Short Story.... Part - III

If you haven't read the other parts, don't be stupid and read this first & challenge my pitiful writing style.. :P

Scroll down and read the other two parts if you already haven't...


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We met at one more of those innumerous Coffee Day's scattered strategically all around the city. And there was plain pandemonium with everyone talking at the same time...

Tanya was silent throughout though...
She didn't look one bit English and she barely spoke with a British accent... In fact, she hardly spoke at all. I tried to include the poor thing in our conversations but frankly it looked like nobody other than me really cared. Pretty soon, I'd forgotten bout the 'firangi' too as we caught up with good ol' times...

Limp arrived fashionably late (as he called it)...
Like it makes a difference when you're meeting friends!

He made his way over, seated himself comfortably on the ample cushioning provided, took his own sweet time to light up his fag & said,

"Man! I could hear you guys all the way from the road. Keep it down..."
"And who might this lovely lady be?" As he leaned over and offered his hand.

And I blinked... Twice...

Collective gasps from all us guys as Tanya slowly extended her hand and shook his gingerly as Virgin made the introductions.

And we all broke into peals of laughter even before Limp finished his exaggerated 'Whaaatt?!!'

'Limp' was gay!

Or atleast that's what we'd all thought till we graduated from the same university a few years back...
And the morning after a very drunken graduation party shocked us all.
Limp got laid... Way before any of us. And hence, he'd earned this new respect from everyone. I don't think anybody had ever thought him gay after that...

But apart from that one night, Limp had pretty much no reputation at all among women. In fact, he rarely spoke to them. Nor did he ever join us on comments about the nicest ass we'd ever seen, etc...

And yet here he sat, chatting amiably with Tanya like they'd known each other for eons.

I hadn't even wiped that smirk of my face watching the two when I heard Virgin bellow out loud...
"Hey guys! Check out that incredible bod on that chick in the red dress!"

And right on cue, not one... Not two... Atleast 50 heads turned one direction to scout for the crimcon clad beauty. And at this very moment, the very annoying theme of the 'Lady In Red' chose to run through my head...

And true to his description, she was stunning...
And blushing...
And obviously embarrassed...
And I felt this sudden urge to clout him hard on the head.

I probably would have if I hadn't noticed a familiar face hidden partially from view... However, that tiny little glimpse was enough to get my blood boiling... And I devotedly focussed all my attention to ripping the tissue paper in front of me to shreds just as BB announced...
"Hey... That's 'J' over there. Isn't it? I'm not sure..."

I looked up again... It was definitely her. But she'd done something with her hair...
And her face...
And her... Chest??

I suddenly became aware that I was standing halfway up from the chair now and everyone at our table was following suit... But I didn't really care.

My first thoughts were 'What the f**k was she thinking!?', which almost instantly changed to 'My God! She looks grotesque!'
I was pretty sure the same thought was running through everybody's mind...

Everybody... Except Virgin who not even for a second take his eyes off her new assets.
I silently chuckled to myself wondering whether I should let him know the authenticity of that enormous cleavage...
And I decided against it. I didn't like Virgin too much. I possibly couldn't care much about that dumb bitch either...

I went back to sipping my espresso even as Virgin walked over to their table and introduced himself in the faint hope she'd remember him.

But I knew her by now.
Her approach was tactful. She'd pretend like she hadn't the slightest idea who the person might be and all of a sudden she'd act like a wave of memory just washed by her... This late reaction spurns joy from the other person... Come on! Everybody loves to be remembered...

Normally, two things happen after this;

1... She'd get up, hug the person and kiss the vacant air brushing past each cheek.
2... She'd flash a very large fake smile. (Which I couldn't stand the sight of, by the way.)

True to memory, she still followed the same routine. Virgin only grew ecstatic as he joined their table for a brief moment...

It had been almost 20 whole minutes when Virgin got back to our table...
While Limp was still exchanging coy, flirtatious words with Tanya who was responding pretty well...
And BB sat talking business on the phone...
And I sat there playing some silly game on my mobile. I got stuck on that same bloody level every single time!!

"I got her number!!"
Virgin sounded like Santa Claus on Prozac... Memory still fails me as to how euphoric a person could get.

We left shortly after that...
I had to drop Limp off at work and we exchanged a few words on the way...

"Tanya is hot isn't she?"
"Yeah... She's pretty no doubt! Okay, I guess"
"Just okay? That's not what I saw back there all this while..."
"Alright! So, we were talking..."
"And ?"
"And Nothing!"
"Hmmm... If you say so."

We drove in silence till we got to the commercial tower where he worked...
"You know dude... You can always tell me."

He put one foot out the door and told me,
"Alright... So, I think I might just like her."

And I smiled to myself as I made my way home...

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"Hey dude! We're all going for this party tonight! You HAVE to come... The organisers are flying in DJs from London man... I've heard them... They ROCK!"

Hearing Virgin's voice first thing in the morning told me it wasn't going to be a good day at all... I loathed him!

"And don't worry about the entry man. I've got it all covered. I've got these passes from J."
Okay... So now, I just loathed him from that endless abyss in my stomach...

"I don't know if I can make it dude... I'll tell you later today."
And I hung up...

I made my mind up that very instant... I wasn't going to go.
I'd prefer grabbing a beer on the way back home from work and watch a movie rather than dance to the tunes of 'DJ's from London' along with Virgin...
And J...
And BB...
Limp was the only one I could decently tolerate. At times, I even envied him for being able to get along with both BB and Virgin so well.

I called Virgin up later and told him about this really important board meeting I had to attend, the outcome of which my future depends upon.
"Chill... It's alright... I'll have a couple of beers for you..."

I didn't have an ounce of work that day...
And I just drove almost everybody insane asking them if they needed a hand at anything...
I paced up and down my cabin far more times than I'd like to keep count...
I drank water like a horse would...

The clock struck 12 and I was still at office in feverish restlessness. The climate control seemed to make absolutely no difference to the beads of sweat that'd form on my forehead every 5 minutes...

I heard a faint beep as I stepped in and out of my office for the 'n'th time that night...
It was a message...

"**New Message - Virgin**" - flashed on my mobile screen...

"Guys... I know how you've always been there to back me up although you've taken my trip countless number of times. I know how good our friendship has been through these years although we faced rough tides, we kept going... Tonight, I ask none of you to come in the way of what I just did. Nobody is to back me up or try to get me out of trouble, for what I did, I chose to do..."

'"**New Message - Virgin**" - flashed yet another time on the screen...

"I've killed J tonight... Cold blooded murder. I slaughtered her in bed while we made love... You probably wonder why. I'll tell you why. She betrayed my family once upon a time... She married my brother five years back. She sucked the life out of him and my parents... She embezzled all our bank accounts while my brother took his life three years back coz of this she-devil. I just wanted to let you all know, I'm probably not justified for what I've done and I don't wish to suffer punishment for what I did... Hence, this message wishing you all a good future while I say goodbye... & Hey! Atleast I won't die a virgin... :)"

I exhaled... And wiped the fresh beads of sweat off my forehead...
I switched my mobile off...
I went to the restroom and splashed some water on my face...
And I looked up at the mirror...

I was smiling... A devilish grin...
And I wanted to punch the guy looking at me through the mirror...

I made my way to the car...
I took the longest route back home possible...
I kept thinking back on all the good times we all shared... The times with the guys, the times with J, the times that were good while they lasted...
The times... When I was genuinely happy and needed no artificial additive to lighten my mood...

The speedo on the car rose steadily and rapidly...
I still remembered how everything had changed...
Virgin meeting me and asking me to stay away from J...
When he requested me to treat her like shit and whereupon I followed and beat her up mercilessly every single night...
When she had every right to walk away from me...
When we arranged everything right from J's meeting in the café to Virgin's casual introduction...

It was all planned...

.....
But this wasn't...

I hurtled at 150 kilometres per hour onto the oncoming bright lights and quietly whispered...
"I'm coming..."