Tick. Tick. Tick.

5:57

He was late.

Amyra tapped her fingers on her thighs impatiently as she waited for Dhroov to come. Why did I agree to let him receive me, again? Oh yes, because he said he'll be on time and I wouldn't need to take a cab. Sitting on the sofa, she grabbed a magazine for time pass. Should've taken a cab instead. Two pages in it, her cell phone rang. She glared suspiciously at the phone screen displaying an unknown number for a few seconds before finally deciding to take the call. She picked up the phone, putting it to her ear, but before she could even say hello, the line went dead. She groaned in frustration, "Not again!" This had been happening a lot lately. Well, to be precise, this had happened just twice before, but that didn't make it any less irritating - not under current circumstances. This new addition of blank phonecalls over everything else was just making her feel even more fretful. She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to get back to a normal mood. I'm just assuming things maybe. Should stop overthinking.

She stood up and stretched, then turned around sharply when she realised that someone was right behind her. Her eyes fell on Riya - her best friend and flatmate- as she stood there wearing a casual white shirt and blue jeans, completely focused on putting on the bracelet on her left hand. Amyra sighed in relief when she saw her. Stupid me, that was just her, she thought. "What, were you trying to sneak up on me?"

Riya looked up from her defective bracelet and frowned, confused for a moment. "Huh?" Then as if realising what Amyra meant, looking at her startled expression, she rolled her eyes. "Really, you need to relax a bit. Loosen up. What's making you so jumpy these days?"

Amyra stared at her for a second, then shook her head."Nothing. You all set?" She asked her, trying to divert the way this conversation was headed. She wasn't in a mood to discuss the reasons why was she being 'a tad jumpy' these days. Not right now, anyway. Maybe later on.

"Yup! Dhruv is late again it seems. You sure you don't want me to drop you over to Sakshi's on my way? Let him come and find you gone. Maybe he'll learn his lesson then." She asked, running her hand through her hair and grinning mischievously. She definitely found the idea amusing. And of course, she would, she had her own share of experience with his timing several times before. Amyra couldn't control the chuckle that escaped her lips. The idea wasn't so bad, really. But Riya had to go to meet her aunt right now.

"Yeah, I'm sure, I'll wait. He'll be here shortly. So no worries. Let's give him the last chance. And I don't really have a choice at the moment. I'd ask you to drop me if you really wanted to come along. But you have to meet your Auntie." Amyra couldn't keep the emphasis out of her words. She had a fleeting doubt about Riya's frequent visits to her 'auntie' these days.

Riya's cheeks tinged with the slightest hint of pink. "Uh, yeah. I have to meet her. Say sorry to Sakshi for me."

"Okay."

"But if you want, I can receive you. Just call me. If I'm free..." Her cheeks turned redder as she said that.

"I got a ride, you don't worry about me," Amyra reassured her. "Enjoy yourself."

"Okay," she said, grabbing her car keys, cell phone and purse, "but if you need a ride back, just call me. I'll pick you up."

"Okay," Amyra told her as they walked to the front door, "I'll call you if needed. Bye."

"Enjoy yourself, bye." She said before walking out of the door to her car. Once she drove away, Amyra got back inside the house and locked the door from inside. She was pretty sure Riya wasn't exactly going to meet her Aunt. She had wanted to ask her about it for some time now, but both of them had been preoccupied. They were best friends but often kept some things to themselves. Not everything was supposed to be shared. And Amyra chose to respect that space. Riya would talk when she wanted to talk. And I too will talk when I think it's necessary.

Back inside the house, she looked around the empty space. Alone. Her skin crawled at the thought of being alone. But she was in the house. That was a good thing. In the house.

Walking back into the living room, she sat down on the couch and tried to read the magazine again while waiting for Dhroov to come. As much as she tried to ignore it, she knew that she was feeling nervous right then. It wasn't the first time that Amyra was alone in the house, yet for the last few days, she couldn't help but be paranoid for unknown reasons. She always felt as if someone was keeping an eye on her but never spotted anyone. I guess my brain is not working right, she thought.

The doorbell rang. It was 6:05 pm.

"Coming." She ran over to the entrance and pulled the door open. "You know you're la-" she stopped mid-sentence as warm evening breeze brushed her face.

She took a step out of the house and looked around - doorknob still in her hand - and called out his name. No response. She looked over to the road trying to spot his car or him, maybe trying to pull a prank on her, but found neither of them - spare a few people going about their own business. Sighing, she turned around and walked back into the house briskly, closing the door behind her. Might be some stupid teenagers messing around. Really, didn't they have a better job to do than disturb people?

Just as she was about to sit back, she heard the doorbell again. Hoping this time no one was goofing up, she walked back towards the entrance and pulled the door open slowly, a bit cautiously. No one. This time she was not only irritated but also a bit unsettled. Fishing out her phone, she called Dhruv. He picked up on the first ring.

"Hey, Amyra."

"How long will you be? You're late already!" She couldn't hide the irritation in her voice.

"Just on my way. Will be there in fifteen minutes. Okay?"

"Okay, make it fast."

"Why, what happened? Missing me already?" He sang.

"No, missing the food already. And there is some stupid junkie getting his kicks out of ringing my doorbell again and again and then disappearing each time I open the door." She told him. Although she tried to play the angry bird, the truth was that she was getting a bit scared now.

"Please don't tell me you have ghosts in your neighbourhood." He joked.

"Don't worry, there are no ghosts in my neighbourhood right now. Although, there will be one here shortly if sources are to be trusted." She fired back.

"Now the joke is on me." He mocked a hurting voice. "Alright now, I should hang up, I'm driving. Or else the ghost may meet an accident. Bye."

"Bye, ghost." She heard him chuckle lightly before hanging up.

A little smile was playing on her lips now, she felt a bit relaxed. Picking up the magazine again, she stared at it for a moment then threw it on the table. "No point." She had been alone in the house on many occasions before and never had a problem with that, but the same thing couldn't be said about this time. She'd had this feeling of being watched a fair number of times over the last few days. She hadn't said anything to anyone about her irrational paranoia because it sounded utterly ridiculous to even to herself. Trying to distract herself, she started reading again.

She had read only a paragraph when her cell phone started ringing. She picked it up to check the caller ID. Unknown Number. She pursed her lips. Somehow, already guessing that it must be a blank call, she proceeded to receive the call anyway.

"Hello?"

Silence.

"Hello, who is it?" She asked in an almost bored voice.

Silence.

"If you don't speak as soon as I stop talking, I'll hang up."

Silence.

"Go to hell." She hung up and slammed her cell on the table. Not even 10 seconds later it started ringing again. She looked at the caller ID. It was some random unknown number again. She picked up the phone with some anticipation. Last time, she promised herself.

"Hello?"

Silence.

"Look, whoever it is, I'm not interested in playing games right now. So speak."

It was silence for about another 5 seconds. Just as she was about to hang up, there was a little voice on another side. She stressed to listen clearly. It sounded like someone was screaming from far away. As she tried to listen more intently, she heard some one crying on the other side.

"Who is it?" She waited for some response.

No reply. But the sound of crying intensified. She couldn't make out if it was a girl or a guy. The person sounded as if they were begging but she couldn't tell for sure. Before she could speak another word, the person on the other side abruptly hung up.

Her heart galloped in her chest she felt utter shock and fear. If this was a prank, it was disgusting! But that sound..... Must be a recording from some movie. She slowly reached for the water bottle on the table and poured some water in the glass. Before she could take a sip, someone started banging the main door loudly. She dropped the glass on the floor, shattering it in many pieces and looked towards the door. Her heart pounded in her chest and she moved forward slowly, silently praying. The banging had stopped. Going over to the nearby window, Amyra peeped outside. No one. As expected.

She slowly moved back to the couch. Relax, Amyra. Relax. It's just some junkie trying to scare you. So just relax. Everything is okay.

She sat down and took a few deep breaths. Doorbell rang again. She looked at the clock - it was 6:21. Must be Dhruv. She walked to the window and peeped outside. Dhruv. She took a deep calming breath and hurriedly opened the door.

"Finally. You took forever to open this door." His tall frame stood in front of her.

"And you took forever to come."

"Sorry, a little traffic." He said scratching his head.

"That's fine. Do you want some water?"

"Yes, but I think you do too." He said, observing her. "What happened? You look a little stressed out."

"Nothing really, just the same doorbell thing."

"Is that all?" His eyes fell behind on the floor. "What about them?" He pointed towards the broken glass pieces on the floor with his chin. "Were you planning to release your anger by smashing glasses on the floor?"

Amyra rolled my eyes at his bad joke and gestured for him to sit down, passing him a water bottle. "Do you need a glass?"

"No, this is fine." He sat down.

She quickly told him what happened, skipping some details of the second phone call. He looked a little concerned.

"Has this happened before?" He asked, drawing his eyebrows together.

"Umm.... No. I'm sure some one is entertaining himself by irritating me. Let's just drop it." She didn't tell him that she felt some one was probably stalking her. Right now wasn't the time to discuss that topic. She had no wish to ruin this get together for everyone else by brooding about her imaginary fears.

"You sure?" He asked, not looking convinced at all.

"Yes, I'm sure. And I think we should get going; we are running late." I just want to get out of here and enjoy a bit. Last few days have been bad for my nerves and I need to hang out with all my friends and relax.

He looked down at his wrist watch. "Yeah right. We should leave now. We will talk about this later."

"Later." She agreed not so agreeably.

She switched off all the lights of the house, locked the front door and kept her keys in her purse. They got in his car and he started the engine. As they turned around the corner of the road, Amyra felt something move in her peripheral vision. Looking out of the window, she found nothing out of place. As usual. Shaking her head, she turned back to the front, staring out of the windshield. I really need to stop overthinking.