BEYOND THE REALMS #wattys2018

Chapter 40

She had landed in her world just before lunch time. Radha asked her if she had a good time at the Azmis place, and Alisa nodded absently. She was still dazed by her earlier expedition to an entirely different realm, and then her senses were reeling over the treachery of her heart too. She could tell none of the things to Radha, so she asked her that seemed more imperative at that moment.

"Is Vishu bhai coming for lunch?"

Radha told her that he was, so she decided to wait for him. She had to hide that palm sized emerald too...so she quickly dashed in her room and hid it in her bag.While she was waiting, Mrs.Ahmed's call came through and Alisa spent some time talking to both her and Mr.Ahmed. In the meanwhile, Vishu also came and after lunch, they were ready to leave to meet the lawyers.

While driving, Vishu asked her about her day and Alisa told him that she went in the west gardens. Vishu passed a stunned glance at her, and said,

"Ohh Alisa...I am sorry I am not finding time to accompany you in the west portion. I am sure you know that it's probably a little dangerous...umm...I mean...I am sure you know that it's believed to be haunted."

A small smile came on Alisa's lips at the word "haunted." She knew who was "haunting" it and she couldn't tell Vishu, that it was not only the west gardens, but she had gone far ahead...with the one who was "haunting" it!

Snapping herself out of the memories of Shamharouche's realm, she quickly said,

"No Vishu bhai. I don't think there is any danger there. I went in the gardens, nothing happened to me. I am here for few more days,so I will see if anything strange happens." She resolved to ask Shamharouche about it, and she was sure that whatever anyone else says, Shamharouche would never harm anyone. She knew that there was actually no impending danger to Reza's ancestral mansion.

Then she recalled a question that she had been thinking to ask Vishu for some time,

"Vishu bhai, you pay the rent of the whole house, but you live only in one portion. How Come Reza agreed to take full rent from you guys then?"

Vishu shook his head and smiled at the fond memories of the great man, and said,

"Alisa, Reza never took the rent for the other portion. I will show you all the documents once we reach my office. The rent of this whole house is a lot, and Reza knew that I could not afford it. In papers, he mentioned the whole house on rent, but in reality, he only took the rent of the portion I live in." His smile was sad now as he added,

"The rent value of half of the portion is also very high, yet he took only little amount from me. And most of the time, he used to tell me to use that money in the house repair funds. He hardly ever took any money from me,actually, Alisa."

Alisa closed her eyes and laid her head on the head rest. A tired smile came on her lips as Reza's handsome,kind vision popped up in her mind. Her lips releasing a sigh, she told his vision,

"Ofcourse...How did I forget what a great human being you were, Reza."

Then she opened her eyes and said quietly,

"This makes sense now." She turned her head towards Vishu and said,

"Don't worry Vishu bhai. Nothing will change. You can continue living there for as long as you wish because Reza wanted it that way only. As far as the haunted issue is concerned, don't worry about that too. I will take care of it myself."

Vishu was slightly surprised to hear the determination and confidence in her voice. He knew that she was an intelligent person, but he had not heard this kind of self reliance and courage in her voice before. He smiled nonetheless. They had reached his office now.He parked his car outside the office and took her inside. There he showed her around and also told her that it was Reza who had made him start this Real Estate Agency. He showed her where he and Reza used to have their meetings mostly. His tone was full of affection and respect for Reza, and Alisa kept smiling fondly on the mention of her dead husband without realizing that this was the first time in two years that Reza's name and his discussion had brought a real smile on her face, rather than tears of agony in her eyes.

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Author's Note: Do you feel that shes changing? Getting better, hopefully? Please share your comments and let me know how you feel... :)

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