

Riposte

Riposte

Anshuma Sharma

Copyright © 2016 Anshuma Sharma

All Rights Reserved

Anshuma Sharma asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or any means, including photocopying, recording or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
Foreword

As a beta reader / editor / reviewer the first thing that always strikes to me about a story is its characters. Anshuma's Amanda was one such character which made me say WOW even before the first page was over.

Amanda struck a chord with me somewhere deep within because when I look back at it I see that each one of us has that strength and firm determination hidden inside. By saying this I am not implying that we need to face what she faced to bring that strength out. I wish no woman on earth ever goes through that ordeal but yes whenever faced by a storm a woman always has a hidden reserve from where she keeps drawing strength in such turbulent times. Amanda is truly an inspiration.

Anshuma's book Riposte comes across as a refreshing change from all the campus romances that are flooding the market these days. Riposte, the name which in itself means retort, comeback or fight back is a story of Amanda who fights back against everything that tries to hold her down. In this book, the author has magically told a love story without spelling it out explicitly anywhere and that is what makes this book so special. If you are going to read it expecting it to be a typical love story of a girl-meet-a-boy and they lived happily ever after, let me warn you beforehand you will not find any such thing!

The love story depicted in this book is the love that one has for their own self and for life, the love that makes you stand tall and face everything that life brings your way with a smile, the love that ensures you hold your head high under any circumstances. The love that makes you LIVE because giving up is never an option in life.

Not making debut authors try such genres in their first book and this goes on to show how different is Anshuma. Her writing has soul of its own perhaps that explains how she brings her stories to life.Though there are quite a few characters in the book they all have very clearly defined roles and add matter to the subject justifying their existence. The narrative neatly balance and well-proportioned making it a perfectly enjoyable read.

Riposte for me is a peep into the so-called society we live in where we are surrounded by two types of people – one who lacks love and one who has abundant love. It is this one quality that differentiates us from one another. This book is a reminder that if in life you have good friends you can win the worst battles together. Lastly this book is symbol of hope, it symbolizes that even the darkest night has an end.

Namrata (Privy Trifles)  
Author/Editor/Blogger/Beta Reader

Acknowledgement

_I wish to personally thank the following people for their contributions to my inspiration and knowledge and other help while writing this book:_

Abhishek Tripathi : You know how there is that person who will stay with you, hold your hand and just stay when bad things happen. I always knew that you will be there; holding my hand and just being there and that would make all the difference in the world. This is my way to tell you how much you mean to me. Thank you for your constant care and support without you coming this far was not possible.

**Ankit Gupta 'Aseer':** You know there are those people who are just like you? So much that you don't even think you'll like them? You were one of those people. It's a wonder we even tolerated each other. You're a major reason why I've retained most of my sanity. Thank you Best friend, I don't know what I have done without you.

**Sharda Singh:** The two of us. We don't make sense. We never did. You are the best roommate one could ever have.

**Shefalii Dadhich:** Shefalii With double 'I' You are love. You are funny, crazy and yes you are LOVE (in capitals)

**Utkarsh Singh:** Thank you for all the laughs and silly talks (Jilleilahi).

**Shilpa Bhowmick :** Thanks you for always being with me.

**Namrata Ma'am (Privy Trifles):** Thank you for all the proof reading, guidance, support and your time.

**Sunidhi Jain :** Thank you so much you little talented girl for designing the cover page of this book.

**Harpreet Makkar :** Thank You Iron Man for each and everything you did for me.

_And last but not the least Thank you to the Family members without their contributions and support this book would not have been written:_

Hi Mummy: Thank you for all the love, care and support. You are the strongest and most beautiful lady. I love you.

Aakarsh: Yo Bro! You are the best brother. You are wonderful, just the way you are. I love you to the moon and back.

Parth Shukla: Hey, you little brother you are the gift that cherish my life with your presence. Thank you for everything.

_I would also like to show my sincere gratitude to my readers._ _*_ _HAPPY READING*_

Dedicated to:

### Anjali Pandey.

### She doesn't even know that she's art.

### She will hold you & flowers will grow on the graves inside your chest & you will never stop writing about this girl who's just like spring.

"Do you agree or not, that it was dark and you may have been partially drunk, hence not recognised the oppressor's face?" Was the demanding question from the defendant's side that hit her, while rough images brutally tore into her memories once again.

Shutting her eyes, she pictured that fateful night, and yes, the face was clear in her eyes, her head, as she had tried to resist with all her might, of course she remembered his face. Who wouldn't? Who the hell wouldn't remember? And she wanted to scream out, shout out in front of everybody, and curse them for not believing her, for questioning the truth! She wanted to strangle the lawyer in front of her with her bare hands, but even worse, she wanted to kill that guy who sat with so much ease at the table, glancing at her with victorious eyes, a smirk playing about on his face.

She glanced back at the questioner, who was still waiting for her answer, and couldn't help but let few tears run down her cheeks, when her throat couldn't manage to form the words.

"Miss Wade. Tears are the sign of weakness." The man's voice had toned down, but ever so slightly. She could still feel his words lashing in front of her face teasingly, injuring her more deeply. May I suggest that it's because you've finally realized that this was a huge mistake? That either, you've accused the wrong person or brought to court something that never happened?" He chose his words well, she noticed.

"It happened!" She found herself croaking out half in fury, half in utter disbelief that this person in front of her, who didn't even know her, was paid to insult her over and over again, and he did pretty darn good job of it!

"Are you a hundred percent sure?" The lawyer's smooth voice sifted through the air, leaving her speechless, while those horrifying images in her mind became more frequent, forcing her to break down into tears. She wanted to tear her heart out, tear her skin off herself, because it had his imprints on it. His dirty, filthy and disgusting touches all around her body, while in vain she had tried to free herself.

"Your honour, the opposition is just terrorizing the victim." Her lawyer spoke up. And she glanced gratefully at him, for stepping in.

"Am I really? I merely asked a few questions to be clear. I'm sorry if that upset the court, or..." his eyes flickered tauntingly at the woman in the witness box, who couldn't make another effort to answer any of his questions. "Miss Aamanda Wade." His face straightened out again. "The mere fact that she is unable to answer any of my questions, your honour, proves that she may have been unsure of what really happened. Her hesitancy also suggests that she might have made a misguided accusation to my client, Mr Sahil Verma, because, your Honour, Mr Verma is a rich guy and it's in most women's minds to trap these sorts of fellow. Therefore, I stand by my client's claim that he is not guilty of raping Miss Aamanda Wade. I rest my case."

"Thank you Mr Singh. Mr Agarwal, would you like to cross examine the witness?"

"Not this time, your honour." Was the curt reply from Aamanda's attorney, Rohan Agarwal.

The judge and the jury abandoned the court room and one after another went into an adjoining room. They returned in half an hour and after a good five minutes, while they all settled down, the judge said.

"Defensive evidence has been heard and taken into consideration. The case will be resumed on this day, in five weeks' time. The court may disperse."

Aamanda shut her eyes in fury, as she clenched the rails of the witness box tight, so tight that her knuckles slowly lost their entire colour. She had waited, waited a good six months for the trial to begin, and now the days just kept extending. Tears of frustration, of injustice and plain hurt were streaming down her cheeks, while she did all she could to not sob out loud.

"Aamanda!" She heard her best friend's voice float to her ears and pretty soon, warm arms engulfed her into themselves. Turning her head inside Aaliyah's shoulder, she let out all her sobs, while Aaliyah's eyes tightened and her own tears streamed down her face after being witness to everything.

"Aamanda, please keep yourself under control." Rohan said, caringly, not paying any heed to the opposition, who looked like he was about to make his way forward.

"I know I've got to, I know..." she whispered, and squeezed her eyes shut. Slowly but steadily, she regained hold of herself and every bit of it took the last minute strength and courage that remained inside her. Just as she was about to exit the room, with her two best friends, one being a lawyer, beside her, the silk voice that had berated her for the past hour, interrupted their thoughts causing them to stop in their tracks.

"Miss Wade," Mr Singh said, and Aamanda was forced to turn around and look at his handsome profile right in front of her. His eyes had a calm sea of nothingness inside them, but she took her time in trying to study those blues to read what was behind that mask she was so sure he had put on.

"Sorry to come down on you harshly. I'm just doing my job; Nothing personal." He stated, smiling genuinely at her. She looked around to see the court empty, concluding that Sahil had already left the room.

Rohan and Aaliyah were spitting fire at the nerve and words of the guy who had a cool attitude about him, but just as they were about to come and help Aamanda, she put a hand up to stop them. Being a woman, she had a lot of internal strength, a hell lot. But right now, she was at one of her weakest moments. She had given her everything for this moment, everything! All for what? To see it all fall apart? To see that bastard in the hospital, roaming around as though nothing had happened? To see him Scott free, after giving her a lifetime of memories that will always scald and burn her future? Her eyes rolled down again at those thoughts, but she still looked back at the lawyer with unwavering gaze and could tell, he was impressed by her courage.

"Mr..." she hesitated, but he filled it in for her quickly.

"Singh, but you can call me Arjun."

She swallowed. There was so much she wanted to say! So much she wanted to do. Like kill him on the spot! Slap him and force him to understand the meaning of rape. It wasn't just the possession of someone's body. It was a bloody disgusting actand it is against the nature of humanity! It was something that ripped a person's soul apart! It snatched away every reason for them to be happy! That was what Aamanda felt like. That was what she wanted to explain to this guy, Arjun. Sahil had snatched her life away from her! And the one chance she was getting at justice, Arjun was trampling it down with his own feet? The one chance she had waited for, was all coming to nothing? Arjun Singh could be one of the best lawyers in the country! Obviously, Sahil Verma with his money would take nothing but the best. But how, how could even the best lawyer defy the truth? How could he stand there and defend a guy who was guilty of ruining her life, then say it was nothing personal? Her mouth opened to give him all that, but instead, the words that came out were,

"Mr Singh, I have nothing to say to you."

She took one last look in his astonished eyes and it satisfied her to know she had surprised him, caught him unaware. He was probably expecting a huge outburst, probably her trying to slam her fists against his chest, threaten to kill him too, but calmly, all she did was turn and walk away, leading her friends out of this God forsaken place, where things were rarely, if ever, set right. She hadn't even bothered calling him by his first name as he suggested. And being a lawyer, he always analysed these littlest things in people. The use of his second name, and the respecting 'Mr' in front of it, showed she wanted to keep distance from him. As though he was the reason she had gone through such an ordeal. But in some way, by supporting Sahil, wasn't he?

Arjun sighed as these thoughts clouded up his mind and ran a hand through his hair. He actually meant it when he said 'nothing personal'. He wanted to get rid of all the guilt! But her eyes, everything about them screamed constantly that he was a heartless, awful person. And this constant blow to his self-esteem did not strengthen his resolve to win the case at all. In fact, it made him bitter and ashamed of himself. Shaking every little feeling out, he proceeded to walk into the sunshine. They had five weeks before the next hearing, which gave him enough time to rest and party for a week, maybe two, before getting down to more work, look for more evidences. Not that there were many evidences, it was basically a woman's word against a man's. However, the court nearly always favoured the women.

"No! Please...!" She screamed and wailed, in the shadowy room, fighting with all her might, but the figure wouldn't stop. "Sahil leave me!!" her tears were useless, and so was all her resistance, everything she tried to do failed! The door was locked, the room was dark, and she kept bumping and crashing into every single thing. His hands were now gripping her tight, while every single inch of her body was screaming loud to get out of that hold. Nothing helped.

SMACK! One hard slap across her face threw her down, onto the ground with such force, that she heard the slam of her back against the wall, even before the pain started shooting through her body, even before she finally gave up.

Aamanda's eyes flew open on the pillow. Images of her dream and reality kept flashing in her mind, while she shut her eyes tight to try and bury everything behind her. Why had she

given up? Didn't she have that last ounce of strength in her, to fight back? It had been over six months since that incident, and not one night had Aamanda managed to put herself in deep, calm sleep, unless she took those pills. Swallowing thickly, she sat up and reached out for the jug of water on her bedside table, her mind constantly haunting her about that one night. Her trembling fingers let the jug slipped from her hand and crash onto the floor, making an ear splitting sound in what seemed like the dead of the night.

Predictably, she heard footsteps rush into her room soon enough, and the bright light that switched on almost blinded her for a moment!

"Thank God! you're alright, Ammy." Aaliyah's shaky voice came through the doorway. "Don't worry about that, I'll do something about it in the morning." She motioned to the broken glass as she made her way across the room.

"I'm sorry, Aaliyah..." She managed to whisper.

"Have you lost it?" Aaliyah replied. "What are you saying sorry for? And look at you. You're sweating so much. Was it the same dream?" She asked in a quiet voice.

All Aamanda could do was nod once.

Aaliyah shut her eyes tight to prevent herself from tearing up. No matter how much she had cried for her best friend, no matter how much she had insulted, cursed, almost beaten up Sahil, nothing took back what he had done. And nothing would. She held Aamanda's hand, and warmed it up, noticing how it had almost frozen. Was it really because of the weather, or because there had been lack of blood supply to it?

"Why don't you try and sleep again?" She whispered. "I'm just next door with Rohan. Please don't worry about anything."

It took everything for Aaliyah to not burst into tears every time this happened. She got up, fetched Aamanda a glass of water, and handed her a bottle of pills.

"Here. I think it's best if you have them tonight." Aaliyah muttered, knowing that was a sign of weakness. She had sworn to stop Aamanda from having sleeping pills every night, but how could she help it when she saw her in this condition? How could she stop herself from trying to give her best friend some sleep, which she desperately needed? Heck how could she doze off peacefully when Aamanda couldn't even close her eyes? "We're always there for you alright? Both, Rohan and I. You know that."

Aamanda smiled. Of course she knew that. Rohan, Aaliyah and Aamanda had been together ever since she could remember! Ever since primary school, back in India. Engaged at the age of twenty one, Rohan and Aaliyah had decided to shift to Leicester, UK, but they couldn't leave without Aamanda. So she tagged along, and then followed the five most amazing years of her life. Until that fateful day. And from the day she turned up at their house, in such a filthy condition, they vowed to always stick together and never break up. Recently, the couple had just celebrated their third wedding anniversary.

"I'll be fine Aaliyah. Thank you." Aamanda whispered, as she slid into her bed and pulled the covers over herself after swallowing one pill. She closed her eyes, but Aaliyah did not budge; instead sat on the bed and caressed Aamanda's hair, until she was sure her friend had slipped into a deep slumber. Finally, after tucking her in and before leaving the room, she contemplated whether she should switch off the lights and shut the door. Doing neither, she walked back to her room and saw Rohan sitting up in his bed, trying to squeeze out every single detail from the 'Laws of Criminology' book.

"Is she alright?" he asked when he saw Aamanda.

"Yeah, she's fine." Aaliyah replied, slipping into bed. "Same dream. Rohan," she looked up earnestly at him. "We have to win this no matter what. I can't see her stuck like this for the rest of her life. If we win, at least she'll be able to move on."

"I know Aaliyah. Neither can I." He put aside the book, turned off the bedside lamp. "It's past two am. Let's get some sleep." He whispered, pushing himself under the covers and hugging in his wife.

"Rohan, do we have a chance?" she asked him in the dark.

"We should. But that lawyer is too bloody darn good." Rohan furiously muttered, clenching his jaw. "And to match his steps, we need to advance ours. But he's managed to block so many paths, that it's almost become impossible."

"So now?"

"Now we just keep going and not give up. As long as Ammy doesn't give up, I won't give up. I'll do everything I can to make sure that bastard is put behind bars."

"And I'll pray for that." She turned around and held Rohan close to herself, waiting for sleep to engulf her.

* * * * * * *

"That will be five pounds fifteen, Steve. Do you want me to help you with that?" Arjun looked up from his magazine at that familiar voice, as he stood by the cashier, behind his trolley, waiting for his turn. Well, if he had only known he would bump into her like this!

"No thanks Darling, I need to work my muscles up a bit." The old man smile at her as he proceeded to pack his things. "You must have been here since morning. Aren't you tired?"

"Exhausted, actually. But my shift will be over in five minutes." Aamanda replied, smiling at him. "Alright then, have a good weekend and see you next week."

"It's a date." Steve winked at her. "You too." He turned and hobbled out of the supermarket on his stick.

Aamanda turned to see a huge trolley with things piled up to the top. Groaning inwardly, she looked at this person who gave her the impression that he was out to buy the whole supermarket, but momentarily stopped breathing when she saw his face. Arjun Singh, the lawyer.

"Well, well, well, fancy seeing you here, Miss Wade." His velvety voice floated over the counter and she felt her heart beat pick up pace, as though he was going to attack her in front of all the customers. His last trade at the court a couple of days ago was still etched clearly into her mind, as she tried not to look at him. Without replying, she looked back at the trolley and forced her muscles to start on her work.

Few groceries, wine bottles, beer bottles, plastics cups, plates etc. Someone was gearing up for a party and she had a horrible feeling that a certain Sahil Verma would be on this guest list. Silently, however, she continued passing each object under the scanner while he looked at her closely.

"May I know how much it is?" he asked her, forcing her to look up and give him one of her dirtiest glare. As though he couldn't see the numbers on display! After a while, she answered in a steady voice.

"Forty twenty nine."

"Will cash be fine?" he asked, and she nodded curtly. The moment the money hit her palm, she snatched her hand away and handed him the change, careful not to touch him as though she'll burn or catch a disease. That made Arjun frown slightly, but nevertheless, he packed the things in his bags and headed off.

Aamanda sighed in relief when his back turned and he walked out of the store. When she looked down at her hands, she saw them shaking, with fear, was it? It was weak of her, and she knew it. But she couldn't help it! The moment she had seen him, heard his mocking tone, everything came rushing back, and she hated how she couldn't control her thoughts. But then again, had she been able to do that, she wouldn't have had those God forsaken dreams over and over again would she?

"Ammy?" A hand on her shoulder shocked her back to the present surroundings.

"Whoops, sorry to startle you." Robin's smiling blue eyes caught her attention, while her long nose twinkled in the light and her short hair bobbed above her shoulders.

"No it's cool. Ready?" Aamanda asked cheerfully.

"As ever. Bring it on." Robin replied, and took over.

Arjun saw Aamanda step out of the supermarket, put on her gloves and head off to the nearest cafe while he put his shopping bags in his car. Determined not to lose her, he followed her through the crowd in the city centre, keeping sight of the maroonish coat which hugged her figure. Why he did that, he had no idea. But something was nagging him to ever since he set his eyes on her in the supermarket.

"May I have a seat?"

Aamanda didn't need to look up to recognize the owner of that voice. What was he here to do? Why was he following her like that? But it sounded as though he would not stop trying to talk to her until she gave in. This thought made her want to lash out at him, but she kept her cool, and nodded once.

"So, how are you?" he asked softly, trying to make eye contact with her. She however, thanked the waiter who brought her coffee for her at that point, and took a sip before answering back.

"Weird seeing you care." Was her short, cold reply.

"You'd be surprised. I'm just curious to see you work at the supermarket." He pursued, hoping this would get him somewhere. He had no idea why he was trying so hard, when clearly... she didn't even want to see his face.

"Why?" she asked back curtly. "It's a great base for you to make fun of me in the court room again? Wouldn't it make the best introductory statement that I work at a supermarket store,

for your 'Let's Humiliate Aamanda' speech which you manage to form and express so well in front of everybody?"

Ouch, he thought, as her bitter words stung somewhere. He wasn't as heartless a person as she made him out to be. He really wasn't, but this was his job! He was trained to do that. However, she did have a point. He had gone down so harshly on her a few days back. And he did admit it to himself when he thought back to that day, but a lawyer should never lose his cool. He should never think or get emotional. It just wasn't in one's nature. So, despite the prickling feeling her words had on him, he curtained it all.

"Firstly, thank you for saying I do my job well. Secondly. I wouldn't want to mention our meeting in the court. It might make things uglier."

"Then why are you so hell bent on talking to me?" she asked sharply, resuming the connection between their eyes. "Isn't it best to leave everything pretty and beautiful for everyone to see?" The double meaning behind her words once again caught him off guard. There was something inside this woman, something that longed to be released, and something that demanded fairness. And he hated to admit what he knew.

"Because let's see. I get very bored by myself and I need someone to talk to. Plus, since I'm not too familiar with this area, coz I am from the capital, maybe you could help me."

She sipped her coffee and chose to ignore that answer, breaking the bond between them. Arjun frowned, wondering why this was going so wrong. He wanted to apologize, he wanted answers. Especially from her side, ever since he saw her working at the counter. But she was making this so much harder for him than necessary!

"Why do you care?" she asked directly. "So you can falsely prove it to everyone during the second hearing that I sold myself? That I need more money so I trapped Sahil in my so called charms?" Her sarcastic tone burned. But once again, he did not show it.

"Just genuine curiosity."

"I don't believe it."

"I wouldn't lie to you."

"I don't believe that either."

"And I will get what exactly by lying?" His quick answer came back and she pursued her lips, as though thinking of an answer. When she finally couldn't anymore, she looked back at him, while he refused to let his gaze wander away, changed her sight and cleared her throat.

"Fine then. If you really want to poke your nose. I can't work under the same roof as the man who..." she faltered in her sentence, and glanced up at him, but his eyes did not suggest anything as he kept looking steadily at her.

"Who... Who raped me."

Coming to terms with it was difficult. Being able to say it out loud was even more difficult. And she had finally managed it! How? When it had taken her the last five months to admit it to herself. How had she just suddenly gathered so much strength, so much will power to be able to say it out loud? But as people say that voicing it makes it lighter, she wasn't too sure at the moment. Especially not when she could feel his disgusting touch crawl over her body like unwanted snakes, which made her clench her jaw in sheer effort to stop try and peel her skin off herself. When Arjun kept staring intently at her, however, she chose to continue, regardless of the torment every word was putting her through.

"But you obviously think otherwise." Arjun's hands twitched slightly uncomfortably, however Aamanda did not notice. "Can't live off your friends for the rest of your life can you? So I needed a job to contribute to some of the expenses at least." Afraid that she might open up in front of him, she stole her eyes and looked away, making her coffee mug the most interesting thing in her life at that particular moment.

He leaned back in his chair slowly. She could mask feelings almost as well as he could! No wonder she had chosen a doctor's degree. Though she probably would have made a fine lawyer. Here, all her straight answers had a hint of pride hidden in them, making him, Arjun Singh, the best lawyer in the country, in total awe of his opposition.

"But why not work in another hospital? Why have you stopped practising?"

She shrugged, wondering whether or not she should answer him. The simple answer was that she was desperate for a small, busy, time consuming job and they were desperate for any sort of employee. So it was an advantage on both sides. Opening her purse, she took out two pounds and left them on the centre plate. The waiter came and took the coins, before she chose to answer his question.

"This is just temporary; I will never stop my practise. There is no way I will stop trying to save people's lives, even when the likes of you try to destroy mine."

With that, she got up and made her way out of the cafeteria, taking care not to look back at his stunned expression. She could feel her insides her trembling. And instead of feeling scared, or nervous, she felt overwhelmed. Overwhelmed that she could answer him back, so directly when he was not in a suit. She managed a small smile for herself while continuing to take each step away from him in what she hoped was a poised, dignified manner.

Arjun kept watching her figure grow smaller, before he decided to change position in his seat. She really was one heck of a woman, he thought to himself. She was strong. She had courage, and he admired that in her. In fact, he admired that in every woman. But the key thing to it all was her determination which kept building every second.

Despite giving her a taste of hell in the courtroom, humiliating her, she had still managed to look him in the eye and not give up. That fearless attitude in her made him want to salute her. And he had a feeling, that even if he dragged her through mud during the second hearing, she would still stand up and challenge him once again, till he was the one who gave up. But somehow, the thought of doing that did not appeal to him at all.

Twisting his blackberry in his hand, Arjun smiled in amusement at the view in front of him. Honestly, if he knew he was going to bump into her everywhere, he might not have taken this case at all! Ever since he'd seen her working at the supermarket, he couldn't help but walk past whenever he could just so he could get a glimpse of her. But seeing her like this was, well, just pure coincidence. He hadn't been able to believe his eyes when he saw the three of them walk into this very restaurant, Aamanda in between Aaliyah and Rohan, smiling occasionally at the jokes that the other two were cracking. She smiled genuinely, even when she had all the right reasons to cry her soul out. Even though this smile of hers, when she was with her friends, came from the bottom of her heart, Arjun could clearly tell, it wasn't whole. Something was missing inside her that made it empty. Something that Arjun hated to admit but had to. Something that his client, who was now strolling in with his hands in his pocket, forty five minutes late, had snatched from her.

Sahil grinned wolfishly as he took a seat opposite Arjun, who sized him up. No wonder he had been rejected by Aamanda a countless times. He just wasn't up to her standards. Yes he had money and he had okayish looks. But he also had a sense of scruffiness and (was it possible to call a guy that?) cheapness which he proudly seemed to display as a badge on himself. Aamanda, on the other hand, was class. Period. She may not be the best dressed, or the best looking, but she knew how to hold herself, present herself, and charm anybody who thought otherwise. No wonder, he found himself thinking.

"You're late." Arjun wasn't smiling as he made eye contact with his client.

"Sorry Mr lawyer. But you know, got caught up at the hospital." Sahil's grin became wider while all Arjun wanted to dearly do at that moment was wipe it straight off, and render his face expressionless.

"I've told you once, Mr Verma and I'll tell you this for the final time. I'm a lawyer, and I can see through lies as clearly as water, so don't," he paused for a moment for emphasis. "Even try." It didn't take particular law skills to conclude what had been happening after noticing the checked shirt, half tucked in, the messed up hair, and hands constantly itching to get back to his I-phone. But mission accomplished. That smirk disappeared from his face in an instant and Arjun turned his attention back to the file that was waiting for him at the edge of the table. They had work to get through, and Sahil became serious as he listened to Arjun intently and answered all of his questions.

Once though, Sahil's gaze flitted across the room, to the trio sitting, having dinner and cracking jokes at the expense of each other. Arjun saw Sahil's eyes blaze with fire, and that scene did not sit down too perfectly within him. Forcing Sahil's attention back to himself, he said a quick,"Ignore them," and continued.

While Arjun was busy writing down a few notes, Sahil excused himself for a bathroom break. Well, he could spare that much time at the moment; though if that took forty five minutes, Arjun wasn't sure his patience could hold for that long. After a full couple of minutes, when he'd finished taking notes, he looked up to resume to his favourite hobby, Aamanda analysing, when he saw Rohan and Muskaan's seats empty and a huge figure blocking his view of Aamanda.

"Sahil." Arjun grit his teeth, and made his way over to the other table, hoping for the best but expecting the worst.

"What do you want, Aamanda?" Sahil whispered furiously, while she stood up, refusing to cower against his rage, her own building up. He was the same guy who had torn her apart.

The same guy because of whom she hadn't been able to sleep well for what seemed like a century. She wanted to hurt him! She wanted to punish him! She wanted to see him behind bars, and hope that would do her good. Her jaws clenched as she refused to answer back to him. There was no way he was getting the satisfaction of what he had managed to do.

"Will you bloody damn answer me, bitch?!" he seethed back, fire spitting out of his mouth.

"And if I don't, what will you do?" her quick answer came out, challenging him, rousing him all the more.

"Listen Miss Aamanda Wade. It was just one fucking night. I wasn't fully aware of everything. For fuck's sake, stop screwing around with my life, and yours for that matter, and bloody get lost!" he seethed.

"You complete bastard!" She whispered back furiously, unable to hide her disgust. "To you it was one night. To me, it was my LIFE! And I won't rest till I see you behind the bars, suffering, like I have been. And you can take my word on that." Aamanda felt tears prick her eyes, but there was no way she was going to let him see that. It would just give him more satisfaction of seeing her break, and she would never do that. Not in a million years! She had so much to express, but words failed her. Everything failed her at the moment! Flashes of that night kept portraying into her minds eyes, and she was sick of them! Sick to the core, and yet she knew that she'd have to live with them forever.

"Look you whore. What do you want now? Just tell me the amount and I'll give it to you right away. Withdraw the case!" he ordered her and she looked up at him aghast, feeling the colour drain from her face, lost for words. Honestly, how low he could stoop, she had already seen, witnessed and experienced. But how low his thoughts could stoop about someone else, it was a first. Pressure building within her, she tried to look for distractions. Nothing came in her view, except probably his lawyer making his way towards them. She

could feel her veins pumping with the unforgivable words Sahil had just uttered. Before she knew it, she looked at him squarely in the eye, rage inflamed in them, clenched her teeth, tensed her muscles, and swung her straight, hardened palm across his cheeks with all the physical strength and force she could muster.

The movement was so quick, yet so slow that the impact left was massive on both, Sahil and Aamanda. The energy from her was such that her whole body turned to the right except her feet, which stood rooted to the spot. She had felt his slight stubble graze across her skin and even though her skin was burning right now, this was probably the best she had felt in quite a while. No, not probably, it was. Like a small bit of a load had been lifted from her heart, almost making her smile. Realization, however, struck all too soon. |This didn't change anything. And it wouldn't, ever.

Sahil's face flew to one side and his body swayed slightly as his mouth dropped open in utmost horror. His cheeks immediately started prickling, then stinging as though someone had wrenched his skin out mercilessly. Feeling blood rush to that side of his face, he looked back up and saw the tiniest glint of satisfaction cross his opponents face for a mere micro second, before the original raging storm replaced it.

"You fucking..."

"Mr Sahil Verma!" Arjun was there, and he could see Sahil ready to raise his hand on her to counter her attack. That was not going to happen. Especially not in his presence. Arjun had witnessed Aamanda slap him, her hand coming in direct contact with his face, and from what he could see, he was sure Sahil's cheeks would throb for quite a while now. Despite himself, he couldn't resist that urge to smile even though he poured water on to the fire that pushed him to almost clap for her! And quickly, he curtained it all once again.

"Miss Wade," Arjun nodded, as Aamanda's eyes directed towards him. For a fleeting moment, he saw the vulnerable, pleading look directed straight at him and felt his heart go out to her. Strong as she was, there was something inside her which hated every single moment of this, right from when it started. "I'm sorry." He whispered to her then turned to Sahil.

"What the fuck do you think you were doing?" his voice was low, so that they didn't attract further attention from the customers who were already staring and pointing after that slight display of violence which had grabbed their interest.

"She..."

"Didn't I tell you to ignore them?" Arjun's muscles were clenched together, in an effort to stop himself from repeating what Aamanda had just done.

"yeah but..."

"Walk out of here, and meet me at my car." The short curt words did not seem to go through Sahil's head.

"Bitch, I will make sure you are destroyed."

"Sahil!" But this time two voices spoke up. Both outraged. One from Arjun and the other came from Aaliyah.

Aaliyah had just entered the scene, shocked to the core to see Arjun furious at Sahil, and Aamanda standing up against both of them.

"Don't forget we are here for her. She might be an orphan, but she's got a family. We are her family. So before you even think of trying to destroy her, you'll have to get through us first." She continued, going to stand in front of her best friend, shielding her from Sahil's dirty glare.

"And you say a word to her, or lay a hand on her ever again, we won't spare you. Remember that Mr Verma." Came Rohan's quiet voice behind Sahil. "I suggest that you leave from here."

Sahil looked at Arjun, who merely raised his eyebrows and shrugged his shoulders, all while giving him a cold glare. Turning on his heel, he stormed out of the restaurant, ignoring everyone's glances and sniggering at his now reddened cheek.

"I'm really sorry." Arjun apologised quietly, and looked at Aamanda, who was now just staring at the table to her side. Aaliyah ignored him, and turned to see if she was okay.

"Mr Singh, it would be best for you to leave too." Rohan's formal voice cut through the thick atmosphere.

"Listen, I didn't think this would happen. I had told Sahil to ignore you guys."

"Yeah, but it did." Aaliyah snapped back. "I don't care if you're only his lawyer; just get out of our sight at the moment. Anything to do with him, we don't want it!"

Arjun sighed, it was obviously pointless trying to apologise to them. The one whose forgiveness for his carelessness he really needed was a silent spectator at the moment.

"Aamanda, please, I'm sorry."

"It's Dr Wade." She spoke in an almost silent voice. "And I think it's best if you leave too."

That cutting, cold, emotionless sound which rang through his ears took some time to be processed by his brain. He hated it. Especially when it was directed at him. Finally, when those words registered themselves, he composed himself and nodded once to Rohan before making his way out of the restaurant to Sahil. Just before he left, however, he looked back to see Aaliyah hug Aamanda once more, who reciprocated with a slight smile. Her eyes searched his, and in that small moment between them, he knew that she didn't blame him for what had just happened. His lips curved as he turned and walked through the door, feeling a million times better than he had in the past five minutes.

"What the fuck was that?" Arjun asked, once he and Sahil were seated in his car still situated outside the restaurant.

"Awwh...shucks. That woman just makes me so mad!" Sahil muttered angrily. But that was not the answer to Arjun's question. Feeling a bolt of fury speed through him, he banged his hand on the steering wheel, startling Sahil, making him almost jump out of his skin.

"Damn it, Mr Verma, I thought I told you to ignore them. You went and picked a fight with her instead?!

"I was just trying to get her to withdraw the case, Arjun."

"It's Mr Singh!" Arjun corrected him. Somehow, his name from a mouth that foul did not suit his ears at all. "Firstly, a rape case cannot be withdrawn, and secondly, I don't know Miss Wade well, but I know she will never even think of it. So what made you?"

"Well, I thought maybe..."

"Do you realize what trouble you could put yourself into because of this small idiocy of yours?" Arjun spat out, unable to control the anger that was pumping right to the tips of his fingers. "Do you have any idea that I could walk out on you right now and you will have no one to save your sorry ass on this case?"

"Hey Mr Lawyer," the stupid grin was etched back onto Sahil's face, which did nothing to improve Arjun's darkening mood. "I'm paying you for this aren't I? And it's good money. And if we win this case, there'll be more won't there?"

Arjun breathed, and waited for a moment before making direct eye contact with his spoilt brat of a client, whom he despised ten times more than he did the first day he met him.

"Mr Verma, let's get one thing clear." His voice was deadly quiet, and Sahil seemed to be on alert mode at once. "I am not your servant, I'm your lawyer. There is nothing in this world that can stop me from leaving you in the middle of this case, not even your father's God damned money. So let's make life easier for both of us. If I tell you to do something, you do it, when and wherever I say. If I tell you to be somewhere at a certain time, make sure you are there at that specific time. If I tell you to call me, then call me. If I tell you to say something, you say it. In short, you go on my orders." Arjun's voice turned more dangerous and deadly than he had ever thought it could. "If I tell you to sit, you sit. If I tell you to run, you run. Walk, you walk. Shut up, you shut up! Don't even breathe..." he paused, letting it sink in as Sahil's eyes widened in terror. "Unless I order you to, otherwise the moment I pack my stuff and resign from this case, there will be nothing, not even your bloody reputation that will stop you from spending a minimum of ten years behind bars. Got that, Mr Verma? Don't fucking think of treating me as your servant boy, or going against me ever again. You need me, not the other way round, do we understand?"

Sahil gulped once, not being able to remove his eyes from Arjun's no matter how much he willed himself to.

"Do we understand, Mr Verma?" Arjun repeated slowly, putting unknown force into each word, until Sahil, positively frightened of the towering monster of words and illusions that had been created in his head, nodded once. "Good. Get out."

And he did not need to say it again, while his client frantically searched for the lock, opened the door, and scrambled out of the car in haste, making sure to bang the door shut, then flinching at Arjun's gaze through the window.

"bastard," Arjun found himself muttering as he forced himself to calm down and put his head back on the leather coated head rest. Sighing inwardly to himself he looked back inside the restaurant, and saw his three oppositions resume to their jolly selves once again. But the one that needed all that happiness was the one least involved in it. "This was for you Aamanda." He whispered, before bringing alive the engine in his car, and driving off.

Only two weeks were remaining for the second hearing, and both Arjun and Rohan were hard at work. Rohan kept going through files and files hoping to see a loophole where he could possibly trap Sahil, but something seemed to always cover up. Sighing in utter frustration, he banged his hand against his office desk. Something had to be wrong somewhere! Sahil could be entrapped easily, if only this Arjun Singh was never his lawyer! Rohan thought back to that evening, where Arjun had apologised for Sahil's behaviour. He knew that somewhere, Arjun was aware that he was defending the wrong person. And he sympathised with Aamanda. But then again, he was doing what he was paid for, which

meant that he wasn't putting his whole heart into it. Then WHERE was that loophole that Rohan kept looking for but couldn't find? He had to find it out. How, was the biggest question.

"I'm going to the Social Care." Aamanda called out, and Rohan immediately got up.

"I'll drop you." He volunteered, and refused to listen to her when she tried to protest. Honestly, he wasn't letting her walk anywhere alone. And especially not at a time like this, where Sahil was still roaming around freely looking for opportunities to ambush her again.

Finally, just after he dropped her off inside and was coming out, to his astonishment, he met none other than the same Arjun Singh he had been despising, at the entrance. What was he doing here?

"Morning" Arjun smiled genuinely. "We do bump into other a bit too much don't we?"

"Too much for my liking." Rohan muttered rudely. He couldn't help it; it was his best friend's life on stake here. And this lawyer, with his flawless skills, was trampling out every reason inside her to live! For that, he would probably never forgive the man in front of him.

"Look, Mr Agarwal, I'm sorry for what happened the other night. I really am." Arjun honestly did not know how to make them believe it. He hadn't intended anything of that sort. Especially not with Aamanda being the victim.

"Tell me something Mr Singh, do you always defend rapists?"

Arjun was taken aback at this question, shock clearly written on his face.

"I'm sorry what?" He managed to ask again, sure that he hadn't heard him well the first time.

"You and I both know the truth. How can you stand up and defend someone who you know is guilty? You never struck me as a bad guy, but I'm quite interested to know how you can do something like this so readily."

Funnily enough, Arjun just smiled once, calmly, and replied,

"Mr Verma wasn't in his right state of mind when he committed the act."

"Even so..." Rohan argued. "How can you?"

"Sahil wasn't in the right state of mind." Arjun repeated once more, casually, as he smiled at an old lady, who was walking past that instant.

"I don't care whether he was in the right state of mind or not! We both know what he did was unforgivable!" Rohan almost shouted, clenching his fists, ready to beat up Arjun, who was doing an extremely good job of getting onto his nerves!

"I'm sorry, but I mean what I say. He wasn't in the right state of his mind, now good day." Arjun said ever so politely and walked inside, leaving a furious Rohan muttering and swearing under his breath.

How could that idiot keep repeating something didn't even half answer his question?! 'Sahil Verma wasn't in his right state of mind'! Obviously he wasn't! Who would be to go around raping girls they're attracted to? It was only when he was in the car, contemplating over their conversation, while driving at a speed of over a hundred km on the highway, did realisation suddenly strike him.

"He wasn't in the right state of mind."

The words roamed around his head, and his mind started kicking back into fifth gear, as he turned around and headed back home.

"Right state of mind."

If what he thought that meant was right, then Rohan had found the biggest hole he couldn't have even dared to hope for! Something which would throw Sahil in prison for a guaranteed seven years, even if he was found not guilty of the horrendous act he had committed. Something that Rohan would use to his advantage, to give that ass maximum imprisonment. And he couldn't help, but thank Arjun in his mind when he finally got home, opened Sahil's files, and confirmed it.

Meanwhile, Aamanda had finished looking over a patient she had personally come to see, after admitting her at the Leicestershire Social Care service herself. The woman was an elderly Asian lady, who diabetic and needed to be looked after. Unfortunately, her son had just left her in the hospital and run away, hoping the UK government would look after her, which they did, however only financially. What the woman needed more was love. So Aamanda vowed to herself to go see her whenever she could, and today was that special day.

"I'm sorry,but I have to go." She told the woman quite wistfully, who in return just smiled back, and grateful for the emotional support this child was giving her.

"ohh, so when will you come back?"

"As soon as possible" She replied smiling. Aaliyah may be here any moment, as the hospital was situated quite close. They would then walk back home together, which in reality took fifteen minutes, but seemed like only two when they were together.

"Wait, lift!" She called, seeing that it was closing, and rushed towards it. There was no way she was climbing down five flights of stairs! The person inside put his foot in between the closing doors, giving Aamanda enough time to get there, while the lift doors opened again. Smiling at her luck, she thanked the man, then turned to look at the third person occupying the large lift. Her face dropped, as her heart picked up pace again.

Arjun smiled nervously at her, but she looked away, not acknowledging it. The tension between them was evident to the guy that had stopped the lift for Aamanda, who looked curiously at them, then shrugged. Arjun sighed. Why did they all hate him so much? And why the hell was it bothering him so much? Why, why wouldn't they understand? It was his frigging job! And true, Aamanda had borne the brunt of everything. For that, he was partially to blame, but he honestly was sorry! How many more times should he say it?

Yet, before he had the chance to contemplate, the lift suddenly jerked and stopped midway. The lights flickered and Arjun could see Aamanda's eyes cloud with a sudden, gripping fear, which set his own blood in his body pumping faster. What was happening?

Darkness enclosed them suddenly. Arjun swore desperately and heard the other guy do the same, but sudden sharp breaths and tightened sobs held his attention.

"No!" she whimpered, as those flashes played in front of her again. That feeling was back, of dirty hands grabbing her, filthy fingernails digging into her flesh, rough, dry lips forcefully parting hers! She heard the rip and tear of her clothes all over again, while the devilish smirk which exposed surprisingly well kept teeth, filled her mind. His heavy, alcohol filled breath filled her nostrils once more, and finally, she let out another sob. It was all happening again! And this time, worse! Tears streaming down her face, she cowered against the edge of the lift until dropping down, trying to stifle each sound she made. Her nails had dug so hard into

her palms that she could feel liquid fill up inside them. Her lips felt numb after biting them for so long, to keep her voice at bay, until she tasted blood. Her eyes shut tight, and only opened when a soft touch on her cheeks filled her senses once more. There was light, and she was looking into a pair of blue, caring and concerned hues, which momentarily wiped out everything in her mind.

"It's ok," a soft voice whispered. "Nothing's happening. I'm here. I won't let anything happen." And she couldn't help but trust this voice, as the warmth shone out from somewhere inside him.

Arjun had almost immediately guessed what was happening the moment he heard the stifled sobs and the fear filled 'no' which escaped from her mouth.

"What's happening?" the other guy in the lift had asked, but his question went ignored as

Arjun searched for a source of light from his pocket. Finally, he switched on the torch in his mobile, and shone it around the lift, only to see Aamanda crouched against the corner, her eyes shut tight while she tried her utmost to remain silent. Quick flowing tears were ripping down her cheeks, one after another and something about that made Arjun guts squelch inside. He needed to help her! But how? He'd done nothing in psychology, and in the little he had, he'd only learnt how to play with an opponent's mind. This was different, but never the less, he went down both knees, making sure the light was on both of them and hesitantly, very hesitantly, lay his fingers extremely lightly on her soft, tender cheeks. At that, her eyes finally opened and he saw a flicker of hope. The vision in front of him blurred slightly, but he forcefully blinked back everything, saying the first words that came to his mind.

The light helped, he figured, as he finally felt her stiff body relax, and her head lean onto his shoulder for support.

"Are you okay?" he whispered as he caressed her hair.

"Is she okay mate?" the man asked, and though Arjun's back was turned to him, he nodded slightly, hoping the message got across. "Wow, nut case. Is she mentally fine?" The man continued and Arjun felt a bolt of fury race through him like lightning speed as he felt Aamanda stiffen.

The lights came back on, and Aamanda suddenly stood up, pulling Arjun along with her, clearly ashamed of what the man had said.

"Look Mister. She's been through a trauma. Don't judge someone before you even know them. Because from what I know, you probably wouldn't be able to last a day in her shoes." Arjun replied coldly, and turned to Aamanda again, who still had her eyes on the floor. He could see a drop of water gleaming on the steel plate below her. Clearly embarrassed at Arjun's harsh words, the man shut up, waiting for the elevator to restart. Arjun on the other hand, turned back to Aamanda, pushed her chin up slightly, only to see her at her most vulnerable state. The helplessness that she had concealed so well finally emancipated and lay bare before him. But he hated seeing it. Bringing up his fingers, he slowly wiped away each tear on her rounded cheeks, and the blood that had clotted up on her lower lip. If her emotions were stark naked in front of him, his weren't covered either. He had such a hard time gulping down the lump that formed in his throat and before he could even think of anything, she pushed herself into him, allowing him to be her pillar.

Her sobs increased, and all her pent up emotions over the past few weeks let themselves out onto his shirt, in the hollow of his neck.

"Sssshhhh..." he found himself consoling her. "You're fine. You're safe." And putting one arm around her waist, and another on her head which stroked her silky locks, he let her remain there for quite some time, ignoring the third party that kept staring at them awkwardly. She hiccupped, but he continued holding her. She fisted his shirt in her hands, but he continued holding her. Once or twice, she let out another sob, sniffing, and he still didn't let go of her.

The lift finally jerked and moved down and even then, he didn't let go of her, nor she of him. There was this odd sense of solace that they both found in each other's presence. While her sobbing came to a stop, she still remained in his hold, feeling protected, cared for, and this one other feeling which she couldn't exactly name or pin point. It was what she had wanted for so long, something she had given up on to such an extent that she had forgotten about it. Now wasn't the time to ponder this, though. Now, she had someone who had taken over when her best friends hadn't been able to. She didn't care who that someone was. He was there for her, and that was all she needed at the moment.

The lift doors opened and the hustling and bustling of people around caught their attention, as they slowly parted unwillingly.

"I..." Aamanda started, slightly nervously, wondering what on earth she was going to say. Instead, she dropped her lashes low, unable to meet his eyes gazing earnestly at her even though he was barely centimetres away from her.

"Come with me." He whispered, and led her out, onto the ground floor. But before she could turn towards the entrance of the building, he turned her complete opposite way and led her to the back door, which led to a small garden. Because of the chilly weather and wind howled behind closed windows that evening, the garden was empty, and he sat her down on the bench, while she wondered what on earth it was he was doing.

"What..."

"Hush. I'll be right back. Please stay here."

Heart beats racing, she frowned in confusion as he left her. Should she stay and wait, or should she just get up and go? Part of her screamed inside, that this was Sahil's lawyer! He was defending the same guy who had made life hell for her! But some part of her protested that he was after all doing his job. He really wasn't a bad person by heart. In fact, from what she had seen, he was quite the opposite. There was something inside that drew her towards him. Something she couldn't pin point. However, before she could fully comprehend the situation, he was back, with a bottle of water.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

Arjun smiled and replied,

"Making sure you don't go out like this."

Once he had opened the bottle of water, he tipped some of out, onto his handkerchief, and brought it closer to her face. Slightly alarmed, her muscles tensed up, forcing her to move back, making him realize what he was doing.

"Sorry." He whispered, and handed her the equipment so she could do it herself. Swallowing, she did so in silence, while he just stared out into the setting sun. When she was done, she poured some water onto her hands, and cleaned the dry blood off, trying her best to remove it from inside her nails. It felt disgusting, but she finally managed it all without saying a word for a full five minutes.

"Thank you."

Her quiet voice brought him back from his thoughts, as he turned to look at her. The colour was rushing back to her face, and he couldn't help but wonder at how beautiful she really was.

"You've still got some, here." he pointed, not daring to have the bliss of touching her again.

She tried wiping it off, but wasn't even close.

"Now?"

"May I?" he asked, genuinely, and after a brief pause, she nodded, unaware of the reason behind the drumming against her chest.

She saw him moisten his own hands and inch closer to her while she willed herself to stay in one position. Heat flushed up to her neck and cheeks, while she felt his smooth touch on her raw skin and saw his face only a few centimetres away from her. Her lips started quivering and she felt her heart banging itself on her ribcage while something knotted itself inside her stomach. Should she dare to look up? She wondered. He could probably hear her shallow breath and the continuous pumping of the strongest muscle in her body. He was probably laughing at her right now, so when she finally garnered enough courage to fix her eyes on his, she gasped.

There was something so intense. Something she failed to understand. Something that was possibly never meant for her. And yet, she still couldn't bring herself to tear her gaze away. It was in that precise moment of being held captive by his mere oceans which spoke depths and depths of emotions, that her phone chose to beep in her pocket and break the trance she and Arjun had fallen into.

"It's done. You look perfect." He stated as he moved back and created distance between them. Shaking her head to allow the flow of more oxygen into her brain, she removed her phone and saw Aaliyah's name and message.

Sorry for being a bit late. Got held up. I'll be there in ten. XOXO'

"Aaliyah...she'll be here in a while." Aamanda answered his unasked question. "I didn't expect to see you here."

"Well," he smiled bitterly. "We all have secrets, don't we?"

"I came to see an old friend." Aamanda pursued, hoping this conversation would lead somewhere, but he merely nodded.

Aamanda shut her eyes. This wasn't what she really wanted to say. There was more. Unanswered questions, for a start. Like why had he been there for her? Why had he supported her? Why did she feel so safe with him? Why was she so unsure around him, when in actual fact, she should hate him to the core?! What happened between them a few seconds back? What was that look in his eyes? And most of all,

"You know Sahil is lying." She found the words on the tip of her tongue. "You know what the truth is. That's why you..." His prolonged sigh and silence made her heart burn. "Then why are you defending him?" she whispered, her voice cracking.

"It's never too easy." Was his vague reply, but Aamanda was not looking for that. She turned her face away, unable to meet his gaze all of a sudden.

"This isn't the answer. At least I deserve to know the truth."

"I'm a lawyer. Lies are as transparent to me as clear glass." He thought back to the day Sahil had first walked into his office.

"Mr Verma, I can tell the difference between a lie and the truth as easily as light and dark. So I'll ask you this question again. Did you or did you not rape the woman?"

That was when Sahil nodded, just once and Arjun had hated him from that moment onwards.

"Why?" she asked again.

"Did you wonder why I'm here, Miss Wade?"

"You can call me Aamanda." She nodded.

"I'm here because I've admitted my father for these few weeks. He's suffering from Alzheimer and if I don't see him every day, he forgets who I am. But I can't really keep him at home else he might just end up harming himself while I'm out. This and his on-going treatment need a constant flow of money. The treatment just slows down the progression and if it wasn't for that, he'd be much worse right now." Arjun let it all go. He'd kept it all to himself for so long, kept it tied up somewhere inside. He didn't know why he'd told her. Maybe because she had let him in. because she had let him help her, even for a fraction of a moment, though it seemed. She had trusted him enough, so it was time to trust her now.

Aamanda collected herself. There was more to Arjun. If she had taken a proper look behind his lawyer exterior, she might have been able to see, that there was always more to the story than what appeared to the naked eye. And in a world like this, where bastards like Sahil threw money all around them, someone was working hard day and night so they could provide for their family, feed, clothe, look after. She marvelled at how readily she had judged him. It was true, Arjun had his reasons, and she might always hate him if he won the case and set Sahil free. But could she really blame him?

"So Sahil offered you good money?" she questioned, laughing sarcastically.

"And Sahil offered me good money." He repeated, as though ashamed at what he'd done. "If I win the case. I never meant to be harsh on you. And I hate that we're meeting like this, because..." he stopped. 'Because there was something about her that drew him towards her like magnet,' he wanted to say, but changed it. "I might have been a lot more likeable, had we met under different circumstances." She nodded in response, feeling her guts wrench out from inside her.

"For what it's worth," she managed to say, though she couldn't think of herself in his position, "I might have done the same thing for my family."

"It's selfish." He muttered.

"It's loving." She defended him.

"I never thought once about you forced myself not to, until I met you. Then I couldn't stop." He admitted.

"So it's your first?" he nodded. "You've never defended a lie before?"

"Not something as big."

She sighed, wondering where all this was leading them. It was then that she noticed Aaliyah would be here in a few minutes.

"Aaliyah will be here just now, I'd better get going." She saw him turn to look at her and could swear that he was begging her not to leave. She couldn't help it. She had to! Aaliyah would jump to conclusions as soon as she saw them together! "I'm sorry." She whispered and just when she reached the door, he called out to her.

"I never planned to be like this. Never thought I'd ever be a devil's advocate."

"I don't blame you, Arjun. But until the case is over, this is probably the only thing you'll be to us."

She couldn't watch the effect her hard words had on him. She hated herself for doing that, but at the end of the day, he was right. He was the Devil's advocate. And she was the victim. Right now, she forced herself to see nothing else. "Good luck, Arjun."

With that she walked back inside, composing herself. Life was tough, and it got tougher. But heck, everyone had to handle it. Everyone had to make difficult choices. Not many people prided in making ones that could hurt other people. But then again, that was life, wasn't it. It was a race. Survival for the fittest. In that, you only saw to yourself and people you cared about. This meeting with Arjun taught her that very thing, and that if she looked further inside someone's heart, there was bound to be something else that forced them to act upon things that others found unforgivable. Except of course, with shallow people like Sahil. The less said about them, the better, she thought bitterly.

And when she saw Aaliyah standing at the entrance, waiting for her, she knew that no matter what happened, she would not put Aaliyah's and Rohan's efforts to give her justice in the dustbin. Though the man behind her had left a deep imprint somewhere within her, at the moment, they were the ones that came first for her. And somewhere, she desperately hoped he understood.

I, I'll get by

I, I'll survive

When the world is crashing down

When I fall and hit the ground

I will turn myself around

Don't you try to stop me

I, I won't cry

The lyrics to Avril Lavigne's song, Alice (Underground) pumped in her head while she sped through Victoria Park. Her forehead was clamped up in sweat and so was her whole back, despite wearing a t-back red sports top. Aamanda's eyes roamed around the whole park, on that particular morning, as she saw couples strolling around, hand in hand, leading an almost blissful life. The lyrics flew out of her head. Her eyes clouded up as a knot formed inside her throat. She might never have that, will she? She might always live in the shadow of her past. Was this some way of living? As a reflex, she suddenly stopped and breathing heavily walked the rest of the way to the entrance. About time she got back home, or Aaliyah and Rohan would worry. Plus there were only a few days remaining for the second hearing, and she needed to practise the answers Rohan had prepared for her.

She plugged out her earphones, and stood by the edge of the road, the recent memory of a couple kissing filling her mind. Will she ever have that? She wondered? Will she ever be able to live that sort of a normal life? In fact, if they lost the case, would she be able to survive the disappointment? Would she ever, be able to move on? That was the initial idea, wasn't it? And now she was having doubts. Why was everyone going through so much trouble for her? Surely, if she never existed, things would have never been this bad, right?

Heavy drops scorched her cheeks once again. She could feel her senses grow numb, as she looked towards her right. A car was speeding down the road. Just one step, and it could make everything load better. Just one. It was getting closer. Her feet automatically inched forward.

ZOOOM!

It flew past her, in front of her face, and she found herself breathing quickly, her heart racing. Once more, she looked back up the road, and saw another one on its way, its speed similar to the first. No one would probably care. Face it, she could probably never find the will to live normally ever again. Then why pretend?

"Oh, hey, Sahil, could you please help me with these boxes." Aamanda had almost jumped out of her skin when the lights suddenly went off, and the door banged shut. But when she saw Sahil's silhouette against the pale moonlight which seeped through the barred window, she asked for help. And she needed it! Seven trips up and down three flights of stairs left her drained!

"Yeah sure." There was something strange in his voice, as though he wasn't really himself. Nevertheless, she shrugged it aside, and allowed him to come closer.

"Aamanda..." she heard him rasp and got startled at how near his voice started.

"Sahil, what are you doing?" her alarmed question came out as she leant backwards, confused. "Sahil Verma, leave my hand!" she ordered, and instead, he grabbed her shoulders, digging his nails into them, making her wince out in pain.

"You have no idea what you do to me Aamanda." She heard before her skin felt his dry lips. Aghast, she freed one hand, and slapped him hard across his visage, her eyes wide with fury. She could hear the slap echoing in the empty room. How dare he! Taking her purse, she quickly scrambled inside for a phone, but the next second, it was snatched away and thrown into some deep, dark corner, the contents of it spraying wildly. She could make out his eyes, filled with rage, the blood vessels in them pumping out, burning her insides. That's when his intentions grappled her.

"Sahil, don't..." her eyes pleaded, but that lunacy had already taken possession.

She bumped into several things, boxes, tables, while trying to find her way to the door, frantically turning the knob to open it. Alas, after a few attempts, and his wild grin, she realized she was trapped. That's why he was advancing on her, slowly and steadily. They both knew there was no way out for her right now, and Aamanda's heart jumped into her mouth as she saw the wild glint dancing in pupils.

"Why don't you just make things more pleasant for both of us?" he whispered, as horror struck her face. Again, his hand made its way towards her, but she slapped it away!

"This is the fiery attitude I've always loved about you." He mocked, and continued coming closer, while she backed off. Everything she threw, his way, was caught and thrown again someplace else. Every shield she tried to put in between was removed with a lazy flick of his hand. Panic had already clenched her insides, but this time fear took over too.

"Sahil don't touch me. I'll scream!" she put on a strong front.

"Go on, sweetheart. Who'll hear you? The walls?"

"HELP!" she shouted. "SOMEBODY! HELP ME!!!" Dodging him, she darted for the door again, and banged her hands against it, causing it to shake. She tried to break it with her physical strength, praying for something or the other to come out. But nothing happened. It didn't open, and no light shone through. It was just a circle of darkness, with the Devil in the middle, laughing at her.

"SHUT UP BITCH" he roared! That was when he slapped her, and pushed her down with all his weight. But she fought! She bit, kicked, scratched, screamed, looked for objects to use as weapons, and heard the first RIP! Then the second! However, she still continued fighting! With everything she had! His teeth dug sharply into her skin, making her cry out loud, while everything inside her contradicted every single touch of his. Somehow, she still managed to free herself, by letting her own teeth sink into his flesh, this time. Aching, she still tried to run, but he caught her, turned her around, and swung his hand around her face, once again.

Her vision blurred, and she swallowed thickly. She could see the silver glint on the roof of the car. She wouldn't have to live in torment every day. Automatically, her left leg found its way forward, hearing the engine of the vehicle approach. It wouldn't be too painful, people loved driving at high speeds here. Finally, hearing the roar of the engine get louder, she shut her eyes, lifted the right leg, and...

Someone yanked her arm, pulling her by her waist back to the safety of the pavement.

"Are you crazy?" Arjun asked her, shaking her whole body and forcing her to open her eyes. What a coincidence, he wouldn't even let her die in peace, she wondered sourly. That's when the world snapped back in front of her face. Was really about to commit... she couldn't even think of the word! Her eyes widened with the thought, as she looked back up at his blues which matched his t-shirt, and had rage, fright and immense care held in them. Her breathing took to becoming more shallow, while she fumbled for words. How could she have done that? How on earth could she have even thought of wanting to give up her life like that? What would Aaliyah and Rohan do? Hadn't she sworn to not let their efforts go in vain? Then how the hell?

"I...I don't...know..."

"Aamanda" He whispered, not letting go of her shoulders. And before she knew or felt it, another drop of water had fallen had escaped onto her cheeks.

"I swear, I don't... know... how... how I..."

"Shhh..." he shushed her, by placing his fingers onto her lips. Her eyes travelled down to them, then back up and she could swear that her heart must have skipped a beat, heck, several beats in this moment.

With his head slightly bent, she leant forward to let their foreheads meet when she saw him shutting his eyes.

"I don't think..." she proceeded to explain herself.

"What if I hadn't been here?" he asked, his voice hoarse. She was taking in his breath and could swear that nothing had ever seemed sweeter.

Arjun had just finished his casual morning walk, which he always took to clear his mind, when he saw a figure on the edge of the pavement, waiting to cross the road. It was until he came closer, that he realized that this figure was Aamanda, and just as he rushed up, not wanting to miss a chance to talk to her, she was stepping onto the road, putting herself right in front of the speeding car! His heart raced furiously, and with the adrenaline that pumped in his blood stream, he sprinted the last few steps, and pulled her out of the way, just before the driver could realize the intention of the person standing right in his path, and slam the breaks on! Arjun had probably never felt so scared in his life, in such a short moment, like then. He feared to even imagine the consequences had he not been around!

"Why would you do this?" Was his question, while she could almost taste his bitter-sweet, minty breath on her lips which set everything inside her racing at a speed she never knew existed!

"I don't know." She answered back, wanting nothing more but to hug him close to herself this very second, let him assure her that there was a reason to live. There was a long moment of silence between them, in which they both stood frozen, soaking up the others' presence. "I don't want to do this anymore." She finally admitted. "I don't know if I will ever be able to live like I used to." Her eyes opened, and she took a long look into his sky blue coloured hues.

"I won't..." she stopped half way, afraid that her voice may give way to her feelings.

"You won't..?" he leant back, making her frown at the loss of warmth, but immediately held her face in his hands.

"Be able... to live... like I used to. Dream... like I used to." She wanted to tell him in words, that probably, she will never find someone to love her, unlike the girl whose shining eyes wouldn't leave her mind. That girl had someone. And yes, she had Rohan and Muskaan, but this was different.

"Aamanda, listen to me." His tender voice urgently found its way into her head. "Your life is yours to live. No one can take that right away from you. Not one person, not a thousand. Okay?" the direct eye contact which he held, despite being centimetres away from her, proved useful as she nodded. "You haven't given up in all this time. It would be a shame to do so now." He continued.

She couldn't help but let his words sink in.

"It's hard." She whispered.

"Who said it's easy. But you are one of the toughest women I've seen." She saw his dimples appear on the sides of his face and admired them. Suddenly, she let her lashes drop as she felt blood creep up her neck and cheeks, hoping desperately that he couldn't see it. "Now will I see you at the court in a couple of days' time, giving it your everything?" She nodded, but he shook his head. "I want to hear it from you."

"Yes." She replied back, more confidently, and his dimples became deeper.

"Good. May the best man win. And in this case, it's you."

Aamanda found her organs quit responding when he inched ever so close to her face, his lips almost on hers. She shut her eyes, wondering what that feeling in the pit of her stomach was, and the only other thing she was aware of was his breath getting heavier on her lips, giving her goose bumps all over her arms. She could feel his right hand trace up her cheek and remove a tendril of hair that was stuck there, making her eye lids flutter. There was a light touch of his lips on her clear skin which lasted for such a short time, before he drew back, and walked away, leaving her in a vacuum devoid of emotions, thoughts, and wander.

Arjun sighed to himself, as he forcefully took each step away from her. He didn't want to at all! He just wanted to stay there, with her, and erase all her insecurities. He wanted to hold her close to himself, and assure her that no one would ever dare to touch her again. He wanted his lips to touch her soft skin again. He wanted to feel her lips on his. But he couldn't have all that he wanted. It just wasn't possible. Especially not at a time like this. And he cursed his fate, his heart hammering against his ribcage trying to force him to act on those thoughts.

"Miss Wade, when Mr Verma attacked you, was he, to put it in common words, 'in the right state of his mind'?" Rohan asked Aamanda, who frowned slightly at this question.

"He..." she paused. "He smelt of alcohol. And his eyes were red." She shut her own remembering those terrible memories which had become a recurring nightmare.

"This happened on the 20th of August 2011, at precisely one am in the morning, after the party?"

"Yes" she whispered. If only she hadn't volunteered to go into that room to put back the boxes filled with paper plates and everything. If only she had just sauntered off back home, in the car Rohan had given her for the night. If only she had, like Aaliyah, opted to stay at home instead. If only this hospital party had not been thrown in the first place. But all these 'if only's were now pointless.

"Your honour, I would like to give some more proof, that Mr Sahil Verma was responsible for this derogatory act against Miss Aamanda Wade." Rohan requested as his voice boomed across the court room. "Miss Wade's clothes and accessories which she wore that night are present in the bag, and here are the reports of two DNA samples found on the clothes. One, obviously matches Miss Wade's and the other, Mr Verma. And I would like to call upon the defendant, with your permission."

The documents and samples of clothing were all taken to the adjacent room, waiting to be inspected by the jury.

"Mr Singh, would you like to cross examine the prosecutor?"

Arjun stood up and Aamanda felt her heart clench. She ordered her raving heart to cut the furious pumping it was conducting, and held her breath for a mere second. She saw his gorgeous blues direct themselves to her own hazel browns. That moment was the only thing needed to reassure her of the warmth his inner self held. And though she felt herself heating up by his mere gaze on her, she willed herself to look away, lest someone notice the electrical connection between them.

"No, sir" Arjun answered back. "However, I would like to point out that DNA samples can be a very vague source of proof, as they could have been obtained from anywhere, any time. That's all you honour."

And Arjun took his seat again, leaving Aamanda shocked to the core. He hadn't questioned her at all! Not once! And here, she had been preparing herself for a full on war, like the last time. The only difference was, this time she had a shield and experience. She turned her concentration back on him, but he was busy talking to his assistant.

"Prosecutor may leave the witness box. Mr Agarwal, you may call upon the second witness."

"Thank you, your honour. I would like to request," Rohan paused, wondering why he was requesting this son of a bitch to step into the witness section, when he wanted to kick him there instead. "Mr Sahil Verma to stand up and present himself in front of everyone."

"Where were you at one am on the 20th of August 2011?"

"At home" Sahil answered confidently.

"Can anyone bear witness to that statement?"

"My servants, probably." Sahil replied, getting slightly cautious.

"That's good." Rohan's sarcastic voice floated in the room. "Where was you father at that particular time, Mr Verma?"

"Out. Business tour... I mean, not out of the country, just within, actually, within the city, I mean." Sahil's constant change of answer got everyone raising their eyebrows.

"What do you mean, Mr Verma?" Rohan's mocking tone threw Sahil even more off guard.

"I mean, he wasn't at home. But in the city, with a client."

"A client at one am? Funny, I thought prostitutes were the only people with clients at that time of the night." A soft voice dripping with sarcasm was all that statement needed to have sniggers erupt from the panel of jury.

"I mean, he was out of the house, I don't know where alright." Sahil covered up, humiliation leading to anger.

"You don't know where your father was. He didn't think of informing you?"

"We, we don't get along too well." Sahil's smirk was back on once he found the perfect answer. But Rohan merely looked down, and said in an audible voice,

"No wonder," which wiped that silly grin right off Sahil's unshaved visage. "I mean," he corrected himself more clearly, "Quite understandable."

Sahil threw a 'What the fuck' look to Arjun, asking him to intervene. Arjun on the other hand, just shrugged his shoulders and leaned back in his chair, watching Rohan with amusement. Oh, he was good. And entertaining! If only he had caught on. And like a miracle, Rohan's next question cleared Arjun's hopes, making him want to stand up and hug the opposition in front of everyone!

"So, Mr Verma, when did you last take drugs?"

"Uhm... I... what?"

"The question is quite clear, when did you last take drugs?" The sharp voice rung through everyone's ears, making them sit up a bit straight.

"I... well...uhmm..."

"Hesitation, your Honour, don't you think worth taking down?"

"I'm just surprised that you would ask me this question!" Sahil roared, while Rohan just looked on, unaffected.

"Why should you be? Weren't you caught a few years back doing drugs in college? The court has all your records."

"Yeah, well, I haven't since then." Sahil defended himself.

"Then I'm sure you wouldn't mind taking a drug test with this small kit I present you with." Rohan replied, in an ever so sweet tone, but the danger that lay behind it was evident to everyone.

"Why should I?" Sahil asked, nervously eyeing the box, as though there were explosives piled in it.

"Reluctance, your Honour. Please note that down too. Ok, since we can't force you, Mr Verma, can you explain where an addition of 10,000 in your bank account came from, all of a sudden, on the 30th December 2011? I wouldn't think these bank statements are wrong, are they?"

"I uhmm... my father gave me the money." That quick answer was all Rohan needed. He grinned inwardly, as the mouse had fallen for the bait.

"Weren't you the one who said you're not on good terms with your father?"

"I'm not, but that doesn't stop him giving me money."

"Mr Sahil Verma, if the court can get your bank statements in a few e-mails, it wouldn't be too hard to get Mr Verma senior's bank statements either." The serious, authoritative tone Rohan had put on was alerting every single sleeping member inside the court. "And here they are. There has been no withdrawal of 10,000 at all."

"What are you trying to prove?" Sahil asked, glancing at Arjun, who was busy observing everything with an interested eye. Rohan gave the documents to the court.

"Hesitation; when I asked you about drugs, whereas the other answers were all given with full confidence. Reluctance to take a drug test. Miss Aamanda Wade mentioned seeing your eyes red. All this points to the fact that you, Mr Verma, have been consuming drugs, and were probably under their affect the night you sexually assaulted your fellow colleague whom you had been attracted to ever since you'd set eyes on, as Mrs Agarwal stated earlier!" Rohan's voice became rhythmic and more powerful. " Not only that, your honour, but I suspect that Mr Verma has been dealing in drugs, which will explain the random increase of 10,000 in his bank accounts. Am I right?" Rohan faced Sahil and focused his intense glare onto him.

It took a while before Sahil composed himself.

"What rubbish." He replied coolly.

"Give me another explanation then, Mr Verma."

"I refuse to say anything more."

"I'm afraid, that leads me back to my conclusion. Judge, Jury, This man has not only committed a crime against humanity, but has also committed a crime against our country. As I understand, drug supply is an illegal business, which is punished severely by the law of this country. I leave it up to you and rest my case, your Honour."

With that, Rohan walked back to his table after giving a victorious smirk to an ashen faced Sahil, and sat down, drained from all the energy he had used in a time span of three hours.

"Mr Singh, would like to cross examine the defendant?" the jury asked.

Arjun stood up and replied instantly.

"No, your Honour."

Rohan gulped down a whole bottle of water as he watched the judges and the jury file into the conference room, leaving the room empty, except for the defendants, opponents and a few policemen there to make sure no violence took place.

Waiting was hard work. And especially when you didn't know how long you were going to wait for! An hour and a half had crawled past, so slowly, Aamanda was starting to wonder whether she was in an environment of surrealism. The decision could take an hour to make. Maybe two. Or ten! But Aamanda sincerely hoped not while she drummed her fingers against the desk. She wanted to get out of the room, but there was only one thing, one person that was holding her there. And he didn't even need to say a word to her to keep her captured there. Quite often, when she looked up from the low conversations she was having with Rohan and his assistant, Michael, she caught him staring much too obviously at her, which after startling her initially, made the blood rise up to her neck and ears, hoping desperately that no one would notice. And when she'd look back up, she'd see the dimples on his face, telling her that even if no one else had noticed her colouring up, he had, and had thoroughly enjoyed it!

Putting her head on the table to hide her embarrassment, she never knew when she dozed off, for the first time, in the most uncomfortable position, into a dreamless sleep, a small smile playing on her lips.

"Ammy" she felt someone shake her and got up, blinking her eyes at the bright light. "They're back." Aaliyah whispered, making Aamanda sit up straight after rubbing her eyes. She glanced at the huge clock on the wall opposite her, and saw that he had dozed off for a good hour and fifteen minutes. How had she been able to manage that so easily? She wondered as she watched the judges take their seats at their respective places. Maybe because of the emotional drain she had experienced over the past few weeks, with one face, which had a pair adorable dimples, constantly appearing in her mind, leaving a bitter sweet taste inside.

She looked across at the owner of those features, but he was busy emerged in a quiet conversation with his assistant. Though it didn't seem like they were talking about the case at all. Their relaxed postures on their leather chairs, and smiles suggested anything but the case which was now coming to a close. Her eyes automatically darted to the root cause of all this mess. Fuming was an understatement of his condition. He hadn't managed to decipher how on earth Rohan could bring him down so easily, humiliate him in such a way that he had failed to answer back.

The low murmurs hushed immediately when the Judge used his gravel to bring silence into the room.

"Jury has come to a conclusion. Given the evidences, and witnesses' answers, the decision has been approached that at one O'clock am, on the 21st August 2011, Mr Sahil Verma, the defendant, has been found guilty of committing an act of sexual violence against Miss Aamanda Wade, under the probable influence of drugs. This court sentences him to a minimum of ten years of imprisonment, at Prison, at Buckinghamshire."

Aamanda shut her eyes as her heart, which kept increasing it beating rate with every nano second, slowed down abruptly. The sentence kept circling inside her head, 'minimum of ten years', while some part of her wondered whether all this was really true, or was she still dreaming.

"The court further announces a drug screening test for Mr Sahil Verma, and a thorough check of all his possessions, followed up with an inquiry of everyone he's been in contact with. The defendant will be trialled for consumption of drugs and dealing in the illegal drug trafficking market. The case is now closed."

Her soul breathed the first bout of fresh air for the past seven months. All her tensed up insides loosened up again to such an extent that she was surprised everything was still in place! She couldn't help, but let a smile of relief, a smile of victory, a smile of justice form on her face, while Aaliyah and Rohan both simultaneously put their arms around her. Her vision clouded, and she heard Aaliyah sniffing next to her, while she could barely keep hold of her own emotions that were soaring high into the sky at this very moment. Finally, the time she had waited for so long, so long, had emerged from murky waters! And it was worth every single second of patience she had to endure. Worth every single sweat she and her best friends had shed to make sure nothing went in vain. She wiped away the small drops of water which formed at the end of her eyes. No, she was done crying. She'd done enough for her whole life and there was no way she was going to do more, through happiness, be it.

Her head shot around to look for Arjun and her hazel brown marbles caught his oceanic blue ones. WOW! Something inside her did a double take. Did he just pass a small wink at her? Was he happy for her? She felt heat get to her again, and tore her eyes away from him.

"I want bail!" Sahil demanded and Arjun sighed.

"You've been sentenced, Sahil. Not just thrown into prison! There's a difference, you can't get bail."

"I want to appeal."

"You can't do that either, until your drug case is over." It took everything for Arjun to stop smirking at his client's face.

"So when will that be?"

"I don't know, Mr Verma. The case could take a few years, and if you're proved guilty of drug dealing, then you'll be sentenced for life without doubt." Arjun's professional voice was back on. "I signed a contract for this case only. Not another. And before you suggest it, I refuse to take up that case."

"Wait, what to do mean Arjun?"

"It's Mr Singh, and clearly, I mean what I just said." That's when his eyes flickered over to Aamanda's and he felt a warm sensation buzzing through him when that soft smile enlightened her elegant visage. Sahil at that particular moment was being handcuffed by the policemen that were present, and saw the tenderness in Arjun's eyes for Aamanda.

"You're smitten aren't you? You're in love with her?"

Arjun's gaze directed back at him as he refused to contradict Sahil's statement and instead looked at him in such disgust, which would make any man quail in an instant. But not Sahil.

"She charmed the pants off you too didn't she?" Sahil continued, while Arjun clenched his fists, his eyes producing fire.

"I don't have anything more to say to him." Arjun controlled his desire to punch the living guts out of his client, and instead, addressed the officers. "He's all yours." And with that, he watched Sahil being swept out of the room with utmost contempt. He took one last, long look at Aamanda, and felt his lips curve when he noticed how her face depicted relief, and some sort of freedom, was it, he questioned? Her eyes met his, and he blinked once, assuring her that this was not some dream and in fact was reality, that she found so hard to believe. He then turned and walked out, saying a silent goodbye to her.

Aamanda watched Arjun go out and felt something contract within her. Nevertheless, she stayed at the same spot, diverting her attention to what Rohan was telling Aaliyah in a low voice.

"If it hadn't been for that small piece of information, we would never have been able to give solid proof." He was murmuring "He let that information slip purposely. I don't think he wanted to win the case. I don't know why he suddenly changed his mind, and gave the biggest fault in the whole lie Sahil had constructed."

"Rohan, maybe more than winning the case, he wanted to see justice. Because I'm sure he knew Sahil was wrong." Aaliyah replied, and that's when the small pieces of the complicated puzzle finally started falling into place inside Aamanda's mind.

The way Arjun had told her he never wanted to 'be a Devil's advocate'. The way he let past a chance to cross examine her, knowing well that he could break her down like he did the last time. The way he refused to stand up and defend Sahil while Rohan was having a go at torturing him. In this hearing, Arjun never intended to win the case. In fact, he intended the complete opposite. And he had thrown away victory money for his father's medication, so that she could have a better life in front of her!

Her breath got caught, and her veins started trembling immediately, forcing her to rush out to the door and look for him everywhere, thank him, see him once more before he disappeared. She scanned the whole crowd for just one glimpse of him over and over again. Alas, he wasn't there. And just as quickly as the joy that had seeped through every cell in her body when she heard the final verdict, this time a sense of emptiness crept through. A wave of remorse washed over her. She hadn't even been able to say a simple 'thank you' to him! Though honestly, that probably wasn't all she wanted to show him. There was so much more, which at that moment she couldn't put her finger on at all!

Dejectedly, she made her way back to her only family, knowing well that she would be eternally grateful to him. And more than that, however, she couldn't believe the new feelings that erupted like a volcano whenever she thought back to his gorgeous eyes, the care held in them despite the dilemma he faced. Her disappointment, her anticipation, her thoughts; they all screamed at her, making her finally realize, maybe a bit too late, that she had suddenly, out of the blue, fallen for the person she had once sworn to hate. Fallen for someone who had once tried to bring her down, but brought her back up again. Fallen for, the Devil's advocate.

###  Epilogue

The sun was streaming down onto Aaliyah that spring as she got out of the shop, finishing the last bit of Sunday shopping; she and Aamanda had dragged Rohan through. Though now, it was only her and Rohan. Aamanda, who had had a hectic day after being called at six am to the hospital was sitting on the benches scattered around the shop, catching up with herself.

"Rohan, there she is." Aaliyah pointed out Aamanda to Rohan, who was getting quite panicky. "Don't worry. She can look after herself now. What are all those self-defence classes for?" Aaliyah questioned rhetorically, but couldn't help admitting to herself that in some corner of her heart, she had also been quite frightened when she didn't see her best friend around.

"I know. But..." Rohan trailed off, as he kept looking at Aamanda. "This fear. It won't ever go will it?"

Aaliyah shook her head, unable to say the words.

"Mr and Mrs Agarwal, what a pleasant surprise." They almost jumped at that smooth, velvety voice which filled their ears from behind.

"If it isn't Peter Parker himself." Rohan replied, composing himself, his eyes twinkling with recognition.

The guy laughed at the metaphor.

"Not that good, I don't think. And please call me Arjun." He replied, using his dimples to charm Aaliyah, who was just staring at him thoughtfully and when caught, couldn't help but blush once.

"Hi, Arjun. Aaliyah" She introduced herself, who replied with a simple, 'pleasure'.

"So, how and why did you disappear into thin air a year back?" Rohan questioned, coming straight to the point. He never did like beating about the bush. And he hated it when he didn't have answers for questions.

"Let's just say, I didn't think I was needed." Arjun replied, his eyes scanning the crowd around them.

"You could have at least let us thank you." Aaliyah put forward purposely, guessing who Arjun was looking for. His blue gaze diverted back to her, and she could finally see the warmth gushing out of them, like Aamanda had described.

"Well, I don't think I deserved it." He dropped his gaze to the ground for a slight second, leaving both Aaliyah and Rohan speechless. "Uhmm...if you don't mind me asking, where is..." he paused. Was it right to ask them? He had been disappointed when he couldn't see her around them. But the road side scene a year back flashed in his mind again. Panic took over for a slight second before his heart forced him to calm down, and convinced him she would do nothing of the sort.

"Aamanda?" Rohan completed, seeing that Arjun couldn't. He nodded to her direction. She was sitting alone on the bench, soaking up the rare sun rays, while guarding herself against the infrequent atrocious wind. Her head was tilted slightly back, letting the butter yellow sun make her face glow, giving her an eloquent, surreal beauty. Arjun felt his lips curve as the random beats inside his chest started quickening. She really did look ethereal.

"She's so much better than she was a year back." Aaliyah murmured, glancing at Arjun. "But sometimes, sometimes I can still see the lost look on her face. And she still has those nightmares. Not always, but once a week, maybe twice. Otherwise, she's almost like she was before. Obviously, her outings have decreased, and she never wants to stay out alone for too long, but that's normal right?" She questioned softly, and looked up at Arjun to see his gaze fixed on Aamanda, his eyes slightly moist.

"She's strong. She'll pull through." Rohan added, making Arjun admire her more as he observed her calm posture.

"Do you guys mind, if I... talk to her now?" he asked slightly hesitantly, looking at Rohan, whose eyes shot back to Arjun instantly.

While Aaliyah's face enlightened with a smile, Rohan's froze with shock.

"Look, Arjun..." Rohan began, but Aaliyah gripped his hand firmly, causing him to stop.

"I don't think that should be a problem." She interrupted, and nodded encouragingly to Arjun, who slowly made his way towards her.

"Why did you let him go?" Rohan frowned at Aaliyah, still not too happy with Arjun's request.

"Because she needs someone more than she needs us." Aaliyah replied patiently, directing him away from where Arjun was heading to.

"What rubbish. We three are always together."

"Yes, Rohan. But it's time there were four of us. You don't want her to remain a spinster all her life do you?!" Aaliyah marvelled at Rohan's over protectiveness. Well, it was bound to happen.

"No..." Rohan looked uncomfortable. "But not Arjun Singh."

"She told me how he helped her during the case. He gave you the clue to put Sahil behind bars. He's not a bad guy just because he defended one, once upon a time."

"But..."

"Rohan she still has nightmares! She still gets lost in the crowd sometimes. What she needs is someone to hold her through it all. To assure her that she'll never be alone, or go through anything like that, ever again. We've done our bit."

"She shouldn't, she's taking self-defence..."

"Why are you so thick headed sometimes?!" Aaliyah was getting impatient. "It's not only the physical need. It's the emotional one as well. And Arjun connects well with her. He may or may not be the one for her. We wouldn't know now. But if we don't give him, give them a chance, how will we know, ever?"

"Ok..." Rohan succumbed, fearing his wife's dagger eyes which were aimed at him. "But if he hurts her..."

"We'll have to take the risk won't we?"

"Yeah, ok." He frowned, and let Aaliyah lead him into a small boutique.

Meanwhile, Arjun was trying to figure out what he would say to her. He could feel something thudding against his ribs, making it a million times harder for him to think straight! So he concentrated on Aaliyah's words again. If he had known that Aamanda was still recovering, he wouldn't have left at all. Stupid, recovery was never instant. It took time. And a sometimes, a lot of it. He wanted to be the one to guide her through it. But then again, did she need his help now? Was she willing to see him? Be seen with him? Spend time with him? Because he didn't think he could ever come out of that God forsaken tag he'd earned for himself. What if he was just wrong about everything? What if she was happy, and seeing him would bring back her worst nightmares, once again. He froze. No, he couldn't do that to her. What if she was already seeing someone else? His insides clenched at that thought. Stupidly, questioning Rohan and Aaliyah about this had vanished from his good for nothing brain at the right time. Great. He closed his eyes, wondering if he should. Immediately, images of how the year had passed by clouded his inner eye. She had been there twenty four seven. Her thoughts, her actions, her memories. Involuntarily, he felt his lips curve. It hadn't taken too long afterwards to realize his feelings for her. And this time, there was no way he was letting go of a slight chance he had, which he'd noticed had been given by Aaliyah's consent. Recomposing his posture, he continued.

"Hi." He said softly, making her open her eyes instantly, snapping out of the day dream she was in.

Aamanda stared. Was it really possible? Was he here, in front of her? No, he couldn't be. This had to be another of her stupid dreams. There was no way... he would disappear in a bit. Yet he looked so solid, she couldn't help but reply back, amongst her racing heart,

"Hi." His dimples appeared, like a blessing, and indeed, he was real. That was when she felt a smile form on her face and her something flutter inside her before it picked up its pace again. He really was here! She couldn't help thinking to herself. He was in front of her, smiling with those beautiful, adorable oceanic and electrifying hues that she had been so desperate to see over the past year!

Arjun felt his dimples deepen when he saw her eyes light up at his presence. This may have been a lot more than he hoped for. Was she really that happy to see him? And when her smile faltered, he couldn't help but disagree. His heart sank, his brain preparing an 'I told you so' lecture for when he was alone. He had reminded her of her gruesome past. He had forced her to back to the torture she had been put through. And somewhere, he hated himself for that.

"Where did you go, so suddenly?" She asked quietly, not knowing where to look. So instead, she focused her vision up to his. "You just left, and I couldn't even tell you."

Arjun felt his heart do a little victory dance. Hah, his presence didn't remind her of the awful time she'd been through. Or maybe it did, a snide comment replied, and she was just hiding it. Dream on, the positive energy in him replied, shutting it once and for all.

"May I?" he requested, indicating to the space next to her and she nodded, smiling.

He was such a gentleman. And that was probably one of the qualities which drew her towards him in the first place. And this magnetic field she was situated in did nothing to reduce the attraction. She felt his bare skin on his hand brush the back of her palm while he took a seat next to her, and felt everything inside her do a double flip. Biting her lower lip, she looked back down onto her laps.

"What did you want to tell me?" he asked, not daring to glance at her, in case he couldn't control himself.

"I just wanted to thank you." She uttered half the truth. "You, helped. Even though..."

"I guess I didn't want my Dad to remember a world where his own son stopped a person from achieving justice."

She turned her head to gaze at him and couldn't help but be awed by his answer. Heck, she was always awed by his answers.

"But you left. And I looked everywhere for you. The Social Care, the park." Aamanda turned her head away from him as she felt a small lump form in her throat.

It was true, she had searched for him. However, to no avail. So she had come to a conclusion, that maybe he hadn't fallen for her the way she had for him. He was just a genuinely nice guy, who helped her. And for that, she'd never be able to thank him enough. She couldn't have the normal dream of falling in love because, well, facing it, she hadn't had the brightest past. And what was the guarantee of her future? People would probably run away, or throw sympathy at her the moment they came to know she was raped. And he was human, he probably didn't even think of a relationship with her. She couldn't blame him, who would? But then, what had those moments, those sparks between them meant? She'd learnt to ignore those questions and continue living life, with him constantly in the back of whatever she did.

"I'm sorry. I just didn't think I deserved to be... around you." His answer so quiet, that she wondered whether she'd heard him right! Insane! She shook her head, wondering how on earth he had come to such a conclusion!

"You were wrong." Was her straight reply, causing him to face her. He studied her for a small moment, letting realisation and joy sink in. She really thought he was wrong? Did that mean she had nothing against him? The answer was yes, as her fiery gaze told him all there was to know about the fire inside her. He slowly stated,

"Apparently I was." Once she realized, she couldn't help but start feeling uncomfortable under his piercing observing stare.

"So, how's your dad?" she questioned, happy to change the topic.

"He's getting worse. Sometimes he forgets me altogether." He whispered, and she couldn't help but feel something weigh down inside her. "But I'm surviving." He added, smiling grimly. Hesitantly, she reached her right hand out and enclosed his left, which was sitting on his lap. The touch brought him back to her.

"Sometimes, it's easier to let go." He nodded. He'd thought through it many times, but never found the courage to do so. And that was when it struck him that he probably needed her, now more than ever. To help him through this. To support him. To be his pillar. Because she had in her, what he probably didn't. The strength and the experience to let go of the past. And this just added one more to the reasons why he head over heels in love with her.

Slowly, he got up as he witnessed Rohan and Aaliyah making their way towards them. She got up too, breaking their contact.

"Are you... uhmm... do you mind..." Arjun frowned, knowing this was probably the only chance he'd get for a while. Then why were his words falling over one another. Why weren't the right words placing themselves in a proper sentence. He looked at her questioning hazel-browns and tried once more. "I mean would you like to go for coffee or... or dinner, sometime?"

As soon as he stuttered the whole words out, he had the pleasure of watching her eyes break into a shine he'd never witnessed before. And how captivating that look was, she probably had no idea.

Aamanda couldn't believe this was happening! He was actually asking her out! She had a chance to get to know him better! Not that she didn't already, but this was the first step. The first step to something that she had dreamed of, with him. She wouldn't ever be able to refuse him, even if she wanted to. The trusting, questioning look on his face made her want to melt.

Her eyelashes fluttered over to Aaliyah and Rohan, who had heard him. The former was positively beaming while Rohan had an understanding grin on his face. Their consent was given with Aaliyah's nod. Excitement rushing through her every pore of her skin, she gave her answer.

"That would be great."

And this time, it was Arjun's turn to feel his insides swell to bursting point. Composing himself, he asked for her number, which she readily gave him while Aaliyah and Rohan turned back to give them some personal time.

"I'll call you."

"Sure." She whispered back and the next moment felt heat rush up around her ears and neck, when he leaned in, ever so slowly, his mere breath on her skin capturing her in that span of time, that moment, which she was sure would never leave her memory. The wind tugged the ends of her hair across her face making him slide them out carefully and tuck them behind her ear. This didn't do anything to help the increase in the rate at which her blood was throbbing into every single vessel, so she shut her eyes apprehensively.

But suddenly, the tender touch of his lips on her cheeks was all that was needed to calm these frantic reactions within her body. He let his lips linger for a while, savouring something he had longed to do so much, ever since the first time he'd impulsively committed that act. And didn't it feel wonderful.

He drew back watching the colour that had just risen, play about on her face, depicting her emotions. Yes, he loved her. And when she finally opened her eyes, he winked once, and turned around, leaving her in a whirl. Her hand flew up to where his lips had been as she couldn't stop her own from widening at that very moment.

Sometimes, the bad has to happen, for the good to be appreciated. Indeed, some people may call this end, but most call it the beginning. The beginning to a new life, something everyone deserves and has a right to, the moment they let their past die. And though letting go may seem like the hardest task initially, it's the first step to having a brighter future.

About The Author

Anshuma Sharma from Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh (India). Pursuing bachelor's degree in electronic media, a spare time blogger. Contributing Author of Zest of Inklings, Season of Love, Secrets of Soul, Tere hi Liye and she is also the editor of "Diary of An Unknown Winter". For her the most precious thing is her phone ; she wouldn't know how to survive without it. Reading is her favourite pass time, she enjoys thrillers, mythology and religion and other genres too. She writes with the memories of what she have or have felt in this life so far. Anything which she could see happen around- her life, her friends, neighbours, the old man lying crippled on the street, the dog with watery eyes expecting some food, the butterflies, leaves and flowers. She feels, she writes.

Contact Her :-

Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/sharmanshuma?fref=ts  
Twitter : https://twitter.com/_Awari_  
Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/anshumasharma  
Email : sharmanshuma@gmail.com

