He felt embarrassed at the close scrutiny, like a caged animal in the zoo, stared at by everyone. Deep couldn’t believe his fate and was stunned by the news of Tamanna’s death. He could remember the way Tamanna had cursed him the previous night. He quietly went and sat in the police jeep as instructed. He wished he could reach the police station as soon as possible so that he would save himself from the constant stares. Never in his worst nightmare had he imagined that one day he would sit in a police jeep and be taken away as a prime suspect behind someone’s death. He wished he could have handled the situation last night in a better fashion. Sitting in the jeep, he kept thinking how his one harsh decision had taken away someone’s life. Every minute seemed like an hour in the jeep, making him feel like a criminal. He wondered what really killed Tamanna. The accident? The betrayal? Or him? Or was it Tamanna herself? All he wanted was to make Tamanna realize that he was committed to someone else. He wanted to do everything for his love, but never wanted Tamanna to meet with such an awful end.
The jeep halted outside the police station and the cops dragged him inside. As Deep sat on the chair, the officer shot his first question.
‘Mr Deep, did you have an affair with her? How did she reach Nerul? Was it a planned murder after sexual molestation which was made to look like an accident?’
‘Please officer, I didn’t do anything. I am innocent. I didn’t even know that Tamanna met with an accident. I came to know about it only once I reached office today. Please trust me officer. I’ll tell you everything that happened,’ Deep stammered.
‘You better speak the truth and don’t try to hide anything from us. And anyway, we will find the truth behind this accident sooner or later. So better speak the truth, save our time, and save yourself from getting behind the bars if you are innocent. Also, let me tell you before you start your story that we might get your narcoanalysis done, and if your statement differs, you’ll be in big trouble,’ the officer warned Deep and told one of his juniors to record his statement.
Deep was shivering badly. He picked up the glass of water kept on the table. He wiped his sweat before speaking. He narrated the entire incident which had taken place the day before.
‘Trust me sir, I never loved her and never knew she had such strong feelings for me. I just felt that she was attracted to me and nothing else. Then that night she told me that she was madly in love with me. I didn’t even touch her but she tried forcing herself on me, forcing me to leave the place even before the accident had taken place. I walked for a few miles and spotted a cab coming in my direction. I hailed for it to stop and asked the driver take me back home. Tamanna still kept calling me repeatedly which irritated me further and in this state of anger, I threw my mobile in the creek when the cab was crossing Mulund Bridge. Next morning, I realized that I didn’t have my cell phone with me and with that I had lost all my contacts too. Thus, I was one of the last people to know about Tamanna’s death. I am not hiding anything. I swear, sir. I am nowhere involved in it. Moreover, she was drunk really badly and I think that had something to do with her death. She had even taken drugs. Before you ask me, I want to tell you that even I drank in moderation, but I did not go overboard like her. You can take my tests if you want. Please sir, believe me.’
‘Since when have you been working in Tamanna’s team?’ the officer asked.
‘Since the day I joined the company, sir. She never interacted much with anyone but always hinted that she liked me. Every time something weird happened between us, I would tell my best friend about it. The only mistake I did was the I hid the fact that I was in a relationship and committed to someone else. But I never had any bad intentions towards her.’
All through his question-answer session, Deep failed to notice the girl sitting on a chair behind him. She was listening to their conversation carefully.
‘So for how long have you been working in Galaxy House and why do you sign on your documents with an ‘A’ in the beginning? ’ questioned the officer turning the pages of the file containing Deep’s official documents. ‘Are you Aleesha?’ the policeman asked the woman sitting behind Deep. He asked the girl to come in front and sit next to Deep. Deep however didn’t turn his head since he wanted to get out of the mess as quickly as possible.
‘It’s been around eight months now. And yes, the ‘A’ in my signature is my first name. My friends and close ones, including my family members, call me by that name. My dad, who is no more in this world, kept my name. However, for official purposes, I prefer to use my middle name, Deep.’
Aleesha was texting someone on her phone while she made her way to the table when she heard the officer say, ‘So what’s your first name? And did Tamanna know about it?’
‘No sir. Tamanna did not know about it. I didn’t feel the need to tell her as we were friends and nothing more,’ he replied turning his head towards the girl who was about to take a seat. His heart stopped beating as he came face to face with Aleesha. The blood in his veins froze. How desperately he wanted to get out from there.
Aleesha saw him and seemed lost in thoughts.
How can this be possible? Why did he do this to me? Was Tamanna speaking the truth last night? Was that the reason why she called me up to tell me everything? How can he sexually assault Tammy di and why? Was I not good in bed? Did he ever love me?
‘Mr Deep, I asked you something,’ the officer reminded him.
‘Yes sir, ‘A’ stands for Akash,’ he stammered.
‘So I’m guessing your full name is Akashdeep—AKASH and DEEP?’
‘Yes sir,’ he somehow managed to say, stealing a glance at Aleesha, but her face was expressionless.
The feeling of being in love is so intense that it feels like it will last forever. Aleesha couldn’t believe that he didn’t feel the same way as she did. She couldn’t believe that this sacred relationship has been destroyed. She was sure that they understood and loved each other a lot. Now the feelings of betrayal and hurt had left her soul empty and deceieved.
‘Aleesha, do you know this guy?’ the officer asked.
She thought to herself, I think I should tell the truth to the cops. Should I tell them that Tammy di had called me up last night and had confessed that he had forced himself upon her? But I love him. How can I? No, I can’t. Or should I? Oh God, why me? Though he has made a fool out of me, I can’t do that to him. I can’t disrespect my love. I wish I did not love him so that I could punish him for all the pain he caused to Tammy Di. If I do the same thing as him, what’s the difference between my love and his betrayal? That’s it. I can’t.
‘No! I don’t know him,’ she said staring at him with tears rolling down her cheeks.
‘Ms Aleesha, tell me something—did this guy ever visit Tammy when you stayed with her or did she ever discuss him with you?’ the officer continued.
‘No. She never discussed her personal things with me, though I wish she had. She was an introvert and hence never shared anything with me. And nor did I. But she did treat me like a younger sister.’ Aleesha was trying to play safe while simultaneously answering all their questions to the best of her ability. Otherwise she knew she could land herself up in trouble.
‘How was her usual behaviour after consuming alcohol? I mean, did she ever get aggressive?’
‘Yes. Almost every time. Otherwise she would simply go off to sleep,’ Aleesha replied.
The officer told both of them that they were not permitted to move out from the city until the investigation went on and they had to be present whenever he called them. They both got up to leave. As they walked outside the police station separately, the feeling of betrayal overcame them.
Aleesha felt betrayed by Akash while he felt betrayed by his colleagues and Tamanna. He didn’t want Aleesha to know about everything like this. He wanted to explain to her that he was not wrong and seriously loved her. He had just told the truth to avoid Aleesha from being apprehensive about him going to office. He never wanted Tamanna to know about his relationship initially
since he knew she had a huge crush on him, and he feared losing job. He was sure that if Aleesha came to know that Tamanna and he worked together, she wouldn’t be able to hide it from her. He had done everything for Aleesha. He was innocent and was afraid of losing her from the very first day they met. After all, he had loved someone so deeply after a very long time and wanted this relationship to last and culminate into marriage. He wanted it to last forever. But fate had some other plan from him.
Aleesha was hurt, not just because Akash had lied to her, but because she believed that he had shattered her trust by being sexually attracted towards Tammy and forcing her to make out with him. After they had covered a fairly long distance from the police station, Akash turned to her with pleading eyes, only to be told, ‘How could you play with me like this? Why would you not tell me the truth? If it was over, you should have set me free. How could you force yourself on Tammy di, play with her feelings, and drag me along when you knew you were completely wrong! I believed you and never thought you would lie or leave me like this but now I know you were playing cheap games with Tammy di as well as me. I thought I could never hate you but I was wrong. You know what I really can’t believe—the mere fact that I believed you.’
Akash stood there numbly, with tears rolling down. He just stared at Aleesha who walked away from him, got into a bus, and left. She didn’t even wait for a clarification from him.
He felt it was all over. Once the trust has been broken, it’s broken. It may grow back a bit, but it’ll never be the same as before. This end was not the way he wanted it, but he was helpless.
Everything He Did, He Did It For Her
‘Where are you, Aditya?’ Akash seemed worried. I guessed something was wrong.
‘What happened? You were not in office today. How did Tamanna leave you alone?’ I joked.
‘Shut up Aditya! I am screwed. Tamanna is no more. She is dead and the police is accusing me of her death. I have called you from a PCO near the police station.’
Oh fuck! I thought he was kidding but he was fucking serious. He told me the entire story, leaving me utterly speechless. I was facing such a situation for the first time in my life where the police had caught hold of one of my best friends. I was completely blank, and didn’t know how to react. I acted as a mere spectator and agreed to whatever he said. We decided to meet at DP restaurant in Matunga. He asked me to convince Aleesha to join us. Akash had left for office directly from the police station. He was regretting throwing away his cell the previous night. Had he not reacted in anger, he would have been able to message Aleesha expressing what he felt at that moment. He rushed to the office immediately to get another shock of his life.
‘Deep, we are extremely sorry but the authorities have sent us an email regarding your termination,’ said Mr Verma handing him a copy of the email and informing him that a soft copy of the mail had been forwarded to him.
‘The board members feel that though they are sorry about Tamanna’s untimely death, the matter in which she died is still unknown and since your name is being investigated in this case, they can’t retain such employees. This is their final decision. I am sorry,’ Mr Verma explained.
The world rotates once every 24 hours but for Akash it had rotated more than 24 times in the last 24 hours. His world had turned upside down in a matter of a single day. He had least expected that there was no client meeting the previous evening, that and it was all a planned game by Tamanna. He had run away from that situation to land up in bigger trouble. He wouldn’t have imagined that the next day when he would reach office, the police would be waiting for him to investigate Tamanna’s death. But the climax was yet to come. The termination letter was handed over to him for the misconduct of policies.
It was all so crazy! Who could have imagined all this to happen within a span of 24 hours? It was like a Snakes and Ladders game in which you are almost at the top when you are suddenly bitten by a snake at the 98th position and come crashing down. All his dreams had been shattered in one go. He cried all the way to Matunga. He reached DP’s restaurant and didn’t have to wait for long for us to arrive. Aleesha was first reluctant to come inside but I convinced her somehow. Aleesha didn’t even look at Akash and I felt like a mediator between them.
‘Why have you brought me here? I came for you, not for this big time cheat,’ Aleesha screamed on seeing Akash.
‘Aleesha, calm down please. I request you not to create scene here,’ pleaded Akash.
‘Oh, is it? Then I better leave as I am one slut who creates a scene everywhere. However, you are the most decent guy ever who never misbehaves with anyone.’
I calmed her down and told her not to be so hyper about things and asked her to hear Akash out first before making any judgements. I held her hand to make her feel better. She looked extremely pale, like she would faint any moment. I felt pity on her but I also knew that it was not Akash’s fault. But as they say, everything that is destined to happen will happen and we can’t change it.
‘Jaan, my Minnie, how can you even think that I will double date you or play with your feelings? We can’t choose our parents or children, we accept them and love them with all our hearts. But my Minnie, I chose you because my heart liked you and I felt that you are what I want, and I want to love you for a lifetime! The day I saw you at Thrive Club, I felt some strange connection with you. I had a bet with Aditya that I would talk to you for at least a few minutes. In those few minutes, you stole my heart. We had just started conversing when you disclosed that you lived here with your family friend ‘Tamanna Kapoor’ who worked as a manager at Galaxy House. Before I could speak, I saw Tamanna walking towards us from afar. I hurriedly left before she could see me with you. Not because I wanted to hide my identity from you or her, but because I knew she had a secret crush on me. I thought being with you at that moment could not only screw my professional life but also my personal life. Thus, I decided not to tell you my middle name. I mean no one calls me Deep except for some of my colleagues in office. Some even called me Akashdeep during my college days and I hated it. But everyone including my family members and closed ones call me Akash as that was the name my dad had kept and everyone knows that I was my dad’s favourite. I don’t use two names to fool people. I wanted to be your friend or maybe more than a friend. When you didn’t come to meet me the next day, I thought it was because Tammy had seen us and told you not to get involved with me. But I soon realized that it was nothing like that. I was in love. I thought of telling Tamanna about us so that I could visit your house regularly. My fortune favoured me and I got a chance to be with Tamanna alone in the office one day when the system failed. It was going to take time to reinstall, and we had to stay in office till late at night. I thought that was the perfect moment to tell her but what I saw that night left me stunned. She had gone to bring coffee for us from the vending machine. I thought of having a smoke and went outside. When I went near the vending machine, I heard some noises and I peeped from the passage. Tamanna was fantasizing in front of coffee vending machine and I could clearly hear her moaning my name. I was shocked and soon realized that it was not just a simple crush. I dropped my plan to tell Tamanna about us, ran back to the work floor, and sat in my chair, pretending nothing had happened,’ Akash explained.
‘I also want to tell you that I never lied about my company to you. Though I work for Galaxy House, I I get my basic salary from RS Group as I am on their payroll which is called third party payroll. I will be shifted to another site once the project is over. My offer letter, my email id, my I-card, and all other official documents are in the name of RS Group. However, my HRA, bonus, PF, and all other benefits come from Galaxy House, which were all in Tamanna’s hands. That was the only reason why I had to be nice with her. Otherwise I had no interest in even looking at her. Thus, I didn’t tell her anything that night. I am the only earning member of my family and I can’t be aggressive without thinking of the consequences. I couldn’t afford to lose this reputed job due to recession and becaus
e there were no new openings in the market. Yes, I purposely never told you about my current office after that incident because I feared losing you. I had not only thought of telling you about my company but also wanted to introduce you to my family. I also wanted to tell you my middle name in spite of knowing that you stay with my manager, Tamanna. But the coffee incident made me think otherwise. I had no choice else she would have continued playing her dirty games on me. Trust me on this. It was always her staring at me when I went near her desk or when she tried to come close to me during parties and office conferences, I would call Aditya from the office and tell him about it immediately.. The only thing I regret is not telling Aditya about the last client meeting. I have really pictured you as my wife and can’t imagine you going away from my life because of some third person who was obsessed about me,’ he continued.
Akash even narrated the entire Panvel incident once again to let Aleesha know that he never fooled her and was loyal even when he could have used Tamanna to climb the ladder of success. Nevertheless, Aleesha had a different opinion on it and was not in a frame of mind where she could easily forgive Akash.
It Started with a Friend Request Page 14
