Chapter 15

What should I do?

I want to tell Jeet that I have no husband. Never had one.

But another part of me, the practical side, wants me to shut up. Let things be as they are. Jeet is still very much a stranger and I really do not want to open up about my personal life to strangers.

Besides he will be gone in a couple of days once he joins, whatever department he is assigned, and then I may meet him only occasionally or perhaps not at all.

So, I turn back to face the lift and merely nod my head.

For the rest of the day, Jeet is professionally cordial. The hours fly past with assembling and making changes to the press kit and planning the budget. Finally, the kit and budget are more or less complete.

Jeet leaves taking the draft of the kit with him, to discuss with the General Manager.

I get back to reading and replying to emails and finishing writing Nivedita's speech for a leadership conference she is attending tomorrow. She did not come in to work but messaged me to finish her speech and email it to her today.

Finally! I finished writing the speech. I read it once last time before sending it to Nivedita. I glance at my watch. It shows 9:20 p.m.

Shit!

I look over my cubicle partition wall. Everyone has left.

I quickly shut down the computer, arrange my desk and by the time I leave the building it is past 9:30.

At this time there are no cabs or autorickshaws near the office. The ones passing by don't stop and the only one that did, refused saying said he is headed in the opposite direction to my house.

I pull out my phone to call an Uber cab. Dang it! My net pack is over. I completely forgot to recharge it.

I have no choice but to go to the bus stop and hope to catch the bus or find a cab there.

As I make my way to the bus stop, I hear faint shuffling sounds of footsteps behind me. I don't look back, as this is Mumbai - people keep walking around all the time.

But something does not seem right this time.

I stop at the edge of the pavement on the pretext of crossing the street and looking out for cars. I look behind to see the source of the shuffling sound.

There is only empty pavement. Whoever was walking behind me has either gone elsewhere or slipped behind the hedges lining the pavement.

I sincerely hope it is the former.

I still have a little distance to go before I can reach my stop and have to walk through a long, narrow passageway created by a space between two high walls protecting two adjacent buildings.

The passageway is quite dark with only the ends getting some light from the street lamps. It is eerily quiet with no one around. As I keep walking, I hear the sound of soft footsteps behind me again.

I quicken my pace, my heart thundering in my chest, hoping whoever is behind me is just another ordinary pedestrian.

The footsteps also quicken their pace and by the sound of it, the person is closing in. I am afraid to stop and look behind. The footsteps now hurrying and sounding closer and closer.

Shit!

I am breaking out in cold sweat. My feet feel heavy as if filled with lead. The end of the passageway looks so far away, and I seem to be dragging my feet.

What if the stalker catches up to me? All sorts of scenarios are running in my head. None of them very pleasant. I have to call the police, someone, anyone.

Maybe Junaid or Rohit are still around the office.

My hands shaking with fright, fumble inside my handbag desperately trying to find my phone.

Coincidentally, the phone vibrates from a side pocket. In my panic I had forgotten that I had kept it there. With trembling hands, I answer the call not even checking to see the number.

"H..h.hello..."

"Tarana? Hi this is Jeet. Are you still in off..."

Jeet! Oh thank God Jeet!

"Jeet" My voice is shrill with fear.

Jeet senses the alarm in my voice, "Tarana, what's wrong?" his voice is worried, urgent, commanding.

"I...I a..a..am heading toward the b..b..bus stop, I think I am being f..f.. f..followed." I say in a quivering whisper.

Jeet swears under his breath.

"Where are you now?" he asks anxiously.

"I am walking through the passage between UCS and Long Life Insurance buildings."

"Can you see who is following you?" he asks

"No, it's pretty dark out here," I squeak out a reply through my dry throat.

"Keep walking, run if you have to till you reach the bus stand, don't stop, I will be there in less than two minutes. Keep talking to me," Jeet's sounds in full control.

A sweet sense of relief washes over my body. Jeet is coming. I will be fine.

All I can say is OK. Belatedly I realize that I cannot hear the footsteps behind me anymore.

Whoever was following me, must have heard my phone call and realised I have help, and stopped following or turned back.

I break into a run through the rest of the narrow lane. Jeet is still on the phone, I can hear sounds of movement like he is running or walking very fast.

There are no vehicles on the street, and I can easily cross the road to reach the bus stand and under the street light.

"I am at the bus stand," I inform Jeet. On the phone I hear him shout to someone to move.

A car door slams. I hear the engine revving up and the next second, screeching of tyres as the car apparently lurches ahead at full speed.

"I'll be right there," Jeet assures. I look toward the passage across and I see a dark shape of a person, standing in the shadows of the alley. Due to the bright light of the street lamp in my eyes, I cannot identify who it is.

But by the tall and bulky shape of the shadow, it seems to be a male person.

In a less than a minute a Honda sedan zooms in from nowhere and stops in front of me.

Instinctively I take a step back, my fight or flight mode coming back on. I have a lot of practice in this matter. The electronic window lowers and Jeet peers from the driver's side.

Seeing Jeet, I relax a bit, but only just.

I look inside the car, in the passenger seat is a man who looks vaguely familiar. I think he is one of the company chauffeurs.

"Tarana, get in the car," he orders.

I shake my head. Bitter experience has made me wary of strangers. I have known Jeet for a mere 5 days. There is no way I am sitting alone with him and the other guy in a car at night, no matter how much my heart tells me otherwise.

No, trust doesn't come easily to me anymore.

"Tarana, I will drop you home, get in."

"Sorry Jeet, please understand, I won't get in the car with you. I don't know you that well."

Jeet lets out a short laugh.

"Seriously??" he shakes his head in disbelief, scoffing in wry amusement, "If you only knew!"

He says something to driver in a soft voice that I can't hear, gets out and the other guy takes the driver's seat and drives off with the car, leaving the two of us alone at the bus stand.

I am afraid Jeet would be upset because I did not get in the car and I mentally start preparing to defend my stance.

Surprisingly Jeet does not look angry or displeased. In fact, he looks concerned for me and his frown deepens when he sees I am shivering with shock.

"Did you call your husband?" Jeet says, looking at me intently. I notice he has his hands clenched in a fist, his hands stiffly at his side.

"What?" I blink my eyes rapidly my mind racing trying to find a suitable reply without blatantly lying. "Umm, he's not here," I finally say.

"I see," he looks blankly ahead, his face unreadable.

"Did you see who was following you?" He turns to me again.

I shake my head. "No, I was afraid to turn around as that would slow me and I didn't want whoever was following me to catch up to me."

"So, you don't know for sure if someone was following you?" Jeet narrows his eyes.

Although it is summer in Mumbai, I am shivering, still reeling from the shock that I may have just had a narrow escape from being assaulted. I wrap my arms around myself, rubbing my hands on my bare arms to provide warmth.

"No! I am sure someone was following me. After I crossed the road, I saw a shadow of a man in the passage but he did not come out. Once you arrived, he disappeared."

Jeet looks towards the dark alley, squinting his eyes to see if he can spot anyone. Once he's sure there is no one lurking, he turns to me. "Are you alright?" his voice becomes softer.

I nod, "I'll be fine and thank you for coming to my aid."

Jeet's caramel eyes turn the fiery amber as he lowers his head and whispers, "Anytime."  The smooth deep voice rolls like a velvety caress and the fact that I can feel his minty breath on my neck sends another involuntary shiver over me.

"You are still shivering from the shock," Jeet observes.

Yeah, this one was not for the reason you think. But I can't tell him that.

"Taxi," Jeet frantically waves to an approaching cab. Thank goodness it stops.

"Where do you live?" Jeet asks as he walks towards the cab.

"Bandra."

Jeet looks unsure of himself, debating with himself before he speaks, "If you don't mind, can I drop you home?"

Inner voice is so frantically nodding yes, that it may just break its imaginary head from its imaginary neck.

Having Jeet drop me home would be better than travelling alone. It is quite late and although Mumbai is pretty safe, it is always sensible to be cautious specially for females riding cabs and autos late at night.

"What about your car?" I nod in the direction, the car drove off, "will you have to come back?" I ask.

"It's not my car. I'll take this cab home."

"Jeet, I don't want to impose, if it's any trouble for you. I have no problem going on my own. I am sure I will be fine."

Jeet almost runs his fingers through his hair, but stops when he touches it, smoothing it down vigorously instead. He keeps one hand nonchalantly on the roof of the cab, but his body is rigid.

"Tarana," he says with a hint of exasperation, "I just want to make sure you reach your house safely. Trust me, it's no trouble for me. Now can we go?" he says stiffly.

I nod my affirmation, secretly happy that he insists on seeing me home safe.

Jeet sits in the front passenger seat next to the driver while I sit at the back. We ride in amiable silence with the sound of bollywood songs on the radio resonating in the dark interior of the cab.

I hesitate to let Jeet know where I live, so I ask the cab to stop about 200 meters before my building. I get down from the cab and Jeet follows suit. I offer to pay for the cab, but he dismisses the idea.

He asks the cabbie to wait, "I will walk you to your building," he states.

My stranger danger antenna goes up again. I do not want a relative stranger to know where I live, but at the same time I do not wish to be rude and brush off someone who has, in all probability saved my life.

What should I do?