[Part 19]
"No! Let's stay a little more." Said a drunk Guddu "We are having so much fun!"
It was getting close to 3 AM and Sonali had suggested that they should head back to the ship. The girls had agreed but Guddu wasn't ready to go yet. The club would be open for two more hours and he didn't want to go before they kicked him out.
What he didn't realise in his stupor was that they would probably kick them out much sooner. All three guys were drunk beyond the limit of common sense and their behaviour was becoming increasingly inexcusable. Already Hemant had pinched a stripper's ass and would have been slapped if his wife Shriya hadn't intervened.
Five women and three drunk men, they just barely might be able to manage. But as time passed and they got more drunk, this equation was becoming less tenable. Kajal overruled Guddu's objections and all eight of them slowly made their way to the door. Outside it was very dark, the only light was coming from some neon club signs.
Kajal and Shriya looked for a taxi, but they could not find one. Taxis would be expensive but they could not even think about dragging three grown-ass drunk men in the public transport, even if they could understand the language. Some signs were in English as well as Malay but not all. Kajal was not sure she would be able to read a bus timetable.
A taxi passed but didn't stop even though they all waved like crazy. A group of local guys passed by, loud and raucous. They looked at this Indian group, particularly noticing the beautiful women, but they kept walking.
Rhea said "Can we walk towards the station, and also keep looking for taxis? Guddu bhai keeps arguing with the bouncers and I am afraid they will lose their temper soon."
They started walking, but walking with three men not in their senses was not easy. They made slow progress. A few taxis drove by but they were either busy or didn't want to stop.
All five women had to support the guys but they were women, and they were also tired. The slow progress also came to a halt much before they reached the station.
One car drove by with windows down and loud music playing.
Prashant shouted "Taxi! Taxi!"
Someone in the car screamed something back in the local language but the car didn't stop, to everyone's relief.
Taking her phone out Kajal said "This is getting scary. I am calling Vikas."
Shriya said "What can he do? It took us an hour for us to get here, it will take him that much to come here."
"And he would be asleep." Amisha added.
"I don't know. I don't know what to do." Kajal was almost in tears "I don't have any other idea. Do you?"
Both Shriya and Amisha sighed. They had protested but they were also at their wits' end. Hemant was standing with his back to the wall and was liable to fall any moment. Shriya was holding his arm but she was not sure she could keep him from falling if he tipped. He weighed about double of her.
Prakash was screaming at taxis to stop. Only he had no idea which cars were taxis so he was screaming at all cars. Amisha was worried that a cop car might stop before they found a taxi.
Guddu was still insisting that they should go back inside. Rhea had pulled him back several times from shouting towards the club bouncers.
"Hello baby!" The sleepiness in Vikas' voice was quite apparent even though he tried to sound alert. He had been asleep for an hour when Kajal called.
"Honey, I am so sorry to wake you up, but I don't know what to do.." Kajal explained the situation in a stressed voice "Baby, can you come and pick us up, please?" She concluded.
"Kaju, it will take me at least an hour to get there. It's not good for you to stand outside like that for so long."
"We will go back in the club and wait for you." Kajal offered.
"No, I have a better idea."
"What?" Kajal asked in a doubtful voice. She was hurt that Vikas didn't want to come.
"Your phone has a torch?" Vikas asked.
"Yes." Kajal started to wonder if Vikas was drunk too.
"Okay. Here's what you do.." Vikas said from the other side "Hang up the phone. Turn on the torch on your phone. Point the torch at your face, and raise your right hand high above your head. Then close your fist."
"What?" Kajal was sure Vikas had gone crazy, but he had already hung up the phone.
"Kajal, is Vikas coming?" Shriya asked.
"No!" Kajal said, looking at her phone in disbelief. She told her what Vikas had said. The others listened in.
"It doesn't make sense to me." Amisha said.
"Well..." Shriya said "I don't know. Vikas is very smart but he might have been in sleep when you called. He was probably in a dream state. Call him again."
Rhea said "If Jiju has told you to do something then why don't you do it? He's smarter than all of us, you know."
Sonali also agreed "I think there's no harm in doing what he says. You can call him again after that but at least first try what he said."
Taking her phone out of her purse, Rhea said "Oh for God's sake! I will do it. What was it, torch, then right hand?"
"No, no, he told me to do it, I will do it." Kajal said decisively.
She turned the torch on in her phone, then turned the phone around to point the light at her own face. Then feeling utterly silly, she lifted her right hand above her head and closed her fist.
The next moment three tall, well-built men materialised out of the darkness like genies coming out of a lamp and congregated in front of Kajal and her family. The women took a step back.
"Mrs. Malhotra." One of the men said in a heavy Indonesian accent "You want to go back ship?"
A slow nod was the best Kajal could do in her stupefied state. She could understand that they were there for her because the man had called her by name. He knew they were from the ship.
"Who are they?" Amisha asked.
"Did Vikas send them?" Shriya was as shocked as Kajal.
Rhea was the only one in control of her faculties and jubilant "Of course jiju sent them! I told you jiju is so smart. I told you!"
Within seconds three taxis stopped in front of them. The men helped get the drunk men into the taxis dividing them one to each car. The big men also divided themselves one to each car and helped the women get in.
And they were off.
Since there was not much traffic at that hour of the morning it took them only about 40 minutes to get back to the ship.
The tall giants helped them get the men aboard and to their cabins then they disappeared just as quickly as they had appeared.
Kajal walked into her stateroom and found Vikas asleep. She got in bed, clothes and all, and hugged him. He woke up enough to realise it was her and squeezed her to him.
"I love you, baby!" Kajal whispered in his ear.
"Love you too, babydoll!" Vikas said and kissed her neck.
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