Storytime: Untitled as of Now - Part I

Her phone leapt to life with the cheery tune of Malgudi Days. It was nearing 12 in the night and she wondered who could be calling her so late. "Hello, am I talking to Srishti?", the young, deep and slightly accented male voice enquired. She answered in the affirmative her curiosity increasing by leaps and her excitement with bounds. The silence that greeted her annoyed her. "Hello, are you there? To whom am I talking to?", she tried her best to elicit a response. And her efforts culminated in a click on the other side. The tiny thrill that had built up in the past minute disappered and she went to bed after making a face at the phone.

The day dawned bright and clear and by ten she was hard at work. As the custom for the past year, Venkat came to her desk at eleven and they went to get their coffee. Things had taken an awkward turn a few months back, but soon Venkat was back in her life, like a comfortable old shoe and she had let him be.

She pouted all the way to the cafeteria, waiting for Venkat to ask her. And sure enough he did. "Some guy called me up at 12 midnight and then hung up". "Must have been some jerk with a phone calling up odd numbers, and possibly drunk." "No, he asked for me by name and then hung up. He didn't sound drunk, in fact he sounded quite nice." Vankat bristled inwardly. "So why are you moping now, because he called or beacuse he hung up" he asked brusquely. "I am not a despo, waiting for guys to call me up in the middle of the night", she flared up. "Anyways, that number will be there in your call history, so you can avoid him if he calls again". She smiled at the hint of jealousy in his voice. They finished their coffee in silence and left.

Five minutes after she had got to her seat, Yahoo popped up an email alert. It was a mail from unknowndude2005@yahoo.com. The mail read "Hi Srishti, I am sorry for calling you last night and then hanging up. I know you aren't feeling too kindly towards me right now, but tell me frankly, isn't this interesting? Lets enjoy the mystery while we can, after all what's life without adventure? I am dying to talk to you again - so keep waiting for my surprise call. Love, Admirer. P.S. It's not that I don't have the gall to identify myself, but it is more fun this way, for you and me!" She didn't know what to make of it. Normally she hated this kind of anonymous Romeos, but he was vaguely interesting. She decided not to decide or do anything about it right away, but just let it take its own course. For all she knew, it could be some friend trying to pull a fast one on her. She debated whether to tell this to Venkat, but then decided against it, no point in getting him worked up and paranoid. With a slight hum, she continued to decipher the code.

to be contd ...