How on earth had it made its way to my car when I never wore it outside the office? I could smell some fresh perfume on it. When I drew it closer to my nose, I found it was Eternity by Calvin Klein, one of my favourties. I had run out of it a month ago and had been using a different one since. This was unnerving. I gripped the steering wheel to steady myself.
Should I bring the police into the picture? But what would I say to them? What evidence did I have? They were likely to brush off the incident as a figment of my imagination. No, for now I would have to do something about this on my own and just hope and pray nothing dreadful happened before it was too late. I started my car and drove out of the garage.
11
WHEN I FINALLY got home, I was greeted by friendly chitter-chatter in the living room. I tried to engage myself in the conversation but my heart wasn’t in it. I was feeling very edgy: first the discrepancies in the documents, then my shawl landing up on the backseat of my car. What was happening to my life?
Just then, my phone started ringing and interrupted my thoughts. I had a good mind not to pick it up, but then what if it was something important? So I leaned over and pulled out my phone from my bag.
It was Mr Kapoor. I pressed the answer button.
‘Tara.’ He sounded somber.
‘Yes, sir?’
‘Can you please see me immediately in my office? There is something very urgent I need to discuss with you and it can’t wait until morning.’
‘Yes, sir, I shall leave immediately.’
Oh my god! I just knew why he was calling. He had discovered the discrepancies in the documents and probably wanted to reprimand me. A small fry like me wouldn’t stand a chance. This was it. I was going to get sacked. Any other law firm doing a reference check on me would judge me as incompetent and inefficient. My life was ruined. As much as I was petrified, at some level, I wanted to deal with the crisis head on and face the consequences.
My parents looked at me disapprovingly when I said I had to go. My aunt protested. I assured them as best as I could, saying I would be back soon. Thankfully, our family chauffer hadn’t left for the day. That would save me the driving, especially keeping in mind my mental state at the moment and what had happened earlier in the parking lot.
When I reached office, I noticed that there were still a few people working. I went straight to Mr Kapoor’s room. When I saw his expression, I knew that my worst fears were coming true.
‘Tara, while compiling the files, did you go over everything?’ he asked, looking sharply at me.
‘Yes,’ I replied feebly.
‘Well then, you didn’t do such a great job. While discussing things with the clients, I chanced upon something.’
I remained silent, praying for an earthquake, a hurricane, a volcano, anything to stop this conversation from happening.
‘There are certain discrepancies in the file, are you aware of them?’ he asked me bluntly.
There was really no point in lying at this stage. Either way I would have to face the consequences.
‘Yes sir, I am aware.’
‘Then why did you not bring it to my attention that the originals had been replaced with copies? You do realize that if the clients had seen this, it would have had very serious repercussions and, more importantly, caused embarrassment and shown negligence at our end?’
He was being unusually calm, which in a way was very unsettling. I looked down at my toes not knowing how to respond.
‘Anyway, the good thing is, I discovered it before anybody else did and averted a disaster. But that was only today. Something will need to be done about this, and soon.’
‘I understand, sir,’ I said looking up at him.
I almost thought he felt sorry for me. Maybe there was still hope.
‘Since it is only the two of us who know about this, I would appreciate it if we kept it that way and nobody else got wind of this. I also have a special favour to ask of you. Will you do some sleuthing and find out who could possibly be behind this? Nobody will suspect you and time is of the essence. The deal is to go through soon and before that can happen, everything needs to be checked carefully. As to the repercussions, if any of this gets out, we will lose our reputation as a law firm. You understand?’
I nodded. I understood the gravity of the situation and the pressure on me. Even though I was pretty much jumping from the frying pan into the fire, at least I wasn’t being fired. Yay, something to cheer about.
‘Tara, I repeat, nobody is to know we had this conversation.’
I meekly nodded my head in agreement, feeling weighed down and liberated at the same time.
12
HE LEFT THE office with a securely locked briefcase. He was to meet them in half an hour in a hotel suite. He had solemnly resolved that this would be the last time. He couldn’t put himself through this again. He had done what he had to do until now. After handing over the documents, he was going to back off from all this for good and pretend like it had never happened.
He smiled at all the people he passed. He had visited this hotel so many times that he could probably make his way there blindfolded. He knocked on the door. He was ushered into a room where five men were seated.
The seniormost among them was a short, stout, unassuming-looking man but he was the boss and one of the shrewdest men in the business. He greeted him. He didn’t know what his name was and had never really bothered to find out.
‘So good to see you, even though you are ten minutes late. We thought you were planning on ditching us tonight.’ He laughed.
‘A promise is a promise. I intend to keep mine.’ He handed over the briefcase. ‘And I hope you intend to keep yours.’
Senior flung the briefcase to one of his sidekicks to go through it. Once everything had been checked, he gave me a thumbs-up.
‘Looks like you have done a great job once again,’ said Senior.
‘Thank you. It was a pleasure doing business with you but I have decided to distance myself from this from now on.’ He turned around to walk out of the room.
Senior called out to him. ‘Wait. Don’t leave so soon. Let’s have a drink before we part ways.’
He really wanted to leave but then thought what was the harm in one drink. It’s always good to part ways on a good note. Especially if you were dealing with a crook at the other end.
He sat down and had his usual vodka tonic.
Just when he was taking the last swig, a phone started ringing. He looked around to see whose phone it was. The sound was not coming from anywhere in the room. He realized it was from the television set.
Were his eyes deceiving him or was that really a video of him on the TV? There he was, recorded in the act of copying the documents and his phone was ringing. He was stunned.
‘What sort of a sick joke is this?’ he shouted.
Senior paused the television. ‘Calm down. There are still a few things we need from you that are very critical. Upon providing them, we will destroy this piece of evidence. We would like to get a heads up on all internal discussions in the company regarding Project Emerald. There are structural changes about to take place in the management which we have learnt about and we would like to hear more about them.’
He was outraged. He had done all this as a favour for someone. He had never believed he would personally get sucked into this mess but Senior was one step ahead of him.
‘So what have you decided?’ Before he could say anything, Senior continued, ‘Since you have done a great job, I am in a generous mood. I will give you twenty-four hours to make up your mind about this—I am guessing your answer will be in the affirmative.’
His head was pounding and his instant urge was to punch Senior in the face. He needed to get out quickly. He was about to leave when one of the men in the room blocked his way. He then realized that he had to respond before he left.
‘Fine. I will let you know in twenty-four hours.’
‘That’s good,’ said Senior. The door was opened f
or him.
He walked out, his head about to implode. When he had entered the room, he had thought that today he would leave a free man. But fate had other plans.
As soon as he left the room, someone else came out of the shadows in the back and smiled at Senior. Grudgingly Senior handed over a briefcase full of thousand-rupee notes to that person. But he was happy. He had got his papers. Now he could trade them for a decent sum.
Mr Kapoor watched Tara leaving his office. When she closed the door behind him, he immediately picked up his phone to dial a number.
Somebody answered in a sleepy voice.
‘Hello, something very important has come up. I need to see you right now.’
‘Can it not wait? I have an early morning appointment.’
‘No, it can’t.’
The person at the other end knew by the tone of his voice that it was better to agree than to argue.
‘Ok. Where do you want to meet?’
‘Same place.’
‘Ok. Will see you in an hour.’
‘By urgently, I mean right this minute. It should take you about twenty minutes to get there.’
‘See you in twenty, then.’ And the line went dead.
Mr Kapoor hung up the phone and started thinking. He had dealt with many a crisis in his life but this one was a bolt from the blue. Things needed to get sorted out soon. This was his last chance to save the firm and if things didn’t go according to plan, it would be disastrous.
13
I WOKE UP early the next morning. Nothing helped me more than a nice long walk to clear my mind and that was what I really needed: clarity.
I got into my track pants and a t-shirt that said: ‘If you don’t like my attitude, quit talking to me.’ Haha. It always brought a smile to my face.
As I tied my shoe laces, my Saint Bernard sniffed me up and down. ‘You do know there is nothing more I would like to do than take you out with me but this is me time so I need to be alone.’ I patted his head.
He looked up at me with his sorrowful eyes. He knew if he acted cute, he could pretty much get anyone to do anything for him. I kept saying to myself, be strong. Don’t let him wrap you around his paws.
I was on my way to Nehru Park which was very close to where we lived. The crisp morning air is the most refreshing thing. If only I could be more regular with the exercising. But who was I kidding? I was going to the park after three months and the way things were going in office, I would most likely make my next trip six months later.
While taking my round around the park, I noticed that it was empty save for a lone figure at the other end. A man fully covered wearing a ski cap, dark blue track pants and a matching sweat shirt, and a pair of gloves. This seemed really odd to me considering it wasn’t cold. Boy, this world was full of freaks but I continued to keep an eye on him. There was something disconcerting about him.
I don’t know whether it’s human nature to get naturally drawn to something that’s out of the ordinary. My eyes kept going back to the ski-mask character. Was I imagining it or had he been staring at me? He looked down immediately when he saw me looking at him. I started feeling uneasy but then again curiosity was getting the better of me. I wanted to see his face. Very soon we would cross each other’s path. So I continued walking.
Playing one of my favourite Rihanna tracks, I was getting into my exercise mode. When it ended, the next song came on but I didn’t really like it so I looked down to change the selection on my iPod and that’s when I felt someone bang into me. The impact of it was such that my iPod went flying in the air and I fell down in a heap. Dizzy and disoriented it took me a few seconds to recover. When I looked around, I noticed the blue figure jogging out of the park. I could have sworn that he had deliberately pushed me down. I tried getting back on my feet to chase after him but I was quite badly bruised and sore.
Then something caught my eye. Something shiny was lying on the ground a few feet away from me. It was a Zippo lighter and it was initialed with a serpent.
Today had been a fun day for him. He had loved it when she had fallen down. He hadn’t meant to hurt her, at least not right now. He wanted to just scare her but he had given into temptation. When she was in pain, it eased his pain—this is what it felt like. He couldn’t wait to put an end to all this. Until then, he sought comfort in this paradise he had created for himself.
He looked around him. He was standing in the middle, with his world of exotic animals around him. They were his life, these exotic species of snakes, from cobra, rattlesnake, python, viper, copperhead and his most precious—the black mamba. He went close to his black mamba who he fondly called Charlie. He went as close to the cage as he could. He was planning a trip to acquire some more deadly snakes. He never removed their venom—the thrill was in keeping them the way they were naturally born. He had, over a period of time, collected them from all over the world. It had been difficult. He had needed a lot of money but he had managed. He smiled to himself. Loving and caring for them eased the pain in his life. They had gone from a pastime to an obsession for him.
His phone started ringing. The person on the other line wanted to talk to him. He was just not ready to, at least not right now. He needed time to compose himself but if he didn’t answer, the person would frantically start searching for him.
14
I PAINFULLY MADE my way back home. My worst suspicions were indeed true: there was actually somebody following me. My bruised body was proof enough.
Thankfully, my mom had to meet a friend for breakfast so I wouldn’t have to deal with any questions till evening.
I have learnt that in life when things are not going right, it’s important to put up a brave front. For starters, appearance is very important. Even though I am usually in skirt suits or formal trousers in office, I decided to wear a full-sleeved, loosely fitted salwar kameez which would hide the bruises on my arm and ankles and would hopefully also camouflage my slight limp. The scratch on my face I carefully covered with powder. If anyone questioned me on my unusual attire, I could always lie that I had a cousin’s engagement in the evening or something.
When I reached office, I noticed that Riya’s workstation was empty once again. There was definitely something cooking with her.
Sailesh Gupta was hovering around my desk. I wanted to avoid him but then again, I really needed to get started on my day. I had my work cut out for me. A cream-coloured envelope lay on my table with my name written in gold. I tore it open. It was an invitation to Mr Kapoor’s annual cocktail party which took place mid-August every year to commemorate the month in which he had set up our law firm, Kapoor & Co. Initially they used to have a puja and a formal dinner but in the last few years, since he had hired a party planner, the parties had gotten fancier and more outlandish. This year he had added a theme to jazz it up: ‘Goth’. Surprising—I had no idea the dry man had enough spirit in him to even agree to such a thing. It also meant I would now have to put together some weird outfit for the occasion.
Mr Kapoor, difficult as he was, realized the need for the employees to mingle with each other and develop closer bonds, something we hardly managed to do during office hours. Hence the party which, in my opinion, could never make up for all the torture he put us through during the rest of the year.
The party was in a few days’ time and even if you didn’t feel like going, like me, you pretty much were left with no choice until something earth shatteringly important came up. Usually, he had his annual party at his home in Golf Links or a hotel. But this year, he was having it in his farmhouse in Mehrauli.
‘So Tara, what will you be going as?’
I was a little taken aback by the sudden question. ‘I haven’t thought about it yet, Sailesh,’ I said a little severely.
‘Ha, ha,’ he laughed merrily at my annoyance. ‘Just watch out for me!’ Then in a more serious tone he continued, ‘Tara, before I forget, I have a few clarifications. I need to take a look at some of the Project Emerald files.’
&n
bsp; That was strange. How did Sailesh know that I had the files unless Mr Kapoor had mentioned it to him? For he had categorically instructed me not to mention it to anyone. Especially after my discovery, I didn’t think it was a good idea sharing the files with absolutely anyone in the office.
But on second thoughts, since Sailesh had asked me for the files openly, I guess there really wasn’t anything to hide. The last thing I wanted to do was to make him suspicious. So I gave him the files, leaving out the ones in which I had noticed the discrepancies.
‘Here you go.’
‘Thanks, sweety.’
I cringed.
I started checking my email. There were some new developments on Project Emerald so I got cracking on it. Strangely enough, Sailesh was not copied on any of the emails so why this sudden interest in Project Emerald? Maybe I ought to check with Mr Kapoor about Sailesh’s involvement. Just then, I noticed Bahadur walking towards me.
‘Madam, you were looking for me?’
‘Yes, I was. I have a few questions I need to ask you.’
‘Yes, tell me,’ he replied.
‘Can we discuss it in a slightly more private place?’ I said looking around the office which was full of people—anyone could overhear us. ‘Perhaps step outside for a couple of minutes?’
A confused look came on his face. I could tell he was sensing that this was something very serious.
‘Okay.’ He led the way outside.
Once we were outside, I asked Bahadur, ‘Can you give me Shyamji’s new home address? I believe you met him last weekend?’
‘No, Madam. I was to meet him but then my nephew wasn’t well so I couldn’t go there.’
S.t.a.l.k.e.d. Page 4