Poison

Author : Medha Kapoor

Author Introduction: I would not call myself a writer. Or a poet. What I am is, creatively inclined. My education has nothing to do with it. It's just programmed in my genetic code. I love to read. Mostly classics and poetry. I love music. Art. Cinema. Nature. I blog about my world at http://www.medhakapoor.blogspot.in

Story:


06:05, 01/02/13

Samir shivered in the early morning chill. It was barely five minutes past six and it had taken him a humunguos effort to relinquish the warmth of his bed for a jog. Not that he needed the exercise. Or wanted it. The neighbour's teen-aged daughter had started getting insecure about her figure and he was more than ready to lend a helping hand.
'Late again', he muttered as he fixed his hair using a parked car's side mirror. 'Sexy eyes', he crooned, looking into his reflection. 'Hmmm. Handsome face', he smiled, moving back a few paces. 'Strong should...what the hell!!', something in the reflection had sent shivers down his spine. He spun around to spot the source of the horror and gasped. There, behind the car, in the narrow lane between the buildings of the compound, hung, tangled in a mesh of wires, the body of a young girl, covered in blood.
Samir stood transfixed, unable to comprehend the scene before him. Who could've done this? It was one of the most peaceful, residential areas of the town. What should he do? Calling the cops meant dealing with questions and possible accusations. But why should he be scared? He looked at the face of the young girl. The eyes, still open, looked startled, as if she too was surprised to find herself in a position like this. Dangling from a set of wires at six in the morning. On a Sunday.

Samir snapped out of his daze. He decided he shouldn't be seen in the company of a dead body so early in the morning. He was just a regular jogger, trying to score the neighbour's daughter. Satisfied with his decision, he turned on his heel and jogged away. Had he waited a few minutes he would have earned himself some interesting company.

The door of the balcony of one of the flats on the seventh floor swung open and a middle-aged man stepped out, looking bewildered. He cut a handsome figure of masculinity except for the red ladies' gown that he was wearing. He stood puzzled for a few minutes, trying to remember why he was so dressed. But a trail of blood on the floor caught his attention. He followed it to the edge of the railing, grabbed the handrail firmly, peeped down gingerly and felt the ground beneath his feet give away. The earth trembled, the sky erupted with bolts of lightning and the Sun spewed fire as Mr.Sibal let out a horrified, ear-splitting scream.

15:35, 31/01/13 (The day before.)

Kaira was having an unusually dull day at work. Two hours past lunch time and there had not been a single disgruntled tourist complaining about the facilities at the hotel, no absconding rich young lovers registering under false IDs or nubile 'models' showing up for interviews. Even her co-workers at the Concierge had kept their distance, only stealing short glances of her stocking-clad legs every now and then. She let out a small sigh and checked her phone for messages. A mischievous smile played across her well-glossed lips. Kicking off her stilletoes, she reclined back in the soothing leather of her chair, shook the loose strands of her curls out of her eyes, softly chuckling to herself as she read the conversation she had had with her best friend, Ishita. She was glad to be meeting her in the evening. Kaira and Ishita had been best friends since school but had gotten out of touch once they joined college in different parts of the country. But the weird-haired sisters of Fate conspired to land them their first jobs in the same city and there they were, innocently obeying the commands of destiny. The consulting company Ishita worked for was only minutes away from Kaira's seven-star fancy hotel workplace.

16:30, 31/01/13

The buzzing of her cell phone was driving Ishita crazy. A friend of hers had installed this instant messaging app on her chic smartphone and the pings just won't stop. But as every other gizmo owner out there, she couldn't muster the courage to expunge the perpetrator of her solace and be done with it, because, well, the world would collapse if she did not update people with the events of her day

'Ishita! That report should've reached me fifteen minutes back!', the short, squawky figure who was paid to boss around all the younger, smarter people was shouting at her.

'Sir, do you mind viewing it on my laptop instead? There seems to be some trouble with the network connections', she said as she got up, cradling the laptop in well-manicured hands. He considered telling her off for being such a technologically challenged 'girl' but decided against it as he observed her demure figure in colorful salwar-kameez walk towards her.

Ishita knew she had gotten herself into a lot of trouble. She had accidentally let spyware seep into her system while browsing certain websites. She was now afraid for the sensitive data that was stored on her hard disk.

Once back at her desk, she picked up her phone and dialed a number.
'Mr. Sibal! Hope I'm not disturbing you. Listen! I have a BIG problem. Okay...Umm...Can you come over in the evening?Thanks. Bye.'

She heaved a huge sigh of relief as she disconnected the call. Mr.Sibal was a charming, dynamic and highly resourceful man she'd come across in the in the cafe she frequented. He was around fifty, well groomed and well spoken. Theirs was a peculiar friendship. It had all started with an aqua colored fizzy drink that Mr. Sibal decided to try out in the cafe. On an impulse, she had called out,'Don't have that! Tastes like mouthwash!'. She was seated alone on a table adjacent to his. Their eyes met and they burst out laughing. 'Thank you! I think I've had my share of that this morning!', he laughed. They had ended up having a lot of aqua blue since then, just for the heck of it.

There were fifteen texts from Kaira, all concerning their plans for the evening. 'Paranoid woman!', she thought and tested her informing about the newest inclusion to their guest list. It was going to be another fun-filled Saturday evening with two of her closest friends, she mused.

20:30, 31/01/13

At the corner of the street was a shady looking store, brightly lid from the inside but very inconspicuous on the outside. It wasn't usually crowded, except for the evenings and today, being a Saturday, there was a steady stream of customers making trips to and from the store, some in cycles. As Kaira walked to the store in her fitted black dress, several hands turned to stare, many even got ready for the expected enquiry or request that could be the reason for this beautiful lady's walk towards them. Instead, she maneuvered her way to the counter and caught the attention of the vendor. 'One Smirnoff and one bottle of Chivas Regal, please', she instructed to the vendor.
On the outside, Kaira was the perfect specimen of a seductive, confident female. Inside, Kaira was seething. Anger. Jealousy. Frustration. She could not stand another evening of Mr. Sibal trying to lure Ishita away from her. The world mistook him as a polished, sophisticated man whereas he was just another twisted man vying to siphon love and affection out of her beloved Ishita. Tonight, she was going too put an end to it all. The chemical she'd laced her nail paint with, when combined with alcohol would burn a hole in his vital organs, causing him to bleed out, but slowly. Slow enough for him to take his leave and walk to the car and drive it out on the road and...poof! Kaira smiled haughtily as she observed the sheen of the painted nails under a streetlight.

21:30, 31/01/13

Laughter emanated from the hall of Ishita's seventh floor apartment. Mr. Sibal had arrived half an hour back and having solved her issue, was showing her funny cat videos on Youtube.

Ishita always had a great time with Mr. Sibal.

'You'll stay for dinner, right?', she asked, looking into his warm, brown eyes.

'Well, I'd love to. But I think the missus misses me', he winked back.

'Stay na! Even Kaira is coming over!', insisted Ishita.

Mr. Sibal's smile faded as soon as he heard her name. Kaira Kaira Kaira. Why was Ishita so blind as to not see the truth about Kaira? They say that love is blind, but, surely, Ishita could not be in love with Kaira, could she? Was she? Her too?

He was busy contemplating this mystery with a constipated look on his face when the doorbell rang and Ishita jumped to her feet and ran to get the door.

'Hi Sweetie!'

'Hello!!'

And so went the customary 'girlie' welcome with hugs and kisses.

Mr. Sibal got up to shake hands with Kaira and they stood regarding each other for a while, like opponents before a boxing bout as Ishita pranced away to the kitchen to keep the bottles.

'Hey! Ishita! Babe! Let's have a drink first!', Kaira called out to her.

'Whisky or Vodka? What's your poison?', she purred to Mr. Sibal, proceeding to walk to the kitchen.

'I won't drink, thank you', he replied back softly.

01:00, 01/02/13

'Poison, you're poison running through my veins...Poison, I don't wanna break these chains...Poison...'- blared on the music system as Ishita and Kaira danced, pretending to be rockstars. The girls had drunk themselves silly over the course of one hour and Mr. Sibal could not, in any circumstance, leave Ishita alone with Kaira. He was sitting on an armchair, watching them enjoy themselves while sweat leaked through every orifice of his body. The back pocket of his jeans vibrated with the announcement of a call. His stomach did a double leap as he saw the name on the screen.

'Shhhhhh! Quiet! It's my wife!', he screamed.

'Hello! Yes. Uhhh. I'm really sorry honey, I'm at Vikram's place, his father is unwell...', heart hammering in his ribcage, he made a mental note to explain to Vikram  about his father's many maladies.

Kaira's rage deepened as she saw him lie outright to his wife without a trace of guilt.

'Hahahahaha! Look at you stutter! I wonder who wears he pants in your house! Hahaha!', laughed Kaira, mocking eyes riveted to his.

Mr. Sibal ignored her and instead turned his attention to Ishita who was on her way to make another drink for herself.

'Good god! Enough already, Ishita! How much will you drink?'
'Hah! Okay! Well! I will not drink any more if you wear that gown of mine and give us a dance! Come on! Haha!', Ishita grabbed his arm and started pulling him out of the armchair.

'What nonsense! Ishita!', he exclaimed.

Kaira sensed an opportunity here.

'Hey! Come on! Let me fix YOU a drink instead!', she hurried over to the table to get the business done.I

Ishita had already pushed the gown over his neck and was proceeding to get his arms in.

Kaira was cat-walking towards him, her eyes on fire, firmly gripping the glass in her hand.

'Come on, drink', she cooed, her arm extending the drink to his lips.

'Drink!', chanted Ishita.

Mr. Sibal gazed at the two pairs of eyes that were staring at him and then at the glass that was being offered to him. But his hands refused to budge.

'Oh! What the hell', exclaimed Ishita as she snatched the drink from Kaira's hand and gulped it down in one go.

Kaira screamed.

Ishita was astonished.

Mr. Sibal screamed as realization hit him.

Kaira grabbed a vase from the table nearby and hit him with it. She didn't wait for him to fall unconscious before turning her head to Ishita and forcing two fingers down her throat.

'Puke Ishita! Puke!', she shouted.

Gagging, Ishita struggled to push Kaira away from her, struggled to comprehend what had just occurred.

'Puke!'

Ishita staggered to her feet. Kaira won't relinquish her hold.

'Puke!'

Ishita moved backward, tears streaming down her cheeks. Tears streaming down Kaira's cheeks.

'Puke!'

Ishita looked into Kaira's desperate face. Things were starting to get very blurry. This can't be just alcohol. She looked at the blood on Mr. Sibal's temple. What was happening? She felt a warm liquid gurgle and churn inside her. They were out in the balcony. She puked on the white marble floor. Red. Kaira was howling. The moon was full and high in the sky. But the night was foggy. Everything was blurred. Kaira was silent now. The wind was icy cold. Ishita's head swam as her eyes drooped. Kaira put her arms around her and held her as they leaned against the railing.

In one swift move, Kaira lifted her and threw her off the balcony.