ABRUPT©2021

6. pleasure is all mine

SHARU

After flying for almost ten hours, the Britishe Airways finally landed at London Heathrow Airport. I got off my seat and made my out of the business class section. There was a board ahead—

Welcome to Terminal 5
-B Gates

I turned left and got on to a travelator and took a few escalators that went down along with other people. Then there was a board again, with pictures which read—

-Transit to Terminal 5A (walkway available) YOU ARE HERE
-Passport Control
-Baggage Reclaim
-Customs
-Exit

Everybody was waiting for the Transit. It arrived and its automatic doors opened. I got in with other people and the doors closed with a woman's voice announcing— 'Please Hold On, Transit is Departing.' The ride went on for a few minutes. After getting off the Transit, I had to take a few escalators again, and also go through— Passport Control, Baggage Reclaim and Customs.

Finally I arrived at the exit where a man was standing, holding a sign with my name on it. I went towards him. Mr. Ricci had already texted me the details of the person coming to pick me up.

'Ms. Deshmukh?' he asked.

'That'll be me' I said.

'Welcome! I'm Lorenzo Romano, Mr. Knight's driver. Just call me Lorenzo. I'm going to take you to your new flat. Mr. Knight told me to call him as soon as I drop you there.'

'Oh, of course. Thank you.'

He guided me towards a black Bentlee Bentayga, nice. I settled in the backseat and scanned the features of the car. Lorenzo started the vehicle and drove on to the road. He gave me deets about our surroundings as I looked out of my window in awe. It took us thirty-four minutes to reach Knightsbridge. Lorenzo got out of the car and opened my door. I thanked him and got out. Ahead stood a huge condo in all its glory. We entered the lobby and waited for any one of the two lifts to stop.

'Your flat is the only one on the 30th floor. Here are your keys, use this one to open up the lock of the safety door and the other one to open up the door inside it' said Lorenzo, giving me the keys.

The lift came to halt and dinged, its automatic doors opening. We stepped out in a vast, bright doorway with recessed lights and disc shaped showpieces partly coinciding each other on two walls. Straight ahead was a dark brown fibreglass door with mirror sidelites on either side of it. I went forwards and opened the safety door and the door inside it, which also had a peephole. We went through a small corridor which opened to a large furnished room with one side having large glass windows. 'This is your living room. When you take a right, there'll be your open kitchen and dining room. Your bedroom and the spare bedrooms with en suite bathrooms are on the left. Your kitchen was stocked up today with fruits, vegetables, eggs and different spices including a few Indian ones. There's no meat because we weren't sure if you ate it. You can definitely go grocery shopping if you need anything. I'll call Mr. Knight now' said Lorenzo taking out his phone. He talked a little on his mobile and gave it to me.

'Hello Ms. Deshmukh! Welcome to the United Kingdom! I hope you get used to this city. I wanted to tell you that you are needed to be present today in the office. You must be jet-lagged, so you are not required to be present full-day. All you have to do is, show up at the Knight Corporation at 14:00. You will be introduced to your colleagues, other office staff and your work. Please get settled at your new home. Lorenzo will be back at 13:30 to drop you to your new office. Nicholas was going to talk to you, but he had an urgent meeting so I called you instead. This is your first day at the Knight Corporation as an employee, see you soon!' I talked with him and then ended the call, giving the phone back to Lorenzo. He smiled and nodded in return and went out of the flat, closing the door behind him.