Deception

Panic mounted in her in fits and starts. But her voice remained unnaturally calm when she made that 911 call. "I would like to report a fire. Its a car parked in front of my neighbour's house. 8, Rue du Pasteur, Paris."

Thirty minutes ago, a busy doctor was trying to get her patient to agree to a surgery. That barely took two minutes as the patient only wanted to meet her surgeon in person to assure her. Such assurances people need, she thought to herself and as if to re-affirm that, she receieved a phone call from her friend and neighbour, Mrs. Durand.

"Hello, Mila. I know you are busy but if you don't mind, would you just come and look at my little Tony today? He seems to be a little ill today and its only been two weeks since the surgery."

"Of course, Gina, don't worry, I shall be there in no time, "replied an ever courteous Mila.

It was probably nothing but it never hurt to be too sure. So she finished up her patients for the day, checked if she had a surgery scheduled for the night and satisfied that she didn't, walked to her car. She started the engine and revved her baby up. No matter what Tom said, she would always love her little Punto. It had been her companion for a long time, be it her college trips in and around the French countryside, or the long trip to Italy she had done with her two best friends. It might not have the best fuel economy, or a powerful engine as compared to Tom's sleek BMW 5 series. But what this car had was memories. And she would always be fond of it. It was while driving to Mrs. Durand's house that she had the idea of starting a family with Tom. And she made a mental note to run it by her when she went and checked in on her son.

In less than 15 minutes, she was chez elle and instead of parking in front of her own house, she parked in  Mrs. Durand's garage as it was opposite her own and had much more space anyway. Tom's car was also blocking their driveway and she made a mental note to remind him when he got back from his day trip to Lyon. He must have left in a hurry in the morning with his colleagues so probably did not get time from his early morning gym session to park it in properly. "Men", she sighed, "can't live or without them".
Mrs. Durand opened even before she could ring the doorbell. "Why come on in Mila, I saw you come in from my window, " she beamed.
"Let's look at Tony and then get down to gossiping, shall we?" Mila replied with a bigger smile.
Tony was looked at within ten minutes, fussed over by both ladies and then decided to be left to his toys by the window as the two ladies settled down to gossip over a cup of tea. "Why, you know Gina, I was thinking maybe I should talk to Tom about starting a family. You think he will take it well?"
"Why come on, Mila. He is an angel and loves children himself. Why he is Tony's favourite Uncle, is he not my child?", she replied looking at Tony fondly.

"Yes he is, Mommy. But Mommy,what is that man doing to Uncle Tony's nice car!" Both ladies immediately went to the window and saw two men completely dressed in black heave something big inside Tom's car. The men then poured something over it and to the horror of the two women, lit her up. Both of them could not believe their eyes and as Mrs. Durand rushed for the phone to call the firemen, Mila held her hand. Mila had seen more movement. She could only stare in curiosity and horror as another man came to inspect the car. A man also dressed completely in black. A man whose  every muscle she knew as well as his thoughts. Or mistakenly thought she did. A man called Tom.

Mila's mind was a whirlpool of thoughts and emotions. What had she ever done to deserve this? She knew very well that what the men had put in inside Tom's car was a body and that it was lit up on purpose to obscure evidence. She knew that when the police came, the charred body would be found wearing Tom's clothes, his watch, his shoes. She knew exactly what he wanted; he wanted the world to think he was dead. Even her. In one blow, he became the cold, dark, mysterious stranger whom she met two years ago. A cold, calculated anger rose inside, mingling with her panic.

"This last man is driving away too, with those two other men. Mila, we should call the police quickly, right?", said a frightened Gina, breaking Mila's reverie.

"Gina, let me make the call,"said she. Panic mounted in her in fits and starts. But her voice remained unnaturally calm when she made that 911 call. "I would like to report a fire. Its a car parked in front of my neighbour's house. 8, Rue du Pasteur, Paris."

Home

It is the sights which strike you first-the cafes, the restaurants, the Eiffel, the sounds kick in later-the tolling of bells at the Notre dame, the gushing waters of the fountains, the street musician's mesmerizing chant. And the rain, oh the incessant rain. Washing away the cigarette smoke and the smell of coffee everywhere. As she breathed it all in, she knew that she had finally come to the place she belonged, she had come home.

"Stop grinning like an idiot, Mila. See this is why you should have never gone away," her friend laughed, braking the car and breaking Mila's reverie.
"Sorry, Marie, but you know.." replied a smiling Mila
"Yes I do, " said Marie, with a chuckle. "Now let's get your bags up and have you settled down."

And as soon she had done the needed settling down, she went straight to the Seine and went down to her favourite spot under a tree. It was a hidden place really, right in the midst of the madding crowd and yet away from it. It had been her happy spot. So she was a little annoyed when she found that it was already occupied. Some idiot of a man, smoking a bloody cigarette, with a bloody book in his bloody hand, had beaten her to it. "Guess it wasn't that secret after all," she mumbled and angrily kicked a stone in front of her. The cursed stone rolled and rolled until it stopped at the feet of the man who was in her spot. And he looked up from his book just as she tried turning away. And the book and the cigarette fell. She thought she had seen a ghost for it could not be, not after all these years, not after all these months. And she turned and ran with all the force she had.

She should not have bothered running in fact because he caught up with her pretty soon. And stopped her. "Mila, give me a chance to explain. Please. I had to do what I did. I had no intention of hurting you. And you know that I had no idea that you would be back here. I would never have come if I knew. I do not mean to cause you any pain or harm. Please listen."
But she stayed silent, immobile, not hearing a word of what he was saying. She put out her hand to touch his face but could not bring herself to. It could not be true, she surely was hallucinating. Maybe it was a bad dream and all she needed was to open her eyes. But her eyes were already open. She suddenly found that she could not breathe and the world slipped out of focus. He caught her in his arms as she swooned and fell.

He brought her back to his apartment and laid her gently on the couch. And watched her sleep. A terrible sense of remorse washed over him, He had done this to her, he had caused her pain and suffering, he had hurt her. And that was as unbearable now as it was then. And he knew that ten years apart had done nothing to change the way he felt about her. And that even a lifetime apart would not rectify it.