SHOULD HAVE SEEN THAT COMING
“WHAT have you done, Lisa?” Joe spoke out loud as he fell into the chair. “What have you done?” He sat there with his eyes closed, head resting on his fist. He was mad, not at Lisa but at himself. He should not have given her the chance to leave. He should have seen that coming. He should have known. Lisa still continues to surprise him every day.
Joe looked up and saw the blue sky through the glass door that led to the balcony. It was virtually cloudless. He could see the yellow sun staring to take over the blue sky with its majestic rays. The sky was calm and pleasant unlike his mind which was now turbulent as a sea upon a storm.
He couldn’t find peace with the fact that she was going to take on a drug cartel all alone. He could understand why she made such a choice but just like Lisa couldn’t see him get harmed, he also couldn’t sit idle while she puts her life on the line. He was not going to sit on the side-lines, even if that is what she wants. As much as he would love to let it be the way she wants it to be, the thought of something bad happening to her curbs him from allowing that. He will not give her what she wants this once. Just this once.
He got off the chair banging the table hard and started walking to and fro trying to answer the questions that was lurking in his mind. What her next move would be, where she would go, what her end game would be. He had no intension of dissuading her from her endeavours. He just wanted to be part of it.
His dream had finally come true, though not the way wanted it to be, a life with Lisa. But it would be taken away from him if she doesn’t succeed. So he had to ensure her efforts yielded fruits. All those moments he spent with her, pleasant and sad flashed through mind like a movie trailer. The first time they talked in front of the library, Recurring dreams about her, her mail, that moment she said she also felt for him what he felt for her. All those opportunities he had to confess his love to her, which he wasted. Had he been there to open the door when those opportunities knocked at his door, this could have been an entirely different story. That is when he realized opportunities don’t always knock at your door, but when they do, be there to open the door.
Now he has to find a way to locate Lisa. What was her plan? Where did she go? All of a sudden it popped into his mind that he could just call her. May be she would tell him, at least he might be able to get some clues off the conversation. It’s possible that she may not talk long enough for him to trick her into giving up her location. Nevertheless he could know if she is safe.
Joe looked for a landline. He doubted if there would be a landline. Who uses a landline these days? Everyone has a mobile. Fortunately, he found one without ransacking the whole place. A black cordless phone. He was relieved to hear the dialler tone. It was working. He took a sigh and dialled his own phone number. But he was disappointed. A recorded female voice said ‘The number you have dialled is out of coverage area’.
“Shit”. He couldn’t help his disappointment taking verbal form. He dialled the number again and again. The same line was repeated over and over. After trying for almost fifteen minutes, Joe abandoned the endeavour. He almost smashed the receiver after the last attempt. Just as he raised his hand to throw it on the floor, it occurred to him that it wasn’t his to break. He had never felt so helpless, so disappointed.
He had almost lost hope, when it suddenly came to his mind that there is one place that is out of coverage area that no one knew better than Lisa. A place where she had full access. Where all of this mess started. The Jolly villa.
Joe couldn’t believe himself. “Jesus”, he yelled. Why didn’t he think of this earlier? He lost so much time. It was so obvious. He should have known and he would have if his mind wasn’t so clouded. Lisa had gone to Jolly villa. Joe had no doubt of that now. There was no time to waste he had to hurry.
That is when another problem presented itself. And that was a very big one, He didn’t have a vehicle. Taking a taxi wasn’t exactly a bright idea at the moment, given the people Joe and Lisa were dealing with. And bus wasn’t even an option. It has been so long since he took a bus that he had forgotten what was it like. He was left with no option but to find a car.
Thinking about various option, Joe stumbled upon the fact that the solution was somewhere ten floors beneath him. Shruthi’s fiancée’s car! He didn’t know the guy’s name. Now he felt like he should have asked, now that he might be of immense help. Shruthi’s fiancée was away on a business trip but Joe didn’t know where. Unless he made the trip on his car, it could be there.
Shrouded in dust, probably requiring a wash. Joe was a person who was adamant on the cleanliness of his vehicles.
Joe left no scrap of paper unturned as he searched for the keys. Yet it took him a good half an hour to get his hands on the keys. The trip down to the underground parking lot alone in the lift seemed to take forever. It took him another fifteen minutes to locate the car.
He was quick to hit the road. He went as fast as the roads would let him, driving wildly than ever before. Just as he was racing through the highway a black SUV whizzed past him. In a quick move it changed the lane and started riding in front of him. Seconds later another vehicle, a sedan this time, appeared in his rear view mirror. It rode side by side him. All of a sudden Joe found himself boxed inside, surrounded by vehicles on three sides and barricade on one side. He was stuck. The vehicles closed in on him. His car banged with the sedan many times. Metal bashing metal. All his efforts to break loose were futile. That is when he saw the left indicators of all three vehicles that surrounded him were blinking. He realized he was not being assaulted rather he was being kidnapped.