penning down the mind: September 2011

Well those things are a bit inconsequential right now. Let me tell you why you coming in between all this mess was so much needed for Shireen to be safe.

Rahul, Isha and Sameer stand stiff at their places as Shreya continues to speak.

I got to know about all this when Rajiv called me in his cabin that day. When I entered his cabin, he had a mail open on his laptop screen. For some reason, he chose to show it to me. I did not understand it completely then but the deal between Karan and Rajiv which was yet to be finalized was in its initial stages.

Gradually, I understood why I was given so may appraisals and so much favoritism, and why I was told about that deal. Rajiv loved me, he told me another day and what followed were a series of forced involvement with him, physically!

I don't know when I also got involved but one day when I saw that he included your name also in that list along with Kenny and Shireen, something was piercing me inside out. It was a self-realization, a self check of sorts. I realized that how worse matters were starting to get. A few days later, I got to know that my life has been curtailed for some diving reason. My doctor told me that I am not gonna live much. That day was the one which fuelled me to give my everything that I have to save you and Shireen.

Sameer moved closer to Shreya as she tried to control the emotional outburst.

Shreya continued.....

It was only in the morning that I got to know that Karan would not want Sameer to be involved in this chaos. Though Rajiv was insanely stubborn to not get you sign the deal, I was trying whatever I could to find you and make you sign this one.

Rahul and Isha left as Isha had to reach home before her parents got up. Shreya and Sameer kept checking their mailbox for any further proceedings on the issue.

What followed were a sequence of mails between Rajiv and Karan about Sameer sending confirmation about his presence in the deal. Rajiv kept calling Shreya while she chose not to talk. The darkest hours of her life were perhaps dying out. By involving Sameer in the deal, she did actually save Shireen and Sameer.

Soon after a few days, it was announced that Rajiv has resigned from the company and they had a new director!

Yes, Karan, it was. Shreya and Sameer left the company. Shreya rather wanted to live her last few days, with her close friends, Rahul, Isha, and.......Sameer!!!!

None of them ever got to know why did Karan not want to find Sameer in any sort of unfavourable circumstances. Why Sameer left the organization also remained a mystery to all in the office.

How could just one night change scenarios and lives and people and their perspective towards everything.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Part 14: The most important call

Link yourself to previous ones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

Tears trickled down Sameer's eyes as he turned away from the laptop screen. If the earlier days and nights were not enough, then this was something. Things seemed much more murkier than what he thought initially while Rahul was trying to digest everything that he had just witnessed, Isha seemed to be in trance for the past 4 hours. But wait, it was 2.40 am already with only 20 minutes to go.

Perhaps, silence ruled that night as each of them found it extremely hard to say anything. Sensing the uneasiness, Shreya yet again broke the silence pointing to the laptop notifying everyone about the time left to 3.

But what would happen if I don't sign it before 3. I mean why is there a time bound?

Nothing will happen to you Sameer.

What?

Yes Sameer, you were never at any sort of risk. You were always safe.

Sameer looked on in distrust as the night continued to baffle him with all the possible feelings of betrayal, hatred, love, friendship, care, dishonesty and what not. Rahul and Isha were equally perplexed. For them, it was a night when every single word uttered was seemingly indicating of happenings from a different world altogether.

Then why all this chaos? Those mails, this pressure of signing?

It's because of Shireen, Sameer. She is the one who would be at the receiving end of it all. You, Kenny and Shireen did this project, and by crook, you three would be made to sign the project which would give the land on which our company is, to Karan. Karan, in turn would obviously fire everyone and avail his own advantage. The blame of all this would fall on the three of you.

The catch here is that Kenny being a close friend of Karan would escape. And midway, Karan and Rajiv knew that you know all the happenings as you have hacked Rajiv's profile, so they made sure that whatever happens, Shireen would be targeted.

C'mon Sameer, just 5 minutes left. Send in the final project details with your signature. Shireen might have already sent it. If you don't it would be fairly easy for Rajiv and Karan to mess away with Shireen.

Sameer hurries as the clock ticks on.

Done!! Now tell me Shreya, does my signing it, not leave me in the center of all the mess along with Shireen.

Don't worry Sameer. Rajiv and Karan don't know yet that I am with you. They'll bank on whatever I tell them. Wait, I have the most important phone call in my life to make.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Hi Rajiv.

Hey Shreya, what's wrong with this idiot. He has signed and sent in his confirmation of the final project report. Did you not tell him that he is not required?

Did he actually send it? Is he mad, I thought almost convinced him.

Yeah, that fool has now made matters a lil difficult for Karan. Sameer is a much bigger fool than I thought him to be.

Well, what would happen now?

I don't know. Perhaps, Karan would get onto my head now. He told me that Sameer shall not be into it.

What? Then why did you involve him at all?

Because I wanted him to be in a mess. It was beacuse of him that I have not been getting my expected bonuses. Any client who comes wants to talk to Sameer. I was mocked at a few meetings. All beacuse of that bastard who did not care to defend me and instead go with the right prospective solution. I was defamed because of him, time and again. All I care now, is to ruin that guy's life.

Well, I don't really know what to say Rajiv.

Yeah, by virtue of what he has done, now I would be dragged into unnecessary cloud of dirt and mess, Karan would create now. Shireen might just be able to escape in case......

In case? In case what, Rajiv?

Nothing. let me think of something, talk to you later.

to be continued...

The last chapter- Part 15: That one night hacked several lives..!!

Part 13: Prelude to the unprecedented

Previous chapters linked here- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Rahul and Isha exchanged glances, curious to know what made Sameer hostile to a friend he trusted a lot.
Sameer realizing that turned back to them.

I know you both must be wondering how come Shreya be involved in all this. I also learnt about it in the afternoon only. When I went to office today, I asked Shreya to come with me and I was all determined to tell her about the whole issue but when I told her that I had hacked Rajiv's profile, her immediate reaction was what shocked me and the rest was easy to decipher! Claiming instantly "what mails did you read", was sufficient enough for me to know that she is conscious of the mails hurling across, even without me mentioning the same!

Rahul and Isha were left startled as Sameer asked them both to accompany him as they set out towards Shreya's place to find out the real time happenings and for having a clearer view of everything.

Hi Shreya, Rahul here. We are coming to your place, Sameer is with us.

What? Now?

Yes, Shreya, you know it's important, we need his signature, right?

Yeah, but I have used his digital signature, I hacked his password. And I did sent the mail to Rajiv and Karan. He is out of danger now.

I wish I was, Shreya, open the bloody door!

Sameer?

Yes, open the door now, we need to clarify a certain things.

Shreya opens the door as the 3 of them enter.

Sameer, are you ok?

Shreya, why did you do it to me?

What?

You were a friend to me, perhaps the only friend whom I trusted in office. I never thought you and Rajiv would be the ones trying to knock me off. Why Shreya, why?

Sameer, please sit, I think you need some rest, you are tired.

Shuttttt uuuuuppppppppppppp!!!!! You thought I would never get to know of it!!!! Who do you think I am, a fool, an emotional idiot who would keep himself slaved to all the ill you do to him. What the helllll did I do wrong to you?????

Rahul and Isha try to placate by separating the two as Sameer's pitch increased!

Shreya sat down crying as Sameer infuriated further. It was an awkward situation where the three of them were waiting for Shreya to reveal the reason. That 5-minute silence was perhaps the kind, one would never want to witness. One could sense the anxiety in the air till the time the unwanted silence was broken as Shreya moved towards her laptop.

Impatient and infuriated, Sameer turned away from Shreya, in disgust thumping his feet on the floor. Shreya continued working on the laptop as Rahul and Isha watched on. As Sameer's patience ran out of fuel, he moved to see what was Shreya up to and his heart skipped a beat when he saw the screen.

Hi Shreya,

I did not had the courage to tell you this when you asked me if there is anything serious or not. May be because for the first time in my professional career my heart was prevailing over my mind. I forgot that I am a doctor first and a friend later. I know I should have told you this much earlier, but even that would not have made much difference. But today after you left, I thought over it and realized that you deserve to know about it. Shreya, there isn't much time left. I feel half-dead when I say this but you need to know that these 4 months are the final days...........................

Dr. Rajat Vivek

A tear trickled down Sameer's eyes as Shreya broke the silence.

Sameer, I am not against you, I can never be. Do as I say Sameer even if it appears insane to you, trust me, there is some good in it. A dying person would never lie.

to be continued.....

Next chapter- Part 14: The most important call

Part 12: Sameer sets the ball rolling

Link yourself to previous chapters here: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Flashback

He was done with what he intended to do except for one thing.

~~Task1: Meeting Kenny and Shireen and telling them about it.~~
~~Task 2: Dropping a mail to Rajiv informing the same.~~
~~Task 3: Informing Shreya~~ and asking for her guidance for the further proceedings.

~~Task 4: Final nail in the coffin!~~

Life had become harsh for him for some unknown reason. The tale of betrayals had become too much for him to feel hurt now. he moved out of the office building well before much people could notice. He now knew that he is officially out of the project by virtue of his hacking skills!

Knowing what Kenny and Shireen might have to face, Sameer set himself out not telling them anything about it, who knows they may be the ones keeping an eye on Sameer.

Present

Sameer found it hard to control his tears no matter how hard Isha tried. Those tears were clogged inside for God-knows how long. Meanwhile, Rahul continued exploring the laptop.

Can I have the internet data card Sameer?

What happened Rahul, what are you doing?

Just sending a mail to Shreya about what to do next.

What? Are you crazy? Don't you dare tell her anything, it is because of her that I am in so much trouble.

What?

Rahul and Isha exclaimed in unison, being dumbstruck by what Sameer said.

Yes guys, you have heard it right. I don't know if Karan is also involved or not, but surely Shreya is the person who has screwed me behind the mask of friendship. I don't know why she did it, nor am I ever gonna ask her.

What happened Sameer? She has been really helping her all this while.

Rahul, you know what, if she has been helping you then it just means that she has made sure that matters become worse for me. She is doing all that just to know about my where-abouts. Perhaps, that is why, she has asked both of you to find me out.

Damn it! Sameer you need to know a very important thing man. She knows your mail-id and password by virtue of the hacking skills you told her.

What the hell? That means I am not yet out of the deal. I am sure she is gonna use by digital signature. Damn it, I'll be screwed badly! Wait, what all did Shreya tell you. I am sure her version of the story would be much more distraught, much more skewed?

Rahul and Isha brief Sameer about what they have been told by Shreya and Sameer soon figures out what he suspected. Shreya did actually tell the exact opposite of what was the truth indeed!

Damn! That is what I feared, she told you guys and framed according to what she wants. And wait, did she not mention Kenny anywhere in all this?

No, she didn't!

There you are, these guys are all working for Karan. Rajiv, Kenny and Shreya. These were the eyes that e-mail talked about.

What's the truth, Sameer?

Nothing guys, I see it all clear now. Karan thinks I don't know about Shreya being with them and would do as Shreya wants me. It's perhaps my turn to call the lights now.

Give me the laptop before she could put it to any misuse. She perhaps does not know that when it comes to hacking, she just isn't there!

to be continued..

Next : Part 13: Prelude to the unprecedented

Part 11: Final nail in the coffin, nailed!

Link to previous parts here : 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Present

Sameer is stopped by those harsh words and a strong grip of the hand. Sameer retaliates and pushes Rahul away.

Go to hell man!

Sameer lashes out at Rahul and walks down a few steps before sitting on the stones, as Rahul and Isha look on. Rahul and Isha move towards their mentally arrested friend.

Sameer, are you ok?

Yes Isha, I am fine.

Dude, listen, we both are with you. You need not worry.

Sameer tries to hide his face as tears become too hot to handle. Isha tries to pacify him as Rahul opens the laptop to see the clock ticking towards 3 am, with only 1 hour more to go.!

Flashback

Sameer stays back as Shreya goes on to her cabin. After having a smoke and thinking about his further course of action, he also moves in.

He moved to his table and took out the same piece of paper to cross out the tasks performed.

~~Task1: Meeting Kenny and Shireen and telling them about it.~~

~~Task 2: Dropping a mail to Rajiv informing the same.~~

~~Task 3: Informing Shreya~~ and asking for her guidance for the further proceedings.

Task 4: Final nail in the coffin!

Sameer looked at the paper. By then, he knew Rajiv would have received the mail that he sent minutes ago. It was time for his next course of action and probably the last. It was then that Sameer received a mail.

Hi Sameer,

The final draft is almost done, we needed to ask if anything else required to be done. The final timeline has been pre-poned to 3 am tonight which has been told to us as a strict deadline by Rajiv. He has asked us to sign it and give our affirmation that this is the best possible solution to the case in point! Me and Kenny wanted to just have a little discussion about the same. Can we please meet in the meeting room?

Thanks,

Shireen

It appeared as if running from it won't help as the same thing was following Sameer on its own. But why did Rajiv not reply to his mail in which he even mentioned about resigning from the job but did reply to Shireen's mail. Perhaps, in the past 24 hours, Sameer was over thinking every thing, or may be, there was a reason to it all.

Kenny, Shireen and Sameer assemble in the meeting room, for what was according to them the last time together!

Yup, tell me guys!

Sameer, we are having a few issues with the final report, but what is perturbing us is the fact that you have suddenly decided to leave this and then there is a mail from Rajiv stating that we need to finalize this deal by 3 am. We perhaps don't know how to react to this?

See Shireen, I don't really know why has Rajiv preponed it, but what I do know is that I am not a part of it. I would say this to be more of a coincidence rather than a bad omen. So, don't worry guys, go ahead with this!

And I have to rush guys, catch you both later!

Sameer goes to his desk to see a mail. Mails were all he was fiddling with for the past 24 hours.

Dear Sameer,

I find this absolutely ridiculous to see you pulling out of this project at the end moment. I would suggest you to go ahead with this, and support Kenny and Shireen. Feel free to talk to me, but as of now, you are on this project.

Rajiv

Sameer's all plans were playing down on him, as he hacked into Rajiv's profile yet again, this time in the office hours itself. He knew Rajiv won't accept his backing out of the deal, so he opened Rajiv's mailbox and sent a mail to himself accepting the same. Sameer was on his way now. He did delete the sent mails.

to be continued...

Next : Part 12: Sameer sets the ball rolling

Part 10: The swings of time and parallels with destiny

The previous chapters, a must go before moving on to this once.
here are the previous ones -> 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Present
Karan?

Did you say Karan?

Yes Sameer, you have heard it right, Karan it is. Things are mightily ugly Sameer, you know only half the story.

Flashback
What's wrong Sameer, tell me.

Shreya, you know what, I never thought my commitment, my dedication would be put to such misuse. I feel like stabbed.

What? Are you mad, what makes you talk like this?

The night.

What?

Let me tell you the entire thing. Yesterday, it got a bit too late while working. I was tired and decided to take a break from work. As usual my mind diverted, as always, towards hacking. Unintentionally, I hacked Rajiv's profile and....

And then what Sameer? What mails did u read?

Nothing much, just that there is a project coming up very soon. It is a project that I have been waiting for, but Rajiv is gonna give that project to someone else, because he feels that I get way too engrossed in my work, and the project needs open-minded thinking.

That's really unfair, shall I talk to him and tell him that you are the best guy to do this project?

No, chuck it for now, let him make the announcement, I will myself talk to him after that.

Hmm, ok, if you say so. Let's go now otherwise Rajiv is again gonna say stuff in his fake UK accent.

Both of them laugh as Sameer says,"Ok then, you proceed to work, I got a call to make, catch you soon dear."

Present
Guys, I know Shireen and Kenny would have to face it, the responsibility of ruining lives by going along with this project, but then I can't destruct myself knowingly!

That night when I read those mails, I had almost lost myself. I don't know what the two of you and the rest of my colleagues would think of me, but I am not the person you knew, not the person you befriended!

Sameer, it's not that ways, you can't run away man! We need you, Shireen needs you!

Listen, the two of you. If you are so willing to help Shireen and whosoever involved in this, take my laptop, it has all the necessary details, go on and help them out. But just get the hell out of here, either, let me go.

Sameer pushes them as Rahul gets hold off his hand and pulls him.

Listen mate, this is not how things gonna work out!

to be continued....

Next Chapter -> Part 11: Final nail in the coffin, nailed!

A world waiting to be explored

Part 15: That one night hacked several lives..!!

Part 14: The most important call

Part 13: Prelude to the unprecedented

Part 12: Sameer sets the ball rolling

Part 11: Final nail in the coffin, nailed!

Part 10: The swings of time and parallels with destiny