19: Rendezvous

Aaron spent the rest of the day cooped up in his newly rented room. He needed the rest. As soon as he caught a moment of privacy, he went to the toilet and stitched his wound up. He took morphine and slept like a log. He woke up in the middle of the night, drenched in sweat. The nightmares were relentless. They weren’t a matter of worry anymore now that he had slept long enough. It was back to staring at the walls until sunrise. The neighborhood didn’t look as welcoming as it did in the morning. He walked to the window, every once in a while, to check if his bike was still in one piece. The street lights were busted and meth heads roamed the streets. He wondered where they had come from. They were nonexistent during the day. Maybe they were dozing off during daylight and now that the drugs had finally worn out, they have nothing better to do, he thought. Their state wasn’t too far dissimilar to his own, he realized. Sunrise arrived eventually and for the first time in a long while, he dreaded what it may have brought with it. He geared up for his job and walked downstairs.

The activity had returned to the neighborhood. The bike was just the way he had left it. He rode off. His trusted colleagues at the office needed to know what had happened. He contemplated how he was going to explain everything to them as he made his way to his workplace. Time passed quickly and he had reached the office. He casually parked his bike and avoided any sort of added attention. He was fifteen minutes late. The world didn’t seem to acknowledge the hell Aaron had been through a night ago. Everything was unchanged. This mildly infuriated him. As he entered the building, the mail guy almost ran him over with his cart. The occurrence was half caused by Aaron’s brain still stuck at the images of burning departmental store, like a broken clock. They both apologized and went their separate ways. Aaron decided to pay Mr. Lawson a visit. He was in the middle of a meeting; Aaron was told by the receptionist. Luckily, the meeting was on his floor. He took the elevator and went upstairs. Mr. Lawson was visibly irritated when he heard the knock on the glass door of the conference room but as soon as he saw the face behind it, his expressions changed. The meeting was abruptly concluded and the guests were sent on their way with a plastic smile and an over enthusiastic handshake. Sophie emerged from her office and caught him across the room. Before she could do anything, Aaron was pulled into Mr. Lawson’s room and the window blinds were shut. She sighed and went back to her workstation with a ton of files on her table.
“I heard you had a standoff with your assailants”, Mr. Lawson spoke as soon as the two took seats.
“Standoff? I would barely call it a standoff. It was a fucking massacre!”, Aaron erupted a little bit louder than he intended to.
“Calm down son!”, Mr. Lawson whispered. Aaron stood up and started pacing across the room.
“What the fuck were they thinking sending me to New York? Innocent lives have been lost!”, Aaron complained, sadder than angry. “Some trying to save me ad some don’t even know why they’ve died”, he added.
“But I was told that you were equipped to defend yourselves”
“A handgun ain’t gonna do much against a fucking army of stone-cold assassins”, he countered. “They didn’t hesitate shooting a baby”, he continued. Mr. Lawson shook his head in disgust.
“I’m gonna need the address to your new home. I’ll try to make some arrangements. The threat was obviously underestimated”, Mr. Lawson spoke. Aaron already had the address scribbled on a scrap of paper. He handed it over.
Sophie was trying to keep her head in her work. It wasn’t happening. She couldn’t help but try and eavesdrop. The soundproof walls and glass door prevented her. She wondered what it was about. It was clear as day that a meeting was abruptly cut short which was very unlike Mr. Lawson. She swiped the thought from her mind and began audibly reading the reports she was supposed to review.

The glass door of the conference room squeaked open and Aaron barged out of the room to his cubicle. He collapsed on the chair and buried his face in his palms. It had been the longest 48 hours of his life. The image of the burning store stuck to his mind like a wallpaper. His coworker was hooked on YouTube watching a video of a fire. A few other eyes also clung onto the screen behind the man. Aaron just overheard the announcer sharing the details and he was sure that it was Manjeet’s store they were talking about.
“Those fucking crackheads!”, one of the spectators muttered. Aaron couldn’t tell them that it wasn’t the fault of the junkies. He tried to shake it off and looked for something to do on his table to take his mind off things. He picked up a file sitting in front of him and began sifting through it. The very first page pulled his back to the anxiety he was trying to escape. The page was signed by Sophie. He smacked his forehead hard enough to be heard across the room. Luckily, no one cared enough to notice it. It took him two hours inside the office to realize that he had coldly stood her up. He sunk in his chair realizing that even Sophie had decided to leave it up to him to initiate the conversation. That of course didn’t help Aaron at all. It took him hours to try and compile an apology or something that would at least help him talk to her. The result was laughable but in absence of any better options, he decided to go with it. Sophie emerged beside him with a stick file. He was startled. She calmly slid the file in front of him and spoke under her breath, “Next Tuesday is the deadline”. She returned to her office handing a file to a few others as well. Aaron’s heart sank at her indifference. He sprang to his feet and marched to her office. He entered without knocking. Sophie was on a call. She excused herself from the phone call, visibly annoyed.
“Ever heard of knocking?”
Aaron was shocked by the tone. She didn’t look capable of such viciousness.
“I… I can explain”, he managed.
“Must be something urgent. Did some client lodge a complaint?”, Sophie asked uncaringly.
“For Christ’s sake! Drop the act! You know what I’m talking about!”, Aaron pleaded, a little louder than a whisper.
Sophie’s cold behavior dissipated instantly. It was the window for an explanation. It, kind of, relieved Aaron that the insolent Sophie was not a reality. One part of the plan had been successfully yet unintentionally been executed. The conversation had been started. It was the second part he was worried about. He had pondered for an hour but couldn’t manage to piece together a single explanation that didn’t end up making him look like a prick. He had thought about “Friend or his family member dying” excuse. Any sensible person would have texted her. The fact that they hadn’t exchanged numbers, was in his favor but the lie was still too high school for his age. He discarded all the lies and decided to stick to the truth, half of it to be precise. Sophie eyed him, waiting for an explanation.
“You know what? I can’t explain. You gotta trust me on this. I’ll explain it when I can. But can we start over?”
It was obvious that Sophie was seeing red flags all over it. She was in two minds.
“Let’s catch dinner tonight”, she offered.
“No! Not today!”, Aaron blurted.
“Then what’s the point?”
Aaron was feeling like running into a brick wall. She wasn’t giving him an inch.
“Okay fine! You pick the place”, he conceded.
“8 o’clock, the restaurant a block away from the office”
Aaron nodded and was leaving when Sophie called him from behind. He stopped. She walked to him and gave him her number. He gladly accepted it and left. He regretted taking the risk but he wasn’t feeling like ditching her company for burrowing in his hide out. He could tell that it was selfish. There was no justification. He returned to his workstation and waited for the day to end.