184 Later that nigh
There was complete silence that was spread all around. No one dared to say anything for so much had happened in the last few minutes which was beyond anyone's ability to even comprehend.
The anchor came ahead and released the hands of Peter who then left the terrace immediately following Vikram's mom.
Katherine came ahead and gently caressed Akira's arm and then looked at his brother and said,
"Take care of her. It's going to be a long night", then she left along with Shawn.
Now the only two people left on the terrace were Raymond and Akira. She sat down on a chair and stared blankly at the projector screen, which had gone into hibernation mode.
Raymond didn't know what to say or how to talk with her, because he himself was reeling under this sudden revelation. It was easy for him to hate Vikram earlier as he thought of him as a bad person, but now after all this, he didn't know how to react to his presence in their lives, when he knew that he loved Akira to the moon and back. He thought that he would be able to decimate him tonight by exposing him, but somehow he ended up feeling guilty for wrongly accusing him of the things that he hadn't done.
He took a deep breath and then looked at her and said,
"Let's go home".
"Akira !!! It's late, let's go home".
She then turned and looked at him like she was short of breath.
"Did I lose him? Tell me, Raymond, did I lose him?"
He cleared his throat and then looked away for he didn't want to be the person to answer this question.
"I need to go to him. What am I doing here? He must be so much hurt because of me Raymond. Shit !!! What am I doing sitting here?", said Akira and ran towards the lobby to take the lift.
Her words sliced his heart into pieces but he knew that she was concerned for him just as a friend and immediately followed behind her. The lift was taking too much time to come up so she immediately took the stairs.
"Akira stop !!! You are barefoot. You are going to hurt yourself".
Raymond shouted but she didn't bother to listen.
She reached the ground floor and ran towards the entrance but didn't find anyone. She looked a bit ahead and saw Vikram's AUDI disappearing along with the traffic.
With a dejected heart, she sat down on the road, unable to think of anything.
She picked her phone and started calling Vikram, but he didn't pick. She turned back and saw Raymond behind her, who covered her with the trench coat which had fallen down when she came out all running.
"Let me take you home", he said and picked her up by supporting her completely for she was so not in her right mind at that time. Every single tear that she was shedding for Vikram, was burning his chest like hot molten wax, but he didn't complain, as his love for Akira transcended everything that was humanly possible.
He drove in silence the entire time, while she was frantically trying to call Vikram for the millionth time and didn't even realize that they had reached her place and that the car had stopped.
"We... We have arrived".
"What?"
"We are at your place".
"He isn't picking my call, Raymond. What do I do?", she said and looked at him in anticipation that somehow he would be able to do something.
He took a deep breath and asked against his own heart,
"Do you want to go to his place now?"
"Yes, please can you take me there. I just need to know if he is ok. He has never dodged my calls, Raymond, like ever".
Raymond didn't say a word and started his car.
It was going to be a long and pain drive to Staten Island.
---
After reaching Vikram's place Akira unbuckled herself as fast as possible and then looked at Raymond and said,
"I will be back as soon as possible. Trust me. I will just check up on him and come back".
"It's ok. I am waiting here. Just call me if you need me".
She nodded and immediately rushed inside Vikram's house without even turning back once to look at Raymond.
She went directly up to Vikram's room and saw his mother sitting outside his room.
The moment Vikram's mom saw her, she immediately got up and said,
"Please, Akira !!! I beg you. I apologize to you but please help my son. He won't talk and open the door Akira. Please help me. You are my only hope Akir", saying she held her hand and looked at her like she was asking for nothing but her mercy.
Akira helplessly looked at her for she couldn't hate her no matter what.
She took a step forward towards the door which was closed form inside and then said,
"Can you give me a minute alone with him?"
"Yes, whatever you need my daughter, whatever you need", she said and left Akira in front of Vikram's door.
Akira banged on the door.
"Vikram it's me, please open the door".
But there was no response.
"Vikram please, I am begging you, please. You can't turn your face away from me Vikram. You promised you will always have my back. Then where are you when I need you so badly".
She was crying profusely
"If you loved me so much then why didn't you tell me earlier? Why did you suffer so much alone? Why did you buy this ring for me Vikram, when you knew I liked someone else? Answer me Vikram, answer me?"
He stood inside, just near the door, listening to her questions and her overflowing tears. His hands itched to wipe away the tears from her face, but he had no answers for her questions so he just stood there, cursing his fate, unable to believe that everything would turn into shambles just because of a mistake caused by his mother.
"Vikram please, Vik...."
And suddenly her voice slurred and she fainted outside the door, for it was too much to take for her tiny little heart.
Vikram stood there, expecting more questions, more accusations from her side, but there was none. There was stark silence that was spread across.
"Probably she has left", he thought and walked towards his window, which faced the entrance gate of his house, just to have a glimpse of her. He stood there for quite some time but he didn't see her going out. That worried him a bit as it was almost 10 minutes so he came back and opened the main door only to find her lying on the carpet all unconscious.
"Akira... Akira... "
"No Shit !!!", he screamed and lifted her up and took her inside his bedroom and then sprinkled some water on her face with his hands.
She slowly opened her eyes and when she did, he hugged her tight and said,
"Who told you to cry so much for me that you have to faint. Do you have any idea how much it hurts me to see you in a condition like this?"
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