Looking out from the window of his room in the hotel, Arjun thought, " Ah! What a scenic view! Such a tranquil place! But, he isn't here to enjoy." He sighed. The destination that he was supposed to reach was still far away. He was to stay back in Siliguri until the other members arrive. They would continue the journey to Darjeeling together. A little while later, a boy came with his dinner. Since there was no one else, he would eat in his room rather than going down to the restaurant. The boy entered the room to place the food on the coffee table nearby the sofa. He then looked around the room and stood there still for the next few seconds. His face looked visibly confused. He finally turned to Arjun and asked, " Are you alone in here? Should I take away the other two extra plates for serving ?"
"Why did you bring two extra plates? This is a single person's room!" asked Arjun." Well... I thought you might have invited some other people from another room. That's what usually happens when..."
The boy seemed to be hesitating. So, Arjun spoke, "When what?! Tell me. Don't worry about it."
So, the boy spoke again, " When someone orders so much food for a single person. You ordered such an amount and varieties. So, I thought that there might be at least three people."
"Three people! You think I ordered food for three people!" screamed Arjun." Yes. I mean, you did order six naan bread, two plates of butter chicken, two plates of chicken momo (*similar to dumplings), Bhapa Ilish (*steamed Hilsa fish), Chital Muitha (*fish koftas), Chital Kaliya (*a gravy based fish dish) and rice."
"Well, yes! Do you know that I walked down from the wildlife park all alone?! Do you know how exhausting that was?!"
"Still, it's a lot. I wonder whether you will be able to finish all of that!" exclaimed the boy." Huh! Is that so?! Then, wait and watch," said Arjun as he walked towards the coffee table. He first proceeded to eat the momos, followed by the naan bread and butter chicken. As the boy watched in awe, he finished his meal with rice and all the fish items he ordered. " Thirty minutes! He ate all of that in thirty minutes!" gasped the boy. The boy slowly picked up the plates and went out. He was somewhat astonished. He couldn't believe a skinny man like him could eat this much. After three minutes of his arrival to the kitchen, a man told him to deliver some mohanbhog ( a sweet dish) to room no. 502 as quickly as possible. Upon hearing that, the boy nearly fainted as he knew very well that the room mentioned belonged to Arjun.
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It had been twenty minutes since Ms. Singh has mentioned the case, yet both of them were silent. Mr. Roy kept checking his phone. Maybe, he was reading his messages. Ms. Singh had headphones on. Leaned towards the window, she was looking outside. Although it's perfectly normal for anyone to sit just silently, still, Ruby felt the silence among them was a bit fishy. When Ms. Singh suddenly planned the trip, Ruby thought there would be an exciting conversation between the two of them. But, they didn't seem to be making any conversation. They weren't even talking about the trip. Ms. Singh suddenly spoke, " We need to pick up Rohan too. I have sent you his location Arnab, check your phone. He is nearby."
"Alright, Madam," replied Arnab.
A little while later, Arnab stopped the car in front of a small coffee shop. A boy approached with a big bag in his hands. He seemed to be exhausted. By the sight of his unarranged black hair, his untucked shirt, sweaty brown ashen face, anyone can tell that he came in a hurry. " Get in, Rohan get in," said Ms. Singh to him. He got in and sat beside Mr. Roy. Ruby turned around and told Ms. Singh," It's getting a bit crowded back there. Will you be alright, Ma'am?" Sharmishtha smiled and replied," Yes, I am alright. Don't worry if I feel cramped in a short space; then I shall move these two fine gentlemen to the remaining back seats of the car. " On this note, everyone laughed.
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It's 4 pm, Mr. Roychowdhury was standing by the sidewalk of the beach. The ocean was looking serene in contrast to the dark blue sky. The slight cold breeze carrying the quaint aroma of the fresh rain and wet soil was flowing from the east. Roychowdhury never liked this kind of weather. It felt like the calm before a deadly storm. The storm that emerges all of a sudden and takes everything away. Everything precious to oneself is gone in a flash. Regardless of these things, he knew very well that she would have been delighted if she was here. "We live apart. Both of us are always busy, so we can rarely find time to call each other. Not anymore, as soon as I finish this, everything will be fine. I will go home to my wife. And, we will be together forever," he thought.
Regardless of how much he missed his wife, he was unable to visit her. He sighed. It had been very hard for him. Each day, he just wanted to go home. His thoughts got interrupted by his phone's ringtone. "Is she calling?" he thought. With an excitement, he quickly took his phone out of his pocket. It was an unknown number. He sighed again. With his utter annoyance, he received the call.
"Hello?"
"Is it Mr. Roychowdhury?" spoke someone in a croaky voice.
"Yes. Who is this?"
"A well-wisher."
"What kind of reply is that?" he slammed.
"Now, now, no need to anger yourself over such a petty thing. You have better things to do. Don't you?" said the person politely.
"Why are you saying such things? I am disconnecting the call as I don't think that you have anything relevant to say."
"Oh! I do. I have a bunch of relevant things to tell your wife. So, tell me does she know? Does she have a hunch of anything about your past?" asked the person.