The Stranger - Part 2

All was well in my mind. It was a beautiful day. Warm sun, cool breeze. You can almost feel winter setting in. I opened my eyes to look at the window opposite my bed. I stared at the pigeons perched on a iron railing on my neighbour's terrace. The sky was cloudy and I felt good.

After a few minutes of solitude, I turn to pick up my phone from the bedside table. I was surprised to see that my phone screen was blinking and said 22 unread messages. I was wondering who would send me so many messages? Did mom message? Was there an emergency?

No they were messages from my new friend, Devika. I was surprised.

Hi. how are you?

I am glad we are friends now. It feels so nice talking to you.

Do you think I should go to office today? I dont feel so well.

Would you like to come down for coffee?

Why are you not replying? Are you sleeping still?

Dont you have to go to work? Get up

So on and so forth. First I thought it was sweet. But then by the time I got to the 20th message I was annoyed. I mean who is this girl? I hardly know her. Why on earth is she texting me so much?

So I picked up the phone and called her.

"Hello?"

"Hey hi, Tanya here", I said sleepily. "I just saw your sms's. Is everything alright?"

"Yes. Just missed you. So I texted", she said. "Would you like to come down for a cup of coffee or maybe some breakfast?"

"No. I am actually getting ready for work. I am late. Slept in past my time" I said making an excuse.

"Maybe you can come here after work?"

"Lets see. I will let you know"

"Ok. Have a nice day"

"Yeh, you too", I said before hanging up.

I had a weird feeling in my heart as I sat there on my bed with my hair all ruffled thinking what it could mean. Why am I feeling weird about the whole thing? She seems like a nice girl. And my first acquaintance in the apartment. So I decided to stop feeling weird about it.

Later that day, when I was coming back from work I decided to drop by and say hello to Devika. She was surprised to see me. We had some coffee and talked. This was a beginning of a friendship and soon my weird feeling disappeared.

We started spending time daily. We also started talking a lot about our lives. She told me that after her separation from her husband she fell in love with her classmate from college. She also told me that he was married but has filed for divorce. I told her about all my attempts at love and how I am single now. I also told her about my best friend Ritu and my mom.

She was just a friend to me. But for her I was becoming something more. She would ask my opinion on every small thing. I started getting a feeling of unease. I felt like I was her lover. A feeling I never got from any of my close friends.

"Tanya, are you at home?" She said over the phone one day.

"Yes. Why?"

"Well, are you coming down for lunch?"

"In a while" I said, still lazing around in be. It was a beautiful cold Sunday afternoon, with just a hint of a drizzle.

"Ok. Tell me, should I take a head bath or a body bath?". As soon she asked me that I got very irritated.

"Please Devika. You want me to decide about something like that for you?" I must have sounded irritated on the phone cause she quickly said her goodbyes and hung up.

Later when I had gone down to her place, I apologized for my behavior over the phone. She didn't mind, and we went on to have a lovely lunch.

A few days later Ritu, my best friend, called to tell me that she would be in town. So I called up Devika to tell her this.

"I am so happy. After such a long time" I said elated.

"Will you introduce me to her?" She asked. If only I had noticed the change in her tone.

"Sure I will. Why wont I?"

A few days later my best friend Ritu landed. I was so excited. We had three days to ourselves and we already made plans having loads of fun. Ritu's flight had arrived late that night. She was so exhausted that we decided to sleep. The next day was a Friday and I took the day off to be with Ritu.

At breakfast the next day I mentioned Devika to Ritu.

"Oh! A new friend huh?" Ritu asked, between mouthfuls of scrambled egg.

"Yeh. Nice girl. I am sure you will like her" I said, applying butter to my toast.

"Well why dont we meet her after breakfast?"

"Yeh ok. I will let her know we are coming", I said taking my phone out to text her.

"Ask her if she would like to go partying with us tonight. The more the merrier", Ritu said, finishing off the last of her scrambled eggs.

We went to Devika's place in the afternoon for lunch. She was making a special lunch for Ritu. I thought it was very sweet of her to do that.

"Hi Devika. I am Ritu", Ritu said, extending her hand.

"Its so nice to meet you finally", Devika said taking Ritu's hand.

"What did you make? It smells yum", I said heading toward the kitchen.

"I made some lovely chicken curry and fried rice. Are you guys hungry? Would you like to have something to drink?"

"What do you have?" I asked.

"There is some Coke in the fridge if you want some", she said heading toward the fridge.

"We have it with the food", said Ritu pulling a chair to sit.

"Fine. Shall I serve the food then?", Devika asked.

"Ok", I said.

As Devika got busy in the kitchen Ritu turned towards me and said, "She seems sweet. I kinda like her".

Little did Ritu and I know what was going to happen next.

Keep reading for more.

The Stranger - Part 1

Have you ever wondered as you walk through life, thinking who would even look at me, or who would even care, that there is some one who is always watching you? No, I am not talking about God. Do you some times feel a chill down your spine, when you are perhaps walking towards your apartment? Has your heart skipped a beat because you feel that you just saw someone by your window? Eerie isn't it?

This is a story of a very normal person. A person who would have perhaps not even been noticed for she looked too 'normal'. As I recite this story please bare in mind, this story has no resemblance to anyone living or dead, and is purely fictitious.

It was poruing one Friday evening, as I rushed back from a long day at work. My body was giving up on me. Yet I stood there patiently at the bottom of the stairs, waiting for the lift to descend.

People who stay in my apartment block have this overwhelming feeling of If I didn't go in the lift why should I close it when I hear the bell for it? Why should I care if somebody is stuck in it? So I waited and waited for somebody to close the lift door on the third floor so that I could go home.

A girl joined me. I guess she was new to the place and around my age. So I looked at her and smiled. I said that there must be something wrong with the lift. She looked at me and extended her hand to introduce herself.

"Hi. I am Devika. I live on the 1st floor"

"Hi, my name is Tanya. I live on the 3rd", I said shaking her hand.

"I wish someone could close the lift door. I cant climb up two floors now".

Our apartment had its ground floor where the first floor should be and 1st floor where the 2nd floor should be, and so on and so forth. If you look at it that way, my apartment is on the fourth floor. Finally the lift came down after almost a few minutes of waiting, which felt like an eternity. I climbed into the lift and so did Devika.

She got off at the first floor. "Bye. Nice meeting you", she said with a smile. "Yeh, same here", I said, returning the smile. By the time I got to my apartment I forgot all about Devika and returned to feeling sorry for my aching body.

The next day again after work I bumped into Devika again.

"Hey. Hi", she said.

"Hi"

"We bumped into each other again. This is nice. Maybe we should be friends. How about coffee? Do you want to have a cup of hot coffee at my place?" she asked expectantly.

I was too tired anyway, so I accepted her offer and went up to her place for a cup of coffee. As soon as I stepped into her house I noticed her talking to a few photographs on the wall.

"Hi my love. How are you doing today. Mama's back home"

"Why are you talking to photographs?" I asked, rather solemnly.

"Well there is nobody else to talk to so I am talking to the pictures of my kids"

"You are married? You look so young to have two children", I said.

"Well, long story. I will tell you when I have the time. But let me make you some coffee", she said and hurried into the kitchen.

I sat down on one of the plastic chairs, which was a part of her plastic dinning table set. Her house was sparse, a few plastic chairs, an alter there, few curtains and a neatly kept kitchen.

"So what do you do?" she asked me from the kitchen.

"I work for an IT company. I am a Business Analyst", I said.

"Oh wow. I work in a school. I teach English to primary classes"

"Oh that's nice. I always wanted to be a teacher"

"Well it doesn't pay well but I manage" she said placing the cups of coffee on the plastic table.

"So why do you stay alone?" I asked, wondering whether I asked the right question or not. She stared at me for a moment, sat down on a chair opposite mine and said, "well...I am separated". Wow...I thought in my mind. How should I respond to this?

"May I ask what happened?" I asked hesitantly.

"Oh long story. My husband and I didn't get along, he abused me. So I got out about couple of months back. I am only worried about my kids. I wish I could get them from him" she said.

I noticed that there wasn't much emotion in her voice or on her face. Maybe she is still in shock. My mind was working over time. She went on to explain how her husband abused her and how she was tortured by her in laws. I was shocked to hear the story myself. Immediately I began to sympathise with her.

"Don't worry. You will be alright. How old are you?"

"I am 31"

"Oh..well...you are still young. And who knows you may find someone suitable this time"

"Really? You think so?" she asked, almost as if the words coming out of my mouth are magical.

"I'm sure you will get your kids back as well" I said, not knowing what else to say. "Oh, I think I finally found a real friend in this new place" she beamed.

We exchanged phone numbers and then I left. I did not know how a stranger could affect me or my life. But what happened next was something even I would never have dreamed off.
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