing Chrissy edgy that morning was a bit of concern for Mrs Smith and she hoped that everything would be back to normal in her elder daughter’s life soon.

Not being aware of her mother’s knowledge, Chrissy had continued to manage her pain all by herself but the news of Nikloi and Susan’s marriage had been quite disturbing. She wanted to ignore it, forget everything about them but the images of two of them laughing, dancing, travelling and kissing together were always on her mind.

In the end, she had decided to step out and go to the garden to ease her pain. May be fresh air would help her think differently. She chose to go to Delapre Abbey, which was at some distance from her place but it was a place known to be not too crowded. She needed the peace and solitude. Plus she had all the time in her hands.

She walked along the silent path in the Delapre Abbey leading upto the neo-classical mansion. She liked the stillness of the place. It was known to be not heavily visited by many people because there were some stories about the place being spooky but Chrissy didn’t believe in it. She knew there were enough scoundrels on the earth itself instead of being in afterlife, etc. She went across the main building, crossed t

he ornamental rock and water gardens, finally reaching the beautiful lake. Settling on the ground, she watched the clean blue water and wondered if her life would ever be as calm and serene.

She was still lost in her thoughts when there was rustling of leaves behind her and she turned to find Jake Tilly standing there.

She was completely shocked to see him there. She had not seen him much after that hateful meeting at her old shop where he had come to get it vacated. He had been part of some of the meetings but mostly his work was at Swaroski House. And so she had hardly interacted with him during her hotel days. And she had been happy with that arrangement.

Before she could ask him what he was doing there, he surprised her further by his next words, “Ms Smith. I am glad I found you here. Please come with me immediately.”

“What is it about, Mr Tilly? Where do you want me to go? She asked perplexed.

“There has been a terrible accident Ms Smith. Mr Swaroski is admitted to the hospital”, he responded hurriedly.

Chrissy felt as if someone had pulled the ground she was standing on. Nikloi is in hospital…!

“What happened to him? Where is he? How did the accident happen?”

There was a flurry of questions from her. She was scared for him and she wanted to be with him.

“Mr Swaroski is quite serious. He needs surgery but he is asking for you. Please do not waste any time and come with me”, he replied.

Chrissy senses were too fazed to understand all of it. She quickly got up and both of them hurried back out. Once in the car, Chrissy suddenly realized that her mother didn’t know of this and would be worried when she didn’t return.

“I didn’t inform my mother. Let me call and inform her that I am on my way to London”, she told Jake but he answered by saying, “No need. I have already informed her”.

Chrissy was surprised with his answer but he quickly added, “I actually met her at

your place before finding you at the Abbey. That’s how I could find you. Now you

mustn’t think of anything else but pray that Mr Swaroski would be well very soon”.

“He needs you”, he added further and Chrissy couldn’t think of anything other than holding Nikloi’s hand in her palms.

She needed to see him, touch him and feel him desperately. Oh

God, let him be alright , she prayed silently. Please do not be so cruel to me.

She didn’t pay any attention to the road they had taken and before long, Jake stopped the car in front of a house. Chrissy quickly got down and rushed to the entrance but then she sensed the error. Something was not right.

She turned to Jake and asked, “Where is this? You said Nikloi is in the hospital.”

“Come in. You will find out everything soon”, he said and pushed Chrissy through the door. Inside the main entrance, Chrissy found her in the middle of a sparsely furnitured dark room. It took her some time to get adjusted to the dim light as compared to outside. There was a chair at the centre of the room with someone seating on it but due to low light, she couldn’t see whom.

She had never liked or trusted Jake Tilly. She had always felt had a negative vibe about him and maintained her distance. But today she got fooled by him. And that’s why she was here in this dark room with him and who else? His boss? Who was behind all this? She wondered.

“What is all this about? Why am I here?” She asked the quiet figure.

“Stop asking questions and get in”, she was further pushed inside by Jake.

“Who are you? What do you want? Where is Nikloi? Please tell me he is alright”, she pleaded again remembering the reason she had come here. If it was a lie, it would mean that Nikloi is not in the hospital. There was no hospital. She was suddenly glad inspite of the grave situation she was in. She could understand she was abducted but she couldn’t understand by who. And how was Jake Tilly involved in all of this?

Too many thoughts were running through her mind when she heard the hideous voice, “There you go again! You and your fake love for Nikloi.

Chrissy’s blood churned in her veins at the sound of that voice.

At the same time, the figu

re stood up from the chair and walked in front of her. Coming directly into the dim light, it stopped just one step away from Chrissy.

Susan Malkovich was staring furiously in her face.

Her dark eyes were filled with malice. But there was something about her expressions that made her look awful. Chrissy had never seen her like this ever before. Even when she had told her to be away from Nikloi, it was not this ugly. But today there was this deep rooted hatred and something more.

“I had told you to be away from Nikloi but you never learnt your lessen. You continued to plague him with your false innocence and virtue” she spit her venom.

“Susan.. wh..what are you saying? I never..”

“Oh stop that act, you bitch! You were no better off than any of those chicks trying to attract Nikloi. They used their body while you used your body and your phoney drama”, Susan cut her in sharply.

“I have to give you that you were different. Nikloi had never bothered about any of those girls no matter how long they been together but you were different. He wouldn’t leave you, wouldn’t forget you. Once you joined the Regency Palace, you had to be in every of his projects”.

“That’s not true..”, Chrissy tried.

“Shut up, you sick piece of filth! I never allowed you to speak”, Susan screamed making Chrissy faltered two steps back.

Coming right into her face, Susan continued dropping the venom through her words. “I told you, Nikloi was mine. Warned you of the dire consequences if you thought or tried otherwise but you never got it, did you?”

She paused to look into her eyes but Chrissy had understood it was not a question. She could see Susan was not in her complete senses. Hatred was oozing out of her skin, but Chrissy also saw a tinge of glee in her eyes. She could understand the hatred but why would Susan be happy in seeing her.

“You were a complete idiot to think I would let you have Nikloi.

You should have learnt your lesson when I poisoned your tea at Aunt Martha’s party or even after I had got you thrown in the sea at the yacht party, but you never did. In fact it had opposite effect, with Nikloi getting closer to you. I remember the way he had held you in his arms and then took you away with him”. Her face was twisted remembering the incident.

Chrissy’s bones were chilled to the core by those words. She had come to know of Susan’s vicious attempts at her life from Richard but hearing her say it to her face was too frightening. She could see Susan had wanted her dead at any cost. And those failures had only made her more upset and violent. And now she had walked right into her hands!

What is going to happen to her?

➖ ➖

Stay tuned for next Episode