When Lightning Strikes..[10]

It was almost sunset when the auto-rickshaw stopped in front of a small gate which had white fences around it. They were in front of a beautiful little house which looked like a small cottage. There were 7 wooden steps painted in white to reach to the front door above. 2 houses with a common wall could be seen at a small distance from the cottage. There were many huge trees that had small yellow leaves in both sides of the road that led to the cottage. There were heaps of the fallen yellow flowers under each tree. In short Annie was totally mesmerized with the whole scenery. Just then Ajay called out to Annie from behind. For a second she was startled, but soon enough regained her senses.

The whole day had been exhausting. They had travelled to almost every nick and corner of the city. First, as soon as they had breakfast , Ajay took Annie to the local police station, filed the details about Annie and gave his address to contact if any information was obtained about the valley and her family. Then as per the officer's advice, they started a look out for a place to accomodate Annie. This time Ajay was extra conscious about her accomodation that he refused two-three places where Annie had to share a room as a paying guest. They then went to some working women's hostels which in turn refused them as that they only allowed working women to stay in there. After the third try at yet another hostel Ajay took Annie to a coffee shop.

As they drank their coffees, Ajay said " Look Annie, as u have seen today, it is very difficult for a single woman to get a place here to stay unless she is employed. So what i am telling you is that you first find a job here. Then it will be easy for you to find a suitable place and familiarize with the city life. By then lets hope that everything would be fine and we would soon be able to hear a positive news from the police. Till then i can arrange a safe place to accomodate you. Lets go there "

Annie simply nodded to what he said. She realized that by now she had given the complete burden of her present state to Ajay. He had to decide things for her and she will simply follow them. Poor Ajay, she sighed.

Annie followed Ajay to a nearby bus stop and as they travelled in the bus Ajay told her about the place they were going - 'Saffron Villa'. It was the house of an old couple - a retired army officer and his wife who was a teacher by profession. They were Colonel uncle and Shobha aunty for him. They have a son who is now settled in UK with his wife and 2 children. Ajay had known this family for 2 years since he came to this city. Actually a small accident had brought them together. Ajay had seen colonel uncle lying in a side road one day and he had quickly moved him to a nearby hospital. It was a mild heart attack. Colonel uncle was put under observation for some time and doctors prescribed some medicines and complete bed rest for him. Ajay took a taxi and took Colonel uncle to his house to see a panicked Shobha aunty. She was very much worried about her husband and it was Ajay who cooled down her and explained things mildly. From then onwards, Ajay had been a regular visitor of 'Saffron Villa' and the best 'friend' of Colonel uncle & aunty. Shobha aunty reminded him of his mother and whenever he was bored of fast food, the delicious home made food by Shobha aunty awaited him eagerly in Saffron villa. Ajay was literally a second son to them. Their world had brightened once again with Ajay since the day their son left to UK.

Annie saw a glimpse of a tear drop filled in Ajay's eyes as he said this. They took an auto from the bus stop to Saffron Villa. As they reached in front of the big black gate, they saw a big lock hanging in the gate. From the security of that colony, they came to know that the couple went to UK the previous day to spent a month with their son. Ajay and Annie sighed almost at the same time and looked at each other with a 'what-to-do-next' expression in their face. As it was getting dark, they took an auto and reached Ajay's place. This was the flash back of that day - the first day of Annie in the garden city!

......................[.......TBC.........]........................