11:30 PMAbhishek Chopra fell on the blood stained floor.
"What have I done!!!???" He asked himself.
Lying on a pool of blood next to him were the lifeless bodies of his wife Sheranya and his good friend Jimmy Zothanpuia.
He was still clutching the large kitchen knife he had just used to stab his wife and Jimmy over and over again. The past five minutes felt like a bad dream to him. It was so surreal, but there he was, getting a taste of how real it was.
In a fit of rage he had taken the life of his wife and his friend Jimmy. He had just found out they were having an affair. Now as he sat on the floor dazed, he wondered whether it was really worth taking their lives for that.
He looked at the blood stained knife again. He contemplated for a few minutes and then finally took a deep breath and with full force plunged the knife deep into his stomach.
11:16 PM"What???"
It was Jimmy exclaiming in surprise.
He had just spent the past 45 minutes drinking with the Chopras. He had known Abhishek Chopra for more than a year now ever since his colleague and good friend Sheranya got married to him. He was there on their grand wedding day and he even teased Sheranya about why she was not dancing in a Bollywood movie style on her wedding.
The moment Sheranya introduced him to Abhishek, they became close friends. Since then, he would swap stories about his home town Aizawl - Mizoram, with Abhishek and Sheranya.
But that night, there was something strange about Abhishek. He did not seem to be in his usual cool self. He did not laugh to Jimmy’s jokes, and even if he did, the artificiality was obvious.
Jimmy looked at Sheranya…
Suddenly Abhishek stood up and shouted, "Bastard, I know what you and my wife are doing behind my back!" He pulled out a large knife from under the cushion.
10:05 PMding dong…
The bell to the Chopra apartment rang melodiously.
Sheranya ran to the door. It was Jimmy, who greeted her with a smile.
"Sher," Jimmy said and hugged her as she opened the door.
"Jim, thanks for coming," Sheranya hugged him back comfortably.
"He’s been drinking the whole evening. I guess he had a rough day in office today. But he was quiet normal when he reached home this evening…"
"I’ll handle him, don’t worry…" Jimmy said, and then quickly added, "Hey regarding those smses…"
"We’ll discuss about that later. Right now go to my hubby and do whatever you guys do."
8:21 PMring ring…
"Hey Sher. Whassup?"
"Jim. Hi. You’re at home?"
"Yeah, I’ve just reached."
"Abhishek has been drinking for quite a while now. He’s even bought a new bottle of rum and he insists that you come over and drink with him!"
"Hahaha! Well as a matter of fact, I was planning to drink tonight anyway. Might as well do with him."
"Really? You don’t mind? Thanx! Can you reach here by 10’ish?"
"Sure thing. Anyway I have a good reason to see you, if you know what I mean…"
Sheranya giggled and then disconnected the call.
6:17 PMAs Abhishek read the messages in Sheranya’s phone while she was in the shower, his whole world turned upside down. His fingers trembled and everything around him became hazy. His heart beat accelerated and darkness seemed to swallow him up.
He read the smses once again, for the hundredth time.
"Darling, are you sure it’s safe for me to come over tonight? I think he’s starting to suspect something is up. What we do is amazing but I’m afraid he’ll hear the moans and screams eventually! Lolz."
"My love, I don’t know how long we can carry on like this behind his back. I know we can never tell him about our relationship, but I miss you so much… your gentle touch… your kiss… and the way we hold each other and fall off to sleep, even if it is only for a short while because I have to leave your apartment before he wakes up…"
"I know you told me not to sms you today, but I just can’t help it. I love you so much, and knowing you can read my messages in any other way delivers a brief warmth to my heart. I think I’ll slip in at your place tonight after he sleeps… Muaah."
He couldn’t breath.
He looked at the sender’s name once again, and still couldn’t believe it. The messages were from Jimmy.
5:02 PMAbhishek reached home and took a shower immediately. The evening Mumbai rush hour was tiring and frustrating as usual.
After a good 20 minutes long shower, he could feel the energy slowly flowing back to his body again. He moved to the living room and switched on the TV. Seinfeld. "Ahhh", Abhishek sighed in delight.
Just when Jerry Seinfeld was about to crack one of his golden witty remarks, Sharenya entered the house.
"Hi honey!"
"Hi sweetheart. How was your day?"
"Argh. Usual stuff. Had a fight with the auto driver again because of a faulty meter. I wish I have a car too! I’m going to take a quick shower and then I’ll join you for dinner."
"Ok."
Sharenya threw her hand bag next to Abhishek and ran into the bathroom immediately. Her mobile phone rolled out and it caught Abhishek’s eyes. With no particular reason, Abhishek mindlessly took the phone and began browsing through it. Games… his "snake" record was still there. Music… she was still listening to "Rise up" by Yves LaRock.
And then he went to her sms inbox and he froze.
3:32 PMbeep beep…
Sheranya looked at her phone. It was an sms from Jimmy.
"Darling, I’m so sorry about last night. I couldn’t come over to your place because of the obvious reasons. Tonight I promise I will be there once he falls off to sleep. I long to slip in underneath the blanket besides you again and celebrate the love we have all night long. Love you. Muaaaah."
She blushed a bit. She got up from her office cubicle and looked at where Jimmy was sitting. She made eye contact with him and smiled. She pointed at her mobile and Jimmy smiled back.
8:00 AMThe day didn’t start off well for Jimmy at all. First of all, the water supply to his apartment got over just when he was in the middle of a shower. And then his maid demanded an increment on her salary for cleaning the dishes everyday.
"Bloody hell, you came to work only four times the whole of last month!" Jimmy thought. But then, like any bachelor living in a bachelor pad in busy Mumbai, he shrugged it off and agreed to her demands.
He screamed at his kid brother, "Mapui, wake the hell up! You’re getting late for school! I’ve left 50 bucks for you on top of the fridge. Try not to spend it all." Then he hurriedly dressed up so that he could beat the early morning Mumbai rush hour.
On his way to work, he dropped his phone. "Fuck," he muttered.
When he finally reached office, he went directly to Sheranya Chopra.
"Morning Jim."
"Morning Sher. Uh…. Sweetie, can you do me a favor?"
"Sure."
"Well, my little bro has been staying with me for the past two weeks or so, and I don’t want him to know that my girlfriend stays over for the night… kinda like the whole big brother setting a good example thingie… And then this morning, I dropped my freaking phone on the way to office. The display is completely screwed. I can see the sender’s name but the rest of the messages are completely distorted. Can I forward the smses I receive from my girlfriend to your phone so that I can read them there?"
"Of course!" Sher replied.
