She was sitting on her airplane seat with eyes focussed on her phone, and fingers dancing in the air above it nervously.
She should at least inform him about her visit, shouldn't she??
She got his number from her mother recently, about 2 weeks ago, and was thinking to text him from then onwards.
She has written texts about a hundred times ... Then deleted them .... Then wrote again.... Then deleted...
"... PLEASE PUT YOUR PHONE ON AIRPLANE MODE..." The mic said, and she gave up.
This was not the first time she was travelling in a plane.
She works for the ICC (International Criminal Court) as a Criminal Defence attorney.
She spent the next few hours with the files given to her.
It was a cross- border dispute between two local tribunal groups.
Turns out some people of one group brutally tortured and killed one of the sons of the tribe leader of another, and she was appointed to investigate this matter.
She had also accepted an offer made by an international trade company who were about to export a lot of products in the country.
Then she had to attend a conference and two seminars on human rights.
She was not someone to readily accept so many offers and cases at a time. But the thing that drew her attention to them was the name of the country.
The plane was about to land now. She lifted the window shades to catch a glimpse of the land under her.
The world below was filled with beautiful patchwork of colours.
It was the first time she was actually visiting the country, but if someone even asked the name of any building below, she could give the answer proudly, without and doubt.
She had imagined it for about a thousand times since childhood while drawing it's pictures and browsing through social media.
His Italy was really captivating.
She took her luggage and walked out of the airport.
A black car was waiting for her outside, as she was told.
He was about 45-50 years old bearded man, holding a nameplate saying her name, ADVOCATE HALIMA A. QURAISHI from India.
She politely greeted him. He was shocked for a while, and she knew why. He was not expecting her to talk to him in Italian, and with such a good accent.
She instructed him to take her to the conference hall before her apartment as she had a meeting there, and then began to look through the window.
The bearded man, named Leonardo Cesare really, REALLY talkative. He was constantly telling her about Italian... Who won the election this year... What new laws were imposed here... How the weather was here... How the food...
She was barely listening to him and only replied with "Hmmmm" "Really" "Oh".
Her eyes and heart were focussed on the streets where there was a rush of people walking here and there.
Her eyes were constantly moving, as if wanted to find something desperately.... Or Someone...
The car stopped in front of a big building made of glass.
As she was getting out of the car, lost in her own thoughts, her door banged on a nearby tree.
She hurriedly got out of the car only to see a big scratch on the door.She gave a look of despair and grief to Leonardo who was also now looking at the door.
"No worries ma'am . Bade bade deshon mein choti choti baat hoti hai!"
She looked at him amazed and then chuckled.
It was not an official meeting just a warm meetup with the lawyers visiting Italy.
All of them were waiting for that one person for whom this whole arrangement was done.
Doors opened. Everyone's eyes were on the woman, wearing a loose black abaya with only her eyes visible, coming towards with.
Of course, who didn't knew her in the world of law. She was Advocate Halima A. Quraishi, one of the most successful international attornies from India. She has not only set a record for the most number of winning cases but also has worked with the richest and powerful businessmen around the globe. She has solved over a 100 international cases and disputes, the most famous being the 'Royal Palace Hotel scandel'.
After the meetup she was sitting on a bench in the parking lot waiting for Leonardo.
She took out her phone and opened notepad where the address was carefully preserved, the one she had been looking at and memorizing since her childhood.
"Do you know this address" she asked Leonardo.
"Of course ma'am. It is about an hour away from here. Is it one of your friends here?"
"No. Just.... Just one of my relatives. Please take me here."
She was standing there staring at the door for about 15 minutes now. It was a small house near the street.
She could here noises coming from inside the house, as if someone was smacking something with hammer.
She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and at last rang the bell.
She could hear footsteps coming towards her. She could tell by the noise that the floor was made with wood, and that the person was not wearing any shoes.
The door opened and all her nervousness vanished in thin air.