The Snob Foodie Part-6
I was too stunned to blink my eyes. I sat motionless at the desk of Inspector Raunak Chaudhary holding the letter in my hand. The words on the letter were spinning inside my head as I stared blankly at the ceiling of the room. The Inspector cleared his throat to draw my attention. It took me a while to focus my attention on him and to make any sense of what he was speaking.
"..... hard for you. But there are a few more missing pieces in this puzzle that you need to know. The letter in your hand is a sort of confession letter of Ms Alice Leroy. Now you must be wondering how I got hold of it rather how I came into the picture?"
To be honest, my brain was too fazed to think anything at all. Nevertheless, I kept quiet and let the Inspector continue his revelation.
“As mentioned in the letter, Ms Leroy indeed worked as a governess for the Bansal family. She lived in a rented single room apartment nearby Bansal's residence; and had been regular to her work for over a decade."
The more I listened to him the shallower came my breath. I wanted this nightmarish experience to end as quickly as possible. I really couldn't stand any of it anymore, my head threatened to burst open. I wanted the Inspector to be done quickly with his horrific revelation, but his pause was stretching into eternity.
After an excruciatingly long pause he continued, "And suddenly when she didn't turn up for 3 consequent days, it worried Mrs Bansal. She went to Ms Leroy's apartment to check on her, but returned unanswered. When all the attempts by the Bansals to reach her yielded no result, Mr Bansal decided to report the matter to us. When we reached Ms Leroy's apartment, we found the door locked from inside and so we had to break into her house."
Inspector Raunak Chaudhary again paused for a while. Then he took a deep breath and continued.
"Inside we found her hanging from the ceiling fan. When we searched the room for any suicide note, we found this letter neatly folded in an envelope addressed to you. When we inquired the Bansals about you, we found that they didn't have the slightest idea about who you might be. And it was then we decided to trace the phone number written on the envelope."
He looked at me expectantly but I kept quiet.
So, he continued, "With this, I hope the last piece of the puzzle falls right into its place. I wish you the strength of will that would enable you to cope with this disturbing news.... You may keep this letter, if you want."
He sighed, "May her soul rest in peace."
*******************
Mechanically, I climbed up the stairs to my apartment, unlocked the door, walk past my morose wife and went to the balcony. I closed my eyes and stood there, long enough to be interrupted by my wife umpteen times. But I didn't mind her interruptions; rather I didn't mind the world that was rushing past me. At that moment, I had forsaken all my worldly worries, ties, bonding, and relations; in fact, I had forsaken the world that bothered me all my life.
But of course, such euphoric state of Nirvana did not last long and once again the whirlpool of emotions overwhelmed me. I took the letter out of my pocket and stood staring it. The letter felt heavy in my hands; maybe, it was the burden of sorrows, broken dreams, betrayal and unrequited love that the letter carried which weighed it down. Slowly, I brought the letter to my chest. I held the letter, the last remnant of my beloved, close to my heart.
I closed my eyes and let the breeze soothe me. It is strange that once we are gone, we continue to live in this world through our stories. The stories of love, happiness, betrayal, sorrow, dreams, hope; the stories that we accumulate all our lives and pass it on to our loved ones; the stories that our loved ones chose to keep in their heart, and it is through such stories that we live on. When our stories get effaced from the hearts of our loved ones, it is then that we cease to live.
Alice will continue to live through her story, which will remain forever enthroned in my heart. But, what will happen to her after eternal sleep claims me? Shall she be permanently effaced from the face of the earth? This sudden thought unnerves me. It seems I cannot stand the thought of losing Alice, even in death.
"If only could I have her in life..." I sighed.
I looked at the letter in my hand, held it closer and said, "But this time I won't lose you. This time I won't let you go. This time I won't let you to be effaced."
After a while I went to my bedroom, took my laptop out of the cupboard and switched it on. My hands hovered above the keyboard for a while, uncertainty gripped me, and I was tempted to give up. Once again, I took the letter out of my pocket, but this time it filled me with zeal and a stone-willed determination.
"The story of Alice Leroy must not be effaced."
I took in a deep breath, and began typing,
"The Snob Foodie Part-1..."
The End
"..... hard for you. But there are a few more missing pieces in this puzzle that you need to know. The letter in your hand is a sort of confession letter of Ms Alice Leroy. Now you must be wondering how I got hold of it rather how I came into the picture?"
To be honest, my brain was too fazed to think anything at all. Nevertheless, I kept quiet and let the Inspector continue his revelation.
“As mentioned in the letter, Ms Leroy indeed worked as a governess for the Bansal family. She lived in a rented single room apartment nearby Bansal's residence; and had been regular to her work for over a decade."
The more I listened to him the shallower came my breath. I wanted this nightmarish experience to end as quickly as possible. I really couldn't stand any of it anymore, my head threatened to burst open. I wanted the Inspector to be done quickly with his horrific revelation, but his pause was stretching into eternity.
After an excruciatingly long pause he continued, "And suddenly when she didn't turn up for 3 consequent days, it worried Mrs Bansal. She went to Ms Leroy's apartment to check on her, but returned unanswered. When all the attempts by the Bansals to reach her yielded no result, Mr Bansal decided to report the matter to us. When we reached Ms Leroy's apartment, we found the door locked from inside and so we had to break into her house."
Inspector Raunak Chaudhary again paused for a while. Then he took a deep breath and continued.
"Inside we found her hanging from the ceiling fan. When we searched the room for any suicide note, we found this letter neatly folded in an envelope addressed to you. When we inquired the Bansals about you, we found that they didn't have the slightest idea about who you might be. And it was then we decided to trace the phone number written on the envelope."
He looked at me expectantly but I kept quiet.
So, he continued, "With this, I hope the last piece of the puzzle falls right into its place. I wish you the strength of will that would enable you to cope with this disturbing news.... You may keep this letter, if you want."
He sighed, "May her soul rest in peace."
*******************
Mechanically, I climbed up the stairs to my apartment, unlocked the door, walk past my morose wife and went to the balcony. I closed my eyes and stood there, long enough to be interrupted by my wife umpteen times. But I didn't mind her interruptions; rather I didn't mind the world that was rushing past me. At that moment, I had forsaken all my worldly worries, ties, bonding, and relations; in fact, I had forsaken the world that bothered me all my life.
But of course, such euphoric state of Nirvana did not last long and once again the whirlpool of emotions overwhelmed me. I took the letter out of my pocket and stood staring it. The letter felt heavy in my hands; maybe, it was the burden of sorrows, broken dreams, betrayal and unrequited love that the letter carried which weighed it down. Slowly, I brought the letter to my chest. I held the letter, the last remnant of my beloved, close to my heart.
I closed my eyes and let the breeze soothe me. It is strange that once we are gone, we continue to live in this world through our stories. The stories of love, happiness, betrayal, sorrow, dreams, hope; the stories that we accumulate all our lives and pass it on to our loved ones; the stories that our loved ones chose to keep in their heart, and it is through such stories that we live on. When our stories get effaced from the hearts of our loved ones, it is then that we cease to live.
Alice will continue to live through her story, which will remain forever enthroned in my heart. But, what will happen to her after eternal sleep claims me? Shall she be permanently effaced from the face of the earth? This sudden thought unnerves me. It seems I cannot stand the thought of losing Alice, even in death.
"If only could I have her in life..." I sighed.
I looked at the letter in my hand, held it closer and said, "But this time I won't lose you. This time I won't let you go. This time I won't let you to be effaced."
After a while I went to my bedroom, took my laptop out of the cupboard and switched it on. My hands hovered above the keyboard for a while, uncertainty gripped me, and I was tempted to give up. Once again, I took the letter out of my pocket, but this time it filled me with zeal and a stone-willed determination.
"The story of Alice Leroy must not be effaced."
I took in a deep breath, and began typing,
"The Snob Foodie Part-1..."
The End
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