Title: His Extraordinary Encounter

Quick Summary: The ones whom we love never truly leave us.

Characters: Vivek, Tasha

Genre: Romance, Angst

Vivek hopped into his car. He was tired and couldn't wait to get home. He was driving along the empty road that curved alongside the forest, humming to himself. Rain came down in torrents and he was shivering. The wipers of the car wiped his windshield quite furiously as the rain continued to batter the car.

As the car curved along the road, he saw a a figure waving at him. He couldn't see its face clearly. As he came closer, he saw it was a young girl. She was standing under a huge tree wearing a trench coat and was waving at him with one hand and held something in the other hand which turned out to be an ice cream.

Vivek slowed down the car and looking at the girl he exclaimed, 'Tasha! What are you doing under a tree in this rain?'

'Forgot my raincoat!' Tasha shrugged.

'But what are you doing here?' asked Vivek.

'Just came for a walk' said Tasha.

'What? You came for a walk? But you were at the crime scene with Abhijeet sir, weren't you?' asked Vivek surprised.

'The case is over Vivek. Abhijeet sir told me to go home. I wanted to walk a bit but then it started raining and I decided to wait here till the rain subsided' said Tasha in a rather bored voice.

'That's strange' Vivek murmured.

'Are you going to let me in or not?' she asked slurping her ice cream.

'I am not sure' said Vivek with a grin.

'What do you mean?' snapped Tasha.

'What if you are some vanishing ghost hitchhiker? How can I trust you?' asked Vivek with a smile.

Tasha rolled her eyes.

'I will tell you something which will make you believe me' said Tasha with an evil grin.

'Yes. I am listening' said Vivek.

'Sometimes at night you still sleep with an old teddy bear which your sister's daughter left behind! Surely a ghost wouldn't know of such things?' said Tasha with a shrill laugh.

'Oh shut up! I had thought it to be pillow! I couldn't have seen anything in the dark you know that!' said Vivek angrily.

'Can I get in now?' asked Tasha still chuckling.

'Do I have other option? Get in' said Vivek opening the door for her.

Tasha got in beside him and continued eating her ice cream. 'Just drop me home, will you?'

'Vivek nodded, started the car and then said, 'How can you eat ice cream in this weather?'

'It's my favourite - Choco chips! I was starving! Abhijeet sir made me work so much! I found an ice cream parlour on the way and brought it. You want some?' She asked.

'No thanks! I hate choco chips. Those chocolate chips look like bugs' said Vivek.

'Yuck! You are disgusting!' said Tasha making a face.

Vivek laughed. 'Oh I forgot to tell you that Freddy sir has agreed to come over at my place for a movie night. I convinced him that it is going to be a perfectly normal romantic movie'

'And what is it actually going to be?' asked Tasha.

'It is a romantic movie all right but the guy is going to be a vampire. I just want to see whether the girl dies or gets turned into a Vampire' said Vivek.

Tasha giggled. 'Oh Freddy sir is going to be so angry with you'

'Don't tell him about it' said Vivek.

'Oh no I won't be around' said Tasha staring outside the window.

'Meaning? Where are you going?' asked Vivek.

'What I meant is that I won't be around him too much. I might give away your secret' said Tasha.

They continued their random talks. As they neared Tasha's house, she said to Vivek, 'Before I forget I wanted to give you something'

'What?' he asked.

Tasha fumbled into her handbag and withdrew a black chiffon scarf.
Vivek stopped the car outside her apartment.

'Here... take this' said Tasha offering him the scarf.

'For what?' asked Vivek.

'It is a gift from me. Don't look at me like that! It's not at all girly and unless you are way behind times, men wear scarves as well. It's a latest fashion.' said Tasha.

Vivek took and exclaimed, 'It's that one! You took hours to select this scarf and you had dragged us along with you too for Scarf - Hunting!'

Tasha laughed. 'I am impressed with your memory'

'But why are you giving it to me? It's not my birthday! Hope you haven't forgotten' said Vivek sulkily.

'I know it's not your birthday today! Why should there be a reason for me to give you a gift? Can't friends gift each other at random?' asked Tasha.

'Of course they can. Thanks! I like it' said Vivek surprised by her behaviour.

'Well I will make a move then. It - It's pretty late' said Tasha.

'Yeah. See you tomorrow then' said Vivek.

He thought he heard a sob. Tasha was looking out of the window again. He ws about to ask her what the matter was when he saw his cell phone light up. Freddy was calling him.

'Dang! When did I put my phone on silent mode? Seven missed calls from Freddy sir and three from Daya sir! What could be the matter?' Vivek voiced aloud.

'Bye Vivek! I'll miss you!' said Tasha getting out of the car.

'Hey wait! Don't you want to know why was Freddy sir calling me so many times? It might be an emergency. And why are you acting odd? I just don't get it! What's the matter Tasha?' asked Vivek.

'Nothing Vivek. Bye' she said.

Vivek dialled Freddy number but he got a busy tone. Then he dialled Daya's number which was unreachable.

Vivek shrugged and looked outside. But Tasha had vanished from the sight. 'Must have gone home' he thought. Sighing, he started the car and sped off.

Ten minutes later, his cell phone rang once again. Seeing Freddy's name, he picked up the call.

'Hello Freddy sir? Sorry my cell phone was on silent mode. Why were you calling me?' he asked.

But instead of Freddy's usual joyous voice, he heard a rather shaky voice from the other end.

'Where are you? We were trying to reach you since an hour' said Freddy.

'Sir I was with... never mind. What's the matter sir?' asked Vivek.

'You need to get down to City Hospital at once. It's - it's Tasha' he said his voice quavering.

'Sir what has happened? Tasha what?' asked Vivek his heart thudding loudly.

'Tasha - she's no more' said Freddy.

'What?! Sir is this some kind of a joke? And if it is, then mind you it is really a bad one. I was just talking to her five minutes ago. I left her at her house' said Vivek.

'Vivek that's not possible. Tasha was shot an hour ago. We are waiting at City Hospital. Please get here as soon as possible.' said Freddy and disconnected the call.

Vivek didn't remember how he got to the City Hospital. Everything passed in a blur. He ran up the flight of stairs to find the CID team waiting, very puffy eyed. Vivek was surprised to see ACP Pradyuman very teary eyed - he had never seen ACP cry.

Vivek was still thinking all of it to be some kind of a nasty prank.

'Sir you are mistaken. Tasha just can't be dead. I dropped her home half an hour ago. She was talking to me!' Vivek exclaimed looking at their morose faces.

'Vivek come with me' said Freddy leading him inside one of the hospital wards.

Vivek looked at the figure on the bed. Tasha appeared to be in a peaceful sleep. White sheets were drawn upto her chin. A nasty bruise was visible on her forehead and trickle of dried blood from her bottom lip could be seen.

'She is pretending to be asleep!' said Vivek. 'Wait I will just prod her awake and you will know'

He went to her and tapped her shoulder lightly, 'Wake upTasha! I know you are faking it!'

'Vivek please!' said Freddy trying to pull him away.

When he didn't pay any heed, Freddy went out to call ACP Pradyuman.

'Vivek! Hosh me aao! Tasha is no more. Accept it!' ssid ACP Pradyuman.

'Sir please. That's enough! Stop this stupid joke. Tell her to wake up. I know...' Vivek was shouting but - SMACK!

ACP Pradyuman had slapped him hard on his left cheek. Everyone stared at a pair of them looking stunned.

Vivek's eyes watered due to the impact of ACP's slap.

'It's all in your head Vivek. It happens. It hard to accept that the person we love so much is not amongst us anymore. Abhijeet was with her when it happened. He witnessed it with his own eyes.' asked ACP Pradyuman softly.

'Vivek I wouldn't lie to you, will I? Trust me I would never joke about such things' said Freddy gravely.

'No! Tasha can't leave us like this! She has to come back...' said Vivek unable to accept the harsh reality.

'Come on Vivek. We can't wait here for long' said Abhijeet leading him out of the ward.

Vivek shot one last look at Tasha and ambled out with Abhijeet.

Once outside, ACP Pradyuman signalled Freddy jerking his head towards Vivek.

Freddy got the point at once and said, 'Vivek we should go to CID bureau. There others would come after completing the the formalities'

Vivek followed silently still looking mystified.

'I will prove it to you that Tasha was with me' said Vivek stubbornly as they sat in his car.

Freddy said nothing.

Vivek pulled out the chiffon black scarf and showed it to Freddy. 'Look at this! You remember this scarf, don't you? We had free time after solving a case and Tasha had made us walk miles with her in the local market till she got the one she liked, didn't she? When I dropped her home a while ago, she gave it to me before stepping out of the car. She told me it was a gift from her.'

Freddy looked at him. His expression was a mixture of fear and trepidation.

'I am not insane Freddy sir! Trust me!' Vivek said earnestly.

A moment of pause and then Freddy looked at him. He gave Vivek a teary smile.

'I believe you Vivek.' said Freddy.

'Then why don't you tell everyone? And why isn't Tasha waking up?' asked Vivek.

'It's all in your head Vivek. Tasha is no more and she will never wake up' said Freddy calmly.

'It's not in my head!' Vivek yelled.

'Please listen to me. I believe you. Tasha did really come to meet you. You weren't there when she died. I know she adored you and she just couldn't move on without meeting you for one last time. She gave you her favourite scarf so that she will always stay in your memory. It was all in your head Vivek, but that doesn't mean it was not real. You were lucky to have someone like Tasha in your life' said Freddy.

Tears fell fast on his lap as his brain absorbed Freddy's words. Yes, Vivek was crying - grieving for Tasha's death. He had now accepted the fact that Tasha was dead.

Freddy drove off silently to the CID bureau while Vivek looked out of the window letting the cool air whip his face. Tasha's chiffon scarf was still clutched in his hand tightly. Life without her would be hard. He didn't know whether CID bureau would ever be the same for him again.

'If only I could have stopped her from getting out the car, she would still have been with me' thought Vivek as his eyes burned with tears.

*** THE END ***