Even after some time, nothing happened. The man slowly opened his eyes to see the woman back in her place with a book in hand.
He was confused.
'What just happened? No, actually nothing happened to me. But why did she come so close to me and like... like that?!'
While trying to figure out her motive, he suddenly spotted a wall shelf filled with books a few inches above his head.
'Oh, so that's what it was!' Realisation descended over him.
He blushed, feeling ashamed about what he thought she was going to do to him.
Another few minutes passed. The man shivered. Now that he got to rest and the adrenaline rush subsided, he realised that his shirt was wet from the rain.
"Uh, ahem, excuse me miss, may I use the bathroom? My clothes are all wet, I need to change." He asked hesitantly.
The woman nodded.
He thanked her and went to the bathroom. Then it struck him that he had no spare clothes. Once he considered not changing but looking at the mud-stained shirt and trousers he grimaced. After contemplating over his options of wearing dirty wet clothes or being naked inside the bathroom, he chose none and came out wearing a bathrobe instead.
"Ahem, I... I'm borrowing your bathrobe. Please don't mind. I don't have any clothes to change into." He said scratching the back of his neck.
The woman nodded again without lifting her head.
'Is she ignoring me?' The man frowned a little.
'No no. What am I thinking? So what if she ignores me? It's good that she's keeping herself away from me. It'll be even better if I get to leave as soon as possible.'
He went back to his chair but he noticed that it was wet.
'Ah! I sat there wearing my wet clothes. Tch!' He looked around and found that there was only one seat left to sit. A three-seater sofa near the single-seater one. He gulped.
'Don't worry she wont do anything. Just forget about what happened back there.' He chanted while moving towards the sofa.
Keeping his eye on the woman he slowly lowered himself on it. Seeing that she did not complain, he sighed in relief. Freshening up had really cleared his mind. He started looking around the room.
As a presidential suite it was no doubt luxurious but this one was different from the others he had a chance to visit during meetings with a few directors. It did not have the show off vibe to it. Rather the intricacy of the architecture spoke for its value.
'She really has an eye for details.' He thought looking at the minute carvings on her cane.
He was busy relishing the view of the suit when the woman's voice turned his attention to her,"Hope you like the place you'll be staying for the next couple of hours. Now then let's get the introduction out of the way."
"Hours? What do you mean I'll be staying here for hours?" The young man jumped up from his seat.
"I contacted my doctor and they said it's not possible to drive in this weather. We'll have to wait until the storm and rain calms down. Same case for the police officers." She answered.
He looked outside the window with an irritable sigh and flinched at the sudden flash of lightning.
"I understand. Also, I'm sorry I for not even introducing myself when you helped me so much."
The woman gestured for him to continue and flipped a page.
"I am Nishith Dey, an actor, as you already know. I'm relatively new to the industry but I won the best newcomer award twice in a row."
"You seem to take pride in your work." The woman said.
"I do. I definitely do. It has been my dream for as long as I remember and I'll keep improving and giving my best to bring glory to this art-form." Nishith straightened up and said with a serious attitude.
"Uh, I said about myself. So, may I have the honour to know the name of my saviour?" He asked.
"Nilambori Saha." The woman replied.
"You have a nice name." Nishith smiled.
He finally got to see her face properly. She gave off a neat and tidy look with her carefully done half tied ponytail. The straight burgundy strands of hair reached a little below her neck. In his profession he had met many women but the one before him was one of the few who ignited his curiosity. Even though she was apparently relaxing, she had a courteous vibe.
"I have ordered food and a set of new clothes for you. Eat and change. My car will drop you off at your destination after that. Just say the address when you get inside."
Nishith widened his eyes. He did not think a stranger would do so much for him while his... He lowered his head and smiled with tears of gratitude.
"Thank you. Thank you so much."
He clenched the hem of his bathrobe to compose himself.
Nilambori was confused but she chose not to probe and gave him some space.
Nishith bit his lips hard to control the tears but it only drew blood. His attempt to muffle his sobs by pressing a hand over his mouth also went in vain. The emotions he was trying so hard to bury since his escape finally consumed him with an overwhelming intensity and he burst into tears. He covered his face with his hands and cried uncontrollably.
Nilambori patiently waited for him to let it all out, then walked up to him and handed her handkerchief. Nishith gave a small smile and wiped his face.
"My... sob... my stepfather took me to a hotel... sniffle saying we should... have a... sniffle talk and sniffle fix our relationship. Mom was mostly busy... sob handling our family business... sob so when father died she... sob married him so that... so that... me and my sister do not feel alone. I always tried my best... sob to be obedient to my stepdad so as not to cause trouble for mom but he...HE TRIED TO SELL ME TO ANOTHER MAN FOR MONEY!"
"He wanted me to be a sex slave of that man! He left me... in that room when a group of people... came inside and... surrounded me. They were planning to rape me... sob but I barely managed to escape. If it weren't for you... sniffle I can't imagine sniffle what would have happened. I can't believe that the person I thought would be our father did such a disgusting thing to me." He kept sobbing.
No matter how much he wiped his cheeks, it got drenched by a new streams of tears.
Just then Nilambori's watch vibrated and the message was read aloud in her ear pieces set inside her ear canal.