An Error In Judgment

The sun was shining brightly and Sheila had to shade her eyes from the simmering rays. She had to meet a client at Bandra Kurla Complex and it was a good one hour journey from her office in Colaba. She debated whether to take a local train from Churchgate for which she would have to take a cab anyway or travel directly by cab to BKC. The summer heat was unbearable and humidity levels were high. She was sweating profusely. Deciding to take a cab, she booked a cab online. The driver was very nearby and within a few seconds, she got into the car which sped onwards towards her destination.

Her cell buzzed. It was her client who wanted to confirm that she was going to attend the meeting. Replying in the affirmative she took out the file from her bag. Going through her papers, she made a mental note of some questions to be asked to the client. So immersed was she in her papers, that she did not notice that the driver had taken a different turn. When the car suddenly came to a halt, she looked up wondering how she had got to her destination so quickly. Her heart pounded as she realized that the driver had stopped at a desolated spot near the Mahalakshmi race course.

‘Why had he stopped?’

Having read about so many incidents of kidnapping, molestation and rapes in the papers recently, she wondered whether she had unknowingly got into such a situation. She did not wait to enquire why he had halted. She just opened the door in a jiffy and ran. The driver ran after her calling out something. She ran hard and within a few minutes found a by-lane which led to a multistory apartment. She sped into the building and stood near the lift. The watchman of the building asked her to enter her name in the visitor’s register.

“I am not visiting anyone,” she said looking around. Happy to note that there was a surveillance camera in the lobby, she sank down on the sofa.

“But Ma’am, if you are not a visitor we cannot allow you to remain here,” said the watchman firmly.

“Please, Bhaiyya, just a few minutes,” Sheila pleaded. “Let me get my breath back and I will go.”

After a few minutes, she went to the main road. The cab and the driver were nowhere to be seen. Thanking her stars that she had got out of a tight situation without any mishap, she caught a bus to BKC. It was when she reached her client’s office and waiting in the lobby to be called in that she saw him. The cab driver, yes, the same driver had followed her here. He looked at Sheila oddly. But she was now in a safe place with many people around. So she did not bother to move and pretended not to see him. Expecting him to move away from the building, she was startled to see from the corner of her eyes that he was advancing towards her. She wanted to run again but restrained herself as she knew that this was the safest place she could be in the midst of people she knew.

“Ma’am, you left your file and papers in the car,” the driver said. “Here they are!”

“Oh, my God!” she exclaimed and grabbed the papers from his hands.

Till then Sheila had forgotten about the papers that she had removed from her bag. Though the bag was with her, in the hurry to get down from the cab, she had left the papers behind.

“How?” she began, wanting to ask him how he had traced her here. But then she knew the answer. The papers had the address of the client on top.

“Yes, Ma’am,” the driver smiled. “I stopped the cab only because fumes were coming out from the engine. But by the time I could explain to you, you ran. I called from behind to tell you that you had left some papers in the cab, but you would not look back. Then, I found the address on the letter and knew that you would land here at any point in time. Sensing that the papers were important, I came here and waited to hand them over to you.”

Feeling slightly ashamed of her quick error of judgment, Sheila gave a wry smile and apologized.

“No, Ma’am, I don’t need any apology. The road was lonely and you were right in your own way,” he said. “But I want to assure you that everyone is not a pervert. I am happy that I could reach the papers to you in time.”