For a minute she held the phone close to her ears, without speaking a word. She knew that she was asking him to do something which he considered non-ethical based on his profession, so when he said yes, she was beyond happy.

"So... So you are going to help me out?"

"Yes !!!"

"I will give you his contact details over text."

"Ok"

"Dr. Nelson, I can't ..."

"If you are trying to say a thank you, then please don't. Since you have read everything about my wife, then you must be knowing why I am doing this."

"I know and I respect you for that. I knew that you would understand my plight".

"But as a Doctor, I will not lie to you. Don't keep hopes up as the results are going to be the same."

"Even 0.001% correction in the predictive analysis will be more than enough to make me happy Dr. Nelson".

Hearing her words Dr. Nelson sighed because he could completely relate to her situation. Taking a deep breath he said,

"Call me Jaby. Hearing you call me Dr. Nelson a thousand times, is getting on my nerves. Anyways I keep hearing that all day long. It would be nice if someone could address me with my first name".

"Really !!!", Akira exclaimed in surprise.

"Well, if that would not have been ok, then why would I have asked you to do so in the first place?"

"Erm ..."

She had no words whatsoever. She was already feeling indebted because of his help and now this request of his was making her wonder if such people really existed on earth.

"Thanks, Jaby", she said after much deliberation.

"Sounds much better. Now send me his details and I need to get going right now".

"Yeah, sure thing !!!"

And he disconnected the call.

He was about to go back after finishing her coffee but his mind right now was colluded. Holding the phone in his hands he sat on the chair recollecting the way she called him Jaby. Somehow it reminded him of the way Alita used to call him. It was completely weird and he had no explanation whatsoever as to how that was happening.

He knew that she looked like her, but right now how could she sound like her all of a sudden?

Taking a deep breath, he went back inside.

---

It was around noon so Akira called up Katherine,

"Hey"

"Hey there !!!"

"I am starting from my office now. I have booked the Musket Room for 12:30 pm. Would that be ok?"

"Yeah, it's just 10 minutes away from my place. You can start, I will start after 10 minutes."

"All right then", saying that Akira disconnected the call and texted Raymond about the details of the meetup.

When she reached the restaurant, she found the blue Lexus car parked outside of the restaurant and she knew that Raymond had already reached. So she went inside and took a two-seater table. Five minutes later Katherine also arrived and the waitress guided her to where Akira was sitting.

"Hi, Akira !!!"

Katherine came in with a big smile on her face and hugged her tight.

"How are you? How was your trip to London? You didn't call after coming from there?", Katherine started throwing questions at her the moment she reached.

"Well, I was a bit caught up with...."

And her entire attention was caught by Raymond who came in and took a seat just behind Katherine.

"What happened Akira?"

"Ah, nothing. I was just trying to remember if I had sent one urgent mail or not".

"OK, now that you are here, we are not discussing work anymore. Got it?"

Akira smiled looking at her and then said,

"Sounds good to me".

"I am hungry, what about you?"

"Absolutely !!!"

Hearing that Akira called the waitress and placed their order.

Then Katherine looked around a bit and pointing at one corner of the restaurant she said,

"The last time I came here was around two years back. Kate was adamant about eating ravioli and I had no patience to make it for dinner. That day he had come to my place after a long day at work, but he still took us all out. We sat exactly there".

Saying that Katherine took a deep breath.

"Um... I am so sorry Katherine, if I would have known then, I wouldn't have booked this place. I am so sorry".

"Why and what are you sorry for Akira? Those are the most beautiful and fond memories that I would cherish in my heart till I die. I can't keep avoiding anything that's related to him, I can't avoid things with memories associated with him. His absence has become a harsh reality, which I am still trying to accept. I can't run away from it Akira".

Hearing those words, his throat started to choke.

"Are you ready to order sir?", the waitress asked him.

All that he could do was to shake his head and wait for the pain to pass. He had never felt this helpless in his entire life.