Chapter Two

Priyanka unlocked the door to her apartment and walked in. The air inside was stale and warm, just the way she liked it. For a school teacher, she did have quite an apartment – two bedrooms, an unreasonably huge kitchen, a dining room and a living room. When they gave it to her, she argued that it was too big, but they didn’t have time for silly matters like that.

The living room was dimly lit, and the maroon velvet curtains – thick and heavy. She let herself fall on the sofa and kicked off her sandals. She heard one of them hit something on the tea table. She made a face and didn’t bother to look. Her right hand searched the table randomly, and hit the voice messages button on the telephone.

‘You have two new messages’ was followed by an annoying BEEP.

‘First Message’ - “Pri!!! Where are you? Your cellphone service sucks! Always unavailable.. Anyway, you won’t believe whom I met today.. Call me when you get back Masterniji, I’ve got one hell of a story to tell you.. Take care.. Muah.”

‘Second Message’ – “Simi,” Priyanka’s heart skipped a beat when she heard his voice. The short message continued, “Call me back.”

Her exhaustion vanished into thin air. She pulled out her cell phone and hit speed dial. It rang twice, and the same deep middle aged male voice answered, “Simi, you’ve got work tonight. Meet me at ‘Franky Phillips’ in 20 minutes. Bring the kit along.”

Priyanka ran in to change. She slipped into a pair of worn out jeans and tight T-shirt. ‘Time to look stupid and 16 again’, she laughed in her head, as she put on a dark shade of pink lipstick. She picked up her kit and wiggled into uncomfortably high heels. She ran out, picking up and nearly dropping her handbag and pulled the door behind her. Dheeraj hated to be kept waiting.