Mike Malonino

Chapter 8

Sorry for the short chapter, I really couldn't find anywhere suitable to split it.


Christmas...

All too soon, Christmas came round, and Diane arranged for a family gathering. Bertie and Danny were spending the day at the Becker household, and Jess and Becker had decided to join them. Becker's sister and now brother-in-law did not spend much time in the UK, but when they did, it was always a good excuse to get together. Derek wasn't feeling too well and the long journey to London was proving rather difficult. He had been rather insistent to spend Christmas Day in his own.

Diane had insisted that Jyoti and her father join them for Christmas Day. Jyoti had been enthusiastic about joining Mike and his family for the day, and she had been planning alongside Emily and Abby, they had arranged for each of them to bring a special dish of food.

Jyoti had decided to make something completely different. She chose to provide the snacks for the day. Mike had insisted on having peanuts on the table, and Jyoti, remembering Connor's peanut allergy, had brought raisins as well. She had busy preparing the food in advance of the day.

Mike had watched as she prepared the flatbreads, and filling. Then, turning off the TV, he pulled up a chair and sat down, to watch her make samosas. He looked down at the bowl of sticky white stuff that she used to make the flatbreads stick together, and wondered what it was.

Jyoti looked at his bemused expression, and she asked him what was on his mind.

"What is that stuff?" He pointed to the ingredients set out on the table.

"Glue..." She giggled at his confused expression. "It's made up of flour and water."

"Completely edible then?"

"Of course, what did you expect? Superglue?" She giggled again.

He gazed at her, it was nice to hear her giggle, and he loved it when she smiled at him.

"Can I try?" He picked up a flatbread, as she nodded. He followed her actions, folding in the way she showed him. Smearing the edges with the sticky mixture. He smiled when it resembled a cone shape and began to fill it with the vegetable mixture. Then folding down the edges to seal it he set it down with the other completed Samosas.

Jyoti laughed as it fell apart as he set it down.

"Oh blast!" He frowned. He looked down at his sticky hands, and smiled. He took some of the sticky mixture and smeared it across Jyoti's face.

"Oi!" she took a glob of mixture in her own hands and reached for his face, catching him across his chin.

That scene that ensued was very much a food fight, and Jyoti had forgotten that Auntie Meena was coming to help her with the savouries. She screamed at the knock on the door.

Laughing Mike opened the door. His smile fell off his face as Auntie Meena stood there looking pristine in her beautiful sari.

She took in Mike's dishevelled appearance and gazed behind him to where Jyoti stood floury mixture all over her clothes, in her hair, and all over her face.

"Shall I come back later?" She giggled.

"Masi! He's being horrible to me!" she wiped a glob of sticky gloop from her cheek.

Her aunt shook her head and instructed her to head into the shower. She grabbed Mike as he was about to head into the shower too.

"Where do you think you're going?" She pointed to the mess in the kitchen. "You're going to be helping me clear that up!" She admonished.

Vijay came in behind her and he burst into laughter, initially it was because Mike looked a mess and then, it was because Mike had to help clear it up.

Auntie Meena and Jyoti had stayed up until midnight filling the small parcels ready to be fried the following morning.


That had been last night, Christmas Eve, and now Mike was driving to the Temple household after dropping by to pick up Jyoti's father. Suresh and Jyoti had been invited for lunch, but could not stay for too long because they had also been invited to go to Auntie Sangita's house too.

Jyoti sighed, "Do we have to go to Auntie Sangita's house too? You know I don't like it there." Jyoti groaned.

"You know how it is, she'll make you hear about it for the whole of next year, and she holds grudges for a long time." Suresh wished that he didn't have to go either, but kept that but of information to himself. He knew his sister could not cook to save her life, and Suresh knew there would be burnt and oily food on the table for dinner today. Food that would probably lead to another heart attack.

"Look, why don't you have lunch with us and have tea at Auntie Sangita's?" Mike suggested; he hoped he was not being too forward by suggesting this.

"That sounds like a wonderful idea; I'll ring her and tell we'll be around later." He smiled as he pulled out his mobile phone.

Mike listened as Jyoti's Aunt screeched down the phone to Jo's father. He tried not to listen but she was so loud that Suresh had to hold his phone away from his ear. It seemed as if Auntie Sangita was not happy this morning.


Emily and Matt arrived first thing on Christmas Morning and helped Diane to cook the turkey and vegetables. Abby had told them she would provide the puddings, she wasn't a great cook, her mother had never had the opportunity to teach her, and although she wanted to join in she opted for the shop bought deserts she had chosen a Black Forest Gateau, Traditional Christmas cake, and a light and creamy cheesecake.

As Suresh entered the Temple household, he was greeted by his Nephew Vijay.

"Vijay what are you doing here?" He questioned.

"Special delivery, this was dropped on my desk yesterday afternoon and I thought the Mike might like it today." He smiled and took out his register.

"Sign there," he indicated a spot to Mike.

Grinning he handed Mike a very official looking letter. "Merry Christmas, I hope it's what you wanted?" Vijay waited for Mike to open the envelope.

Mike gulped; letters like these usually didn't contain good news. Trembling he opened and began to read the letter.

His face slowly erupted into a smile, which grew and grew until he was grinning.

Vijay stretched out his hand for Mike to shake.

"Can I be the first to say Congratulations Mr Michael Temple?" He grinned; he loved giving out letters like these.

"Michael Temple? The only person, who is allowed to call me Michael, is my mother." He grunted as he continued to smile. " By the way, Vijay...? Thank you."

"Mr Temple?" Connor heard the young lawyer, and he came over to see what was happening.

"Yes... I spoke to Vijay about getting my name changed by Deed Pole." He turned to Jyoti. "How do you fancy becoming Mrs Temple?"

Jyoti couldn't believe it, he'd done this for her, she had merely mentioned it and without any more discussion, he had changed his name.

Diane understood the change of heart regarding his name; this had to have come from the young lady in his life. She smiled and hugged both of them. Pleased that now both brothers had the same surname. Mike was finally a Temple!


Connor gave a glass of grape juice to Mike and began to pour the wine, he was about to pour a glass for Emily when she said. "No thank you."

"But you like this wine, its Frascati, your favourite." Connor grumbled.

Emily smiled coyly and glanced at Matt, who nodded, a silent understanding between them.

"I have an announcement to make..." She gazed around the table waiting until Diane had sat down.

"Matt and I are going to have a baby."

A cheer went up around the table and Connor thumped Matt on the back in congratulations.

For Suresh dinner was and enjoyable affair; and Jyoti had even conceded and let him eat a samosa too.

After Dinner had finished Suresh pulled Jyoti and Mike to one side.

"Jyoti, you belong here, with Mike, by his side. I'll go to tea at Auntie Sangita's house." Suresh advised his daughter; he said something in Gujarati that made Jyoti concede and smile.

Mike looked puzzled, he would find out later that Suresh had said to his daughter that she belonged at her in-laws house now, and if they were to get married, Auntie Sangita would have to respect and accept that even more.


It was early January; Jess had convinced everyone to join her at a nightclub for her birthday. The whole team had gone, but Mike could see that Jo was not enjoying herself. She had told him that she didn't really frequent nightclubs too often and she looked uncomfortable. She tried to fit in, chatting to Abby, and Emily, but he could tell she was itching to go home.

He had bought the first round of drinks when they had arrived; and she had relaxed a little, but when Jess asked her to join her on the dance floor, she refused. It wasn't that she didn't know how to dance, she just felt uncomfortable on the crowded dance floor, with everyone gyrating so closely together.

Jess, Abby, and Connor and had got up to dance and looked as if they were enjoying themselves. Danny and Becker were stood at the bar getting the next round of drinks, and Matt sat next to Mike keeping Jo and Emily company.

He watched Jo as she sidled up next to him to talk; she said something but with the loud music and the darkness of the club, found it hard to decipher what she was saying. He shook his head, pointed to his ear, and shouted, "Can't hear you!"

She shouted again, but when Mike replied loudly that he couldn't hear her, she pulled out a pen from her handbag, she grabbed a napkin and began to write on it.
'I'm going to the ladies.'

Mike nodded, in the dim light he had only just made out what she had written. He watched as she and Emily made their way across the edge of the dance floor until they disappeared in the throng of people. Sighing he waited for them to return, then he would make his excuses and maybe he and Jo could disappear somewhere quieter where they could talk. He tapped his thigh and the contents of his pockets, ensuring that he still had a certain box inside his pockets.

Eventually he saw Danny and Becker returning with drinks. Danny looked around him.
"Where are Jo and Emily?" He shouted in Mike's ear over the tempo of the music, and pointed to the empty seats.

"They've gone to the toilet." Mike replied loudly. He frowned; she had been gone a long time. He looked at his watch but could not see the time. He and Matt exchanged glances, and got up to check on them, Mike leaned towards the bar, and angling his watch, he saw the time. Jo and Emily had been gone for twenty minutes.

Panicking he looked over to the dance floor, he could see Connor, Abby and Jess. Matt tapped him on the shoulder and he noticed the door leading to the toilets. Nodding, he slowly made his way over, gently tapping people to move them out of the way.

Opening the door to the hallway he gasped, Emily was sprawled out on the floor, blood trickling from a gash to her forehead. She was surrounded by a small group of ladies; one of them brought a tissue to hold to her head to stem the bleeding.

Matt pushed past him worried that she was hurt badly, worried about the baby, "Em! Emily!" He turned to the group of women standing by her.

"What happened?" He asked, the relatively quiet hallway amplifying his words.

"Some guy knocked her out as she came out of the toilets."

"What happened to the girl with her?" Mike questioned, fearing the answer. "She left with some blokes, to be honest, she looked as if she was drunk, and she didn't really want to go with them."

Mike felt as if he couldn't breathe, his heart skipped a beat, and a knot began to grow in his stomach.

He ran to the door of the ladies, pushing it open he shouted. "Jyoti!"
He spotted her handbag lying on the floor. The lump in his stomach grew to an unbearable size, as he bent down to pick it up. He held it in his hand as he walked past Matt seeing to Emily and walked across the dance floor to Connor. He grabbed his arm and hauled him back to the table.

"Someone has taken Jo!" He shouted to Becker and Danny as he returned to the table they had been sitting at.

All three men, shook their heads, they hadn't heard a word.
"Someone has taken Jyoti!" Mike shouted again as the music stopped and he was heard across the whole club.

People began to stare at Mike and at what he had said; the look on his face told them that he wasn't joking.

The DJ chose to ignore him and played the next track, but a bouncer ambled over and pulled Mike to one side where it was quieter.

"What seems to be the problem sir?" It was obvious that the bouncer had earmarked Mike as a troublemaker from the start, and he looked ready to throw him out of the club.

"My girlfriend went to the toilets with her mate twenty minutes ago. She didn't return to the table, and her mate has just been found just outside the ladies with a huge gash to her head, and she's gone!" Mike began to sweat; they needed to find Jyoti, and fast!

Danny came up behind him.

"What d' yer mean someone's taken Jo?"

Mike huffed, the longer they spent arguing over this; and the harder it would be to find her.

"Jyoti and Emily went to the toilets twenty minutes ago, Matt and I went looking for them, and we found Emily lying on the floor with head injury. I spoke to some people around Emily and they said that an Asian girl was being led away by a couple of blokes; they said she looked drunk. Jyoti may drink, but she's only had one glass of wine, there's no way she could be drunk, unless she was drugged!" Mike gulped, "We've got to find her Danny! We've got to find her!"

Danny pulled himself up to full height; he went straight into police officer mode.
"You need to check your CCTV, see if you can find this girl. Let me see, if my memory serves me right, she was wearing a black skirt and purple top?" He looked at Mike, who nodded.

The bouncer tapped his earpiece to the other bouncers on duty, asking them if anyone had seen a girl matching Jyoti's description. One of his colleagues responded by saying that he had seen someone with a black skirt and purple top being hauled out of the pub and he said she did indeed look drunk.

Mike was not sure it was Jyoti, Jo was sober, she had been all night, there was no way she was drunk!

Another of the clubs employees was checking the CCTV footage and he said he had found something.

Together, he and Danny went with the bouncer to watch the camera footage.

"There... Is that your friend?" he pointed to the freeze-framed screen.

Mike's heart sank, the knot in his stomach grew and twisted even more, and dread filled his entire body.

"Yes..." He hissed at the image of Jyoti being led away by two Asian men.

The bouncer let the footage run until they had a clear view of the men who had taken her.

Mike's hands fisted at his sides, the men who had taken his love away were none other than Aamir and Tariq.


The team gathered outside the club, they had seen which way the taxi had gone, all they had to do now was trace it. The police had now arrived and were asking questions.

"You can't just stand around asking questions, DO SOMETHING!" Mike shouted grabbing the policeman by the lapels of his jacket in frustration.

The policeman had had enough of Mike's ranting and raving, and he needed to be able to concentrate.

Calling for an area car the policeman arrested Mike and sent him back to the local police station to be held until he calmed down.

"NO! NO! NO!" Mike shouted in anger, as he was bundled into a car and taken away to be locked up. This was not helping Jo at all, he felt angry that he had let her be taken in this manner and now he began to fear for her safety.

Emily had her head looked at and the cut to her head was not deep enough for stitches. The doctor checking her had also performed an ultrasound scan to make sure that the baby had not been harmed. Emily and Matt had breathed a sigh of relief when they were told that the baby was fine.

Danny was the one who set about retrieving Mike from the Police cells, whilst the rest of the team tried to decipher where Jyoti could have been taken.


Mike had begun pacing in his small cell an hour ago; he had rung the only person who could get him out; Vijay. Vijay was a lawyer, and could possibly get him out before dawn so that he could go and look for his girlfriend.

He was extremely concerned about her. The image he had seen, with her being bundled into a car with Aamir and Tariq was burned into his brain and thoughts of what they could be doing to her made him clench his teeth and growl under his breath.

Sleep evaded him, and so he paced as much as he could in his small enclosure. Four steps one way, and four steps the other. If he had his watch he would have some idea of what the time was, but this had been taken from him when he was brought in, as had the small box which contained the ring.

He had been reluctant to let go of that, he was sure that something as expensive and as precious was bound to go missing and so he had insisted on being given a receipt for it. He turned towards the door as he heard keys being jangled and his door swung open.

He was taken into a side room for questioning and this was where he met Vijay and Danny. He had never been so relieved to see Jo's cousin, and seeing Danny was comforting too.

"What time is it?" he asked.

"2 am." Danny replied.

Mike spoke briefly to Danny and Vijay before the arresting officer came inside to take a statement. The police wanted the statement so that they could decide if he was worth holding any longer and if he could shed any light into Jyoti's whereabouts.

Once they had written down the events leading to Jyoti's abduction, they told Mike it would be best if he stayed in lockup until she had been found.

"NO!" Mike pushed both hands through his hair, frustration showing on his face. "I can't stay in that cell anymore; God knows what they'll be doing to her!"

"Wait, can I have a word for a moment." Danny spoke to the officer and ushered him outside. He would try to pull some strings to get Mike released. He spoke to the superintendent, to no avail. They were trying their best to find her; several officers had been assigned and were looking through CCTV footage and asking many questions. The superintendent himself had looked over Mike's record and had told Danny it was in Mike's best interests to stay put.

Sighing Danny went back to speak to Mike, knowing that he would not be happy.

"Look, I've tried, I've even spoken to the boss, but he insists that it's best for you to stay here. All of us are looking, and we'll carry on looking until we find her." Danny explained.

Mike stood up and leaned against a wall. Slowly and deliberately, he began to bang his head. It was then he felt a hand in his shoulder.

"She's not just my cousin... She's my little sister. I owe it to her to go and look for her. I know how you feel mate; I feel it too. I'll never forgive myself if anything happens to her." Mike turned to look into Vijay's pain filled eyes and he reluctantly agreed.

"I'll stay in that cell, but find her, promise me you'll look for her and find her ...! Just find her!"

Mike glanced at them as he was led back to his cell. Once he was inside, he waited until he heard the keys turn in the lock, then and only then did he allow himself to break. He fell to his knees; he put his arms around his middle and bent double, tears streaming from his eyes.

He stayed like that for an age, his thoughts focused on the person who had brought light into his life - Jyoti.

He snorted, not only did her name mean light, but she lit up his day just by being there, and it seemed as if he had been plunged into darkness, just by her disappearance. Tired by the days' events he lay down on the small cot. Closing his eyes, he saw her, in his mind; and she was rubbing ointment into his chest.


Oh dear... Mike has been arrested!

Poor Jyoti...

Poor Mike...

Still to come...

Jyoti is hurt badly...

Mike gets drunk...

I would love to hear your thoughts...