The Devil's Harem

While Abir and Rebecca were trying to caution Alex about Brad. Brad was standing in front of Veronica with a wry smile on his face.

“... I had hoped that you would come to the party I threw last month,” putting down his arms, Brad changed the topic after he was denied the hug, “You know how many of them were there only to see you? They were left disheartened in the end.”

“Just to please a few, I didn’t want to cause a misunderstanding with your wife,” Veronica said with a sly smile on her face. For everyone looking from afar, it would seem like a pleasant exchange. But in reality, Veronica was just polishing her sword.

“Aha... Why would my wife misunderstand anything?” Brad toned down his voice and said, looking around to make sure no one heard Veronica, “She is such a big fan of your works. In fact, she was the one who invited you. After all, you are her favourite.”

“Oh, that’s a change,” Veronica crossed her over her chest as she raised her eyebrow in surprise, “Because if I remember right, things were quite different the last time we crossed paths with one another.”

“Situations change,” Brad chuckled as he hoped that Veronica won’t divulge into details.

.....

“Oh, wow. That’s something to celebrate then,” Veronica clapped her hands, “To think I would be the favourite of your wife. I am sure you must be quite jealous of me.”

“Hahaha... Veronica. You and your humour. You never change, do you?” Relieved to hear Veronica, Brad let out a hearty laugh.

“Like how you work with only those girls who are half your age. This consistency is something I have learnt from you,” Veronica couldn’t help but remark.

“It’s all because of the script. Ahh... What can I do?” Brad said, expressing his helplessness, “Just like this one. Ahh... What a plot it is, mindblowing.”

“I hope so...” Veronica nodded, “Because I have never liked using a hard hand.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Dressed in a plain white long skirt with a derby hat over her head, Veronica walked out of the exit, rolling her luggage with her. She had just landed at the airport and was now looking for a taxi.

As she looked around anxiously, trying to ascertain her next step, a few men seeing the gorgeous lady all by herself, made their way towards her.

“Where do you want to go, madam?” One of the men initiated, “Come, let me take you there.”

Slowly, the men formed a semi-circle in front of her.

“Oh, you shut up,” Another man rebuked the first one harshly before turning toward Veronica, “Just tell me where you want to go. Wherever it is, I will take you there.”

“Ohhohooho... As if we are going to kidnap her and take her to our house,” not wanting to be left behind, another man jumped into the conversation. But hearing him, the nervousness and fear on Veronica’s face increased even further.

“Don’t listen to them, my beautiful lady,” this time, the guy was a bit soft-spoken and elegant with his words, “This land is nothing but barren for miles. You won’t find anything unless you reach the city, and that is an hour’s ride from here. It’s already time for the sun to set. We need to make a move soon.” The guy explained. Hearing him, a certain level of confidence began to build in Veronica. She was about to agree with the guy when the other one intervened.

“Guys, look at him, acting all cultured. Do you think we don’t know what happened to that girl the other day? You had these glasses on that time as well, didn’t you? Madam, let me tell you, whenever he sees a girl, this wolf will don a sheep’s clothing, ready to hunt. He is the guy you should be wary of the most among all of us.”

“So... Should I be... Like, be wary of all of you guys as well?” Hesitant, Veronica asked, “To various degrees?”

But none of them replied, hearing Veronica. Instead, they all burst into laughter at her question. And the answer was clearly transmitted to Veronica, ‘Obviously.’

‘Oh, God. What sins have I committed that my whole life has been uprooted like this?’ Veronica could not help but look up at the sky and complain.

“Come, let me take you there,” Finally, one of the taxi drivers could not wait and tried to take the bag out of Veronica’s hand.

“Hey... Who are you to skip the line?” The others pulled back the guy and threw him back behind.

“Come with me...”

“No, come with me...”

“Hey, get lost...”

“Don’t push...”

And soon, all of them were engaged in a brawl, pulling each other’s hairs and beards, cursing each other.

Veronica, on the other hand, was too shocked to even move from her place, staring at the brawl, waiting for the winner to emerge. She was not sure what was going to happen. But she knew that all lay in the hands of the guy who would win this skirmish.

“What got all the bastards together, huh?” While everyone was busy thrashing each other, a voice forced them all to stop.

“The asshole is here,” one of them muttered.

“I knew it,” another man whispered, “We should have gone with rock, paper, scissors.”

Veronica, on the other hand, was confused as well. To bring everything to an end with just a sentence, the guy must be the ringleader. It scared her shitless even more.

And with that, everyone made way for the new arrival, and soon in front of Veronica was a guy with a bushy moustache and shades on, wearing a leather jacket and flip-flops down his baggy pants.

The crowd slowly began to disperse as the man, made his way toward Veronica.

“My... My... It’s rare to see all thieves together,” the guy pulled up his pants and said, twirling the toothpick in his mouth.

But despite the visible hate that showed on their face, instead of looking at the new guy with hateful eyes, none of them said a thing.

“Che... Pussies,” the guy spit the toothpick out of his mouth and berated everyone there without any regard. Then he turned towards Veronica.

“The name is Brad. You must have heard of it,” the man said as he bent down to grab the luggage from Veronica.

“Cut...”

Mr Lulu grabbed the hat covering his bald head and threw it on the ground in frustration.

The scene was long, and it was already the third take. Everyone did their part right, and for the first time, they were at the end. But like every other time, he had to mess things up, that numbskull Brad. Instead of using his character’s name, he had to use his name.

“Is he an idiot?” Abir, who sat beside Alex, said, “Oh... you are his fan, sorry.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“Hey, I told you not to disturb me,” after her phone rang for the nth time, Audrey finally answered the call, “I have something important to do.”

“Where are you?” Turtle, on the other hand, ignored her grumble and asked.

“As if you don’t know,” Audrey looked annoyed at his question, “I am sure you are staring right at your screen, pinpointing my location.”

“That is precisely the problem. What are you doing in Elenor?” Being a friend and well-wisher, Turtle regularly kept track of Audrey. And when he discovered that she was in Elenor, he was shocked to his wits.

“... Didn’t I send you the location in Thar? Wasn’t it the plan to confront him? Why did you change the plan without telling me?” Turtle almost freaked her out with his questions.

“That can wait for a while,” Audrey, in fact, chose not to go behind Alex, “I have something else to look into while he is not here.”

“What?” Turtle asked.

“Don’t try and contact me from now on,” But Audrey chose to ignore him, “If anything, I will be the one to call.” And she ended the call without giving Turtle the chance to respond.

“Hell... Hell... Hello?” Turtle, on the other hand, was left screaming, looking at his screen.

“Che...” slurping the last of what was left in his cup, he threw it aside in frustration, “What are you thinking? Even if it’s you, he won’t spare you for meddling in his business.”

Meanwhile, ending the call, Audrey, with curious eyes, looked around. Right now, Audrey was standing in front of ‘Elenor First Hospital.’ It was where Martha worked, and she was precisely here to meet Martha.

Without wasting much time, Audrey walked up to the reception to inquire.

“Excuse me,” Audrey called out to the nurse behind the desk. The nurse was the same young girl who did not recognise Martha earlier when she wanted to ask about Jessica.

“Yes? How may I help you?” The nurse politely asked. The nurse should have been up, working in the VIP department, but for some reason, she was down here.

“I am looking for Doctor Martha. Could you please point me in the right direction?” Audrey asked.

“Oh, Doctor Martha? Just go straight down the corridor and take a left. You will come across a waiting area with a lot of chambers. The doctor is in the one named orthopaedics. She should be up in the VIP ward, but she is volunteering today, and that’s why I am also here,” the nurse said, “So, why do you want to meet her?” the nurse asked.

“I think my shoulder had dislocated,” Audrey replied, and suddenly her left hand was over her right shoulder, “I was just minding my business when a taxi driver came from behind and hit my arm. Everything was fine that time, but suddenly I felt pain in my shoulder and could not even lift my arm up,” Audrey made up a story, “So I am here, the first hospital I could find.”

“It’s alright,” the nurse nodded, “Come, show me if there is any swelling before going to the doctor,” the nurse got up from her chair, ready to examine Audrey.

“It’s alright,” Audrey, on the other hand, took a few steps back, “I will just have the doctor look at it.”

“Don’t worry, I know what I am doing,” the nurse tried to relax Audrey, “And I am not going to check you here in front of everyone. So you can just relax.”

But Audrey wouldn’t let her do it. Without wasting any words to persuade the nurse, Audrey made a run towards Martha’s chamber.

“Hey, wait...” The nurse called out from behind, “Careful, you might trip.”

But Audrey wasn’t going to stop. She only stopped when she had turned towards the waiting area. Now that she was out of sight, she had to do something about her shoulder.

Luckily, there weren’t many people around her. She would nod, smiling towards the few who would pass by her looking for an opportunity. And when she did, Audrey interlocked her hands behind her back and slammed her shoulder hard at the corner of the wall. Even if it didn’t dislocate her shoulder, it would leave enough of a mark for the consultation.

Supporting her shoulder, Audre made her way towards the waiting area, where the nurse pointed her out and locating the Orthopaedics chamber, she walked in without waiting.

“May I come in, doctor?”

* * * * *