Akira looked at the picture on her desk and then after tussling with her thoughts for quite some time she called up Scarlett.

"Hello, Scarlett speaking".

"Hi. It's me. Akira", she said and took a deep breath trying to figure out how Scarlett would react after hearing her name.

Scarlett couldn't believe that Akira would have the audacity to call her, but somehow deep down she was expecting her to call her up.

"What to do want?", Scarlett sneered.

"I need to meet you as soon as possible", Akira said.

"You need to meet me? But why? To rub some more salt on my wounds? Or to gloat over that fact that you have snatched away my man?", Scarlett asked all sarcastically.

"Listen, you are the last person on earth with whom I would like to spend my time with and regarding all this misconception that you have about me snatching your man will be cleared if you can stop acting out and meet me. I do not want to discuss any specifics on the phone because I am not sure how secure this connection is. So if you can understand that and come out and meet me then trust me you will thank your heavens", Akira spoke in a curt tone.

"Fine then. You can come over to my place. I will send you the address", Scarlett said.

"No, your house isn't safe. It is monitored with video cameras. We need to meet somewhere outside. Come to the Coffee Shop at 167th Avenue near my office. Will meet you there", Akira said.

"Huh... So you are doing all this behind Raymond's back? I knew you were something Akira", Scarlett said and chuckled.

Akira sighed and then said,

"I will be there after 30 mins".

Then she disconnected the call.

She took the picture from her desk and the envelope in which it was kept before and locked it in her office drawer. Her hands were shaky and her throat was all dried up after the conversation with Scarlett, but she tried to recompose herself.

She took a couple of deep breaths. She knew that what she was going to do was wrong but she had no other way of doing it. She held her head in her palms and all that she could do was to curse herself.

After getting her foot on the ground, she gave few documents for the printout and immediately went to the printing room to make sure that nobody saw the content of it. Back at the desk, she saw Raymond calling her on the phone.

She picked it up.

"Hii", she said.

"I am on my way to the office. I will be there in another 20 minutes. Will see you then", Raymond said from the other end of the line.

"Oh but actually I am having a bit of headache. So I am going back home. Don't worry Mike is coming to my office and he will drive me back", Akira said.

"What happened all of a sudden? Did you catch the flu? Is it because of getting drenched in the rain yesterday?", Raymond started throwing questions at her impatiently.

"I don't think it's flu. I guess it's just a normal headache. Don't worry it will be all fine once I take a proper nap", Akira sad trying to convince him.

"OK call me when you reach home", Raymond said. His voice still dripped with concern.

"I will", Akira said and then disconnected the call.

She immediately rushed and placed everything inside her bag including the printout, her phone, her car keys and then rushed towards the cafe shop as she had to make sure that she left the building before Raymond entered inside.

She entered the cafeteria and took a corner seat and started flipping through random magazines. She ordered a cup of cappuccino for herself just to blend with the crowd as she had no interest in drinking it. She was just waiting for Scarlett to come.

The moment Scarlett entered the coffee house Akira even got more scared. She knew what she had to do the right thing, but when it was the time to do it, she was just not able to muster up the courage that was needed.

Scarlett made a disgusted face as she reached Akira and then pulled the chair next to her and sat on it like she was doing an act of kindness for Akira.

"Speak !!!", Scarlett spoke with an air of authority.

"I wanted to have a deal with you", Akira said.

Scarlett scoffed and then looked in her direction and said,

"And why on earth do you think I would agree to that?", Scarlett asked with a dismissive voice.

"Because if you agree to my conditions then I will give you what you want the most in your life", Akira said and took out the printed documents from her bag and pushed it towards her side.

"What crap is this?", Scarlett said looking at the printed papers.

"Your route to salvation", Akira said with a sarcastic tone and then took a deep breath. She couldn't believe her stars for showing her such a day.

"I don't have the time and patience to read through all of this. So first of all without wasting my precious time can you please tell me what the hell are we discussing here?", Scarlett spoke and clearly, she was annoyed.

Akira looked directly into Scarlett's eyes and said,

"I am ready to give up on Raymond !!!"

"You what?", Scarlett asked in disbelief and her tone was so loud that everyone in the coffee shop started staring at her.

"You heard it. I am ready to give up on Raymond. I will just walk away from your lives. You will never see my face again", she said and paused as her throat started chocking up a bit.

Scarlett looked at her with her eyes wide open in disbelief.

"I will resign from his company as well. So you don't have to worry about me seeing him in office. I will do everything that is there in my control to stay as far away from you guys as possible", She said and sighed. Her eyes had almost teared up.

Scarlett's ears were pleased but she knew that there was something else hidden behind all this. So she asked,

"BUT?",

"But on the condition that you will keep the baby safe and you will eventually marry Raymond", Akira said and looked at her trying to gauge if she would accept to her conditions.

"But this is what I want already. Why would you ask me to do something as a condition when I already want this to happen more than anything else in my life?", Scarlett asked her with a look of judgment in her eyes.

"Don't fool me, Scarlett, you and I, we both know here that you never wanted the baby. So save your face and stop acting in front of me", Akira said sternly.

Scarlett's face fell for an instance. Then she looked up at her.

"But what are you getting in this deal?", Scarlett asked all surprised.

"His happiness !!!".