"How do you know about him?" Akira asked all surprised.

"Akira, my dear, do you think I would leave any options unexplored? Dr. Oshana had already sent all my reports to Dr. Nelson for his second opinion. She always obtains a second opinion from him after getting results from any of my tests. So rest assured. You do not have to worry about all this."

"She did?"

"Yes. She is a very diligent doctor and very down to earth. She doesn't hesitate to take a second opinion unlike other doctors who take it up to their egos."

"I see."

Akira heard him, but somehow she couldn't digest the fact that Dr. Oshana would have done such a thing because when she had shared the reports of Raymond to Dr. Nelson he was genuinely interested and was scanning the pages like he was checking an entirely new case for the very first time.

Then she also recollected how Oshana called him towards her seating area, to show him some more reports of Raymond to distract him away from her. And while they were coming back to the hotel together, Dr. Nelson said only positive things about the report. So no way it was possible that he had seen them before, but she had no sure way of knowing it.

So she couldn't understand what was going on.

Either Dr. Nelson didn't recollect seeing Raymond's reports earlier or maybe he was never given those reports in the first place. Either way, Akira knew that she had to find out the truth and the only way to know it was to contact Dr. Nelson.

"Akira !!! Are you there?"

"Yeah, I... I am here."

"Don't overthink about this Akira. I cannot change the situation that I am in right now, but I promise you that even though we don't have eternity, I will still try my best to give you all the happiness that you deserve. So just trust me on this and let this phase be over. I cannot live under this thought that keeps me haunting forever. I cannot even sleep peacefully, just worrying about you, wanting to know if you are safe if you are ok. If anything happens to you because of me, I cannot live Akira."

"Nothing will happen to me, Raymond. Nothing. I have you by my side and you are my biggest strength. So just close your eyes and lie down on the bed and imagine that you are hugging me tightly. And..."

"And?"

"And... maybe you give a goodnight kiss and put me to sleep."

"Huh...."

"What?"

"You really think if you are there with me in my bedroom, on my bed, I would just hug you and give you a goodnight kiss?"

"I just..."

"Akira !!! Don't you think we are way past that stage? Don't you think you can talk to me about what your heart desires? Don't you think you can tell me the way you want to be loved?"

Hearing those words, Akira could neither blink nor breathe.

A strange commotion was there in her body, like a sudden surge of weird energy that was captivating her soul. maybe it was his voice, maybe it was the effect of his words, nevertheless, the hunger inside of her started revealing his face.

Gulping and gasping over the phone she said,

"Am I meeting you tomorrow night at 7 pm at Antialla?"

"Yes, you are."

"Will you... dance with me tomorrow?"

"No... I am just going to teach you how."

"But why?"

"Because I am in a mood for teasing."

"You what?"

"Instant gratification !!! Is that what you want from me? Then you are to be disappointed", he said with a chuckle in his voice.

"When did I ask for that?"

"You didn't, but your heart and your mind did."

"That's quite presumptuous of you Mr. Raymond. Don't you think so?"

"Ahh... what to do? Girls are always smitten with my aura."

Hearing this line of his, Akira suddenly realized that in the dance class tomorrow there would be other girls as well and somehow the thought of Raymond teaching them how to dance was intolerable for her.

So she blurted it out,

"Don't you dare ogle at any other woman there. Touching and dancing with them is out of your syllabus."

Laughing at her naive jealousy, Raymond asked,

"Then how am I supposed to teach my students?"

"Just do the damn demo on me and ask them to follow. What weird choice of life have you made. You could have better been the janitor at the studio and I would have come to dance there. It would have been simpler. Why did you have to be the instructor."

"Wao Akira, a janitor huh... Then would they have allowed a janitor to touch and explore a woman's body? Would they have allowed me to tease you by lifting your dress inch by inch? Would I have been able to run my fingers on your hot warm skin? Tell me?"