Table for Two

One glass of a single malt after a strenous day of travel and market work almost always did the trick for me during my upcountry business tours. Well this visit to Mangalore didn't seem too different from the usual. The usual hotel, usual rooftop diner, my usual order and I was just easing into the evening. Apart from the cacophony of the bunch of hefty youngsters in a nearby table, the rooftop diner was largely empty, but still the IPL commentary on the big screen was difficult to piece together entirely, not that I cared much for it. Since college days, have largely been a social drinker and it was these lonely trips and life in sales that got me into private drinking but never more than 1-2 pegs and the occasional fag. Just when I got my cigarette delivered by the bearer and was about to step outside to the open air balcony, somebody approached my table and said something. Not expecting a bearer but assuming it was one, I looked up to notice it was not the bearer but a young woman in a black attire with a black scarf on her head, which almost covered her face...most of what was visible was her cat eyes. She had apparently asked me something and was expecting a reply, but me startled by the unexpected presence and lost in trying to piece together who this was, had not heard what she said. "Sorry, didn't get you" I said."Is it okay if I share this table with you...I was expecting someone and the person seems to be delayed and..." she glanced to the table alongside with the bunch of burly guys who were obviously leering at this petite and mysterious woman. Sensing her discomfort, I offered her a seat. Few minutes of awkward silence and her continous fidgeting with her phone later, I offered her the menu, which she politely said no to. This was getting weirder. I was planning to step out for a smoke, and I realized she might be comfortable speaking outside away from the group of youngsters, "Do you smoke?" No said she, "Care to join me on the balcony while I smoke so we can possibly speak?", she nodded and accompanied me. Away from the hustle of the IPL screening and loud laughs and noise of the guys, this was peaceful, a good breeze on a moonlit night. "Are you in some sort of trouble? I don't wish to interfere in your personal matter, but will be nice to know why you came up to me?" "Actually, I was expecting my boyfriend here and he sent me a message he's running late. Its all messy ...I think I'm making a mistake"she said as she welled up and her voice started quivering and in the light of the night, you could see she had shed a tear too. Now weirdness takes another level, an unknown girl in a city I'm not from, in a hotel, reaching out for some help and now crying. On one side, its always a struggle to not want to help someone who's reached out and that too a lady who seems to be in trouble, clearly in the wrong place - awaiting a boyfriend in a hotel at this hour in the night, on the other hand, stories of guys getting duped into helping pretentious victims were not uncommon in this day and age. My heart urged me to help her and my mind kept bellowing to stay away, but one single malt down, its usually the heart that prevails. "Don't cry, I'm sure there is still time to rectify your mistake, please calm down and might help if you talk about it, while I don't want to get involved, I could give you some advice. To keep things between us clear, you don't have to mention any particulars, like your name, where you stay, where you work etc, and neither would I...does that work?" She nodded again and slowly started opening up. "I am from the North, did my UG in this part of the country and got a job here. At work I met a boy, he was also from my side of the country, we got involved romantically and have been dating each other. Both of us come from humble backgrounds, and wish to make it big in life. We wanted to start a business of our own, so we joined this course which is like an incubator for start-ups. Unfortunately he didn't have money to spare for that course, so I paid his share of the fees too. After all, we were going to start the business together and possibly in a few years settle down together too. We also firmed up our business idea - was a Bed & Breakfast venture based out of Himachal. He said he had an agent who will help us with getting in touch with properties there and also set up a home cum office there. Unfortunately for me, I can't tell my folks that I am quitting my job for this and that too with a guy - we are a very conservative family. So even in the hostel I stay I have kept it a secret. He also has a similar problem at his place. So the entire plan is a secret between us now. I am actually supposed to fly out to Himachal tomorrow morning and he was to see me off, as he apparently can't quit this job till the business steadies. You see he is financially under a bigger stress than I am. Since we might not meet for a bit, he suggested we spend this last night in the city together, so I vacated my hostel tonight telling them I have some business assignment requiring me to work out of another city for few months. We were to stay here before he dropped me off at the airport tomorrow. He also asked me to give him some money which the agent had asked for to help us with our setup there. Now he messaged he can't make it tonight and there will be somebody else who will come to collect the money and I can stay in the room he has booked for us and leave to the airport in the morning.He sent this text after I had left the hostel, I wouldn't have if I got this message earlier. When I came here, I thought it best to not check-in to the room first, but figure out what to do and so came to the diner here. That's when I saw the gang of guys here, I suspect I have seen one of them with him somewhere before. All this looks fishy to me suddenly...I was so stupid...what if ...what will I tell my parents... not sure what got into me... I was always ambitious but I think love blinded me..." she started weeping uncontrollably. Well the story sounded legit enough for me, there was obviously no ask of money from me, but I still needed something to calm my mind that this need not be a trap for me.. "How do I believe you and know what you are saying is the truth?". She looked up and saw the curious look in my face and then reached for her wallet and pulled out a piece of paper - she folded a portion of it and showed me the rest - it was a flight ticket to Himachal for tomorrow. Then she took it back and then gave me glimpse of the inners of her purse, there was a bundle of money in it. Well, it could have been staged, but what if it wasn't. The situation is tricky, how do I help, without letting her get exposed. Need to think smart here...hoping my fondness for thriller movies and the different ways such a plot could end up..got me thinking profusely. Okay first things first, "You can't let those guys know who you are, talk to me and laugh with me like you were friend of mine. I will figure out a plan. Its best to keep your phone switched off for a bit. So we went back in and while I sat down, she excused herself to the loo. I quickly took my phone out and dialled my regular driver. I told him, I needed an urgent airport drop for a friend, and he was to come to the hotel I was staying. The lady had in the meantime come back and taken her seat at the table with her back to the group of guys, who had been leering at her all evening. I offered her the menu and she took it this time and we placed a dinner order. We consciously talked about other stuff and made it sound like we knew each other from before and so on. The IPL noise obviously helped muffle the conversation. I told her I have made arrangements for her to move out of here unsuspectingly. Told her that to the driver we maintain that you a sales manager and we know each other from elsewhere and we met at the hotel where you were to check in but you got news of your relative having passed away so made plans to fly out in the night itself and had expressed a concern of not getting a cab for airport drop in the night. After dinner was done, I put the bill on my room tab and accompanied her to the check-in counter, where her luggage was placed. My cabbie had arrived and I told him to drop her at the airport and then keep me updated. She had loaded her bag in the car, but before entering, stopped and hinted at me to have a private conversation aside from the driver. She was nervous...She feared the gang of guys who were now watching over the proceedings on the hotel gateway from the balcony at the diner, would follow the car and try to get hold of her. Fair fear and quite a possibility I felt, but the airport I felt was the safest place for her to go to now at this hour not the hotel. The transit to the airport is however a challenge...lot of pockets of lonely roads and as much as I trusted my cabbie, his fighting skills owing to his lean build were not something I trusted. Not that I had a body to be proud of either, but in the eyes of the gang, I was someone she knew and they werent entirely sure this was her. So I had no option, and I volunteered to accompany her to the airport. For some weird reason, this proposal was met with some joy by the driver too - perhaps he was not confident of taking a lonely lady to the airport at this hour. I went to the check-in counter and borrowed a pen and paper and said I'd be back in a bit. Both her from the rear seat and me from the co-driver seat had an eye on the rear of the car to see if we were being followed. True to her fears in a bit we saw some lights behind us, it was from few bikes and clearly looked like the gang had left the diner after us. The nervousness in the car was palpable, each for a different reason though - the driver was by far the most relaxed and it was he who helped ease the tension for us too as he switched on the radio and it had to be timing, but the radio station also decided this was the time for nail biting movie OSTs to be played. I quickly changed the station to something which was more bearable. In the dark of the car, I took the notepad and started scribbling a message, the cabbie turned on the cabin light, which I quickly switched off, saying I didnt need it. The last thing we wanted was the gang affirming this was her. "At the airport, once you're in, go change your clothing. Then buy yourself the earliest ticket to a different destination, where you have somewhere reliable you can go to, because whoever is chasing you knows where you are headed, so best to divert. And your phone if it can be kept off for as long as possible, would be best" read my note which she held onto like dear life. The road to the airport also heads to the city up until a final fork where there is an uphill climb which only leads to the airport. We had the bike lights follow us closely up until that fork, after which as the car swerved to the left to climb towards the hill that housed the airport, we lost them. It was only then that she breathed straight and me too. We finally exchanged a bottle of water relieved that the adventure of the night was ending. We crossed the police barricade and the cabbie managed to find a slot for the cark to park on the kerb. As he stepped out to pull the bags from the boot, and we also stepped out, she reached for her purse to pay the cabbie. I offered to take this up, she had already been thru' enough. We got a trolley for the bags and I offered to walk her to the gates of the terminal and told our cabbie friend to drive around and come back to pick me from the same place to avoid the cops chasing him away. As we walked to the gates, she couldn't stop thanking me and was clearly welling up again. We reached the security guard who asked her for her ID and after she'd shown it - she turned back and gave me a big tight hug and whispered "Thanks for saving my life tonight". As she walked in, I turned around and for the first time felt like I achieved something. Accomplishment and accolodaes at work never gave this feeling. Were the gang of bikers involved, was her supposed boyfriend a con, was her life truly at stake that night, did she escape safely..lot of unanswered questions...but guess that's what all of life's 'what ifs' feel like...