It was a busy schedule for Chaits as he hopped from one city to other, one country to other trying to get the projects finished on time… his clients were multi-national banks with branches & offices spread across the globe and had lot of financial products to suit the local needs wherever you go…
Chaits actually went around the world… he first went to London which was the European hub for the bank… He spent about 2 months at London before he started his tour to other European country offices…
Though he was busy due to heavy workload, he did manage to go around a bit on weekends taking a look at places that had tourist importance…
He saw the famous ‘London Bridge’ and the ‘Big Ben’ that had stopped chiming due to the maintenance, caught a glimpse of Buckingham Palace from far… and captured whatever be could on his camera – he wanted to share his experience with his friends…
He sent all the pictures he took via email…
He sent pictures of all the places he could visit whether it was the Eiffle Tower in Paris or fascinating sculptures in Rome or beautiful sights around Geneva or high tech cities of Germany or Holland, however, he made it a point visible mark a c.c. to Priti to emails he sent to Alisha… on every mail…
In turn he used to receive emails regularly from his friends & Alisha and the mails he used to cherish the most were the romantic ones sent by Priti…
He roamed around in Europe before leaving for North American continent…
That was the worst time for him as he couldn’t call Priti or any of his friends as they were in exact opposite time zone… His morning began with their evening & his day ended with their morning… and emails was the only source he could keep in touch with them…
He was a bit exasperated because his planning of 3-4 months had taken a setback & he needed to extend his tour another few months…
Chaits counted days… he was homesick & wanted to return to his country back to his friends – back to Priti! He was on his final lap of his globetrotting in Singapore… he had another fortnight’s work pending…
He was happy because he knew soon he’d be back… however, he needed to complete his work on time… he didn’t want to miss any fun that he was dreaming of… he laid many plans of spending time with his friends – especially Chaps & Payal before they were married…
It was a Saturday & Chaits looked at the calendar… one more week and he would land in Chennai on early Monday morning… he would spend that day with his parents & leave next day to Delhi… thought of Delhi reminded him of Alisha & secretly he was excited that he’d see her again… has she been able to curb her feelings of love for him especially since he was out of her sight for more than 6 months now… will she be able to keep the relation to friendship only….
He looked further at the dates… he’d be in Delhi for two weeks for handing over his responsibilities to Jeetesh… after that…. he was FREE for a month… he’d be going back to his friends & Priti…
It was about evening in an Indian restaurant… he walked out and his eyes were on lookout from a shop that’d give him a calling card…
The time zone though was different was not so odd… his friends were in India a couple of hours behind time zone at Singapore … It’d be about 5 pm plus over there thought Chaits & smiled as he collected his calling card… It was a simple plastic a card like a credit card with prepaid money you simply insert it in any of the public phone & make your call – the money would simply get deducted as you speak & depending on where you’ve called.
He paused for a moment imagining Priti’s excitement at suddenly receiving an international call with no clue at all as to who might be calling…
He smiled to himself as he dialled her mobile number… he felt his heart beat’s rising as he realized, he was going to hear her voice after many months… he could hear her phone ring as he patiently waited for her to answer the call… the phone kept on ringing – but nobody answered… Finally he heard a busy signal…
He laughed heartily as he imagined a confused Priti looking at unknown number flashing on the screen of her mobile… He redialled her number again and waited patiently as her mobile rang….. C’mon, Pinky, please answer the call…” Chaits muttered between his breath… his patience was going down & he was desperate to hear her voice… he heard a busy signal yet again as Priti failed to answer his call…
“C’mon… Pinky! It’s your Chaits calling you… please answer the call…” said Chaits to himself and patiently redialled the number…. Again, the phone on other end rang without an answer… ‘She must be busy or maybe in some other part of her huge house’ thought Chaits & was about to give up…
He heard a deep voice of a man answering the call… “Hello”… he thought he must have dialled a number that was wrong & hung up… Then he carefully dialled her mobile number checking each digit carefully… he heard the phone ring on other side – again without an answer… “Aw! C’mon Pinky!”
Now that he was sure he’d dialled her number correctly – he pressed the redial button… the phone on other side rang for some time the same deep voice said” Hello”!
However, this time Chaits didn’t hang up “May I speak to Pinky?”
“Who” the voice asked – Chaits thought this voice seemed familiar, “Please tell her Chaits is calling…”
At this introduction, the deepness the voice at other end faded and he heard a familiar exciting cry of joy “Chaits?”
“Chaps! What are you doing speaking to me in a deep voice like that?” Even before he could finish his question he heard a loud screech of a car that’s put on an emergency brake and then excited voices behind… “Priti! You’d kill us one day…” he heard Deb’s voice visibly shaking…
“Hey! What’s happening Chaps? And how come you answered on Pinky’s mobile?” asked a confused Chaits.
Then there was another screech and a sigh of relief that Chaits heard….
“Hi Chaits!” there was a chorus of voices that greeted him… “Put him on the loudspeaker” he heard Natasha saying “Hi Chaits!” was the chorus again…
“Hey! You’re all together…. what’s the plan?” Chaits asked cheerfully…
His heart began to beat faster as he heard Priti’s voice “Hi! Chaits! How are you? Where are you? When are you coming back?” Before Chaits could open his mouth to answer, Priti carried on excitedly… “You know, Chaits! All of us have finished with exams… we got our results last evening…. as soon as this news was out Chaps & Payal were asked to stop meeting each other… now they are supposed to meet directly at their wedding… so we managed a plan before the curfew is rigidly imposed and we decided to have a party – an overnight party at Jungle Homes! “and Priti gasped for breath… “I wish you were with us, Chaits…”
“Wow! Jungle Homes! I’d love to be there with you all… however I’m at Singapore and would be back next Monday… and about two weeks later… I’ve a month long holiday and that I’ll spend with you – the entire month!” Priti could feel excitement in Chaits’ voice as she imagined them together again at Jungle Homes.
“I hope you were here now…” said Priti
“Hey! Chaits! You sent good pictures of all the places you visited it was lovely receiving your emails from around the world” Payal said excitedly “Come soon… & we’ll plan another outing with you.”
“Hey! Guys! So what’s the plan like at least I’d be there with you all in my imagination even if it’s not possible being physically there…” said Chaits.
“Good! You thought of calling me Chaits maybe we’d have been out of range an hour from now as we’d have almost reached Jungle Homes…” said Priti, “You know that there’s no mobile network at Jungle Homes…
Chaits was already dreaming about Jungle Homes – though the memory of exact details was now a bit faint – it had been a long time since he’d been there…
“All boys are going to be put up in the hut where we stayed Chaits & all we girls would be in L6 two days of fun before we return & start new life – no more college – and a big question of now what? That’s before we find answer to this question – we want to enjoy “said Priti
“Alright! Alright! You enjoy today – but keep some of it reserved for me when I get there – ‘bye’ – my card is almost finished & the call will get cut anytime… I’ll call you as soon as I land at Chennai next Monday”
“Bye” said others even as the call automatically disconnected…
Chaits was missing all the fun his friends & Priti were about to enjoy… He’d nothing much to do so he went to his hotel room & started planning all the fun he’d want when he catches up with them…
He typed an email to Alisha enclosing the pictures he’d taken in Singapore vividly explaining the detail of each photo however, he did add a final line telling her that he’d be returning to Delhi either Tue or Wed next week…
That night he received Alisha’s reply remind him to call her before he boarded flight from Chennai to Delhi so that she could come to the airport in time to welcome him…
The entire week, he worked hard with heavy heart… he was counting time… he wanted to be back to where he belonged – his country, his friends, Alisha & his love – Priti.
He happily packed his bags & was humming all his favourite tunes as his taxi sped toward Singapore airport… where a flight waited to fly him home…
He had never felt so excited before… how’d everyone greet him – how’d they actually behave when he would return – he thus kept imagining…
Are you ready for a thrill ride like no other?
Look no further than Prasad Deshpande, the mastermind behind heart-stopping, spine-tingling thrillers
that will leave you breathless and begging for more!
"Unimaginable Plots, Unrelenting Suspense"
With a twisted imagination and a flair for the unexpected,
Prasad Deshpande weaves intricate tales that will keep you guessing until the very end.
From shocking twists to heart-pumping action, it is a wild ride that will push you to the edge of your seat.
Dive into a World of Thrills and Chills
Explore the dark corners of the human psyche, where the unimaginable becomes reality.
Prasad Deshpande's thrillers are not for the faint or weak of heart,
but for those who crave a story that will haunt them long after the final page is turned.
- Prasad Deshpande
- Prasad Deshpande
- Prasad Deshpande
- Prasad Deshpande