Parul read the mail and a cold shiver ran down her spine. Suddenly the office seemed far less friendly and everything took a sinister hue. She looked around. The office was full of people each going about his/her own work and no one seemed to notice her terror. She gathered her wits and rushed to Rohan’s cabin. She entered it without even knocking and stammered, “S S Sir!” Rohan looked up from his work station and enquired why was she looking so disturbed. She blurted out the whole story and started sobbing halfway through it. Rohan was very concerned. He offered her a glass of water and followed it with a strong Cappuccino to steady her nerve. Then he went to her computer to check the offending mail. Parul refused to enter her office and spent the day in Rohan’s office. She wanted to resign as she did not want to work in this office any longer.
Rohan dissuaded her from resigning and offered her two weeks leave to steady her nerve. She decided to go back home for two weeks. Rohan was very understanding and sympathetic. He even arranged her train ticket and dropped her off to the station. The journey back home was uneventful but Parul was very jumpy and kept looking around as if she expected Rahul to materialize any moment. The time at home and her mother’s cooking and loving care helped her recoup and she was back in Bangalore
In these two weeks, Rohan had called her on her mobile frequently and she gradually opened up to him. She never had too many friends and Rohan was the first man she had started feeling close to. He was at the station to receive her with a huge bouquet of roses. He took her to the one room apartment she lived in. The moment she entered the apartment all the horrors and fears came rushing back and she started shivering uncontrollably. “Rohan, I can’t live here on my own. The moment you leave me Rahul’s ghost will turn up and kill me. Remember the last mail. Take me with you.” “But I live all alone. I cannot take you there with me. What will everybody think?” “ I don’t care what everyone will think. I know that I will die if I stay alone. And besides, I trust you completely.”
So she packed her things and moved in with Rohan without much ado. She refused to enter her old office and Rohan arranged her transfer to their sales office near his home. He used to drop her off to work every morning and pick her up on his way back. A couple of months passed and she gradually forgot about the episode and returned to normal. Yet there was a marked change in her. She ceased being the workaholic she was and discovered many common interests with Rohan. They came closer and closer and eventually became lovers. It was not clear who seduced who but they decided to call it a draw. After three months of living together they decided to get married.
Rohan was very happy. He called his friend Arnav from CCD and broke the news to him. Arnav was his classmate from IIT, Roorkee and a genius with computers. “So my friend Rohan, you have finally won over the iron maiden!” “It was all due to your help. I would have never penetrated her reserve if you had not rigged up the tiny webcam in her cubicle and set up the undetectable wireless LAN between her computer and my work station. Of course using Rahul’s defunct email id was the product of my diabolical brain but I loved her so and there was no other way to get to her. And all is fair in Love and War. You may bet that I will keep her happy for rest of my life.” “Just make sure that she never finds out about this little trick of yours,” cautioned Arnav.
The story would have ended here but for this email Rohan got the day before his marriage. It was from the long defunct email id of Rahul Mehra.
Dear Rohan,
So you are getting married. Congratulations. But remember the old adage ‘Old sins cast long shadows.’ And you have sinned. You have used deceit to win over the girl you loved. And you have disturbed my sleep. You kept calling me back to the world I had left forever by repeatedly invoking my name. Well, I am back and do you think you will ever enjoy a peaceful conjugal life after today???
Your nemesis
Rahul Mehra.
THE END
Brilliant twist Vivek sir :)
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