What Dreams Are Made Of – Episode 5

#Episode_5

▶

Coming back to the present, Chrissy shivered at the memory. Every time she closed her eyes, she was reminded of those long minutes in his arms. Now that the meeting at his office was through, Chrissy knew better. She had endured his kiss and much more in that meeting.

Once reaching home, she went straight to her bed. She didn’t know what she would do next? There was no way to make him give up her shop, his shop. She wanted to just sleep, hoping that when she woke up it will all be over, like a nightmare gets over in the morning, but sleep had decided to give her a miss that night.

And even though she was scared as hell for the shop, she couldn’t help but think of the way his lips had felt on her own, his hands on her body. She didn’t want to think about it but every now and then she would unconsciously raise her hand to her lips and wonder if they have changed.

Would they reveal that they have been kissed and kissed hard by a man worth being on another planet? A man who didn’t even want to kiss her but still kissed her! A man she wished she had never laid her eyes on!!

She didn’t know when she finally found sleep in her exhaustion but all she remembered, before sleep engulfed her, was a pair of blue eyes watching her darkly, staring at her lips.

➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖

As the number of days for her shop’s existence were reducing, Chrissy’s anxiety levels were increasing. She had still not shared anything at home. She didn’t know how to tell them that they would soon have no shop, no source of income and probably, no home. Even the thought of losing it all made her cringe. She had not cried since the day she had lost her father but now she had strong urge of crying her lungs out thinking w hy was God being so unfair to her?

In spite of those weak moments, she couldn’t sit there and wallow in self-pity. She decided she was not going back to those scum rubbing days where she had lost all hopes of ever have being anything worthy. Owning business, no matter how small, she had recognized the importance of being independent. She didn’t want to go back to taking orders from others, living at their beck and call. But what could she do? She raked her brains to think of a solution.

For few more days, she continued chasing important people, knocking doors, hoping someone would be able to help her. Someone who could lend her a magic wand to save her shop and make that under construction luxury hotel disappear. Better still, make Nikloi Swaroski disappear. But most people she approached never even met her. Few of those who did, told her it was a done deal. There was

no way to stop Nikloi Swaroski from doing what he wanted. The more she found out about him, the more she hated him.

At times she wouldn’t be able to hold herself and tears would roll down her eyes silently during night. She would have preferred to scream out her frustration at least once but she shared her room with her sister. One sound and Alice would have questioned her to death. She would have had to tell her their shop was about to be lost and with that all their dreams of a better life. She didn’t even know if her mother would be able to handle the stress.

More interesting stories for free @ generalloaded.com.

➖

Days were running out and there was still no solution she could think of. Work had started progressing pretty fast at the hotel site couple of blocks away from her shop. She would see it every day while reaching and leaving her shop.

She didn’t see Nikloi at the site again. Most of the other shops had already closed in the complex. Others had notices hanging in front specifying the address of their new place of operation. Except the cafe which, it appeared, was expected to continue till the hotel was full constructed, may be to feed the workers.

Her customers and associates were regularly inquiring where she would be shifting to but she had no answer to such questions. She had not yet s

tarted looking around a new place because she was still hoping her Dreams would be saved. Also because she knew there was no way in hell she could afford a new place in a similar locality with the existing market rates. The luxury hotel plan had ensured that the property prices were soaring sky high. She knew couldn’t afford a new place of her own.

One of those days she reached the shop to see she had new visitors. The moment she saw their dark suits, her heart started beating faster. She recognized she had seen one of them earlier. He was the man with Nikloi Swaroski that morning she had stopped him in front of the café.

The man was in his fifties with a serious look on his face. The other one was not so old but he looked too cunning. There was something about this man which made her feel creepy.

They both stepped into her shop and asked her if she was Christina Smith. When she nodded, the senior guy introduced himself as Steven Alexander and his partner as Jake Tilly. He brought out an envelope from his blazer’s inner pocket and handed over to her while the other guy continued to look around her shop and its belongings with a sly face.

Looking at her puzzled face, Steven’s expressions slightly softened. He said that letter was from the law firm engaged by Nikloi Swaroski for managing the Regiment Estate Hotel affairs.

As per the letter, the date for her eviction was finally fixed and the next Wednesday she would have to hand over the keys to the shop to them.

It was five days away.

She was about to say something, when the other guy, interuppted them. “You should have vacated the shop in the last two months. All this junk would take time to be cleared. Unless you were thinking of just leaving it here for the scrap guys to clear from the debris that this place would be in less than a week’s time,” he spoke to her chidingly.

She had disliked the man before he spoke. Now, she out rightly despised him. He had a tongue as poisonous as a snake.

“You have delivered your letter. Now you may leave. Nobody here asked for your opinion.”

If he was surprised by her curt response, he recovered quickly and went out without another word. She didn’t know where she got that tone from. She had never been so straight forward with anyone, definitely not with those she didn’t like. But then nothing in life was happening like she was used to. So she was trying to do best with what was being thrown at her by the server called life.

She was informed the demolition was planned to be on Friday, exactly one week from then. She could think of turning in early that morning, standing in front of the guys before they could take any step towards her shop, daring them to pull down her shop. She felt like laughing at her own stupid thoughts. The possibility of such antics saving her shop was as much as her becoming the Queen of England, she scolded herself inwardly.

She noticed Steven Alexander was still inside her shop. She was hoping he wouldn’t have something hurtful to say just like his partner. But he surprised, by saying in a soft tone, “There is not much you can do. It would be easier to let go.”

“I can’t. This shop is all I have. I don’t have money or contacts to start all over again. With it gone, I would be back to doing petty jobs with no hope in hell to rise above ever again. And my sister would have to drop out from school. And my mother would lose out better medical treatment for her deteriorating health. The news itself would push her further towards ill health.”

She couldn’t help herself from saying it all out and letting out the heavy burden she had been carrying all alone since the day that eviction notice had first arrived. It was somehow easier to express her troubles to an almost stranger without the guilt of burdening them.

The man came closer and then stopped. He was looking at her face closely. When she felt his continuous gaze, she realized she had said much more than she had intended to, after all the man worked for Nikloi Swaroski. But he appeared very different from Nikloi or that other man, Jake Tilly. He looked ki

nd.

He opened his mouth, as if to say something but then stopped. Few minutes later he said, “Look for another job, Ms Smith. Once Mr Swaroski has set his eyes on anything, he does everything to get it. This hotel has been his dream in spite of owning numerous hotels already. Only he can let your shop be but it would be easier to expect rains in a desert than Mr Swaroski to change his plans”.

With that, he turned around and left her to think about what he said. His words were supposed to frighten her about the way his boss worked, but still they carried awe and admiration for his boss.

Chrissy was confused with his behaviour, as if he was trying to be kind to her, at the same time she was confused about his feelings towards his boss. But she had bigger problems to solve than decipher him or his boss.

She had just five more days to save her shop and the lives of the only two people she loved more than that shop. If she was all by herself, she would have given up

and gone ahead with whatever life had in it for her. But she couldn’t risk them. She couldn’t let their dreams shatter. She couldn’t fail them.

She kept thinking continuously for next two days. The more she thought, the more Steven’s last words kept repeating themselves in her mind. The only one who could save the shop was Nikloi Swaroski.

Much as she hated it, she had to face the reality. He was the owner of that entire area including her shop. And at present, he had the power to do anything in Regiment Estate. So she had no other option but to approach him again and may be request to his kind side to spare her shop, assuming he had a kind side.

Steven had said it was easier to expect rains in desert than for Nikloi to change his plans but then it does rain including in the hottest of desert, even if it is once in hundreds of years. She would make it rain. With that thought, she decided to go Nikloi Corporations once again. She didn’t have any appointment this time but she had to find a way to meet him still.

Story_continues