Life Haywire

THE PROPOSAL

I was getting tired of my job at the reputed audit firm. The work was getting monotonous and there was no more excitement. I knew what was missing, but I couldn't fathom what might rejuvenate me. What job could I do that would bring the spring back in my step? A break, maybe? Just quit the job and see the world? Yeah, that might be it!

So I went up to my boss that fateful day to tell him about my plan. I wanted to enjoy my life a little more, do work that was a little more worthwhile. I told him that I was resigning. My boss, Mr. Kalra, kept his cup of coffee down and looked at me thoughtfully. "Meet me after lunch."

I didn't think too much of it. "He'll just gimme a gyaan session", I thought. A leisurely lunch with colleagues-cum-friends later, I went back to his cabin. As he closed the door, he gestured for me to sit down. "Alpana." he said, "I would like to make you an offer. If you choose to take it, we'll discuss it more in detail later. But if not, you mustn't utter a word to anyone."

This was unexpected and sounded very unsettling to me. As I squirmed a little in my seat, Kalra continued. "Our firm does business with a lot of high profile clients. A lot of their information that we deal with is extremely confidential and 99% of the people employed with our firm never get to see that information. This is not part of the regular work that we do. Statutory and internal audits, regulatory compliances, business process consulting, is just what the world knows that we do. But below that, there's a lot of activity that no one sees. To remain competitive, companies have to perform activities that cannot be publicly known. Hell, it cannot be known to anyone except their Board of Directors, the CEO, CFO and COO! Our firm analyzes this information to understand how many of these activities may incur legal proceedings based on past data. We study trends and consult them on how to perform each activity in a way that seems correct to the world and its courts. We have close to 30 such clients in India. It's a small number, but it's a large percentage of our earnings."

By this time, my jaw had dropped open. I wasn't sure of what I was hearing. Where was this conversation going? Was it legal? Where did I fit in?

He went on. "You are one of my best employees and a close buddy as well. We have a team of 8 people in India who work on these projects. I would like for you to join us. The pay would be incredible, I promise you. A 500% raise. This is very sensitive work."

My eyebrows rose. 500 percent? Was this some kind of joke? It crossed my mind to record this conversation on my cell phone, but I had lost my beautiful Nokia 6110 Navigator two months earlier and the temporary cell phone I was using did not have the recording feature. Just as well, this could be trouble. Maybe I shouldn't be part of it at all. Just get up, tell him you're not interested and leave, I told myself. But this was the world's most lucrative offer knocking on my door!

"What's the catch?", I said as I finally snapped out of the daze. "None." said Kalra, "Officially, you work for our firm like you did. But your location changes. We don't do this work from the Mumbai office. You will be given a car, an apartment, and all your meals will be paid for. You will have a different phone number for all work pertaining to this and you must never mention what you really do to anyone. Not one person."

"And you said no catch! What exactly will I be doing again?"

"I cannot tell you now. All relevant information will be given to you once you are ready to get aboard. Certain papers will be signed and you will then be briefed. I understand you need your time to think over it. You can take your time and let me know in a while. Does that seem okay?"

"Yeah, it seems good. Umm. Let me think about it and tell you tomorrow."

"No, no. Take your time. In fact, take the rest of the week off. You'll think better without any pressure from work bogging you down! Let me know on Monday."

Wow! First a great offer and now a 4 day weekend? I liked this life already. I got up and made my way to the coffee machine. I needed coffee to assure me that I wasn't dreaming. Coffee in hand, I took the elevator down to go outside the building. I needed a smoke. As I puffed on my cigarette, I saw Sachin across the parking lot. I waved to him. No amount of coffee or smokes was making me feel less queasy. I wanted to be distracted.

Sachin didn't waste any time complaining about me not calling him down for a smoke. "Why the fuck do you want to smoke alone today, anyway?" I shrugged my shoulders and replied, "Work tension, what else? Have a deadline." In a few minutes, the conversation steered towards mutual rantings about work, bosses and a receding social life. I was finally feeling better.

On reaching home, I realized that I may never meet my friends at the firm again. Would I have to completely abandon every thing I had here, every person I knew? Was the money just a carrot to put me in deep shit? I would have a hard four days.

For the first two days, I couldn't sleep. By day three, I had made up my mind.

I walked up to Kalra that Monday. "Hey! Wanna go down for some tea at the stall outside?". "Of course! Let's go now. I'm free!", he exclaimed.

I played with the multiple rounded mounds that made up the small tea glass. "I'll do it." "Great!", said Kalra. "I'll explain you all details tomorrow. In the meanwhile, I'll start with the procedures."

BLISS

By the next month, I was packed and ready to start with a new life. It would've taken lesser time to shift, but we didn't want suspicions to rise, and I just told everybody I was relocating coz I needed a change in my stagnant life. Considering how much I had been complaining about my job, nobody suspected anything wrong.

The new office was beautiful. It was a sprawling complex with pruned gardens and plant sculptures. The building was an all-glass exterior with 10 storeys. While the "regular" teams worked on the first 9 floors, the 10th floor was all to us. Eight of us. The ninth, my boss Mr. Kalra, worked out of the Mumbai office. My apartment was right next door, within the same complex, and only separated from the office building by a gigantic swimming pool shaped like an hourglass. I could literally swim to office!

And the apartment was fit for a queen! 4 bedrooms, each with an individual bathroom. All fitted with tubs and luxury shower enclosures. The bathroom in the master bedroom even had a jacuzzi! The living room was the size of a mini-theater, with a dining area on the side. All furniture was in Mahogany, rich in style and decor. The kitchen was furnished with every kitchen unit possible, along with expensive china and porcelain cooking pots. Was I gonna live here all by myself?! Was this really happening to me?!

Unpacked and settled, I felt a surge go through me. I was gonna live the dream life. This was the best decision I had taken in my entire life! It was almost lunch time and I decided to meet with my new colleagues. I had already been given all their numbers and I scrolled through them on my new Blackberry. My old phone lay in the bedroom drawer. I had to use that number for all personal calls. The name 'Chirag Soni' sounded like a good one to call, based on random intuition. "Hi Chirag, this is Alpana. I just reached here today from Mumbai. Thought I could catch up with you guys for lunch so we can get to know each other better. Do you have any plans?" Chirag was friendly, "Of course lets all go to San Antonio's for lunch! Do you like Italian?" Do I! Everything seemed to be falling in place perfectly! The office looked great from outside, the apartment contained more luxury than I ever had, my colleagues sounded awesome and I was gonna eat free Italian food! Maybe for the rest of my life! "I love Italian! So I'll see you in half an hour below the office building!"

Life rolled on beautifully. We worked for 15 to 16 hours each day on weeks on an end, but when a project was finished, we had at least two weeks off. So we worked our asses off and then lazed and partied for two weeks! On most such free afternoons, I lazed around in the pool, lying on my purple inflatable lilo. The only other people living near me were my colleagues, who liked to go back home and meet their families. I preferred isolation. I would read in the pool, get my Mojitos in the pool, and even get my dog Ubuntu in the pool!

THE TALK

But all this time to yourself makes you think. My work involved me bending the rules. It wasn't the most ethical job in the world. Sure, most companies play around with loopholes in the law and many even blatantly break it! But should I really be part of it? Just eight months later, my conscience was beginning to pinch me. And very hard at that! I decided it was once again time to speak with Kalra. He would be in town in a few weeks. This conversation had to be done in person. I could wait.

The Tuesday he arrived, we had a lavish lunch at the Sheraton to celebrate a successful project that had enabled us to receive more lucrative jobs from the same client. We had won their trust and they spoke very highly of our quality of work. Kalra had even brought in another colleague from the Delhi office to join our team. All was well with the firm. Buy I wasn't enjoying the success anymore. I felt guilty. Kalra was holding his stomach in his cabin - a sign that he'd eaten too much and would not be able to work for another half an hour at least. I took the opportunity and slid the door halfway. "Hi. Can I come in?" "Yes, yes. I'm too full to work anyway."

"Kalra, what happens if somebody finds out about what we do?" His eyebrows rose. He got up and said, "Let's talk about this in the Cheshire." The Cheshire was our largest conference room, equipped to seat at least 20 people. Many discreet client meetings were done there. It had very high security systems, with a biometric fingerprint scanner and sound proofed doors and windows. Footage of video surveillance went directly on to a hard drive that was only accessible by Kalra. My heart pumped faster. What was he gonna tell me?

As he locked the door behind him, he looked around the room. It was a rectangular room with a large rectangular table right at the center. Twenty one chairs adorned it's rim. Ten each along the length of the table and one at the head. Behind this chair, was a huge shelf and drawer set. The opposite side of the head of the table had no chair. Instead, there was a large white screen hanging from the ceiling, a foot away from the wall. A projector hung on the ceiling, the remote laying right under it on the table. Along the entire length of the room, at the other side of the door from which we got in, was a huge french window. From it, you could see the swimming pool and my apartment, and almost the whole neighborhood. Even San Antonio's. But we couldn't see anything now. The blinds were drawn and the lights had to be switched on.

We didn't sit. Kalra said, "Why are you questioning such a lucrative career? You make more than enough money for someone your age, you meet and interact with the top brass of the society, you live life king sized...well queen sized, you drive a BMW and you always get free time every few months to take a long holiday! What else do you want?" I tried to put my words together. "I want to be able to tell my family and friends what I do. I want to have a job where I don't need to lie to everybody. And what if we fall in trouble?". I could see Kalra was not enjoying a bit of this conversation. His brow was furrowed and he shook his head in a disapproving way. "You notice there were no women in this team until you came along. I thought you would be sure of what you wanted in life, unlike other women who are indecisive about such things and suddenly bring up the ethics issue. But I was wrong."

There was silence for the next few seconds. I was hating Kalra at this moment. He was actually saying that being ethical was a downside! Then he spoke again. "Alpana, we are in a very powerful position, both you and I. I would request you to reconsider your decision. We deal with such sensitive data. Trust me, I know things about companies and their top ranking individuals that no other man knows. I know things about my employees that nobody knows. I have people who dig out every piece of information on every person that I have interacted with. It's power that you can also have one day."

Did he know stuff about me that nobody else knew? "You mean you know private stuff about me too?", I asked. Kalra shrugged, as if to say that was exactly what he was telling me. "What do you know about me?!?", I exclaimed. "Alpana, I have a folder in my laptop of every employee and every client of mine. I know whatever there is to know. I know you might be angry at first, but it's necessary. You must understand. It is necessary due to the sensitive nature of work we do." "Well," I said, trying to think calmly, "when was the last time I spoke to my parents?" "Oh that's simple. It was updated just yesterday. Sometime in the evening yesterday. Around 6 pm I think? Using your personal number, of course." No, no, no. Maybe that was just a lucky guess. It can't be!
"What is my favourite kind of food?"
"I don't remember that kind of stuff! But I can look it up. Is this really worth the effort?"
"I need to be completely sure you're not faking this. Please, if you can."
"Ok wait up." He got his laptop from his cabin. I was thinking of more questions to ask. I had to be sure!
"It says that you keep changing your preference between Italian and Greek."
Oh my God! "Kalra, you're freaking me out! When was the last time I lost a cell phone?"
He did some searches on his laptop. "Almost a year back. It was your Nokia Navigator. You loved the phone so much that you never bought another one to replace it. You are still using your friend's black and white phone for your personal number."
"And if you know so much, where is that phone now?" Hah! I'd got him! How would he know that?!

But he just smiled. He was reading something on his laptop and he was smiling. And I felt cold. Did he even have information about all of my things? "Come with me", he said and took me to the huge rack of drawers and shelves. "We try to gain as much information about our employees as we can. A cell phone is one of the most valuable sources of information. Since you had lost yours, we decided to track it down." He opened one of the drawers, using a security code. There were three Nokia Navigators. Two were black and silver and one was blue and white. The one I had lost was a black and silver. I picked up one of them and slid it open. I went to the phone menu to look at the contacts.

I couldn't believe my eyes. These were all the numbers I had lost! I went to the image gallery and saw pictures of my cat, my parents, my ex. This was my phone! I was ecstatic and resentful at the same time. I needed to plan my next move. Kalra sensed the change of emotion in me and decided to speak, "Keep your phone. I'm sure you missed it. It was hard getting our hands to it, but we finally did. You see, although you lose some amount of privacy, think of the advantages. You'll never lose anything again permanently. I'm not even gonna mention the money and power benefits I spoke about before. You are protected with us. We offer you more than anything any other firm can give you. Aren't you thankful for this?"

"This...this is really mindblowing.", I said as I continued to stare at my old phone. "I think I need some rest to digest this. Can I take the rest of the day off? I need some time in the pool and some Blue Label to get me thinking straight. This has given me a whole new perspective."
"Go ahead. I'll call the bar at the pool and ask them to put the tab on me. Remember, you are a valuable resource and I'd do anything to retain you."

Two hours later, I was tipsy on my lilo, with my 6th glass of Blue Label. Large, on the rocks. Last I remember, Ubuntu was splashing away in the water before I dozed off, my empty glass of whiskey floating in the pool.

WHO AM I?

I was startled awake by the bar staff who seemed extremely concerned. I had been floating around for three hours in my sleep. I turned to look at the clock at the bar - it was 10 pm. After some assurances to the staff that I was fine, just tired, I put on my bathrobe and whistled for Ubuntu to follow. As I went up the elevator, I still felt a little drunk. I hadn't eaten and that was making things worse. Ubuntu must be hungry too, I thought. Back in the apartment, I fixed him a special dog dinner to make up for being late. I would have an egg sandwich. Half an hour later, I was sitting in front of the television watching Rakhi ka Swayamvar, a ridiculous wedding reality show which was interesting in such a weird way! Everybody in this show took themselves so seriously, while the rest of India watched on just for the entertainment quotient. But my mind was elsewhere. My phone. How did they get it? Do they know where to find thieves? Do they know these thieves? Is our firm in nexus with gangs? AARRRRGHHHH!

Enough! I hadn't even used my beloved phone since I got it! How ungrateful. I would change the SIM card from my black and white phone and put it where it belongs - my old Nokia 6110 Navigator. The phone that Nokia made for me and just me - especially considering that nobody else wanted to buy it! Power on. Vodafone IN. Half battery, full signal. It was dawning on me that I was at the cusp of a firm's promise and its inevitable threat. It was a very thin line that I was standing on and I had to make a decision quick. To be or not to be, that was the question. Maybe I should speak to somebody from home to calm my nerves down. A friend. I needed one. I dialled a number. My head started spinning and everything around me became a blur. I could hear barks but I couldn't move. I was getting convulsions and I fell off the couch. Rakhi Sawant was telling some idiot's mother that she wouldn't quit her day job after she got married. For a second, everything suddenly became clear. I could see everything around me in rich, vibrant colours. And then, I blanked out.

I woke up in bed, naked and cold. The curtains were closed and everything still looked hazy to me. I sat up and looked frantically for my phone. What the fuck had happened?? As I stumbled across the bed, I saw a photo frame on the bedside table with a couple looking very much in love. Both of them in their late twenties. The man looked somewhat familiar, but I couldn't place him. The woman was a total stranger. I had never seen this picture before. Where had it come from? What had happened last night?

I walked across the room, still searching for my phone. There had to be something there that would give me an idea of last night. As I walked towards the curtains to draw them, I saw a fleeting figure of a man across the room. He didn't have any shirt on. I froze. I was staring at the curtains now and immediately drew them with one hand as I plucked a table lamp with another. Holding the lamp high with my right hand, I turned to where I'd seen the man, ready to defend myself if required. Staring right back at me, was the man, completely naked with a table lamp held high with his left hand. I squinted. It must be the sudden brightness in the room, coupled with my wooziness. I didn't move. Nor did the man. "Who are you?", I shouted, my eyes blinking. No answer.

In a few moments, as my eyes got used to the light, I could not understand, I could not explain what I saw. As I dropped the table lamp from my hands, the man in the mirror did the same. I walked towards the mirror and saw the man coming closer. I lifted my arm and saw the hair beginning from my wrist continuing up to my elbow. I ran my arm through my chest and felt the hair right down to my stomach and beyond. I looked down to see my legs. More hair. I was only a few inches from the mirror. As I stared at the mirror, the strapping young man looked back with tired eyes and a slight stubble. Wait a minute, haven't I seen you somewhere? The photo frame!

LIFE CHANGES, TIME CHANGES

I opened my wardrobe to wear some clothes. Shirts, trousers, suits, tees, denim, underwear. Supposedly my clothes. But on one small rack, I could see some women's clothing. Were these my earlier clothes? There were so many questions in my head! How did I turn into a man? How did all these things come into my house? It looked like the same house! The view from outside the window was the same. Who was the woman in the picture? Were these her clothes in the small rack? And where was my phone? Then it rang.

The sound was coming from the bathroom. I ran inside to find it on the open glass shelf that held all the toiletries. As I picked up my phone, I noticed a shaving kit. Also mine, I guessed. My Nokia Navigator showed Madhumita Ghosh calling and I slid the phone on.
"Heyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!" came the voice at the other end, "Did you wake up finally? Or are you still in bed?".
"Uhh...no I just woke up. My head hurts a little." I tried to weigh every word I was saying, but speaking to her came comfortably.
"It's soooo beautiful here in Switzerland! Just snowed today! I emailed you some pictures. Did you see?".
Email. What was my email ID now? It couldn't possible be alpanamandal anymore.
"Which ID did you send it on?"
"Arre! I always mail you on gaurav dot mukhi! Why would I suddenly switch to the yahoo address?"
"Accha so gmail?", I took a wild guess.
"Are you okay today? How many more gaurav dot mukhi email addresses do you have? Unless you haven't told me about some dicreet IDs!"
Discreet! The fact that I was a woman yesterday was discreet! Looked like I knew her for long. But I didn't really. How do you handle your wife at this stage? Was she my wife?
"So what have you been doing in the Swiss Alps. Gimme some stories.", I dragged on, to get some information out of her.
"Ohh...you know the usual. Been working my ass off. Waiting for the weekend. Two more days. Then we go snowboarding! Enough of skiing already! But you know how Infosys makes us work. We have to lick our clients' feet! Always putting in more hours than we get paid for. And I was enquiring if I can have visitors in the guesthouse and the company policy says that I can't, unless it is my spouse and/or children. What crap! So if you come here, we'll have to stay in a hotel."

So I was getting some picture at least. Sounded like she was my girlfriend who worked at Infosys, currently in Switzerland for work. Great. Now to know about my history.

"Erm...", I mumbled, "I'm not sure I can come. I think I'll be busy working. You know how unpredictable it is."
"What!??! But you always get a couple of weeks off after a month and a half or so! At least speak with Kalra, no? I'm sure he'll let you off this one time."
Kalra! She knew Kalra! After so much information, I could still not put the pieces together. So much for being smart.
"Listen, I gotta go now. I have to take a shower and get to work. I'll speak with you later."
"Whatever. You are always trying to get out of situations like this by hanging up. Don't call me at all. I don't wanna speak to you."
"I have to go! Please understand! I will speak with Kalra, okay?"
"Alright! And call back with good news!"
"Okay baby, buh-bye."
"Bye love."
Beep. I pressed the red button on my phone.
Did I just call her "baby"? Why was I feeling like she was a stranger and my lover at the same time?

I couldn't go to work. If I called Kalra, would he be expecting Alpana or Gaurav on the line?

I found my Blackberry by the table and called Kalra.
"Good morning, Gaurav. What's up. This early?"
So I was Gaurav to everybody! It was like I was living a parallel life and never knew it.
"Kalra, I've been feeling sick. I can't get to work. I may not be well tomorrow either."
"Gaurav, I'm really sorry, but you know there's a deadline tomorrow and that cannot be compromised. You know what, just come to office for an hour and delegate the work to a junior. Then you can just check the report before sending it out to the client. That'll take another hour but you can do that from home."
Junior. When did we get a junior?
"Okay I'll do that."
"And you can go to the 3rd floor. There's some one hour session for the juniors today and they'll all be gathered there. Catch hold of someone."
"The 3rd floor?"
"Yeah, they'll be in the training room."
"Hmm. Alright, Kalra. I'll speak with you later. How long are you in town?"
"I'll fly back on Friday."
"Okay. Bye then."
"Bye."
Beep.

I didn't work on the 10th floor anymore. They had done something to me! I was part of the "regular" team. Kalra, that bastard! What had he done?

Showered and ready, my mind elsewhere, I went to office. One thing was for sure. My apartment was the same, my dog was the same, my car was the same, the pool was the same. But I had changed. My life had changed. But Ubuntu didn't notice the difference at all. He was his usual playful self. Like nothing had ever happened!

As I walked towards the 3rd floor in my office, everybody seemed to recognize me. Hi Gaurav! Good morning, Mr. Mukhi.
I sat down and saw a throng of people lining the training room. I went up to one of them. "Hey, what session do you guys have here today?"
"Report writing", said the stunning young girl. Fresh out of college. Wow! We really do pick up a good looking crowd in our firm! Oh man. I was already thinking like a seasoned guy!
"Great! Just what I need. When do you finish this training?"
"Two hours. 9:30 am to 11:30 am."
"Okay so you have half an hour to spare now. I have some work to explain to you. You will begin after your session, but give me the deliverable no later than 5 pm."
She nodded and we went back to where I was sitting. Seating arrangements were ad-hoc on the first nine floors. I missed the 10th floor already.
After explaining the report to be made, I transferred the client dump on to a pen drive. She got her laptop to take the data. As she connected her power adapter to the socket below, I couldn't help but admire how beautiful she was. She wore a black skirt that was just the right amount of tight. Not too scintillating for office attire, but not too drag either. The grey stripes on her white shirt curved with her curves. Her hair was tied in a high pony. Her stilettoes made her calves look tight and toned. This girl had to be in my team!

She held the pen drive out to me. "I'm done copying. Can I call you if I need any help?"
"Of course! I won't be in office, but I'll be available on call. Here's my number."

I walked back home. Her name was Deepti. Deepti Chabbaria. Nice. Then I realized, I'd known exacly what deliverable was to be submitted, where it was stored on my laptop and all client information was at the tip of my tongue. It was getting less and less obvious to me if Kalra was really involved in this, or if I had become crazy.

I spent the whole day looking through everything at home. What had changed and what had not. Essentially, all evidence of me ever being a woman were gone. The only girly items at home seemed to be Madhumita's - since they didn't belong to me when I was Alpana. I figured she didn't live with me, but probably visited often, and therefore kept a lot of her stuff at my place. I logged on to gmail.com and instinctively typed in a password along with my user ID. It was correct! Alpana Mandal must've been someone from a past life!

YES, TIME CHANGES

And a month went by, while I remained Gaurav Mukhi. Madhumita was coming back from Switzerland and I wanted to meet the woman I loved yet didn't know why! She landed at the airport in the morning and called me, "Gaurav baby! I'm back! I'll go home, keep all my luggage, get fresh and then let's meet!".
"I might be a little late at work, Madhu. Could you come this side to save me time?"
"Sure! I'll see you at your place? I'll spend the night there. Chalega, na?"
"Of course! Come over whenever you can. I'll give you a call when I get free."

That evening, the excitement to see Madhumita was overwhelming me. I couldn't concentrate on work one bit. I left work by 10 and bought a few flowers and wine. We were gonna meet after so long, she'd like it to be romantic. I opened the door of the apartment, very slowly. I wanted to surprise her. But the house was empty. It was normal for Ubuntu to get out of the apartment using the doggie door and roam the complex. Pets were allowed to walk around the complex, as long as they were well behaved. But where was Madhu?

I took out my two phones and switched off the Blackberry. No office calls to disturb me tonight. Keeping it on the table, I called Madhu from my Nokia Navigator.
She picked up quickly, "Where are you??!?!"
"Where are you?? I thought you said you'd be at home!"
"But I am! I've been playing with Ubuntu all this while. I let him out for a while. Just reading a book in the bedroom."
"Madhu, stop joking with me", I said seriously as I walked into an empty bedroom, "Which bedroom?"
"Your bedroom! Listen, just come home. Don't play games."
"Madhu! I'm in my bedroom! You're not here! Things have been very wierd for me lately and you're making it worse! Just tell me where you are!"
There was silence at the other end. Then she spoke again.
"Gaurav. I'm worried about you. I don't know what is happening. But I'm in your bedroom and you are not here!"

The sweat on my forehead came together to become bigger beads. It was happening again. Nothing made sense to me. It was like I was living in a fantasy world. I thought hard.

Madhu was petrified. For the first time, somebody was sharing the threat of the unknown with me. She was almost shouting.
"Gaurav, tell me what's going on? This is not funny!"
"Madhu, calm down, okay, calm down. I'm gonna move the bedroom door. Tell me if it moves for you as well." I closed the bedroom door. "Anything?"
"No! It was and still is open!"
"Madhu, are you sure you're in the right apartment?"
"I opened the door with my keys and played with Ubuntu! Of course I'm in the right place!"
I looked at the clock high up on the wall. "What time is it, Madhu? Up on the clock in the bedroom."
"It's...it's 10 pm.", she spoke slowly.
And I sat down on the bed, where she should have been, but wasn't.
"There's something wrong. I see 11 o clock."

I hadn't braced myself for this. We were in different time zones. My world didn't make sense. Again.



I know the plot just goes haywire. A lot was going on in my life. This is a mixture of my emotions while quitting my job, the pain of losing my Nokia Navigator, and a lot of John Grisham novels. And it was a dream I had in March. A tad exaggerated, in terms of dialogues, but still purely based on that dream!