BACK WITH A CHAPTER. ENJOY.

When we reached the hotel, the hotel staff informed us that a guy had been waiting for our return for the past half hour. We rushed to the lobby to see who the guy was and who he was waiting for with such urgency. As we arrived there, we saw a curly redheaded guy standing near the sofa, tapping his foot anxiously.

DIEGO

As soon as I recognized him, I tried to go towards him. He must have been here after seeing my calls.

But as soon as I moved forward, suddenly something struck my mind, the first time I met Diego in this hotel lobby with his friend Max. Max, who I had not seen once since the occurrence of the theft. Max, who has disappeared into thin air. Max, who has honey brown eyes, eyes the same color as that robber whose face was covered. The robber whose eyes had widened in surprise after seeing my face.

Oh my god!!!!!!!!!!!

My heart started racing at the possibility my mind had conjured up. If what I thought was true, then this case was way more tangled than I thought.

Why was Max involved with international criminals if he was an art shop owner? is the involvement limited to this robbery only or he was a part of the gang? Did Diego know?

"Maya? Maya? Are you listening?" I came to the world of living when I heard Samay shouting my name. Abhimanyu was also looking at me confused about why I was in a daze. After hearing my name, Diego also turned around. His eyes washed with relief as he met mine. He started walking towards me when I realized I had to take him away from these two.

I had to confirm if he was involved in yesterday's incident in any form. I was hoping he was not.

I ignored the confused expression of my new friends I sped walked till I met Diego halfway. I grabbed his arm and dragged him away to a place far enough that our voice would not be audible to those two. I knew my behavior was suspicious but I could not take the risk of asking those questions in front of them. I was pretty sure that Diego was innocent, but they would not see it that way. I had to clear all doubts before I let them interact.

I took Diego to sit on one of the chairs in the lobby and stood beside him. The minute he was sat, he started bombarding me with questions.

"How are you? Are you okay? OH my god!!!!! My phone fell after I reached home and it wouldn't turn on. I couldn't see your calls yesterday. I repaired my phone today and saw your calls. I called you back and you wouldn't pick up. I was so scared. I immediately came to see you when you didn't pick up my twentieth call and didn't reply to my numerous messages. I came here and they told me there was a robbery, oh god! I nearly had a heart attack......."

He ran out of breath gushing questions one after other. He checked me up and down to see if I had any scars on. After he was sated in his inspection he took a deep breath and held my hand in his.

"Oh, Maya please never do it again. I was so scared that something had happened to you. I came here to find you and you were not there but then I saw you coming with these two strangers and my first thought was that you were in danger. Are you in danger? Is that why you pulled me away? Tell me..." he was starting to breathe heavily again.

"Diego calm down, nothing happened. It was a robbery but I am not harmed. Some electronics were stolen but I will probably get them back soon. The police are tracking them down soon. Nothing big happened." I tried to calm him down.

He sighed in relief and asked," Oh thank god nothing happened. Why did you pull me here then? And have you seen Max? I tried his cell after I could not reach yours but he didn't pick up."

"Did you ask the lobby about him?" I inquired back.

"Yeah I did, but they said that he had checked out yesterday. I can't even contact him now. I tried to check up on him but his number is showing to be invalid." He explained.

The tight knot in my brain was released with relief. If Diego didn't know anything about Max then that means he was not involved. But still, I thought it adequate to tell him what I knew about Max, because it may bring him into an uninvolved investigation.

"Diego listen carefully to what I am going to say. I think I say max among the robbers. I am not quite sure but one of the thieves that night had the same eye color as Max's. His physical appearance was also similar to max. I can't be sure because he was wearing a mask but I can guarantee up to seventy percent that it was max."

I saw his eyes widen with each word I uttered. He gazed at me with disbelief. He must have never imagined that his friend would be involved with something like this.

"Then what are you going to do? "He asked, worry marring his face.

"I don't know honestly. I was thinking of informing the police about this. I don't think it's safe for either of us to be around the likes of Max. I am just worried that it may unnecessarily involve you in the investigation." I started with trepidation.

He looked up at me lost in thoughts. Confusion was reflected in his eyes. I could understand how troubling this might be for him. However, I believed that informing the authorities was the best possible option for this situation.

"I don't know what to do Maya, I never thought Max would do something like that. I mean he did look a little unsettling to the eyes but he was always a helpful and kind guy whenever we met him. I don't doubt you but I am not too sure about telling the authorities. What if you had read the situation wrong?" he finally concluded.

"Yes there is a ninety percent chance that this whole situation is just based on my imagination, but I am scared of that one percent. What if what I am saying is true?" I tried to convince him.

" But involving the authorities would mean we will be dragged into a cumbersome process of investigation which neither of us needs." He was pretty adamant about his opinion.

After continuing the push and pull for another minute or so we concluded that we would keep this information to ourselves for now. If we spot Max again we will inform the authorities.

Calming ourselves after the discussion I realized that I had left Abhimanyu and Samay in the middle of the conversation and had dragged off Diego without even introducing both the parties to each other. While I didn't care how rude it must have seemed to Samay I cared what Abhi must be thinking of me. I had managed to collect his number with such great difficulty and I didn't want to lose the chance between us due to an abrupt moment of panic.

I rushed back to the two to do some damage control. Diego followed behind me like a baby duck following its mother. As I reached those two, I saw them carrying their coats and talking to the front desk. It looked as if they were leaving.

"Hey guys, are you leaving so soon?" I tried calling after them to gain their attention.

They both turned towards me after hearing my voice. Their eyes changed after spotting Diego beside me. Abhi's eyes turned into something unreadable but Samay's eyes scrunched with heavy scrutiny.

"Umm, this is Diego, my first friend in Italy that I was talking about." I tried to introduce both parties." And Diego this is Abhimanyu and Samay, they are working on the robbery case with the police."

None of the involved parties moved after the introduction. I didn't expect much out of those two but I had expected Diego to start a conversation with his sunshine personality and unstoppable mouth. As I turned back I saw Diego standing with his arms crossed and face impassive.

As he felt my gaze on him he asked, "Maya I thought I was your only friend in Italy. When did you start befriending strangers so quickly?"

"Yes, Maya please answer your dear best friend How have you befriended any strangers apart from him?" Samay clapped back.

They stood there looking at each other in anger and Abhi was looking at me intensely as if he was waiting for my reaction.

I don't if it was only me, but this situation kind of seems like an impasse. How and why did we reach such a condition?

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Hello peeps

 I am back with a new chapter. The clash happens between Abhi and Diego.

Is it the start of a feud or a change from enemy to friends?

Any thoughts?

What did you think of Maya's decision about max?

Vote and comment to share your thoughts.

_aBHIRA