AS FATE WOULD HAVE IT
She left the house in such a rage that she forgot to take her keys. But she was not turning back. I am not coming back she had roared while leaving. And the drizzling of these tiny drops wasn't going to change her mind. Enough was enough.
'Why is life so unfair?' She asked herself. 'I was the best candidate there. I answered all questions with confidence and wit. The whole interview went perfect. Why would they not select me?'
She was walking swiftly unaware of her surroundings. It was late in the evening. The whole city around her was noisy and hustling. Everyone was busy on their own. Some were returning from their work places while others were going for their evening shifts. That was the best thing about Mumbai. No one was bothered by anyone else.
Tarika had also came to this city with the dream of such a life. But even after a perfect academic record and above average communication skills she was still struggling to land herself with a good job. This unemployment was not only causing her psychological and psychosocial stress but also crashing her dreams to be financially independent. She was tired of asking her parents for more money. Its not like they were not helping here. They have resources as well as will. In fact, they were more then happy to aid her as long as possible but she was tired of it. She wanted to do something. She wanted to achieve something on her own and make her parents proud of her. But every time she would go for an interview, something wrong would occur. Sometimes, some other candidates would also appear for the job who were more qualified or experienced, other times, she would end up getting disappointed with the work demands or reputation of the institute. It was not like there were no jobs at all but she wanted more challenges and something worthy. But this time it was all perfect, she was very hopeful. But again, she was disappointed in the end.
And of course, it was affecting her relations with her friends and flat mates. Everyone was a little out of patience these days. They would fight over silly things every other day. Sometimes the matters like who left the AC on or cooked the last meal felt like warlike issues too. And she had had enough of it. This is not the life she dreamt of when she left her hometown.
Her thoughts came to a sudden halt when someone honked the horn of his car right behind her. All of a sudden, she realized that she was walking in the middle of road. She abruptly got to the side of the road mumbling sorry. It was fully dark now and she was drenching from the rain. She realized she was at least five miles away from her house and she had no idea where she was planning to stay at night.
'Staying at the nearby hotel would be the best option.' She concluded in her mind. She knew a good hotel in the area so she went there. She reached at the hotel within five minutes and asked the receptionist for a room. The receptionist asked her to wait for few minutes and asked the housekeeping to provide her with some towels.
Meanwhile she sat on the sofa at the end of lobby and started gazing out of the window. When she turned around to collect her towel from the house keeping staff that was the first time she saw him.
He was looking at her curiously. But as he saw her looking, he turned his gaze away from her and started talking to the guy sitting next to her. There were three guys sitting around him. One right beside him and two on the sofa in front. They were sitting on the other end of the lobby. They were all wearing formal clothes and had files and laptop bags with them. It looked like they were conducting a meeting, Tarika observed.
"Ma'am, your room is ready" the receptionist said bringing her back.
"Oh yes, thank you." She replied while taking the key.
She left for her room and observed that guy checking her out again.
The room was beautiful. There was a big balcony right opposite to the bed. Soon, she changed into the bathing rob and sent her clothes for dry cleaning. After dinner, she called her mother and then replied to the texts of her flat mates about her safety. Now they were all calmed down and worried about her. She was also seeing sense now but of course she had to stay out at least one night after all the drama. However, she decided to go back to her apartment first thing in the morning. After dinner and some search for job interviews , she called it night.
At 3'o clock her sleep was disturbed by the sudden knock on her door. She got up confused and looked out from the peek hole. The room service guy was standing there with the manager. She opened the door reluctantly. There were some other guys standing on the sides as well, she observed as she opened the door wider.
"What is this happening? Why are you disturbing me at this hour?" she demanded.
"Umm…actually ma'am…" the manager started to speak but was pushed away by one of the other guy.
"Ma'am I am Senior Inspector Daya from CID Mumbai and we would like to search your room." A big masculine guy said.
"But…Why? What have I done?" Tarika asked perplexed.
"Nothing. But we are looking for someone." Senior Inspector Daya said as a female office pushed her aside and they all started searching in the room and balcony.
Tarika was still shell shocked when she observed that the guy she earlier saw at the lobby was also standing in a corner. He was standing right beside the manager and looking at her. Before she could say something she heard a noise.
She was beyond shocked when she realized that the CID officers were pulling out a guy from her bathroom. She didn't know what to say. The guy was struggling to get free when Daya gave him a tight slap.
Tarika was still in shock when Daya asked his officers to take the guy away. He then looked at Tarika.
"I don't know who he is and how he came here." Tarika started. She knew she had to explain herself very clearly or else she will be associated with that criminal too. "I was here just for the night and…"
"I know" Daya said cutting her.
"But you must trust me. I…You know?" she just realized what he had said.
"Yes, I know."
"But I don't understand."
"See madam, we were trying to catch that guy from a long time. He was trying to steal very important data from my friend and businessman, Abhijeet." He pointed towards the guy standing at the door who now came forward.
"I am sorry you had to go through all that because of me." Abhijeet said.
"But I don't understand. How did he get inside my room?" Tarika asked still confused.
"Actually, my room is right above your room. So, when the CID officers were about to catch him while stealing the data, he jumped from my balcony and landed here." Abhijeet explained.
"Oh and because my balcony door was open, he got inside the bathroom." Now Tarika understood the whole matter.
"Now we should leave." Daya said to Abhijeet who again apologized to Tarika and they were gone soon.
The manager also mumbled apologizes and left. Tarika locked the front door and balcony door and lay down on her bed.
'What an interesting day!' She said to herself while thinking about all the events of the night and thinking a little extra about Abhijeet. 'I hope we will meet again.' She said to herself before sleeping.
But even Tarika didn't know how soon her hope was going to become reality and how much she was going to regret it.
Author's Note:
Hey everyone! Hope you and your families are all doing well!
Thanks for your reviews on my previous story and hope you like this one. Constructive criticism is always welcome. Do leave your feedback.