Hey, Are You Alone?

Scared & Scarred

It was past 10 p.m. on a wintry night, I was alone in a huge office of 10,000 sq.ft. area. My colleagues had left office on the dot at 5.30 pm and the peon on the second shift left for home at 7.30 pm leaving the office keys with me. Rarely any other office in that 20 Storey tower remains open beyond 8 p.m.

I had planned to leave office just before midnight, rush to the station and catch the last train for home.

One side of the office was lined up with desks and cubicles with glass windows over looking street lined up with tall residential buildings. The other side had several cubicles, opening to large executive cabins overlooking Arabian sea. Most of the lights in office were switched off, and there was eerie silence around.

Being a bachelor, with enormous work at hand, it was common or rather expected to work late hours to meet deadlines. I usually carried a MP3 Player, a box of Reynolds cigarettes for a company. That's many moons ago. Office was on the 10th floor in Cuffe Parade, Mumbai. The long corridor led to the emergency door at the back of the office opening to the adjacent tower, in emergencies.

The front glass door was chain locked and the shutter was pulled down for safety before the peon left office.

My breathing, puffing on cigarette and the music echoed through the office.

It was 11.30 pm when I thought of picking up coffee and emerged from my cabin to walk towards the pantry through the long corridor, from the back of the office to the front door. Until I emerged from my cabin, I did not know that the peon had switched off all lights in that 10000 sq. ft office except one next to the main door. Suddenly, I heard a female voice muttering " Hey. Are you alone?".

I froze. Bewildered, I turned around. It was pitch dark near the emergency door in the back, except for a thin ray of light cutting through the gap. I could not see anyone. I was sure, there was none in the office except me, and assumed the emergency door was locked by the peon. The restrooms on the either side of that door were only for men. And, I was sober that evening. I doubt if nicotine was working on me.

Putting on a brave face, I walked towards the pantry, once again checked the chain lock on the main glass door with the shutter pulled, not completely down though, by the Peon. There was no chance of even a raccoon entering the office. And, here I heard a female voice.

Quickly, gathering my wits and coffee cup, I stepped out of the pantry, looked around and started walking towards my cabin only to hear “Where is mine”?

Spilling the coffee on the floor and my shirt, I struggled to find the lights button but found none. Somehow, entering the cabin, I picked a cigarette from the Reynolds Tin and took a few puffs. I thought it would calm my nerves.

I wished I had kept a flashlight handy when working late in the office. What if there was a sudden power outage, how could I have stepped out of the office? I could not concentrate on my work as through the transparent glass wall, in the dark corridor, I felt she was still standing there waiting for her coffee and me.

Just then, memories of a couple of suicides committed by a few male and female employees, in the past one or two years, from one of the offices on the other side of the emergency door started flashing before my eyes. Damn! I was scared what if she was still hanging around waiting for her coffee or asking me out for a dinner date? What if there are more than one? My throat was parched with no water and only puffing on Reynolds. Chilled to the bone and scared to death, I put on my MP3 . And boom! The first song it played was of Elvis Presley crooning “Marguerita…..”, and to my horror, I could hear someone in the corridor feet tapping to the tune. Yes. She was still around. With a Coffee or Me question.

Things seemed to be going out of control. Lighting another cigarette, feeling brave, I picked up the office keys, wallet and bag, rushed out of my cabin in the darkness, slipped on the coffee on the floor, crawled a little and ran on the slippery floor towards the main door. On the way, I stumbled against a couple of desks, hurt but gathering my wits, dashed to the main door. Shaken, Stirred, Scared and horrified, I could barely take the chain lock out, managed to open the glass doors inward, pulled the shutter up, and before I could heave a sigh of relief I heard she saying, " How can you lock me in the office and go, you coward and heart less".

I didn't waste a single second in pulling the shutter down and putting two padlocks before getting into the lift.

Luckily, the lift area was well-lit. I had to wait for the lift car to arrive and could not, possibly take the stairs to reach the lobby. What if she catches me there?

As soon as the lift arrived, I jumped into it, and forced close the doors. When I turned towards the mirror, I found not just coffee but there were blood stains on my shirt and dust on my trousers. I am like, what is this, have I been stabbed or scratched?

My wristwatch glass though broken, showed it was past midnight. Instead of lift going down, it started going up to the 20th floor. And then, to my horror, on its downward journey, the lift started stopping at each floor.

Finally once down, I ran out of the main gate, jumped into a waiting cab and thundered take me to the VT Station. The driver saw me through his rear-view mirror, suspicious yet offered water to calm me down. I narrated my horror story to him. Niyaz - the driver, offered me his new birthday shirt and asked me to change it in the taxi. He warned me, with that blood-stained shirt, I would have a huge problem at the railway station. In such times, it was a sheer luck that I met a divine soul. Once there I boarded the train leaving my worries behind.

Popping in one Crocin and applying Dettol to scratches, and ensuring all doors and windows are closed, lights on, I hit the bed.

All through the night, I could hear her asking "Why were you so scared?" and her singing, Tomorrow Will Come song all through the night.

Come morning, I will have a lot to answer at the office for the mess that I left behind, I knew that.

I didn't know, what tomorrow will come…

Don't go. Be with me for I need to conclude this saga.