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Chapter 13: Anand Slaps Bhoomika
As Dev’s train pulled into the crossroad that evening, the beautiful mouth-watering aroma of a delicious curry floated in through the bars, one that immediately reminded him of home and of his mother’s cooking. His taste buds tingled as it strongly brought to mind that divine, crispy, golden bhature and tangy chole masala he had two weeks ago when he had visited his mom. There were many households in that area and it was hard to pinpoint where exactly it was coming from, that is, until, the train stopped right across Bhoomika’s house.
The white lights from her kitchen’s veranda shone like crystal specks in his eyes as he caught sight of her in the garden, picking on fresh curry leaves and cherry red tomatoes.
He wondered what she could be cooking as he lingered on how the setting sun cast its orange hue on her hair, making it look like smooth, polished sheets of burnt copper.
He noticed that s
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CROSSROAD Chapter 14: Dev's Decision
That evening, dinner was exceptionally silent for Anand and Bhoomika. Not that they shared any conversation otherwise. They hardly spoke to each other. And even when they did, it was barely a handful of words, only because it was absolutely essential. When in close quarters, there was always an air of unrest, of uncertainty.Anand was unpredictable. One could never figure out when he’d snap and for what. As of now, it was so quiet that one could even hear their fingers touching their dinner plates.Anand tore out a piece of the roti, dipped it in the sabzi and stuffed it into his mouth. Visibly, it looked appealing to anyone, but he never appreciated it. “The curry is good,” he said out of the blue, surprising Bhoomika enough to make her steal a glance at him before returning her gaze to her plate.He studied her fiddling with her food, rolling it several times in the curry before putting it back on the plate
CROSSROAD Chapter 15: Dev Betrays Bhoomika?
When Dev’s usual train pulled up at the crossing the following day, Bhoomika was in the backyard spreading wet laundry on the line. She peeked out from behind one of the sarees fluttering before her and eyed the door of the train, but he wasn’t there. Heart racing a little, she craned her neck further and scanned the windows, but he wasn’t there either. She stood there, waiting, hoping to get a glimpse of him and alleviate the fears that had been building inside her since last evening. But alas, despite the express train whipping past, and this train slowly chugging out, he was nowhere to be seen.With a sinking feeling, she retreated from view. There was a storm brewing in her mind. How come he never turned up today, could he be ill? Or, is he avoiding me on purpose?She was dead sure that he’d seen her getting hit by Anand last evening. Anand was one who never wasted an opportunity at that. He always made sure he put up an act before oth
CROSSROAD Chapter 1: The Woman At The Crossroad
Another Monday dawned.Streets teemedwith men and womenracingahead of time, kidsshuttlingbetween tuitions and school, and bone-worn seniorssoakingup the post-winter sun.At a suburban railway station,DevangChaudhary,early thirties, grunted, groaned, and squeezed through the door of a crowded local train along with ten others.He was the kind of white-collar executive you’d bump into at a busy station every day – neat formals, unbuttoned collar, and a laptop strapped over the shoulder.“Dude! Watch it!” he snapped when his laptopcrusheddangerously amidst sweaty bodies.He plopped in through the train’s door and grabbed the first thing he could to break his fall: hand straps.The train inched for
CROSSROAD Chapter 2: Dev's Life
The day started with Dev taking charge asthe company’sIT Project Lead.Heintroduced himself to his team and spent a while getting to know them in return. He laid out plans on how to get things moving. *** Past noon,Devexited the conference roomafter a long sessionwith his team. Heordered lunchon his way to his cabinandwas about to enterwhenhis phone rang. “Hello beautiful,” he answered as he walked through the door. “Busy?”A sweet voiceresponded from the other end. “I was, just got free. And now, I’m waiting for my lunch. You?”He plopped onto his chair, making it creak. “I’m done long back, you know me.” “Of course, we’ve been on countless breakfast, lunch, and dinner dates together.&nbs
CROSSROAD Chapter 3: Meeting Ruhi
Over the next few days, the same routineplayedonlike a broken record.The door turned out to beDev’s favorite spot in the day.Though the vile, disgustingstenchhungaround for a couple of minutes, the rest of the journeywasenjoyable.As for the balding man, he’d becomeless coldthan their first meeting. He bore his large, white, horse-like teethandchattedto glory withDev.Hisdarkskin, dazzling white teeth, andwarm,kindeyes were intriguing. To top it off, he had a funny voice, like he had a mouth full of hot potatoes.“Kamal is the name,” the balding guy stated proudly, “what’s yours?”“Dev.”Like always, the train pulled up at the crossing. Dev peeked out of the railings, searching for t
CROSSROAD Chapter 4: First Sight
The first day of a new week started on a low note with Dev being late and missing his usual train to work. He’d reached his rented place quite late the previous evening, and after attending to a couple of chores and dinner, it was way beyond his normal schedule. This morning, he felt zapped out. He was groggy and yawned every now and then. How he wished he could have slept some more! The meeting with the Saxenas was a pleasant one, especially seeing Ruhi after so long. She had transformed from a cheesy, irritating girl to a gorgeous, smart, intelligent and decent, independent woman. With all her class and elegance, she kind of made him nervous. “Whoa!!!” A voice shot into his ears. Dev tore his eyes open. He’d dozed off and almost fallen off the train when a fellow passenger caught him just in time and broke his fall.“Brother, you had fallen asleep, you nearly fell off t
CROSSROAD Chapter 5: Affected
From across the track, she glared at him, a thousand questions in her eyes. He swallowed hard, struggling to hold her gaze. She fiddled with a wet shirt, unable to do anything other than attempting to discourage him with a hard, deadly stare. To say that she was petrified would be an understatement. The phone in his hand freaked her out. Clearly, he was shooting her; just like the many perverts she had seen and heard of. Eyes deadlocked on him; she wrapped her pallu around her bare waist. Gingerly, he turned off the cam and lowered his phone, feeling sheepish.The battle of the stares was cut short when the local train slapped past from the opposite direction with a loud bellow of its horn. He fought to see through the blur, but he could see nothing. When the train passed, she was gone, and they were moving. &n
CROSSROAD Chapter 6: Conversations
Dev stood at the door of his train and gazed longingly across the track. Unlike other days, Murgi’s backyard was littered with dead leaves. The kitchen door was closed, and the chickens weren’t around. This was how it has been for the past three days.Three days! Three days since he last saw her, and he felt very disturbed. This was so unlike what he was used to every day, scenes that teemed with energy and life.What if something happened to her, he wondered anxiously. His guts were in knots, and he couldn’t shake off the feeling that something was wrong.She may be out of town, he reasoned with himself, or she’s probably keeping a low profile after your little video stunt.Dev sighed. He considered how she’d reacted to him filming her the other day. She was freaked out. Who wouldn’t be, considering circumstances these days?
Latest chapter
- CROSSROAD Chapter 15: Dev Betrays Bhoomika?
- CROSSROAD Chapter 14: Dev's Decision
- CROSSROAD Chapter 13: Anand Slaps Bhoomika
- CROSSROAD Chapter 12: Behind Her Back
- CROSSROAD Chapter 11: Fatal Attraction
- CROSSROAD Chapter 10: Her Life
- CROSSROAD Chapter 9: Missing
- CROSSROAD Chapter 8: A Warning
- CROSSROAD Chapter 7: Trouble
