Chapter 20 - PI's report

As soon as Ryu reached his home,he went towards the study..where he knew Neil was waiting for him.He had been up for more than 14 hours now..all he wanted to do was sleep but when Neil asked to talk,he knew it must be something important.

The moment the door opened he was jumped upon by his brother "Congratulations dear brother....."He smiled at his brother's antics and waited for him to get serious..

After a couple of minutes Neil joined him on the opposite couch and asked "Would you like a drink?What we are about to discuss might make you need one..?"

Ryu simply shook his head to say no and continued sitting quietly.He could see Neil was worried about something.This Neil was not his goofy brother but the lawyer people called the shark.The real side of Neil was not the goofy one but this..His brother was a worrywort when it came to those he loved

Just as Ryu was about to prompt him,Neil said, "I am glad that you did not read the investigator's report..Can I see it?"

Ryu wordlessly got up and opening a filing cabinet passed the thick folder to him..Neil went through the contents of the file and knew that the PI had done his job well..

"The biggest reason I wanted you to not read this report was that I wanted to form your own judgement.Another reason is though it is giving you her complete history knowing is not enough.I want to be the one to tell you about her past self..Ryu she.

At this Ryu interrupted Neil,"Don't tell me.I don't need to know the past.I only care about the future."

"No Ryu,you need to know so that you will better understand her.But don't worry,she already thinks that you have an idea of her past so I justbwant you to know from me rather than those cold words in that file because that file will not tell you about her emotions.I am not going to break any confidences..what I am about to tell you is something that even Al is not aware that I know."

"Ryu,Al believes that we know each other from the time she started working for me..but that is not the truth.Everybody speculated if she had seduced me for the job, as she had no qualifications but what they did not know was that I had personally scouted her to bring her closer.

You remember when I went to Village A a few years back,that is when I frist saw Al.What you have seen today is the real woman but when I had seen her she was not even a shadow of her present self.

5 Years ago in Coffee Place:

Neil was sitting at a corner enjoying his coffee.He had just finished a big case of fraud and had taken a month's break from work and moved to village A .He had been indulging in his favorite pastime of people watching when he had spotted her.She was a natural beauty.In a place where every woman was decked from head to toe all she had on was an old faded top and jeans,a messy pony tail and no make up.She ordered the cheapest cup of coffee and spent an entire hour looking down at the cup while taking one sip at a time.She did not seem to notice the weird gazes being directed her way.As she finished her cup her eyes moved towards the desserts display.That was the first glimpse he had of her eyes.He sucked in a sudden breath..they were eyes that could make poest write sonnets upon but they were also eyes which were empty.If the eyes are a window to one's soul then this person's soul was dead..though they stared at the dessert table they showed no emotion,no longing..nothing ...

Looking at this woman Neil had only one thought...I want to see what she looks like when she smiles...The fact that he would care to see a random woman smile amused him no end.

As Neil finished telling Ryu about his first glimpse of Al,he had difficulty imagining the lively woman from tonight and the woman he just heard described..Ryu had heard a lot about her from Ru and after seeing her today he would never have believed that this woman full of vitality could ever paint such a picture.