“Why do you think God sent you to me?” I asked childishly.
“Precisely, to help you overcome this situation you find yourself in. I don’t want to bother you more on your losses but let’s concentrate on the future. We have to get down the next stop.”
Saying, both of us, stood to walk to the door. Should I jump out of the bus and commit suicide? Bhagwandas read my mind and held me tight. Then we alighted.
We were standing in front of rows of building in K.K.Nagar. “Here is where you will stay with us. I hope you share a good rapport with Chennai at least from now on.”
“With us, you said, Bhag...er...sir. What is that?”I blurted.
“You heard it right. You are going to meet another person as well, my girlfriend.”
I gulped.
“By the way, you can call me Bhagwandas”. He winked as he strode away into the apartment gate. I trailed him hurriedly.
As we reached the top floor of the multi storeyed apartment, it seemed she had been waiting for my arrival. He led me into the house, which was well decorated and well maintained.
She served me coffee and the conversation amongst us began. Bhagwandas spoke first and all that I gathered was,
He was a B.E. Computer science graduate working in Infosys with a handsome pay package. He had done his schooling in Delhi and studied in Anna University Chennai. He was, like me, an orphan and was also one of the spectators at the Wankhede Stadium where India lifted the world cup four years ago.
Next was her chance. She called herself Aarti, did her schooling in Lucknow and was a classmate of Bhagwandas. Her parents, who were Tamilians settled in Lucknow, would come to visit them once in six months. She was the only child to her parents. She was working in Wipro with again a handsome package.
Well settled, both of them. And they were graduates. I was not.
Perhaps, marriage was on cards, I thought.
I told them about myself in short and finally asked him the things for which I came here.
“Where are my clothes — that I had left in Mumbai — and you said that you would be showing me?” He laughed off and asked me to accept them as friends first and slowly as time passed he promised to reveal everything to me.
Although, I was sceptical at first, I was in a way happy to have friends outside of my workplace. I accepted their invite to become friends. Time passed. I gained his confidence. He gained mine. But my clothes — he never gave me. Whenever I asked for it, he said it is too dangerous to show it to me. Perhaps he knew it would bring back in me the memories of Karthik. So congratulations pretty woman, you got my life history out of me. But alas! Everything comes with a price, dear lady. And the price you pay for it is not with your blood, but with your life.