11 Hours

by Daniel Paul Singh

  I reached the main entrance of Tower A, where RBS was functioning and proudly displayed my entry pass to the security. I expected the guards to salute and let me in. But, they looked at me suspiciously as though I had come to loot the place and stopped me.

  “ Aap andar nahi jaa saktey saab!”

  “What? I don’t understand Hindi. Can you talk in English or Tamil?” I replied though I perfectly understood what he was conveying.

  “You no go in.” the guard said in his broken English.

  “I have the entry pass.”

  “With that, you only go reception ground floor”, he showed me a waiting area. I wasn’t sure in which floor Diana was, and I hadn’t driven so far to meet her in the reception area after all and I wanted to do to her what I did in the story that I narrated to her!

  “I am a vendor, you see. I have a meeting with a manager. Err... Lavanya. I need to go in for a discussion.” I told him.

  “Then, ask manager come here, give guarantee signature, and she take you in.” he said in his blatant stony voice without having an iota of courtesy or mercy on me.

  “Guarantee? What do you mean? Can I talk to your supervisor?” “What?”

  “Supervisor... Your supervisor. Can I talk to him?” I insisted. “Wait. He come half hour.” he said and continued his work.

  “Damn.” I looked at my watch. It was 5.15 PM. I didn’t know anyone else in that block and definitely couldn’t call anyone for help. I sat in the reception area convincing myself that there should be some way to enter in. I played the waiting game. Everyone who crossed me gave me a strange look (or so it felt) being the sole occupant of that large white sofa.

  I suddenly got reminded of Kalpana and called her.

  “Dude, where are you? In the office?” I asked her.

  “In Bangkok, with my boyfriend. Anything urgent?” she replied.

  “Not now, Kalps. Not now. Listen, I need an immediate help.”

  “You want her mobile number?”

  “Damn! I got her number long back, and I am already at her office. Now, I need to enter her bay for which I need someone to provide a guarantee signature for me here. Do you know anyone in Ambattur office?”

  “Shit! What have you done now that warrants a guarantee?”

  “Nothing, stupid! I just came to surprise her!”

  “And ended up being taken by surprise, what a shock, I must say! Let me check with a few friends and call you back.” she said and cut my call hurriedly.

  Meanwhile, the security guard supervisor had arrived, and thankfully, he knew English well.

  I went straight up to him.

  “Sir, I need a favour. This is crucial. I have a meeting...”

  “If so, then ask that person to come down and take you up.” he said without even looking at me.

  “Hmm… Err... Actually... Let me tell you the truth. I came here to meet my fiancée. I want to give her a surprise. I drove through half the city and came down here. I really want to meet her in her bay. I definitely got to do this. Could you please let me in? Please!”

  He looked at me like I stole his clothes.

  “I definitely can’t.” he said sternly.

  “Bro, please understand. Please let me in.”

  “I understand, but if you go in, I will be chucked out. Understood? They will send me home. Everything is being recorded in that camera.” he showed the CCTV camera in one corner.

  I nodded in understanding, when I got that call from Kalpana.

  “Kalps, who is here, ask that person to come to the ground floor near the reception and sign for me... Really soon, please!”

  “Wait, wait... Rob! I have only one friend there, and he is on leave today. My bay mate knows another colleague, but he is in a call till 7 and can’t come down before that.”

  “Bloody rascals!”

  “Did you wake up in front of the mirror today?” she pulled my leg.

  “No, it was your DP that I saw first thing in the morning.”

  “Liar! So, why don’t you ask her to come down and put the sign for you?”

  “It’s a surprise for her, dumbass! I want to stand behind her desk in her bay all of a sudden and give her a shock. That’s the whole point.”

  “Oh, interesting!! But sorry da. I won’t be able to help you any further on this.” She said and disconnected the call.

  My last ray of hope vanished into thin air. I was clueless about my next move. I had gotten this far on my mission and returning without meeting her would be a disaster. I wouldn’t have an interesting story to tell my grandchildren later in life! I went and settled back in the reception sofa to rack my brain for some better idea.

  I thought of all the possible options and finally decided to make a call to Diana herself. She picked my call immediately.

  “Hey, Diana! How are you?”

  “Hey, Rob! Am good. Nothing has changed in the last two hours. Why?”

  “Just like that. How’s work? Where are you? Is your manager around?”

  “She is in a meeting. No work for me, and it’s really boring. I told you already!”

  That’s why I have come all the way to meet you darling, I thought.

  “How about your best friend, Kavitha?”

  “She is in the Guindy office today.”

  I cursed my luck and continued to talk.

  “Which floor are you on?”

  “I am on the 9thfloor. Why are you asking all this?”

  “Just like that. Well, how good a worker are you? I want to know how you behave in office. You know, there is a flurry of complaints I have against you. So, give the phone to your friend next to you.” I blurted out spontaneously.

  “If you have any complaints against me, tell me directly. If you want to know how I work, ask me. Not some other random idiot!” she said in an agitated tone.

  “No! No complaints. Just wanted to talk to any of your colleagues. Can you hand over the phone to someone near you? Anyone! ” I chuckled.

  “No. Tell me directly. Anything you want to say. Just tell me, will you?” she insisted.

  How can I?! And ruin the perfect surprise that I am waiting at your office’s ground floor and trying to come to the 9thfloor? Why don’t you just hand over the phone to the person next to you? AARRRHH…!!! Women and their gazillion questions. I sighed.

  “That, I can’t. Just hand it over to someone else, please.”

  “I won’t.” she cut the call abruptly.

  I was so infuriated that someone could be so mean. But, having no other choice, I dialled her again.

  “Hello! What do you want now?” she fumed.

  “Give the bloody phone to anyone near you.”

  “I already told you, I won’t!”

  “Don’t you trust me?”

  “I do. But, what has trust got to do with this?”

  “Trust me. Just trust me for once without asking me questions, Diana! Don’t make me lose my cool. I don’t want to lose my cool. I have already endured many a misfortune today. Just listen to me and hand over the damn phone to someone next to you, NOW!”

  “I WON’T.” she screamed and cut the call again. I was on the verge of breaking down and also turning into Hulk at the same time.

  I controlled my anger, drank some water to calm myself down and went to the restroom nearby. By then, it was 6.30 PM. I decided to call her one last time. If she handed over the phone to any of her colleagues, then we would meet. If she didn’t, I wasn’t sure what decision I would take next.

  Just as I was about to call her, I got a call from Prabhu. Wondering whether there could be anything important, I attended.

  “Rob, where are you?”

  “At RBS, Prabhu, what’s up?”

  “Oh, have you met Diana?”

  “I would, in a while. Tell me, anything important?”

  “Yes. I am going to join a CEH course. Would you like to join me? We should do something to move up in our career man!”

  “What the hell is CEH?” I was f
rustrated.

  “Certified Ethical Hacker! It’s a highly recommended course for ethical hackers.” he said enthusiastically.

  “Prabhu, I am not in the right mood to discuss this right now, and even if I am, I wouldn’t be joining the course. Thanks!”

  “Any problem with Diana?”

  “No, nothing like that.”

  “The course costs just 1.5 lakhs, and it is a special offer. So, thought of informing you.”

  “So kind of you, but no thanks.” I cut his call and decided to call Diana again.

  She picked.

  “What do you want?” she had mellowed down by then.

  “Hand over the phone to someone next to you.” I said the same words again in a measured assertive tone.

  “Here you go.” she gave the phone to her friend. I was more than relieved.

  “Hey, hi... What’s your name?” I asked her.

  “This is Priyanka.”

  “Alright, listen. I am on the ground floor and I need someone to come here and put a guarantee sign for me. Could you please just come down and do that? I hope you know that I am Diana’s fiancé.”

  “I know. Wait! Let me come down. How do I identify you?”

  “I will be the only guy sitting on the large white sofa in the reception area with a disgruntled expression” I replied.

  Exactly ten minutes later, a young, lean naïve girl of 5’6” came down along with a fair girl of medium build, who had large eyes and thick brows. They came closer with a thoughtful look, and one of them gazed at me questioningly. “Are you...”

  “Priyanka? “ I finished before she could.

  “Yes. Where should I sign?”

  “Come here. Sign in this ledger, right here, Thanks!” I guided her.

  She signed and looked at me anxiously.

  “There is a problem. I am new here; joined just four weeks ago and I heard that outsiders can’t be taken inside. So, if I take you there, I will be terminated.” Priyanka, the lean girl, the dropped the bomb.

  “Wait... What? Then, why did you sign there for me?”

  “Because you asked me to!” That was the dumbest possible answer she could’ve given me.

  “Is there no way I can come to your floor?” Never did I realise that it would be such a difficult task.

  “No. But, you can wait in Tower B, and I will ask her to come there. That’s where we have the canteen.”

  Do I look like I came all the way and waited all the while to eat in your canteen? I am hungry, yes... but no, not to that Tower!

  “Tower B? I would have done that an hour ago. I have waited for almost an hour here to meet her at her place and surprise her.” my disappointment was evident when Bishaka, the other girl with thick eyebrows, interrupted.

  “I have a plan. You come to the 8th floor where we have our office cafeteria and wait there. I will bring Diana. That should be feasible.”

  “That sounds like a plan, and would be awesome.” I said, and we three took the lift to the 8th floor. They took me to the cafeteria, and I waited excitedly to catch the first glimpse of Diana when she would walk in to find me there. Bishaka left to bring Diana while Priyanka sat next to me worrying whether she would still have her job intact after I left.

  After five minutes, Diana came to the cafeteria hopping around like a deer. She simply froze looking at me. Her face instantly brightened, her reactions subdued, and her cheeks instantly turned deep pink in excitement as she gave a teary happy smile. A smile is the best makeup a girl could ever wear.

  Diana evidently couldn’t conceal her happiness. She couldn’t look me in the eye.

  “Did you expect me?”

  “I didn’t.” she hushed as she couldn’t talk. Had I quizzed her further, she would have surely broken down crying. She was quite emotional.

  “You didn’t have any doubt whatsoever? I asked you to hand over the phone to your friend. I asked which floor you are on. You couldn’t guess anything still?”

  “I couldn’t, really! I was just thinking why you were behaving like the lunatic that you are. I never figured you would come here all the way. That too to my office, that too, to the 8thfloor! It’s like a dream!”

  I wanted to hug her, but restrained myself as we were in her office premises and gave her the doll I had bought for her. She held it like a priced possession.

  “I want to meet your manager; I have entered telling that I have an appointment with her.”

  “I said she is in a meeting now, didn’t I? You can’t meet her.”

  “Alright. Shall we go out for dinner? Inform her that you are leaving for the day and come. We will go out.” I told her.

  “Okay. Give me ten minutes. I will shut down my system and be back.” she left.

  She returned in fifteen minutes. She had washed her face, and it shone as bright as the morning sun.

  I kept admiring her all the while as we ate our meal and she kept blushing. At around 8 PM, she took leave to catch her cab back home. I kept looking at her as she walked towards the exit. I really wanted to hug her. I called out her name and went near her when she turned to me. “I want to give you something.” I said.

  “What?” she smiled and looked at me.

  I came close to her, smiled and stretched out my right hand.

  “Bye.” I warmly shook the tip of her right hand.

  She reciprocated with a lifeless handshake and left hurriedly. Just what I expected of her anyway!

  I kept staring at nothingness.

  ₪ ₪ ₪

  Chapter 5

  The Third Date Oct 29 th 2016:

  Nothingness engulfed me. I felt empty driving through OMR towards her office. Ascendas was about fifteen minutes’ away from home on a normal day and OMR was quite busy even at that odd hour, thanks to it being the abode of numerous corporate giants. I crossed Perungudi, Kandanchavadi, SRP tools and finally reached Ascendas in just ten minutes.

  I parked my bike right under the 'No Parking' signage outside the building, rushed towards the entry pass section, and asked for a cafeteria pass. The security guard looked at me, then looked at the clock on the wall, then again looked at me with disapproval all over his face.

  “Cafeteria passes are not provided after 10 PM sir” He shook his head as he said and kept staring at me.

  I gazed at the clock and it showed 11.13 PM. “Damn!”

  “Is there any way I could get in? My wife is missing; she usually comes home by 10.45 PM. I don’t have contact numbers of any of her colleagues, nor her company board line, nor her cab driver, nor her team mates. I need to go in and check. Please let me in” I pleaded teary eyed.

  “Relax, Sir! Which company is she working for?” he asked me.

  “Galarena, Phase 3. I have been there once on her birthday. I know where it is.”

  “Okay sir, wait a minute. I will check what could be done” he said and dialed one of his superior. They conversed in Oriya, I didn’t understand a word. There was a mirror in one corner where I saw my reflection. I was jaded, clad in a white shirt, immersed in sweat, had uncombed hair and was visibly worried.

  “Okay. Yeah Okay” the security said and turned towards me.

  “Sir, I can’t give you a pass. However, I can let you in. Give me any of your ID card and your mobile number” he said with a smile.

  I searched my purse and was quite relieved to find my PAN card. I handed it over to him. I wrote my mobile number in the ledger and rushed towards Phase 3, towards Galarena.

  “Galarena” Diana had quit her job at RBS and joined Galarena a year ago, for two reasons: It was closer to home (After our wedding we moved from Thiruvanmayur to Thoraipakkam), and she loved the job of a graphic designer. She had always been someone who pursued her passion and was never bogged down by what others said. She charted her career on her terms.

  “Bubbly... I want to start a design page in FB and start making wedding invites, personalized gifts, anniversary gifts and the like. Do help me create it and promote it” she ordered
me one day and I had to oblige to those beautiful eyes. The page was a huge hit and design offers started pouring in almost instantly. Someone once said, ‘Have a hobby that pays you’, and she took it quite literally.

  Diana was a determined, no nonsense person, who truly followed her heart (even if it meant-others getting disappointed), and never let others dictate terms to her, which I came to know clearly during our third date.

  Oct 10th 2014:

  Diana’s parents did not believe in the idea of women going out with men, even if they were married, forget being engaged. I was obviously oblivious to that fact. I called her up one fine day after our engagement and told her that I wanted to meet her.

  “Alright. We will meet up.” Came her disinterested reply.

  “Do inform your parents and then come.” I told her.

  “Listen. Only one of these two can happen. Either I come without informing them, or I inform them and stay at home.” She was quite bland.

  “Come again? What?” I did not get what she meant.

  “If you want to meet me, I will have to lie to my parents and then come. But, if you want me to inform them and come, I can’t meet you ultimately because I won’t be allowed to.” She explained patiently.

  “Diana, you weren’t engaged to me back then. Now you are! Tell them that I want to go out with you. They will allow you. Don’t lie to them. Just tell them the truth. It is better to tell the truth and die than to lie and live a regretful life.”

  “I am fed up with your philosophies! I will do as you say though, but I am sure us meeting-will never happen.” she meant what she said and kept down the phone exasperated.

  After an hour, I received a message from her.

  “My dad did not allow. We can’t meet.”

  I was infuriated. All I wanted was to meet my fiancée on a Sunday evening. I felt like my fundamental rights were being denied! I immediately called her dad. He picked up immediately.

  “Hi Uncle!”

  “Yes, Son.” He told in his soft voice.