I hid myself behind a SUV as I saw her reaching to the parking lot. She was wearing red top, navy blue jeans. Streaks of Her hair were floating in the air as she walked, making her more beautiful than ever. With black goggles on she was gleaming in that sunny day. She was undoubtedly the most gorgeous girl I had ever known. I was again being attracted towards her. For a moment I forgot her deeds and wanted to have her in my life again. A sound of a car’s horn brought me back to present and the task in hand.
She was coming from my left side towards her car which was parked in a lane on my right. I came out from behind the SUV and stood in front of it. My heart started pounding as she came nearer, I could hardly controlled my breath. She walked past me but did not notice presence.
‘How could she forget me?’ I would not let her go like this; I would remind her everything and teach her a lesson that she would not dare do it again to anyone what she did to me.
I shouted ‘Natasha’ as she crossed. No response; she did not react and kept walking like as I was calling someone else. For a moment I too got suspicious if she was the same girl or I had mistaken someone else for Natasha.
Her feet stopped a few steps later and she looked back. I read her expression which clearly showed that she was shocked to see me. For a while she could not understand what to do, her face was pale. I waved her with a forced smile; she tried hard to compose herself.
‘How are you?’ I asked as she stood in front of me. A familiar smell of her perfume went into my nostrils.
‘I..I am fine. H. How are you?’ She stumbled.
‘Still alive’
She looked down.
‘You don’t look happy to see me?’ I asked.
‘Of course I am happy. Its…It’s just that I am surprised to see you here in Paris.’
‘That too, after three years.' I said 'And I bet you had never imagined, not even in your dreams that you would have to face me again in this life time.’
‘I don’t know why you are talking to me like this?’
‘Oh, so you don’t know why I am talking like this. You seemed to have very poor memory.‘ my voice getting louder.
‘I don’t know what you are talking about.’ she did a failed attempt to give an impression of not knowing anything.
‘You surely are suffering from a poor memory. No problem. Let me help you remember that because of you, I spent one year in jail, because of you I was tortured like hell to get any information about you and Mike, because of you my life changed forever, because of you I still get nightmares about my worst ever time spent in jail, because of you I am not able to lead a normal life like others, because of you I was tagged as terrorist in my own country.’
(In case you missed first part of the story, click here)
I was shouting at top of my voice. Natasha looked around to see if anyone heard of my words, the parking lot was empty.
I continued, ‘I had not complained if this was done by someone else, but It was you, whom I loved more than anyone else and with whom I wanted to spend my life.’
Her expressions changed, she looked sad. Her eyes were wet.
‘I can understand your fury. God will never forgive me for what I did with you.’ She started crying as I expected. I was well prepared this time not to fall in her trap by any of her tactics.
‘I am really sorry. I was helpless. Do you think I did really want to do that?’
‘Yes, you very well knew what you are doing and where all that would lead to’ I stressed more on last words to show my anger. I had been rehearsing this for last two years.
‘If I were at your place, I would have thought the same. You don’t know that till date I have not forgiven myself. I have been cursing myself from the day I returned from Delhi, leaving you at the airport.’ She spoke in low voice, her eyes still down.
‘Then why had you not contacted me all these years?’
‘I was too afraid to return to Delhi or make any kind of contact to you. That would have put you in more trouble. I am really happy that you are out of jail now’
‘You forgot that God is still there for those innocents who falling prey to people like you. Further investigations revealed that the timings of all calls made from my apartment clashed with my office timings. And my office staff witnessed of my presence for all those hours in question. Police could not collect any further evidence against me. So after one year of trial, court acquitted me due to lack of evidences’
I paused for a moment to see her reaction but she was still staring at the ground.
I continued ‘Life after my release was even worse. I was fired from my job as they did not want a bad name to their company and could not even find a new job in the city. No friend responded to my calls. I was forced to sell my apartment by the same neighbors who once never fall short of praising me. So I decided to leave the city which was no more a home for me. When I was packing my stuff, I found that novel that you once gave me and I found a paper, an address of Paris was written on that. First thought came that that address would be as fake as you. It took me more than a year to arrive on this decision of finding you. So I flew to Paris. When I reached to this address, the main gate was locked. I kept on visiting the place every day. After two months, I saw a man opening that door and going in. From that day I followed that man and after one week of effort, he led me to you when he met you in a park.’
‘God is really great. You may not believe but I am really happy for you’ she exclaimed.
‘So am I to see you.’ As per plan, I changed my tone to sound soft now. ‘My mind always said that you were a betrayer but somewhere in my heart I knew that you wouldn’t really wanted to do this’
‘Yes, you are right. I was helpless that time.’ as expected she started making story now. ‘They had kidnapped my younger brother and threatened me that they would kill him if I went against them. This is how they operate. Even today they keep a watch on me. I still fear that they can go to any extent if I spoke anything about them’ she was speaking in low voice while shedding tears.
I knew this kind of filmy story would definitely come out whenever I would meet her. But as per my plan I had to act like I believed in her story.
‘So where is your brother now?’
‘They released him the same day when I returned from India’
‘Oh, I see. I am glad that my trust has not been broken and that I had not loved a wrong person.’ After hearing this from me she looked a bit comfortable.
I carried on ‘Look whatever happened had happened. We can’t do anything about it. But can we start a new life from here?’
She was shocked to hear it. She said ‘That means you have forgiven me?’
‘Yes, are you ready to spend rest of your life with me?’
She thought for a moment and said ‘Yes’ showing a sign of joy in her eyes but I knew they were not true. She could not afford to go against me. If informed, French police could arrest her in a matter of time and deported to India where police was still looking to book the culprits of the bomb blast in Delhi. Though I also wanted to get her punished but I had planned it differently.
She said ‘But there is a problem. As I told you that they are keeping eye on me. We might land up in trouble if they find out about us. So we would have to leave this country. I myself will contact you when time is right.’
‘And your brother?’ I asked, as I knew that she had spoken a white lie about her brother being kidnapped just to get words of sympathy from me and to show her wrongdoing as her helplessness. I doubted if she did even have any brother.
‘Oh Yeah, he will also come with us’ she lied again.
‘Good. So let me know soon then’
She took my phone number and left with the promise that she would call me.
Two days later she called me up. She told that next day we would take a flight to US. It was decided that we both would book our tickets separately to avoid any suspicion. Asking about her brother she said that she had already sent him to US and he would meet us once we land there. With that I was fully convinced that she was lying all these while about her brother.
As I disconnected, I started doing my preparations. I wanted to give her back in the same way as she did to me. I called the crook that met me one night at a street few weeks back and pass me a number in case I wanted any drugs. Later in the evening I went to meet him. I gave him some instructions and a briefcase full of money.
While returning to hotel I felt guilty of what I was doing. Three years back I would not have dared to enter these dark streets full of criminals. But the one year spent in the jail had made me a person who would not fear of anyone and could go to any extent to take my revenge.
As planned, next day I checked out from the hotel and reached airport. I did not check-in and waited at the departure hall. After some time sirens of police cars buzzed in the air. I saw through the glasses, a dozen of police cars arrived at the entrance of the airport. They started frisking passengers entering into the airport.
After ten minutes I saw Natasha getting off from a taxi. As she walked towards the gate, she was asked to open her bag. She was immediately taken into custody as two packets having hundred grams of drugs in each and a pistol was found in her baggage. Everything was happening as per plan. The crook did his job of planting the drugs and pistol in Natasha’s bag and informing police about it.
Her hands were cuffed same as were mine three years back. She was frozen; she looked around and saw me watching this whole drama through the glass as police was taking her to the van. Our eyes met and a winning smile played on my lips and probably she knew now what had actually happened to her. I waved my hand in a goodbye gesture as police car moved. Her eyes kept staring me until the police vans got disappeared.
I took a deep breath, I had taken my revenge. I took out my tickets from the bag and joined the queue for check-in for a flight to New Delhi.
I could not have settled in Delhi so I came to my native town. Three months later, I received a letter. There was no sender name or address on the envelope. I read the letter:
“Congratulations on your win. She deserved it.
From the day she returned from Delhi, she always talked about you. She had this guilt feeling of being part of the whole plot which shattered your life into pieces. Throughout her life she had never visited any church. But that day onwards, she was a daily visitor to church. She always prayed for you. Many times she thought of contacting you but stakes were too high that she could not gather enough courage to go against the rule of the game.
The day she met you, the whole night we talked about you only. She told me that you had forgiven her. She also said that you both decided to live together. I can’t tell you how much happy she was. I thanked God for sending a god like man for my sister. But I forgot that there is only one God and no human being can have such a big heart.
Today the French court has delivered its verdict. She has been given life imprisonment. I met her in the jail. We could challenge the verdict in higher court but she refused. She was happy for the punishment she got for the crime she commiteed while performing her duties as a sister. I had seen a satisfaction on her face; probably because she can now look straight into her own eyes whenever she will face the mirror.
Would you be able to do it?”
The question is still unanswered.
***************
---Kawal
