"Zoey, Are you okay?"

"Zoey come stand up..."

" Zoey! Zoey!"

Someone helped me up from the ground and was shaking me. There was pure panic in the voice.

A pair of eyes frantically searched mine for a sign of recognition.

I didn't know him. I was in a trance. I was walking in a daydream. Nothing could wake me now.

The eyes were staring enquiringly at me. The person slipped my hand around his neck and a strong pair of hands lifted me off the ground.

I glanced for a moment at a sea of brown, his eyes which had big, beautiful eyelashes.

Suddenly recognition flooded into me and with it came the shock.

I was staring at a pair of haunted, glassy eyes.

Dmitri...

I was overwhelmed and all the tears I had kept in me flowed with full fervour. I buried my face in his warm chest and sobbed. I didn't know what to say.

He was alive.

For a moment I placed my shaking hands on his face and traced the curves of his cheeks. It was as if I was trying to find out if he was a dream. I was trying to ascertain his existence...

He was not dead that was what mattered to me now.

But then who was murdered?

The answer came in the form of the police. The man murdered was Jeff, his stuntman and body double.

He had come to meet Dmitri in relation to a film. Since he was busy so Jess was waiting in the balcony.

Vera had probably seen him from the back and thought him to be Dmitri .

When Dmitri was returning he had heard a scream and saw Vera running out of the balcony. He rushed to the balcony only to find Jess on the ground. It took him no time to assess the situation.

"I wish I'd been there earlier. It might have made all the difference. So all I can tell you is why he was murdered. I didn't know what to do until I saw you standing in shock. I realised what you must have thought and then I regained my senses and rushed downstairs."

We were sitting in Dmitri's drawing room. I had a blanket wrapped around me and a cup of hot chocolate in my hand.

Much to the horror and amazement of the press and the police Dmitri had placed a hand on my shoulder.

I was sitting there nervous.

He had strictly defended me and demanded that I should not be disturbed. It had taken me an hour to come back to normal.

I felt his reassuring hands hold mine. I knew by that one touch that I was safe and everything was alright.

" Vera was jealous of every woman I met, my colleagues, my peers. She thought me as an object, a treasure or a prize. She never valued me for what I am." he continued, " But more than that she was jealous of me. She was jealous of my success. She suddenly started treating me like her rival. I tolerated thinking that it will be all over but I guess she wanted me out of her way permanently..."

A stoic silence followed which was broken only by the sound of my blanket rustling as he drew me closer.

The battery of press left eventually. The body was removed by the detective department.

I wanted to leave too but he was reluctant to let me go. So I agreed to stay back.

We were sitting in front of the warm fire. He still had that haunted look in his eyes.

"Zoe, if only I had been there in his place, Jess would be alive now, though at the cost of me not being in this world anymore. How can I ever forgive myself?"

Suddenly I felt anger build up in every nerve of my body. I broke away from his grip.

"I guess God thought those poor, helpless, butterfly children need you. I guess God thought that the world needs someone to light the earth like you. I guess God thought I needed you. So he saved you for us all. I really think God made a mistake because you don't love your life or the people attached to your life directly or indirectly . You didn't think about me before saying this... You feel sorry and you refuse to accept the fate which is yours. I am leaving. "

I picked up my bag.

He caught me from behind and turned me face to face. I looked away before he could notice the tears welling up in my eyes.

" Sorry," he whispered, " I want to go on living. I didn't deserve death. I won't die when I have someone to live for."

" Who?"

My whispered question was answered by his eyes. His liquid chocolate eyes melted my heart and I couldn't turn my gaze.

He hugged me and kissed me frantically. I had found the answer to my question.