Chapter 16

How do I get away?

I need to politely decline, without offending him or be brusque.

My mind is racing trying to come up with plausible excuses to send Jeet away, when I spot the grocery store. Alleluia!!

"I, um, need to pick up some groceries first. But thank you once again for going out of the way to help me, I really appreciate it and I am sorry to trouble you like this." I look at him with innocent eyes, occasionally glancing at the grocery store, hoping he will buy my excuse and leave.

He puts his hands in pockets as he scans the neighborhood. Then he turns to look intently at me, pushing his spectacles up the bridge of this nose "Are you sure you will be fine? I can wait."

I shake my head, appalled and at the same time secretly a little pleased with his offer. Either he cares for me or he is a stalker. 'Stalkers don't ask permission, you fool,' snarky voice is back in action.

"No thank you. I am pretty safe here; I know this place and the people. I will be fine," I reply keeping my face and voice impassive.

"Well then, see you tomorrow. Take care." Jeet nods his head in goodbye as he walks back to the cab. I dash across the street to the grocer and pick up milk, eggs and bread. I look from the shop, to see if the cab is gone. It has.

Still, I linger inside the shop for a few more minutes, making sure there are no suspicious people or vehicles around waiting for me.

When I am certain that all is clear, I quickly make my way to my apartment.

I reach home, turn on the light, put the groceries on the coffee table and double lock the door. Then I collapse on my bed.

I curl up in a fetal position and lie there for what seems like eternity. For part of that time, my mind goes completely numb as I stare mindlessly at the wall in front of me.

The memories of what happened in the last hour slowly creep in, sending panic attacks though me again. The incident is playing in my head, when suddenly I am no longer going through that dark alley in Mumbai. Instead I am running in the jungle of Nainital.

"Where is she? We have to find her! can't let her get away." The voices say.

"I will destroy that bitch. I will teach her a lesson she won't ever forget." The murderous, angry voice echoes in my head.

I am running in the darkness, trying to feel my way through the thicket of leaves and branches. My leg gets entangled in the vines and twigs on the ground. I fall into a dark, bottomless pit.

I jerk awake, shaken and disoriented, my heart palpitating. I look around the still lit room, ready to jump out when I feel my hands on my mattress. I am not in any pit. I am at home, safe and secure.

No one is following me. Not now anyway.

I guess I dozed off sometime while reminiscing and I had a nightmare.

"It's not real. It's not real." I keep repeating. "I am safe," I assure myself.

I change into my sleepwear, store the groceries, clean the apartment, have a late dinner, watch TV, do some yoga, yet sleep eludes me. After over an hour of restless tossing and turning on the bed, I give up trying to sleep. I open my laptop and get a really early start on work.

By the time I am ready to leave for work, my eyelids are drooping but I decide to go to work anyway. Besides, I have a mountain of work that I have to clear. A good splash of cold water on my face should freshen me up.

Bad decision.

I should have taken the day off and slept.

Sitting in office at 4:00 in the afternoon, heavy drowsiness hits me like a freight train.

I already had three cups of coffee, one of them black. Yet that urge to sleep keeps getting stronger.  The combination of all that caffeine and sleep has got my head buzzing.

An email from HR temporarily perks me up. It reads,

Update in Employee Policy

Effective immediately, no female staff shall work in office after 7:00 p.m. All meetings, training, conferences or any kind of work involving female staff shall not be held or continued after 7:00 p.m.

Any female employee that is required to stay back after 7:00 p.m. can do so only after approval from their respective HOD, VP and HR. In such cases, ladies who use public means of transport to travel, can avail the company car to reach their home.

Please visit the HR web page for further details of the updated policy.

Wow!! This is good! And what a coincidence. Just what I needed after the last two incidents in one week. I wonder who came up with such a great idea?

I spy Purvi at Khushboo's desk, so I make my way there too.

"Hey, did you see the mail from HR?" Khushboo asks eagerly. I nod a yes.

"Now Nivedita cannot force us to wait late unnecessarily," Purvi joins in, her eyes narrowing angrily at Nivedita's name.

"Yes!" Khushboo fist pumps in the air in a gesture of victory.

I feel sorry for Khushboo. I think from all of us, she bears the worst brunt of Nivedita's tantrums and random mood swings. Ever so often, I have seen the poor girl leave from Nivedita's cabin in tears. Like many of us, she is regularly forced to wait after office hours completing last minute reports, letters and presentations, that Nivedita 'just remembered' has to be submitted that very day AT ANY COST.

But unlike us, she also has a husband and in-laws at home, in addition to a 3-year old adorable baby girl.

Chatting with the girls made me forget that I was sleep deprived, but going to my desk, I was attacked by another onslaught of yawns accompanied this time by a slowly growing migraine.

I take the rest of the day off, seeing that I am unable to concentrate any more. For once, it is still daylight when I reach home. Sleeping this early will only end up, waking up before sunrise and repeat the same cycle of today. So, I take a tablet for the headache, and decide to take a stroll by the seaside.

The sea is my stress buster. Sitting on the sea wall looking at the calm waters, gentle waves lapping the rocks below, cool wind hitting my face, the whooshing sound of the sea brings an incredible serenity to my soul.

My favorite part is that point when the sun starts to set into the horizon. It is sublime joy to watch the azure sky turn sparkling gold, to a fiery orange red streaked with deep violet, turning into cloudy grey, slowly blending into black, until everything is swallowed in darkness.

I can look at the sea for hours on end, shedding all thoughts and worries of past, present and future, just succumbing to the phenomenal feeling of being one with the universe.

I look at the sea from end to end as far as my eyes can see, pondering on the incomprehensible vastness of nature and just how tiny I am compared to it, when I notice a familiar figure coming toward me from my far right.

He is wearing a baseball cap and no nerdy glasses, but as he comes closer there's no doubt who it is.

What is Jeet doing here?

The object of my observation seems oblivious to my presence at first, deep in thought. He looks up from his musing as if he was beckoned, and notices me sitting on the sea wall, watching him. He approaches me, a look of surprise on his face. "Tarana? what are you doing here? did you not go to office today?" Jeet questions.

Damn those eyes!! now no longer hiding behind thick, ugly glasses, look like a whirlpool of melting caramel, slowly sucking me into their compelling depths. The luscious, thick eyelashes, like a black fence protecting the periphery of its prized possession.

What is wrong with me? Why am I so fascinated by him? He is not the regular Casanova type of a guy. In fact, he looks the exact opposite. Yet I cannot help myself.

I see beyond his simplistic garb. I have seen a sparkle of mischief in those mesmerizing eyes. I have also caught flashes of wit and deep intellect that he tries very hard to hide when he is in office.

"H..Hi Jeet. I left a couple of hours early today, as I needed a break. I usually come here to relax," I reply. "By the way what are you doing here? You don't live in this part of town, do you?"

Jeet looks visibly uncomfortable at the question and looks around him while avoiding looking at me directly.

"No, I just had some business in this area," he says, shuffling on his feet.

Hmm! He is definitely hiding something.

I cannot grasp the issue precisely, yet there is something wrong with Jeet's persona. I have felt it many times before as well. I mean, it's like I have all the pieces of the puzzle in my hand, yet I am unable to connect them together.

Jeet is definitely an enigma.. What is he trying to hide? The question keeps playing in my head.

But then who am I to judge others, when my life is a big fat game of hide and seek. I have woven a web of lies to stay in my current house and have not disclosed my past to anyone, so why should I expect him to be open about his personal life?

I brush my thoughts aside. Jeet will soon be a past memory and I should not be wasting my time figuring him out when I have bigger issues at hand.

Like who was following me and why?

Is it one of them?

Have they found me here?

What if they attack me?

What if they try to take me back?

How do I get away?