Cometh The Hour, Cometh The Man

‘Cometh the hour, cometh the man’, an adage that suited Tony from head to toe, though in a certain way. Only problem with this adage was that it applied to an eleventh hour which protected nobody, but him. He was the sole benefactor.

Somehow, and always, he managed to spring out of the self-inflicted difficulty. Just in the nick of the time from where no one would hope to recover. However, he could do a lot to avoid such mishaps in the first place.

His priorities were clear and simple i.e. to have none. He rather believed in letting things slip away first so that he could snatch it back at the last moment. He was a smart and intelligent person, but not enough to understand the simple relationship of cause and effect. Not sure, whether he did it on purpose or really did unknowingly and instinctively. But that always led to unwarranted inconvenience and unnecessary trouble. Just like it did in one of the instances during his college days.

The first-year results were out, Tony and his friends – Ajay and Sohail were happy and looking forward to the second year. In the quest of ensuring everyone’s presence, especially Tony’s, Ajay – the most sensible and punctual guy from their small group, had asked them to join him near the main gate. The area at the entrance where all the important notices concerning admissions were put up.

 “Read it thoroughly boys”, Ajay said pointing at the notice board.

“We read that together. Don’t you…”, Sohail protested but was cut short by Ajay who was keenly watching Tony. His eyes were glued to the contents.

 “Important Notice: Admissions for the IInd year – 3^rd May 1999. Timing – 9am to 12pm. Please note no entries will be accepted after…”

Tony read the entire notice and looked at his friends who were watching him intently.

“What? I know. Let’s promise to meet on the dot @9am.”, Tony said confidently.

Considering his track record of keeping such promises, Ajay and Sohail burst out in laughter.

“Let’s see. Do you wanna bet Sohail?”, asked Ajay.

“Definitely not.”, Sohail retorted.

Tony pondered for few seconds and then said, “This time I’ll let my actions do the talking.”

“Really,”, said Ajay and Sohail in unison and they again began laughing. On this occasion, Tony had joined them too.

Finally, the day arrived. Ajay had phoned a day before to remind Tony about the admission and most importantly the time. He also helped him in filling his admission form and telling him which documents to be attached along with it.

As they expected, Tony was nowhere to be seen. Whereas Ajay and Sohail reached the campus on the agreed time and joined the queue as well. In a way, they reserved the place for Tony so that he doesn’t have to start from the end of the queue. Until then, they even let some of the students to move ahead of them.

Time never waits for anyone. Two and a half hours were passed and still there was no sign of Tony. Both of them were very disappointed. At least they expected him to make an exception today for his own good.

In a matter of 20 mins, both Ajay and Sohail completed their admission procedure. Before Ajay left the window, he informed the clerk that they are expecting their friends to be here at any moment. The clerk almost objected in the beginning, but later agreed when Ajay informed that Tony’s mother is hospitalized.

Ajay cursed himself for not thinking of any other reason than he mentioned to that clerk. He didn’t spare Tony too, him being the main culprit for whom he had to lie.

Tony sprinted as fast as he could and made it just when the window was about to be closed. The clerk accepted the application looking at the name and asked Tony about his mother’s condition and who was taking care of her in his absence. Tony was stunned at the unusual question because he just left his mother watching ‘Saas-Bahu’ serial’s repeat telecast. But he was smart and hence guessed that this could be one of his friend’s ploy. Just in case if he was late. He answered saying that her aunt is taking care of her now and got his admission done.

“You guys are awesome, especially you Ajay. That was your idea right.”, Tony said cheerily. He was happy he made it through and happier for what his friend did for him.

“God is watching me. I wonder the things you will make me do to protect our friendship.”, Ajay said sarcastically.

“Come on. I am sorry. I was late again.”, Tony apologized for his recklessness.

“And why were you late?”, Sohail pitched in. Even he had the right to get angry.

Before Tony could reply, he continued.

“Wait. Wait. I know. You and your stupid video game. That one with the soldier, oh yes, CONTRA.”

“But…”, Tony wanted to add and again his speech was curtailed.

“No. No. There is more. After sleeping late, it is not possible to get up early and then can you skip MTV Select. Your Nikhil Chinappa. I guess that ended an hour ago, leaving 30 minutes to reach here.”, finally Sohail concluded by adding, “Who cares about admission?”

Not just Tony but Ajay too was surprised to see Sohail’s disgruntled avatar. Perhaps, for the first time, he was determined to complete what he had to say and thus, he said it all at one go.

“You will make a hell of a teacher.”, Ajay complimented him in the end.

Then came the final year. Ajay topped the college. Sohail was a happy scoring distinction. Tony was happy for both and himself. He had managed to clear the final year satisfactorily. Not that great and not too bad. Somewhere in between.

They all celebrated on their graduation day knowing that their paths would be different from tomorrow and perhaps, they would hardly get to see each other as frequently as they do today.

Ajay loved numbers, so he pursued his career in finances and eventually got hired by the Largest Bank in America. Like his father, Sohail always felt that he can be a good teacher. The man, who always wanted to speak and lecture but often stopped mid-way, decided to fulfill his desire by becoming one.

None of his friends were sure about Tony’s future plans. The way he carried his life so far made them doubt if he even had one in the first place. Being friends, they didn’t want to make him feel awkward by putting him in the spot. After all, it does not matter as long as they remain friends.

Due to the distance created by their professional lives, they couldn’t meet as frequently as they could during their college days. Ajay and Sohail at least spoke over the phone regularly but connecting with Tony was always a challenge. He would rarely answer their calls and whenever he did, his conversations would remain short. Every time, he would make some lame excuses and disconnect the call. However, he did respond to WhatsApp messages. Something to keep his wagon hitched to theirs.

The only thing that stayed common for them was their marital status. Even after a decade, they couldn’t find themselves their better halves. The partner for life. They were in relationships but couldn’t find any of them as a suitable prospect for marriage.

It had been many years since they saw each other or met. Then one fine day, Ajay called Sohail and he, as usual, immediately answered.

“What’s up Ajay? How are you doing? Let me try and conference Tony as well.”, Sohail said upon answering the call. The protocol he religiously followed.

“Yeah sure.” Ajay obliged.

After a couple of rings, Tony answered the call.

“How are you, boys? Great to hear your voices.”

After exchanging pleasantries, Ajay informed about his plans to be in India next week. After meeting his parents, he would be put up at one of the 5-star hotels in Mumbai. If they agreed, he would do the bookings for them as well.

 “Let’s meet at the Hotel. It will be fun meeting after so many years.”, Ajay said enthusiastically.

Both agreed. For a change, Tony didn’t immediately hang up. He spoke with them at length. They chattered about their heartbreaks and unconfirmed relationships. They spoke for a while and later hung up after speaking about random things.

As usual, Ajay checked-in on time and so did Sohail. They met briefly at the lobby and gave each other a tight hug. Just as the bell boy picked his luggage, Ajay glanced over the reception desk to check if Tony had reached too. Nope, not as yet. Sticking to the practice from his college days, Ajay had texted Tony a night before reminding him about the most awaited rendezvous.

“Did you hear from Tony?”, asked Sohail.

“Not today but I reminded him yesterday. Hopefully, he has changed now and has become more punctual.”, Ajay said and laughed.

“Why don’t you call him?”, insisted Sohail.

While moving towards the elevator in the company of bell boys, Ajay called Tony but could not reach him due to network issues. So, he dropped him another text message asking his whereabouts, “Where are you? We reached already.”

 “Something came up. Will be there by lunch.”, Tony replied after a couple of minutes.

Tony wasn’t as expressive as his friends. However, he never hid things from them, but now his friends felt that there is a lot of things they do not know about him. Post-college, though they all were in touch but hardly knew about what Tony did for his livings. All they knew that he was a contractor.

This gave them an impression either Tony isn’t doing well or perhaps, he doesn’t have a permanent job. These questions cannot be asked over the phone. Also, his friends felt that there was a huge risk in asking such questions again and again. It may just hurt or make Tony feel inferior. For them, his friendship was more important than anything else.

One of the other purposes of Ajay’s holiday was to know more about Tony. Being employed in America, he had the power and authority to do something for his friend. He knew given Tony’s nature; he would never ask for help. But that doesn’t stop him to help if at all that was the case. He wanted to talk to him in person and understand if there is any problem.

They freshened up quickly at their hotel rooms. Ajay had booked 3 rooms adjacent to each other. Still there was no sign of Tony. After a while, Ajay received another text.

“You guys carry on and have lunch. I will try to finish my work by afternoon. Sorry. I will come and explain.”, read the message from Tony.

“You better have a good explanation.”, Ajay thought after reading the text message.

Later, he went to meet Sohail in his room and informed about yet another Tony’s instance of delay. They walked towards the restaurant which was located on the opposite of the hotel building within its premise. They ordered some mocktails to start with and chatted about random things happening in their lives.

The view from their table was ecstatic. They could see lush green grass bordered by a variety of plants which bloomed with different colored flowers. The wide view of the vast ocean beyond that acted as a backdrop. Also, it offered a view of the pavement that led to the hotel from restaurant and vice-versa. They could keep an eye on the visitors or guests entering either at the restaurant or at the hotel’s reception desk.

Ajay’s phone chimed again, “Are you okay? Get out of the hotel right now.”, just as he read the message, the section of glass plane adjacent to their table shattered instantly as if somebody had thrown a big brick with full force.

Before they could make sense of what had actually happened, another section of the glass went down and now Ajay had a clear view of the gunmen marching towards the restaurant and spraying bullets on whoever they wanted to. Just as another round was to be fired in their direction, Ajay pulled Sohail down ducking under the table. Luckily, the bullet missed Sohail’s head but scraped his index finger that held his drink.

When the gunmen changed their direction of firing, some guests saw it as an opportunity to escape. The only way out of the restaurant was through the front and the hidden door behind the bar counter. Those who tried the front route met their fate, as they directly came in the arc of those gunmen.

Ajay tried to stay calm and dismissed the idea of running out from the front. They quickly joined the herd who tried to escape from the door behind the liquor shelf. Unfortunately, watching the gunmen approach someone had locked the escape door before they reached anywhere near and both had no choice than hiding in the compartments underneath the bar.

The gunmen now entered the restaurant and were having a heated argument. Each one was blaming the other for the situation that lay in front of them. It appeared they had planned to rob the bank and smoothly get away but couldn’t and have got entangled in this mess. One of the gunmen was apparently the boss but the other was shouting at him.

“You planned this robbery without considering all the possible risks.”, the other gunmen cried.

“Was it just my fault? No plan can be completely full proof. Let’s accept that we failed to improvise.”, said the boss in high pitched tone.

“Getting killed wasn’t something we signed up for. We lost our brothers and now they will kill us as well.”

“Not until we have hostages and only if you stop killing the unarmed civilians for fun.”

“I panicked.”

“Now calm down and do as I say. Find them, they must be hiding somewhere here. This is the dead end. They are our tickets to freedom.”, the boss said in husked voice.

The sidekick soon began to dig and find the guests and hotel staff who couldn’t escape. It didn’t take much time for him to locate Ajay and Sohail as well. He later made them kneel facing against the wall with their hands raised.

The pavement from the main gate that ran through divided the hotel building and its restaurant to dine, in such a way, that both the structures stood facing opposite to each other. In this battle that started at the near by bank and lead into the hotel had already taken many lives. The officers who had entered the premise from the hotel’s backdoor had a clear view of the shattered restaurant. They had also summoned Special Task Force to deal with the matter.

Right now, the safety of the guests who were held as hostages was their topmost priority. The receptionist dialed the number that connected to the restaurant and handed the receiver to the officer in command who was handling this entire operation.

The phone began to ring, and the alpha gunmen moved in the direction from where it originated. The negotiation began and the gunmen put down the list of demands as if he was ordering from the menu. Initially, he gave the officer sitting at the opposite building one hour to arrange for the things, which they never going to, as they were buying some time to plan the safe extraction of the hostages and catch these two either dead or alive.

The officers utilized the time in search of the loophole. Apparently, they could think of none. Even the snipers didn’t have the view for a clear shot. The bulkiness of the restaurant’s edifice in the front fully blocked the view. These two gunmen were smart too, they kept themselves away from the entrance that was visible to the armed force in the opposite building.

The two officers from the SPF had already arrived and one of them was already in the vicinity when this incident took place. They reported to the officer in command and were briefed about the target. They learnt about the door in the restaurant through which some managed to escape. That door leads to the outlet which the restaurant used to get their supplies in the kitchen. The hotel staff and cook also reported to work from that route. The officer thought that has not come to the killer’s notice as yet.

While they discussed the phone at the reception desk rang again. She picked it up and gestured the officer to come and speak. The alpha gunman was on the line.

“Hope you have arranged for all the things I had asked.”

“We need more time. It is not easy to arrange a whole lot of things.”

“How many from the list could you arrange?”

The officer was taken aback as he did not expect this question and fumbled to speak.

“I knew it. Now, you have exactly 15minutes. If I don’t hear back, you know what I am going to do.”

After a pause, he continued, “I will start killing them one by one.”

The fear gripped in the minds of hostages. Ajay and Sohail looked at each other. Ajay was positioned on the extreme right, he feared what if these killers start from him.

“Gentlemen, it is time.”, the officer told SPF agents while putting down the receiver.

All the hostages were literally counting minutes in their hearts. They figured it is going to expire soon. Ajay didn’t feel good and he assumed that his time is up. Sadly, there is nothing that he can do in front of these gunmen. Today, no preparation can save him because no one prepares for a situation like this.

His thoughts wandered towards Tony. It’s good that he couldn’t make it today. He felt bad for Sohail. It was his plan that got him here. What was supposed to be a joyous afternoon was now turning into a nightmare.

“Five mins to go.”, the agent reminded the other one.

“These five minutes were never so important for me than it is today.”, the other responded.

“And I know why. Let’s do this.”, the first one affirmed, and they swiftly moved on the pavement of the route that led to that door in the restaurant.

Ajay’s reverie was suddenly broken by the sidekick. He announced that 15 minutes are about to expire and pushed Ajay near the entrance so that the officers in the opposite building can have a clear view.

 The fear and shock gripped him. He never dreamt of meeting his end in such a passion. He looked at Sohail who knelt at some distance with his head turned towards him. He closed his eyes and tears rolled down on his cheeks. His mind ran through his entire life and the images began to flash. His parents who were always so proud of him, of course the moments he spent with them. His friends too, the laughter they shared and especially Tony, to whom he wished to meet one last time.

With only one head to aim, the trigger was pulled with such precision that it knocked the target down at one shot. The body instantly fell on the floor. “The perfect shot!” exclaimed the shot-maker.

Ajay fell on his shoulders pushed by the force that the bullet had propelled on the body. He thought probably this is how it feels to die but to his surprise, he didn’t feel a pain, not even a pinch. He had blood all over his face and strangely his back felt heavy. If that wasn’t odd, he thought how come he is still breathing. In fact, he never ever felt so alive.

After sensing that there is life still in his body, Ajay pushed the bulk from his body and realized that body was of the gunman who had pointed the gun at his head. On the other side, he looked at the motionless body in the pool of blood of the main culprit.

Two bullets were fired at the same time through the shelf of the bar by two SPF officers, they both aimed at their heads. One aimed at the sidekick and the other at his boss.

Ajay felt lucky and relieved to be alive. Soon Sohail had also joined him and they hugged each other. They realized the presence of two well-built figures wearing uniforms and masks.

“Thank you very much. Thank you for saving our lives.”, Ajay and Sohail thanked in unison to the one who shot the master.

“We did our job. We are happy it is done well. But you must thank him too.”, the agent said pointing towards his colleague, “He is the one who volunteered to accompany me.”

So, they walked towards another masked agent who was comforting the other guests.

“Thank you.”, Ajay said with full gratitude.

“Thank Almighty. Good to see you all alive.”, The masked agent replied.

“Have we met before? Your eyes and your voice… do I know you?”, Sohail asked.

“You very well do.”, the agent said removing his mask and further added, “This is the window I would have never missed, at any cost.”

The tears rolled down from their eyes as they looked at a familiar figure, perhaps, the better version of the person they had seen years ago.

“Cometh the hour, Cometh the man.”, they said aloud.

Tony couldn’t believe his ears. He put his gun aside and held them in his arms.