26. Best Friend

I went to my apartment first thing after leaving the airport. I needed to check on Sanjana. I wasn't able to push out the thought that the police was after her too.

"Who is it?" I heard her scared voice as I opened the front door.

"Hey! It's me. Where are you?"

She got up from behind the kitchen counter, still a bit scared. My face dropped at the sight.

"Oh my God! Are you okay?" I asked her and engulfed her in a tight hug.

She started crying as soon as I hugged her.

"They are looking for me." she said in between sobs.

"I know, I am sorry. Don't worry, I am here."

"I hate him. I hate that I fell for him." she said again.

"Hey, calm down Sanj. You need to tell everything to me. What happened?" I asked.

"I-I was with him and he killed a man in the club and someone captured it in a video and- and I am in it. They are looking for me." she stuttered and gasped for breaths.

"Shh... It will be fine." I comforted her.

"He came here but I sent him away."

"You said you fell for him. What do you mean?" I asked her.

"I loved him, Naina. He was very nice to me and he actually cared for me. He told me he loved me too. I was happy with him."

"Oh. Do you want to live here? I don't think it is safe for you to be here." they could find her as soon as they know her name

"I don't want to be alone." she sobbed.

"I am so sorry I left you alone here. Can you sit here? I need to make a call." I asked her and she nodded slightly.

"Faiza? Hey, It is Naina."

"Hey, how are you?" she asked happily

"I am fine but I need a favour."

"Yes, anything. What is it?" she sounded concerned.

"Do you still have your apartment that you bought after you moved out?"

"Yes, I still own it. Why are you asking?"

"Sanjana needs a place to stay for a while. Can you meet us at the old apartment? I will explain everything." I told her.

"Okay. I will be there in 10 minutes."

.

I heard a knock on the front door after a few minutes.

"Hey, what's wrong?" she asked as she entered.

"Come on in." I locked the door.

I called for Sanjana and she came out of her room still looking very scared.

"Oh my God! What happened to you!?" Faiza said and Sanjana ran to hug her as soon as she realised it was her.

Faiza looked at me after they pulled away and her eyes widened with realisation that I was pregnant.

"I know. But we have a bigger problem now." I said before she questioned me.

"Okay, what is it?"

I explained everything to her.

"She can stay at my old place for a while, the girl who I rented it out to just moved out."

"But she doesn't want to be alone and I really don't think she should be alone right now." I whispered so that Sanjana didn't hear us.

"What should we do then? I can't live there, I am married and I have a baby."

"Neither can I. I am pregnant and Shiv asked me to move in and his mother came from Paris just for me. I would've made her stay there but there isn't any place left." I explained.

"I have an idea." she said.

"What?"

"You know, this gangster guy says that he loves her, right? So what if we talk to him and he takes her with him or better yet, lives with her at my old apartment. I know it is risky but if he really does love her, he can do at least that for her."

"It can be worth trying once." I said and picked up Sanjana's phone from beside her without her noticing.

I copied the number on my phone and dialled it after getting up and walking into my room.

"Hello?" I heard him speak in the heavy Italian accent.

"Hey, this is Sanjana's friend from the club." I said.

"How is she?" was the first thing he asked.

"Not well. Where are you?"

"I am at my place."

"Okay, don't you think it's dangerous there? We want to move Sanjana to a safer place because anyone can find her here. And I am not letting her live at your place." I told him.

"So you want me to be with her but you don't have the place? he asked in broken English.

"We do have the place. She can live there without you too but she was so scared when I got back home and she said she didn't want to be alone."

A voice in the back of my mind kept reminding me how bad the idea was.

"Okay, pack her bags, I am coming to pick her up." he said and hung up.

.

I didn't tell anything to her about the call. I just went inside her room and packed all her clothes and essentials in two suitcases.

A few minutes later there was another knock at the door.

"Where is she?"

I moved from the door so he could see her sleeping body on the couch, wrapped up in blankets.

"Shh." I said to him, indicating not to make any noise.

She opened her eyes at once. She was still conscious while sleeping, she sensed another person in the house. That's how scared she was. It broke my heart to see her like that.

"What is he doing here?" she asked me.

"Bella, talk to me." he called her that the last time too.

"What do you want?"

"Come with me, you will be safe. I promise."

"Where?"

"At my old apartment." Faiza answered.

"I don't know." she said with uncertainty.

"Sanjana, this is the only option. I can't let you stay all alone and I can't stay there with you while I am pregnant. I am sorry." I told her.

"Okay. I will go." she said in a weak voice.

"Thank you." Lorenzo said to her.

"I have packed your bags. Faiza will lead the both of you to the place." I said and they nodded.

I handed him the bags and proceeded to open the door. They walked out but halfway through the hall, they stopped.

"You are under arrest." I heard someone say.

I walked as fast as I could and saw three policemen pointing their guns at them.

"No, wait. Arrest me. She wasn't a part of it." he said to them.

"We still need her at the station for questioning."

"Are you okay with that, princess?" Lorenzo asked her and she nodded subtly.

I stood there with Faiza, watching everything and not being able to do anything.

They handcuffed Lorenzo and asked Sanjana to walk to the car. We followed them.

"We should go with her." I said to Faiza.

"You are right. Come on." she started walking.

"Wait, I don't have my car." I stopped her.

"I do. Let's go."

.

It took half an hour for them to question her and free her. They realised that she was innocent and let her go. She cried all the way back home while I sat with her and comforted her. The man she had fallen in love with had gotten arrested in front of her eyes.

We reached home and she went straight back to sleep and Faiza went back to her home.

I called Shiv to inform him that I was planning on staying for the night.

"Hey, is everything okay? You sound exhausted." he said on hearing my voice.

"I am. Sanjana almost got arrested and she is not stable right now so I will have to stay with her tonight. Is that okay?"

"It is okay. I can come there, if you want me to. My mom is getting bored too." he said calmly.

"It's fine. You both need to rest."

"Here, talk to mom. She has been bothering me since my phone rang." I could just see what it would have been like leaving both of them alone all day, both of them annoying each other.

"Okay, hand her the phone."

"Hello? Naina? Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yes, I am fine." I said politely.

"Okay. We are coming over and bringing dinner I made." she stated.

"There is really no need."

"You do need it. You are taking too much stress and I can tell that you haven't eaten since the morning. This is not good for the baby." she scolded me.

"Okay fine, you can come." I gave up. I knew she wouldn't back down.

She hung up and I heard Sanjana shuffle around in her room.

"Who called?" she asked as she walked out of her room.

"Shiv and his mom are coming over. They are bringing dinner."

"Oh. I guess it will be good, you know, take my mind off of things."

"I know. Drink some water. You have been crying a lot, you need to stay hydrated." I told her and she did what I said.

.

His mom hugged me as soon as she entered.

"Look at both of you girls, you look like you both are sick. You need to eat." she said and handed me the bag of food.

"Thank you for coming."

"Oh, it's nothing, I was getting bored anyway." she said nonchalantly.

I then hugged Shiv and sighed. I relaxed a lot at his touch.

"I missed you." he said as he pecked my forehead.

"I missed you too."

I explained everything to both of them as we had dinner after Sanjana left to sleep in her room.

"Poor girl. Why don't you call her to live with us?"

"Mom, you are already living there. And we still have to turn the guesthouse into the kids room so there is barely any place for you now, let alone for her." Shiv said.

That was very true. We still needed to renovate the guest room but we would not be able to do that if his mom lived there.

"What if you lived with her?" I suggested. "She needs someone to be with her right now. I can be here too. That way, we will be able to redecorate and she will have people around to take her mind off of things."

"That is a good idea."

"No." Shiv whined.

"Oh, come on. You can adjust for a while." I said.

"But I don't want to live alone."

"Fine, we have three bedrooms. You can stay with me." I rolled my eyes.

"Okay then, it is decided. I will bring our bags tomorrow." his mom said.

"No, he will, you will stay right here." I said and he pouted.

"I hate packing."

"That is why I make you do it." I said and laughed.

It was weird how fast my mood changed to happy whenever I was around him. I had not smiled the whole day but being with him for a small while charged me up.