“She sat in the Starbucks cafe, sipping her coffee and staring out of
the window. The blood stained knife lay next to her handbag, covered
with her blue silk scarf...” He paused staring at computer screen,
wondering if these words held the meaning he intended to impart to
them, the cursor blinking at the end of his sentence. Rohit stood up and
stretched, yawning to his heart's content, he was bored, maybe he
needed to take a break, a coffee break, he smiled at the thought. It
was nearly 8 p.m, Arpita should be back from work soon. Without
sparing a second thought he walked over to the closet, threw on a pair
of track pants over his shorts and a T-shirt, grabbed his car keys and
rushed out of the apartment. It was a dull Friday evening, it had been
raining intermittently all day yet it was quite humid and oppressive for
lack of really heavy showers. How he wished for rain, proper torrential
rain that would wash away yesterday's dirt and grim.
After waiting few minutes for the lift, he suddenly decided to climb
down the stairs, not a small feat considering they lived on the 13th
floor. He had been stuck in a zone for sometime now and couldn't
seem to break out of it, his story was due tonight but the words were
stuck in his head somewhere refusing to form a story, a concrete story.
Rohit knew why he felt so thwarted, after all life was boring and
perfect, they had a lovely apartment in a posh part of the city, his wife
had a high profile job at a advertising agency, he had the luxury to
quit being a corporate slave and follow his dream to be a writer, but
after the initial euphoria everything is just the same, same old boring
life. Reality is the worst thing that can happen to anyone, he thought
gloomily looking at the overcast sky as he walked out of the building.
The keys jangled in his pocket, again impulsively he thought of
walking instead of driving, maybe a walk would clear his head and
taking things in might help him to form an idea for a story. There are
two general ways one usually tells a story, either they focus more on
the surrounding and describe every thing in painstaking details, how
the pavements looks and feels as someone walks on it, the detailed
descriptions of people walking by and so on. Or one focuses on how
the protagonist feels and thinks as he or she walks on that pavement,
Rohit was more of the later since most of his thoughts were quietly
introspective, but he felt his story telling lately was lacking a punch,
maybe it was time to try a different way. He sighed, feeling tired,
everything seemed like a good idea at first but now he was feeling
tired and worn out. Turning left by the corner of the road, he walked in
to a sleepy little coffee place. It was nearly 8:30 pm now yet the place
was strangely deserted. The coffee shop had wooden flooring which at
first glance would appear dark and drab, but the thing which drew him
to this place were the glass wall overlooking the street. He looked
around searching for a perfect spot, the pain of too many options.
He was about to take a seat when he saw her....sitting by herself,
sipping her coffee and staring out of the window. Something lay next
to her handbag, covered with her blue silk scarf...he felt quite light
headed all of a sudden, it was as if reality was slowly slipping away
from him. Rohit steaded himself grabbing the chair by his side, it
creaked under his weight, a jarring noise which broke the spell of the
moment. She turned to look at him, she had startling clear gray eyes.
There was a slight buzzing in his head. He smiled at her, feeling silly.
She smiled back, which gave him the courage to approach her.
“Is this seat taken?” He asked pointing to the chair facing her, she
smiled, nodding yes. He felt surprisingly crestfallen and was about to
leave when she grabbed his hand, “I was only joking! Please sit.”
Rohit seated himself, feeling ridiculously happy and awkward. It had
been too long since he had coffee with such an attractive woman. She
seemed to guess his discomfort, but didn't try to initiate any
conversation, just smiled at him and twirled her slender fingers over
the handle of her coffee mug. He was aware of the noise of the city
behind him, the buzzing in his head had subsided. He felt he must
break the silence, after all words were his best comfort.
“Do you come here often? I mean to say I haven't seen you before...”
He grimaced at how awkward he sounded, maybe silence was better.
She smiled again, and looked away. He had half a mind to apologize
and just walk away when she spoke, “I was wondering if I would see
you tonight, you come here quite often....” an eerie feeling gripped
him, when had she seen him? Did their path ever cross before? Was he
thinking about her when he was writing today? Looking at his
thoughtful and puzzled face, she laughed softly, “Did I creep you out
or something? I am not a stalker, don't worry...”
“Oh no! It's just a very strange coincidence. I had been writing a short
story today, I write for a weekly column in 'The Time', and I was
describing this very scene, a beautiful girl sitting by herself, sipping
coffee and her blue silk scarf....” He trailed off glancing furtively at the
object covered by the silk, the scarf had a very detailed floral pattern
stitched in white...The object looked suspiciously sharp and elongated.
She arched her eye brows, “Oh! you are a writer then?” He smiled
sheepishly, “Well, I try...I am Rohit by the way”, he was starting to feel
normal again, enjoying her pretty face, such stark grey eyes, so
unusual! She laughed again, this time, a harsh hacking sound, not
really soothing, Rohit squirmed a little in his seat.
“How would be like to be part of a story?
He stared at her, a little lost for words, “I am sorry? I didn't quite catch
that...?” She sighed, “Would you like to walk with me...” He blinked
twice before mumbling, “I don't even know your name..”
She seemed disappointed, “Names are meaningless but if you must
insist, you can call me Lisa. So would you like to take a little stroll with
me?”
“Where would you like to go?” He asked, tempted by the thought yet
not quite sure if he should, Arpita must be back from work.
“Just round the corner, here and there”, She shrugged, her right
shoulder had a pretty little mole on it, “Well, then?” she stood up
gathering the mystery object and her scarf, stuffing them into her tan
leather handbag. Rohit got up in a hurry, spilling a little of her coffee.
He towered over her petite frame. They walked out of the coffee shop,
together.
The street outside was empty, Rohit looked at his watch, it was after
11 p.m, had they really been that long in the shop? He turned back,
and saw a man pulling the shutters down on the little coffee place.
Apparently, they had kept the poor man waiting. He saw Lisa walking
ahead, her lithe frame draped in a floral printed white sleeveless
dress, her hair billowing in the wind. He realized it must have rained,
the weather seemed a lot cooler. Lisa slowed her pace and let him fall
in pace with her.
“Was it such a bad idea, then?” Lisa smiled, slipping her hand through
his arm. Rohit went rigid for a moment, and then his heart started
racing....it was quite rare for a woman to have such an effect on him..
“No, not at all, actually I was thinking for your well being, how could
you want to walk with a man you barely know? I mean, who knows, I
could be a killer, right?” She smiled, her teeth glinting in the street
light, “Who knows I could be one, too?” He smiled uneasily. They had
walked for quite sometime, taking a by-lane right behind the coffee
shop.
“Where are we going? Shouldn't you go home, I could drop you
home..” The streets were so deserted and the dim lights playing hide
and seek in the shadow, how he regretted not taking his car, he would
have to walk the whole way back.
“Ah! Wouldn't you like that? Dropping me home?!” She laughed,
leaning over his shoulder, her voice mellow and teasing. Rohit felt his
ears burning, “I..I..”, he stuttered, embarrassed.
“Come on now, I was just playing with you, I live just down the road”
She pointed ahead to a dark alley,”That is a blind lane, isn't it?” He
was confused, the road ahead ended in a pitch dark nothingness, this
was hardly inviting. Rohit was regretting the whole thing, Arpita must
be worried...for a while when he had longed for some of excitement in
his dull bleak tepid life he had forgotten the comforts of it, the calm
security, the warmth of it...
Lisa had again increased her pace and she strode ahead without
looking back. Feeling an increasing sense of discomfort and alarm,
Rohit had no choice but to follow her. The uncanny fact was the whole
neighbourhood was deserted, he could hear a dog barking in the
distance. It was getting darker, the streetlights had dimmed somehow,
he saw her silhouette about ten feet away, her back towards him. He
was wondering if he could just walk away, but felt a bit protective
about her, he couldn't just leave her in the dark.
“Lisa, are we there yet? Where do you live? Lisa?!” He nudged her,
turning her to face him. It could have been the lighting, but her
face...her face seemed distorted somehow, her eyes dark cavernous
holes, engulfing him and in her hand was a long thin rod, emitting a
sickly green glow...
“Won't you help me home?” Lisa pleaded, her voice cracking, distorted
and filled with static...Survival instinct is strange and can kick in all of
a sudden...Rohit ran, he ran past the street lights flashing by, their
afterglow tailing him, the sad little coffee place closed for the night,
ran through the blaring traffic and ran home...
Panting and shaking he reached home, his fingers proved too thick
and shaky to pry open the lock, and then the door opened.
“Where were you? I was so worried? Why couldn't you carry your
phone?” Arpita looked genuinely haggard but angry at the same time.
He fell into her arms, wrapping her warmth about him, wishing he had
never left.
“What happened? Why are you shivering? Oh my God? Are you hurt, is
that blood?” She held his face in her palms, looking deep in his eyes,
searching for answers he didn't have. He freed himself from her arms
and walked across the room sliding into the couch of their living room,
too much in shock to do anything else, wishing he had never strayed
from his normal “boring” life....Arpita yelped in disgust,”that's not
blood, is it?...”, and then he noticed his hands, they were stained with a
thick gooey liquid.....and it glowed green.
