Mending The Broken Souls

Realization

Before 4 hours

Souris came to his room, frustrated as always at HER. His doubts about Riva, might not be involved with the terrorists were getting stronger with each interrogation. She again denied it. It's almost 2 months now and no person could be that strong to lie again and again. Not to forget, with such a brutal way of asking things. Even the strongest person can give up. He was about to give up too when he went through the same thing and he was very well trained for those tortures. On the other hand, if Riva could be a sparrow, no sparrow could be this strong. They hardly survive for 2 weeks, maximum for a month, not more than that. And here this girl endures all kinds of torture for weeks.

Souris sat on his small bed, his head in his hands. He let out a heavy sigh.

"I should look for all the evidence again. Maybe she is framed." He said to himself.

He took off his boots and went to take a shower. After a few minutes, he came out and got dressed for bed. He lay down on the bed facing the ceiling. His hand under head. He was again thinking about Riva, not the girl who was locked in his prison, but the girl with the sunflowers. That picture was still clear in his head. She used to bring sunflowers to decorate her desk. One day when he got out of his car, he saw her outside the building of their workplace. She was wearing a beautiful knee-length floral dress as she was walking with her friend Jessica or Jenny. He didn't remember her name. The base of her dress was white and tiny red flowers were printed on it. A beautiful smile dancing on her lips, sunflowers in her hands, adorning her beauty frame. He was watching her, completely mesmerized by her appearance. As Riva came closer, she noticed him. She walks towards him with her friend. The smile was still there and they both wished him good morning in unison. He only nodded at them and they walked past him to enter the building. Her friend went inside first and when Riva was about to enter, he called

"Hey Riva."

She turned, still holding the door. Her heartbeat suddenly took the pace. He nods at her to beckon her. She signaled her friend to go ahead and walked back to him. She was nervous. She tried her best to look calm. He always has this impact on her. She has developed a little crush on him after joining his team. Though he was always kind of cold and tough to please, she still felt the pull towards him.

"Yes sir". Finally able to find her voice to answer him. Her voice sounded musical to him.

"The new consignment for satellite making has arrived?" He asked, trying to initiate the talk. In reality, he wanted to know about those flowers that if she had brought them for someone or had someone gifted them to her?

"No sir, It'll be here in three days" she said calmly, but she felt sweat on her palms.

"Hmm.. When did we give them the order for this?"

He could have said okay but he wanted to talk to her. From the day he saw her for the first time till now, he has always felt a pull towards her. Maybe it’s her eyes. They shine so bright. He thought to himself.

"A week ago, sir" she said sheepishly.

"Don't you think it’s getting too late?"

She pressed her lips and blinked 2-3 times as she looked down at the flowers. His heart skips a beat at her reaction. Suddenly he wanted to hold her in his arms. He was watching her, waiting for her to lift her eyes and look at him, but she was still looking down, not knowing what to say to him.

"Riva" he finally said in a firm tone, and she looked up. Her eyes met his and her heart started pounding against her chest. He looked so handsome in his grey suit. His eyes were sharp like a hawk, his long pointed nose, his perfect jawline and his thin lips. She was drinking the beauty of his face in. He came closer, towering over her little frame, and she suddenly realized how tall he is. He was looking down at her face. Their eyes are still locked with each other.

"Send them a mail that we need those parts tomorrow.” He commanded. “And remind me to call them as well”, he added.

Her heart started drumming against her chest. If he came a few inches closer to her, he could also hear it. She took a step back and replied,

“Yes sir.” She blinked 2-3 times and let out a breath which she didn’t know that she had been holding up. He slightly smiled at her reaction and looked down at the flowers in her hand.

“I didn’t know you like sunflowers. Well suits your bright persona, I guess.” He said amusingly. His words made her heart flutter. And suddenly she felt like butterflies in her stomach.

“Umm.. Thanks sir,” She said with a smile. “And yes! I like them. They were my mother’s favorite. So I kept them at my desk and at my house. It made me feel that she’s near with me. She passed away when I was only 11.” Her eyes moistened as she mentioned her mother. And Souris felt a slight pang in his chest seeing that. But a part of him was relieved that she herself bought these flowers.

“You know wherever she is, she must be very proud of you.” He tried to sooth her with his words as they started walking towards the building.

“My father used to say the same” she said, blinking away her tears.

.

He came out of his thoughts. ‘No she can’t be one of those sparrows. She’s just… can’t’, he thought to himself. He made the decision that he was going to look into that matter all by himself, not going to let anyone interfere or influence him. He was about to call his most trusted colleague and friend. Suddenly, he heard Riva’s screams. At first he thought she might be screaming in her sleep. Another reason she can’t be one of them. They were never this scarred and haunted in their sleep like her. He left scars which would take a while to heal. He was deep in his thoughts when he again heard her shrieking scream. She was calling for help. NO she was calling him for help. ‘She never did that.’ He thought.

And without wasting a nano second, he took his gun and ran towards her cell. He reached there within a few seconds. What he saw there filled him with pure rage. His guard was forcing himself on her. She was crying, unable to stop him. The filthy words that came out of his mouth made him furious and, without thinking of the consequences, he fired at him. The bullets made holes in his head and chest and he fell on Riva. He walked towards her and kicked his lifeless body away from her. She saw Souris, and quickly got up. She dragged herself towards the corner. She hugged her knees and started to cry hard. Her cries were making holes in his ears as they reminded him of so many things from his past. He shooed away those painful memories. He walked towards this frightened girl and got down to her level. She felt him near and pushed herself towards the wall. She tried her best to cover her naked body with her hands and knees. He stiffened at her reaction. Then he scooped her in his arms and walked towards his room. He laid her down on the bed and looked around for something. Riva, on the other hand, was completely exhausted and numb. She left everything on destiny now. He saw the ropes in the corner. He took them and tied her hands and feet to the bed. A part of him still wanted to be fully sure about her being innocent. He covered her with a rough blanket which he used. It pained her whole body but she kept quiet, satisfied that finally she had something to cover herself for. Souris walked towards the door and shut it close. He laid on the sofa watching Riva crying until she passed out.

"I've got to find out the truth," he said to himself.