Chore of Holders

Chapter eight

It was around 10 in the evening when Samantha knocked my door and I opened my eyes and checked the time realizing the fact that I have been sleeping since 4 hours now. “Hey, you okay Al? you came from university and fell asleep instantly, did not even have your dinner, we did not want to wake you up; thought you might be tired, but I guess matter is something else, I would appreciate if you open up about it right now, it will help”, I looked at her and thought for a moment, “Samantha, I’ve told Mira about this, every single thing, and you know what she said? She said this is all unreal, this is all unrealistic, this might be my illusion, and even the story is fake, how could she even say that the story of Martin Holder is not real, she even said we are unsure of his existence, like for real? I seriously thought she would appreciate this all and will be by my side, but unfortunately, it hurts now, it really does, knowing that she is thinking all this, that she called it illogical, and unreal, fake. I have decided, I won’t talk to her now, I need some space, I need to absorb the fact that this time she has failed to understand me, I was all tensed up and tangled in my thoughts that I found sleeping the best solution to get rid of this headache, and I am sorry I did not tell anyone about my arrival to home, you know it’s a hard time”, I finished blurting out everything in front of Samantha. I was feeling so down and disappointed that I did not even pick Mira’s call. “Al, look I know people do not take it as a reality, just try to understand the fact that things are not the same for everyone out there, people have different way of thinking, and everybody has a right to think no? That is what makes every single being on earth different because there is a big difference in our school of thought. In this case, Mira will take time to understand, you just need to give her enough time to absorb all of this, she loves you, she will understand and whatever she said shows her concern for you, she is really worried about you, you know that she talked to me after you reached back home, she asked me to have a check on you whether you were okay or not. It is not like she is trying to take her frustration of disbelief out by hurting your sentiments with the words like “Fake, illogical or unrealistic” as highlighted by you, it is just because she thinks differently, it is totally okay if she does not believe you at this moment, she surely will, not today but tomorrow, not tomorrow but the day after tomorrow, do not lose hope, it will take time just stay relaxed and do not worry about it”, Samantha tried her best to comfort and calm me down and to some extent she has succeeded. 

I was eating my burger when I received a call from Blake; he wanted me to come to the nearby café as it has been a while since we last met each other. We are school friends and we have been together for a very long time now. I quickly gulped down my burger because I also wanted to change my surrounding as quickly as I could. After 15 minutes, I reached the café and met him there. It was so good to see him and every time we meet we feel like we are resuming from where we had left. We ordered black coffee as I was already full. “So, how is Mira? How is your love life going?” he asked me and I think my dull facial expressions told him the story, “She’s absolutely fine and it is all good, what about you? How is Chloe? What about kids?” I tried changing the topic and thankfully he did not start that again. We had a good time meeting until I saw him again, that man again; he was sitting on extreme left of the café with two men and three ladies, he was having his juice I suppose because I could not see what he was holding in his hand due to the distance. I knew it was him; I had to act normal as I did not want this to spread as if it was the biggest news of the town. I decided to observe him this time instead of getting worried or getting bothered and confused, I had to keep myself composed and calm. I kept on talking with Blake and also was noticing his every single move. I was curious about him; I wanted to know about him so I decided to follow him after Blake goes. I kept an eye on that man as well while being with Blake until he got a call from his wife Chloe who asked her to reach home as their son was ill. He informed me and left for home, at the other hand; I did not leave, I was still sitting there at the same table and that man was talking to people with whom I suppose he came. They were all suited and it looked like a business meeting, but a business meeting here in café, I thought. I could still see his burnt face and that gown like thing at his back, while taking a sip from his glass, he suddenly looked at me, our eyes met, I was also watching him and for the very first time I did not get afraid or any goose bumps, in fact I wanted to know more about him and did not look away, I kept on staring at him until he made a short eye contact with me and quickly looked away. I knew and I started feeling that he had noticed me watching him; he must have felt my eyes on him so he got a bit more conscious. 

After half an hour, I saw him shaking hands with his table mates and they all had left, after which he came to me straight away and sat on the chair which was right in front of me. “I was noticing you, you were keeping an eagle eye at me weren’t you?” he stated to which I replied “Yes, because I want to ask you what you want from me? Why you are always around these days? Why I get to see you more often? Call it a coincidence or what so ever but one thing that I know is that this is for a particular reason, and one thing more, I want to thank you for saving me from that accident that day, it was so nice of you that you came to save me out of nowhere, I have a few questions to ask would you mind answering those?”, “I am Cyrus, senior manager of The Krieg’s, the same company that has just signed a contract with yours Mr. Alex Braham Holder, and you do not need to thank me for saving you, I am just man, it is all Him who saves. Talking about your concerns regarding me, even I do not get it how we meet often despite of the fact that we do not know each other, we do not know each other’s identity. Call it luck or what, but it is nice to meet you again”, he forwarded his hand shake towards me, and so I shook hand with him and he ordered coffee. He started talking about general things and all; we talked about company’s contract. So, he was the manager of Krieg’s and this is why he knows my name, I thought, the waiter brought us coffee and we both started having it. “Mr. Cyrus, I want to ask you that how did you know that I was watching you from my office’s building that day. You told me on road remember the accident day?” I asked him to whom he replied, “Because I was watching you too”, he answered. I did not know how to react or what to say because his vibe was weird, it was not normal, his tone was peculiar, his voice was different to me, he was firm in his answers and was a man of mystery for me. “I see, so Mr., Cyrus, where do you live?”, “exactly 30 minutes away from this place if you have seen street 56, you must have”, he told and in his last sentence, I could feel something different as if he knows something. Street 56 suddenly hit me, because Mira lives there, Mira lives on that street. “Yes definitely I know where it is, it’s pretty famous you know. So, you were in a meeting with those people that were with you on that table?” I pointed out his old table and he nodded, he said they were having a meeting in an open air, they are his friends and they decided to have a meeting here, it’s one of their favorite place. By his appearance I could tell that he looked in his late 30s, “I think it is time for me to go, will surely meet again, it was nice having a cup of coffee next to you Mr. Alex”.