Ramya suddenly jerked her head up to meet his eyes, “You know nothing Shekhar, nothing at all. When Suyash spoke about earning his bread and butter through it, I didn’t judge him. I understood him. I don’t need your sympathy, I need your sufferance.”

                              *                                      *                                      *

Ramya had found herself well settled in the routine now. Over the next few weeks she became more comfortable with the conversations. And soon before she knew it, it had been one whole month. And Suyash was very generous in his negotiations it seemed. She got a fat cheque for her work.

“I feel like partying tonight. Let’s go to that new food joint you thought is really expensive,” she spoke happily.

“No. Its alright. I will cook something for us. Save all that money for a rainy day,” Shekhar hushed.

“Come on. Stop being this ‘I am so poor’ kind . Now that we have money, lets start acting like the rich and famous. Its a good habit, and perhaps some practice can rub off the charm,” she pushed him out of the house while saying this.

                         *                                          *                                       *

“All the who’s and who of town come visiting here. Its a grand hotel. Look at all those people sitting there with their huge mobile phones and swanky hair styles. I already feel like an important person just by being here,” Ramya whispered softly.

Shekhar shook his head, “Ramya, this is not something to be happy about. You see all these people, they have no life. They spend money to feel alive. Trust me the world they pretend to enjoy is actually very ugly,” he replied.

“What do you know? Have you ever even known what’s it like to be them? One day I will be somebody rich and believe me I will be very happy,” she replied haughtily.

“Ramya!” She heard someone call out her name.

And surely there was a woman across the hall waving at her.

Ramya slowly waved back at her.

“And who is she now? Who would you know at such a hotel?” Shekhar quickly asked her.

“She is the same woman whom I had saved from the apartment that day. Same woman who prevented me from going back,” she spoke in a low voice.

Suddenly her mere presence made Ramya reflect back on Shekhar’s words. What sort of a person would bring such a woman to a grand place like this? Why wouldn’t that person want one of his family members to accompany? Ramya was forced to think if there was really another side to being rich and famous.

She was still thinking all this when she felt someone tap on her shoulder.

“Hello! Its so nice to see you here. That day I couldn’t thank you enough,” the woman was standing close to Ramya’s table now.

“Please have a seat,” Ramya heard Shekhar speak politely.

And in an instant Ramya found the woman sitting with them.

                             *                                               *                                        *

“There is a letter for you,” her landlord came upstairs to her room to hand over an envelope.

It looked like a lawyer’s notice. She suddenly thought if her recent ‘work’ activities had brought some ire from the law.

She quickly tore it open and sat down at the desk to read.

“So is it what I think it is,” she murmured to herself.

After about five minutes of reading and re-reading it, all she could understand was that she had to go visit a lawyer’s office at four in the afternoon for a meeting.

She felt a little panicked with the information and so she quickly called Shekhar to inform him about the latest development.

“How do I know what is it about? All it said was that I had to be present there with a photo id,” she spoke irritably.

to be contd. at Dear friend-Part 7