"What are you talking about?" Dr. Nelson asked all astonished.

"Erm... I met your wife in the lobby, so I gave the wallet to her and I left. I mean your wife gave that wallet back to you right?"

Dr. Nelson pinched the space between his brows and then looking at the bartender he said,

"Um... What did you tell her?"

"Sorry, sir !!! I don't understand. Did I do something wrong? Was I not supposed to give it to her?"

Getting all impatient, Dr. Nelson said,

"Um... No nothing like that. I just want to know what you said to her when you returned the wallet."

By now he had understood that the bartender hadn't met his wife, he had met Akira instead.

"Actually when I held your wallet, it accidentally had the flap open and I saw the picture of your wife in there or girlfriend. I am sorry if I assumed her as your wife. I was just going to the reception to return it and I saw her standing there with a trolley in her bag and I assumed that you guys must be leaving or something. So I hurried to her and gave her the wallet."

Taking a deep breath, Dr. Nelson, who had already lost all his patience, asked,

"That's fine. What did you say when you handed her the wallet?"

Getting a bit scared, the bartender tried to remember his exact words and said,

"I just said - Ma'am your husband's wallet. That's all. And assuming that the wallet was in safe hands, I just left."

The stuff that he was dreading the most had happened.

Without saying a new word further, he tapped on his shoulder and said a "Thank You" and left for the airport.

He wasn't sure how she would have taken it. He wasn't sure if she figured out anything.

The whole time on his way to the airport, he spent worrying about the impending aftermath.

But just after his security check was done, he received a call from a PRIVATE NUMBER.

"Who could this be?", he mumbled and then picked up the call.

"Hello."

"Hello, Dr. Nelson?"

"Yes, speaking."

"This is Akira. Akira Peyton. We met at the medical conference in London. Hope you remember me?"

Dr. Nelson wanted to tell her, how absurd her question was. He wanted to tell her that he remembered everything about her, but the only thing that said was,

"Oh yeah !!! Sure. Tell me."

"You told that I could ask you for any help or any random query and stuff like that right?"

"Yes, Tell me what question do you have in your head right now?"

"Well, the thing is I am wondering if by any chance did you read about Raymond's case earlier?"

"I do not understand this question of yours."

"I mean have you ever read his case file earlier. Because I wanted to discuss some points with you if you have some time. So wanted to know if you have gone through his case file since you are also researching in this domain."

"Well, Raymond's case is quite interesting because apart from acquired prosopagnosia he doesn't have any other ailments. So it will be interesting to see his healing process. If you want to discuss, we can discuss. Although I haven't checked his case file earlier, but yesterday I have read a lot about his case from the report and from Dr. Oshana's records. If I had known earlier that she had such a case with her, then probably I would have myself contacted you guys."

"That bitch", Akira muttered under her breath.

"Sorry !!! Come again."

"Ah, I didn't say anything. So maybe what I will do is, I will text you some of the questions if that's ok with you."

"Well yeah sure thing. Feel free to text as many questions that you have."

"Erm... Dr. Nelson...."

"Yes?"

"The thing is... Um... "

"Can you tell me or ask me openly what is there in your head?"

"The thing is, I feel bad taking free consultation from you like this. I know you are the top neurosurgeon of New York and the best Doctor for acquired prosopagnosia since you have had the maximum number of cases under you and I have also googled your hourly charges."

"What are you trying to tell here Akira?"

"I mean, I have been bugging you since the time I met you and I know that I will keep bugging you since the curiosity in my head is never going to rest. So I just wanted to let know that if you want to charge then I am ok to pay for consultation over the phone as well."

Somehow this didn't go well with Dr. Nelson.

Somehow in a minute, she made him feel like a cheap Doctor who was worried about nothing else but his hourly payment.