HOOKED 4

Lara rolled on her bed. She had woken up earlier than usual and had spent longer than usual praying. She also prayed more fervently than usual. You never know the value of life until you almost loose it. She lay on her bed with little or no motivation for work. She thought of calling in sick but that would have been a lie and Lara certainly isn't on to lie her way out of responsibilities. She could call in late. "Lara" Zubby called from behind her door before popping her head through the door "morning love" she greeted. "morning" Lara responded, "no work?" Zubby asked.

"work dea o...but am in no mood for it...I think I will just take my time and go later. I'll call in late" "okay" Zubby said. "are you okay?" she continued " coz if your not, you could always call the cab guy...what's his name again?" "AB" "yeah AB....you can call him to take you to work" " zubby ...I'll be fine" "okay o...me am off to work, take care of your self today " Zubby left and Lara collapsed on her bed and closed her eyes..and resisted the thought of calling AB.


AB sat in his taxi and watched the gate of Lara's place with a worried frown on his face . He watched to see when Lara would step out of the gate to her estate. It was past the time she usually went to work. He stubbornly refused to take anyone anywhere. He was determined to see Lara leave for work or if possible take her to work. He was worried about her. she seemed shaken yesterday. He wondered if he should go and get her...if he would be pushing the boundaries, he agreed in his mind. He looked at his watch again...9:10, and decided he was going to her place. He was not sure what he would do when he got there but he he would start by going there.

Lara looked at the time it was 9:30, she had called her office to notify them that she would be coming in late. She was ready for work and on her way out, she stopped at the door to look around to see if she was forgetting anything. She walked out of the house locked the door behind her and turned....what? ...AB...

AB unconsciously got up at the sight of Lara coming out of the house, he had been waiting for about 30 minutes . He beamed a smile at her. A smile he thought rather sheepish but unable to control. He wondered what her reaction would be...she looked rather surprised to see him. "good morning Dear" he said, She smiled faintly and his heart stopped a beat or two. "good morning" she greeted. "how are you ?" he asked " am Fine " she said. " what are you doing here?" she asked " I came to get you...I thought I could take you to work.." he said with a smile. " you did not..." " oh it's no trouble" He noticed Lara eyeing him suspiciously and he smiled at her as they both got into the vehicle.

The trip to Lara's office was awkward. AB found himself running out of topics and he barely brought the car to a stop before she opened the front door to jump down. AB put a hand to stop her..."let me have your number...please" Lara looked around, she didn't want people to see her give her number to a cabby. "don't worry I will send it...I have your number now.." with that she slammed the door and walked quickly into her office complex. AB watched her walk away. He felt saddened ...was she ashamed of him?...not that he blamed her if she was. He started his car and drove off.

Lara looked down at her phone she felt bad and ashamed of the way she fled from AB today. Had typed and deleted well close to 10 messages already. She finally decided to send a simple message that read "Hi...this is Lara. I promised to give you my number, and here it is. thanks for dropping me of this morning." She pressed the send button and dropped her phone on her table like it was hot coal. She immediately went back to work.

AB's phone beeped and he took a glance at it. He didn't recognize the number or bother to read the message until when settled down to eat a couple of hours later. He smiled at the message not sure what his response to that message should be...he decided that he would call by the close of work.

Lara slumped on the couch in her sitting room, she had left before close of work on ill health excuse. Her phone rang and she looked at it...AB. she swallowed and picked it up. "hello" Hello" came his reply

"how are you?"
"Am fine"
" so are you done from work?"
"yup" " do I come and get you?"
Nope am home already.
Okay.
Err...will you err..is it...
AB ...what do you want?
Will you be free to hang out with me tomorrow?
Lara winced..." err...I might be.
I won't keep you for long. Just an hour and I promise not to keep you out late
' he finished.
" okay" she said more to compensate for her fleeing.
"okay then" he said "see you tomorrow"

AB hung up, looked at his phone again and smiled, he has a chance after all.