by Leena Nandan
Tina’s earliest memories were of being close to three years old and calling out to her friend Rozy, who was younger by two years, to come over and play. Tina and Rozy grew up on a staple diet of Enid Blyton books and comics of Phantom, Mandrake, Tintin and Asterix. She vividly remembered being horribly jealous of Mandrake’s girlfriend, Narda’s golden locks and wishing that she, too, had been born a blonde. It never occurred to her that she’d have looked positively weird with Indian skin and golden hair—one doesn’t necessarily need to be a born fool, because the talent can be acquired at any stage.
As she finally nodded off, Tina smiled at the memory of trying to look like Narda!
Tina was her usual ebullient self in the morning and looking forward to a glorious day. Her disposition was generally sunny and she had a face to match the generally chirpy frame of mind. Not too tall, she had large brown eyes, black hair that was a mass of curls swinging around her shoulders and a dimpled chin. Her personality was bubbly and invited you to smile with her or strike up a conversation. Actually, conversation wasn’t really an effort. She was the original garrulous type who would happily launch into a prolonged narration of the previous day’s dream at the slightest provocation.
She pulled out one of her favourite business suits in charcoal grey and teamed it up with a floral shirt in pastel colours. With matching sandals on her feet, she felt chic for a change. Humming a tune, she slung her bag over her shoulder and got into the elevator.
But the good mood lasted only till the two unpleasant guys from the fifth floor flat stepped into the lift. As always they gave her the once-over and the taller of the two muttered something behind his hand which made his friend leer at her even more.
The uneasiness of the previous night came flooding back. Were they the ones who telephoned her and then walked past her apartment late last night? They never failed to give her the creeps. But she knew better than to let them see how unnerving she found them, with their leather jackets and unshaven appearance. The weirdo next to her reached out to touch her cheek, with a wolfish smile showing stained teeth. She jerked away and he moved closer. Thankfully, just then the lift stopped and the family on the first floor got in. The children were oblivious to the tension in the air and kept up their babble till the lift reached the ground floor. She rushed out, looking back once over her shoulder to see where the men were, but they weren’t following her; both just stood still and watched her with identical cold, flat eyes. She boarded the charter bus and immediately felt immensely relieved to be in the midst of so many people.
Tina had not taken the office cab because she wanted to reach office half an hour early. Also, the incident with Ruby had made her wary, even though she knew that she could not avoid office transport for too long. In fact, she kept wondering what she would have done in Ruby’s place. Perhaps the most important thing was to ensure that other team members had already boarded the vehicle. The police had informed the company that the vehicle was a stolen one and the regular cabbie was not involved in the incident at all. Nevertheless, all the women had to be very cautious and not blindly trust even the regular drivers. Tina had tried to broach the subject with the other girls, but Rita was the only one receptive to a discussion and she was too much in awe of Deepti and Shelly to offer any viewpoint. One day they discussed it over lunch, but both ridiculed Tina for her faint-heartedness, so she gave up eventually.
Tina’s musings were interrupted by the first rumblings of hunger. She realised she hadn’t had any breakfast, what with getting up late after a troubled sleep last night, so she picked up a sandwich and gave it a generous bite. She’d read somewhere that men were put off by anorexic girls who looked like they were ready to join the netherworld at the slightest bidding. The weekend edition of Style had helpfully gone on to add that carbohydrate energy added to overall charisma, so she kept these facts ready at hand for instant use in case of any unanticipated attack of conscience.
Not that she should have cared. A wholesome figure—her mother called it ‘healthy’—and pert features lent her an undeniable charm, but what would have passed off as just another pretty face gained character from the firm mouth and chin. There was always that hint of a dimpled smile which, coupled with easy repartee, made her enjoyable company. Growing up had been fun—with good grades, loads of friends and an abundance of self-confidence, she’d never had much to worry about. That was part of the reason for the charm that came easily, while the confidence stemmed from the fact that a caring but disciplinarian mother had anchored her firmly in family values. Theirs was a small but happy family; they went out for picnics in winter, saw all the latest movies together and when she grew up, read the same thrillers. She could not fault her parents for anything and with them away to the US for her father’s open-heart surgery, she sometimes felt terribly lonely. She didn’t want them worrying about her so she was always bright and cheerful when they spoke on phone, which was every other day.
Tina came back to the present with a smile. She was looking forward to the next week, because the pruned down workforce meant she would be interacting with Raghav more. For some unaccountable reason, the pleasure that thought evoked made her feel very guilty too…
It was a lovely day, not too cold, with the fragrance of the first spring blossoms in the air, and the early shoppers out in the streets for fresh fruits and vegetables. As she walked on, absent-mindedly having thrown away the half-eaten sandwich instead of its wrapper, she wondered how the day would be. Her job at the call centre was full—sometimes to a fault—of surprises. The last week had been crazy enough, with report deadlines, and business unit presentations and then the performance audit team had chosen to descend as well. The work floors had gone into a tizzy, and with her succinct analysis of reports and exceptional presentation skills, she found herself constantly being summoned from one meeting room to another. That, coupled with the inevitably odd office hours, made her wonder whether she was coming or going. The two goons in her building frightened her and even though she chided herself for being a scared goose, there was always a jolt of fear when they stared at her. She gave herself a mental shake and decided to focus on pleasant things. This week, thankfully, promised to be routine. Her shift at the call centre would start soon, and she would be there till eleven in the night. Unearthly timings for most people but she preferred it to facing an empty home where the evening shadows only made her feel lonely.
The week after the arrest of Vijay and Aakash had been terrible, especially because of Vijay’s suicide. Tony’s eyes still made her spine tingle whenever he looked at her. There was so much malevolence in them her skin felt like reptiles were crawling on it. Even thinking about the bad vibes he gave off induced palpitations and she just could not come to terms with his hostility—in fact, hatred.
She’d reached office now and as always, the hustle and bustle had a calming effect; the frenzied pace of work made her feel she could lose herself in the near chaos. There was an envelope on her table which had a city postmark and when she opened it, there was a red rose inside. She looked at it puzzled and when she tried to take it out, found that the flower had snapped off the stem, so it came out looking sad and droopy. She dropped it back inside the envelope, wrinkling her nose and threw it all into the dustbin. She booted the computer, and went straight to her mailbox to check if there were urgent messages from her colleagues or training schedules that had been re-adjusted by some maniac doubling as training supervisor.
Raghav, whom everyone in the call centre called ‘Reggie’, came and perched on the arm of her chair.
‘Looking as charming as ever,’ he drawled in that baritone that made feminine hearts skip a beat.
Wondering desperately how to respond to the compliment with élan instead of sounding like an excited teenager, she looked at the computer screen for inspiration. The online messenger service was warning her that she had mail. Tactfully, he moved away, and to counter her traitorous feeling of disappointment, she said in a more offhand manner than
she wanted, ‘Thanks. You look pretty cool yourself.’
There was no text in the body of the mail. The sender’s name was unfamiliar; curious, she scrolled down and a scream caught at the back of her throat. It was a picture—at least a ten-year-old photograph of hers—joyfully riding her new bicycle. She had lost the album when she shifted apartment a month ago. But that was not the reason for the sheer horror which gripped her. There were slashes across the face. The photo had been ripped so violently that it had been torn into strips. Her smiling photogenic face was completely distorted and it looked like she was snarling at the world outside.
Shivering uncontrollably, she closed the mailbox and picked up the glass of water on her table.
‘Why do you look like you’ve seen a dead body?’ Raghav murmured in her ear, making her flinch. ‘I’m so sorry. You’re white as a sheet. What’s wrong?’
‘N-nothing, I just feel queasy. Too many cups of coffee,’ she said unconvincingly.
He looked at her with a quizzical expression—she had just reached office, so when had she managed to gulp down all that coffee—but he said nothing and only proffered a biscuit. ‘There, that’ll absorb the caffeine. Eat up now. There’s a good girl.’
She thanked him and tried to end the conversation because her head was beginning to pound by now—when Shelly came up and gave him her usual seductive look.
‘Why Tina, you’re looking worse than a corpse! Reggie, sweetheart, give us a smile—and a biscuit too,’ she coaxed.
For once, Shelly’s flirting was a welcome diversion for Tina, as Raghav allowed himself to be led away to the cafeteria, but not before glancing back at her with a frown.
It was all she could do to get a grip on herself. The picture had shaken her in more ways than one. The disappearance of the album, which she had attributed to her general forgetfulness, aggravated by the travails of shifting, now took on a sinister air. Who had got hold of her photo and why had it been slashed so viciously?
The red light glowed on the screen—it was an international customer call—and her heart sank. She was sure it was the same difficult fellow from Pittsburgh who complained about customer service, business outsourcing policies that deprived Americans of jobs and the general lack of professionalism in Indians. She always adopted a firm but polite tone and never got into arguments, despite gritting her teeth on more than one occasion. But today, she would just not be able to cope with the grouch.
‘24x365,’ she said. ‘May I help you?’
There was a soft whistle and a voice sang in a sibilant whisper, ‘Tina…my Valentine rose…’
SEVEN
5 February
Raghav had always thought of himself as a friendly soul, but of late even he didn’t care to acknowledge that Tina occupied his thoughts ever so often. He was good-looking in a careless way. An athletic build, a repertoire of witty asides and a smile that was described as a heart-breaker, made for an irresistible package. He prided himself on his ability to remain uninvolved with any girl despite the gushing efforts of so many to get closer. His policy of ‘love them and leave them’ had stood him in good stead all these years. But Tina wasn’t like any other girl. She was amusing and attractive and friendly, but conversely, seemed determined to keep him at arm’s length, which only piqued his interest. He tried not to let her get under his skin, but to no avail.
Her open and genuine nature was part of the reason for Tina’s charm. She wasn’t only ready with the standard, ‘How’re you doing, pal?’ she actually meant it. Many a time she had swapped unearthly hours with Shelly, who didn’t deserve all that consideration. It endeared Tina to Raghav all the more—not that she seemed to notice it! That notwithstanding, he was wary of her attitude of seeing things only in black and white. The world was full of shades of grey, but not for her. Tina didn’t know as yet about his indirect involvement with the cyber theft case and under no circumstances could he afford to have his role highlighted.
Tina and Raghav enjoyed an excellent rapport and the treasure hunt they’d organised during the off-site was a rousing success. Remembering the last off-site, he smiled. The company, buoyed up by recent successes, had taken them all for an outstation conference that promised to be all play and no work. The place, Mukteshwar, nestling in the Kumaon hills, was an idyllic retreat. The music of anklets, in tandem with jangling bangles and tinkling bells on the horns of cattle headed home, combined to create a melody that overcame all memories of horns blaring on congested roads. The snow-clad peaks looked golden at dawn and silvery at night…the place was magical. ‘Dreamland’—the resort they stayed in—comprised white cottages with red-tiled roofs scattered over the hillside, with pebble paths connecting them. The cafeteria, a quaint thatched hut with roses clambering all over, was down the hill, so there were lamps hanging from trees that cast a cosy light to illuminate the way to and fro on misty nights. One jarring note had been Shelly creeping out for a romantic assignation and tripping over a root in front of Vijay’s cottage. She had hurt her wrist, got a bruise on her cheekbone, and cursed the off-site and the company loudly within the CEO’s hearing.
The first day hadn’t been fun. The HR sadists had made them work hard all day. They had had back-to-back meetings, everyone politely yawning behind their hands and dying to strangle their colleagues, who insisted on reading out every line of the presentation. By the time it ended, they were all like zombies. Only after being fortified in the rock garden later in the evening, had the zing come back into the group. Everyone had to participate in the entertainment programme. So Vijay whistled a tune, and Aakash recited some horribly depressing lines which made the others feel either suicidal or murderous. The saving grace was Rita’s song, nostalgic and romantic—Raghav wished though, that she wouldn’t look so soulfully at him when she sang—after which a couple of the guys sang duets. Tina, who had been sadly bypassed when God was distributing musical talent, had tried out her hand at mimicry. She put up a fantastic imitation of Tony talking to Raghav, and mimicked Raghav’s baritone as well, emphasising his lazy drawl.
‘Hi, I’m Reggie and I’d like to tell you about our product,’ she’d said and then switched to Tony’s nasal twang. ‘We’re a dynamic bunch of people here, sorry, we’re dynamite actually,’ making everyone laugh because Tony had a bike he called Dynamite, which crawled at a pace little more than that of a tricycle. Tony had flushed with anger and when it came to his turn, he’d said, ‘I’m Tina on the catwalk,’ and walked with an exaggerated wiggle of the hips which wasn’t a good imitation and made Tina look like an oversexed bimbo. No one had laughed all that uproariously, annoying him even.
Next day, work was strictly off-limits. They assembled after breakfast for the treasure hunt. Not wanting to appear too cerebral, Tina and Reggie had opted for movie-based clues. Neil had done remarkably well. He had a prodigious memory for lyrics and dialogues, and looked all set to win the competition. Except that when the hunt drew to a close and Tina smilingly announced that he was the winner, while Deepti was the runner-up, he’d said, ‘I get you as the prize, right?’ An awkward silence had fallen over everyone and Tina had gone red with anger. Shelly had glared at her as though it was all her fault, while the trio of Vijay, Tony and Aakash sneered at her openly. Raghav didn’t know how to handle it and wished he could come up with a comment that would defuse the tension. The situation was retrieved unwittingly by Rita who rushed up, excitedly brandishing a piece of paper, unaware that she had come last. Everyone burst out laughing and dispersed to get ready for dinner.
At the dinner too, Neil’s behaviour had been distinctly boorish. He’d refrained from his usual sarcastic comments, and had drunk steadily all evening. Whenever Raghav glanced at him, Neil would be staring at Tina with a fixed gaze. She seemed to feel its searing intensity too, because she started looking uncomfortable after a while, flashing her dimpled smile only occasionally. The party was in full swing. The food was excellent, the music lively and everyone was in a mood to enjoy themselves.
Then the dance started. A few enthusiasts made their way to the floor and roped in the others. Neil suddenly grabbed Tina by the waist and said, ‘Let’s do some close dancing.’ She was caught offguard, but her poise deserted her only for a moment. Raghav had to admit she handled the situation very coolly. Without fuss she disentangled herself and said that she’d be back from the powder room. Neil could hardly make a scene about it and she left the room quickly. Raghav and Tony had observed her departure. Raghav was certain she left to avoid a scene, but Tony’s ideas were quite the opposite. He told Raghav in a loud whisper that Tina’s annoyance was a sham. Actually her ploy was to lure Neil to her room. Neil even began following her out to her cottage, but unfortunately for them, the CEO called him to the head table. Tony hadn’t ended his wild narrative there. He called Tina all the names he could before falling on the grass in a drunken stupor.
Raghav sighed when his thoughts came back to Tony and his overt hostility. The real problem with Tony wasn’t Tina’s obvious popularity. His friends Vijay and Aakash had got caught in the cyber theft case just after the off-site, and he blamed Tina squarely for their ruin. Raghav was on the same page with him on the subject and squarely at odds with Tina. In fact, he had tried very hard to reason with Tina on the matter. So too had management. The last thing they’d wanted was a scandal. No money had actually got transferred. They could have simply given vague responses to the police which would have meant that no one got caught up in a criminal investigation and no further unpleasant details would be revealed. Afterwards, they’d planned to quietly dismiss the two executives and take sufficient precautions in future.