Chapter 21 – Wait.. Think and Serve!

I should hurry… This traffic always kills the schedule, why can’t I fly! I should have accepted the jet dad offered on my last birthday, but Shekhar’s ego… Arrrgh…
“Arre jaldi chalo na bhaiya! Isse tez to main chal ke hi pahunch jaati!” Tara screamed over the traffic to the driver.

Ah! Colaba… We used to hang out so much here.. Shekhar always said, “When I will write my bestseller, I will buy a whole stall for you, whichever you say!” and how I would blush and punch him playfully saying, ‘When your book will become a bestseller, you won’t be hanging out with me here. You’ll be giving me the credit Mr. Dutta! And then we both would burst into laughter…’

Memories… A teardrop left her eye and she was reminded of a quote by Alfred Tennyson…

Tears, idle tears, I know not what they mean,

Tears from the depths of some divine despair

Rise in the heart, and gather to the eyes,

In looking on the happy autumn fields,

And thinking of the days that are no more.

She sat and she waited.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Aryan was engrossed in his phone, searching for something vital. He had the number he was looking for but should he call?

But what would I say?

He thought and thought…

And then his lips formed a vicious curve, he knew what he had to do.

“I must be crazy to have thought of calling him”, he mumbled as he headed to the destination.

The bloodhound was ready to pounce at the prey.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

As Mr. Gupta entered his house, the driver who had gone with Tara came by to drop the keys.

“Did you drop Tara home?” he asked
“No sir, madam took off on her own before we reached the police station.”
“Do you know where she went?” Asked Rameshwar, shocked by the news, ‘Not my daughter too‘, as the thought came into his mind.
“No sir.”
“You may go.”

Mr. Gupta dialed Tara’s number hurriedly.

“Where are you? Are you safe? Why did you get off the car? What did the general say?” he asked all the questions in a single breathe.
“I am… safe dad, don’t worry. I’m not at home though, I’ll call you later.”
“Okay, okay, but what did the police say?”
“I was a little late… The general left before I reached the police station dad. Now if you don’t mind, I really can’t talk right now. I’ll call you when I reach home,” And the line went silent.

Tara never talks to me like that, thought Mr. Gupta. And that general, how dare he leave! I’ve done so much for him and he couldn’t wait a few minutes for my daughter. I’ll tell him what it means not to obey me.

He dialed General’s number.

“Mr. Gupta, where is your daughter? I’ve been waiting for her since forever. Is she not coming?” He asked a flurry of questions, which obviously, stunned Gupta.
“What? Tara didn’t come?” Gupta’s voice stuttered.
“It’s been an hour and half above the scheduled time, sir. I apologize, but I have to be somewhere urgently. Please tell your daughter that we’ll reschedule for tomorrow” said the General.

“Yes, sure general. I’ll do that. Thanks for your time. There must be some emergency that Tara couldn’t make it” Mr Gupta managed to say.

“It’s perfectly fine sir. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

Gupta was amazed at the facts lying before him. Tara never went to the police station. But then, where did she go? More importantly, why did she lie?

She did sound strangely uncomfortable on the phone. Is she in trouble? Or is she the trouble?

Your patience has been rewarded. Here’s the next post.

If you want to catch up on all the Chapters of ‘Circle of Deceit’ in Level 1 (a total of 10 Chapters), here is a recap:

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10

Chapters in Level 2 (A total of 10) –

Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20