I entered the apartment and was relieved that my roommates were still sleeping in their room. I did not need to deal with their questions about where I had spent the night. I went to the bedroom, change into a bathrobe and went to the bathroom to take a long shower.
Throughout the shower, I mulled over the previous night's events, especially how fast they had unfolded. Even when I entered Dustin's apartment the previous night, I had no inkling that I even felt any sort of attraction to him, forget the idea of sleeping with him. But as I thought back to the time I had spent with him, there probably had been some sort of special rapport between us, if not chemistry. I had always found him easy to talk to, interesting, kind, and a great friend. But maybe I had subconsciously felt something more, something I had refused to even recognize because I was still convinced that I was still in love with Parag.
But once I got an inkling of Parag cheating on me, and ditching me for the umpteenth time, maybe my mind, unshackled thanks to the weed, had recognized the attraction and given in to the moment. Don't get me wrong. I am not saying it was all weed or even mostly weed that led to last night's events. I don't believe weed, unlike alcohol, can make you do stupid things that you later regret. But it does make you think more clearly. Or make you think you're thinking more clearly.
So...what exactly had last night meant? Was it just a one night thing, meant to relieve the stress of a tough couple of weeks? Or did I really feel something special towards Dustin? And what was I to him? Just an attractive woman who ended up being in a vulnerable state and giving in to his charms? Or was I something more? He had, of course, shunted me out in a hurry because Vicky was coming.
Questions. Questions.
I turned the shower off, dried myself and returned to my bedroom. The hot shower had made me sleepy again. So I just threw on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, and crawled under the sheets. Within minutes, I was asleep.
I woke up at noon, and checked my phone which was still on silent mode. Five more missed calls from Parag, and three voicemails, all of which I assumed were from him. I knew I had to talk to him eventually. There's no way this could continue. I had to tell him about Dustin, confront him about his woman on the side, and break up.
But I needed some coffee first. I went to the kitchen, brewed a tall cup, and with it sat down in front of the TV. My roommates were not around, and I assumed they had gone for their weekly grocery shopping trip. I flipped the channels and froze when I saw the headline on one of the news channels.
"NC Mall Gunman Stand-off."
There was a reporter in front of a mall talking to a group of people, one of whom was positively Parag. What the fuck is this, I thought to myself and turned the volume up.
'We're talking to some of the shoppers who were holed up in the mall for several hours last night when a gunman went on a shooting rampage in a college town in North Carolina last night. Fourteen people were shot, two of whom are in critical condition, but thanks to the alert mall security, there have been no deaths so far. Here we have a group of people who have been released by the police after preliminary debriefing and first aid. They were all holed up in different parts of the mall as the gunman made rounds for several hours until a SWAT team shot him dead.'
What the fuck?
'Yes ma'am, you were in the jewelry store?' she asked a young white brunette standing next to a blonde man.
'Yes, My husband and I were in a jewelry store on the 3rd floor at about 8 PM when I heard gunshots. Immediately, I feared the worst. I rushed out of the store with some other people and saw pandemonium. Most people ran down the stairs, and we were about to as well, when the gunman started firing shots in the air. We ran into the corridor where a mall cop directed us into one of their offices.'
'And how many of you were there?'
'About twenty of us.'
'And what happened next.'
'We closed the solid wooden door, turned the lights off and stayed silents. There was still sound of sporadic gunfire. The mall cop asked everyone to stay completely silent, and he radioed for help. My husband and I were really scared.'
All the time, I was listening to everything with shock, and staring at Parag, who was a few feet away from the couple, looking very shaken. The reporter then thrust her mike in front of Parag's face.
'And you sir, were you also in that office?'
'Yes, I had gone to buy my girlfriend a gift from the jewelry store, and I also heard gunshots.' I heard my boyfriend say. 'We all went to the office and hid out there.'
'For how long?'
'Almost midnight, so about four hours. We kept hearing random gunshots through the night. The gunman was obviously walking around the mall, searching for people to kill. At one point, he passed by right outside our door. But we all stayed silent and he didn't realize anyone was in there.'
'Lucky escape. And you miss'
The reporter turned the mic to another woman next to Parag.
I ran to the bedroom and got my phone. Immediately I dialed Parag. It went to voicemail at once. Called him again. Voicemail again. I then called my voice inbox to listen to Parag's messages.
"1st message, sent Saturday at 12:15 AM Hey darling, it's me. You must be worried about why I haven't been answering your calls. Well, I don't know if you heard about the gunman on a rampage in a mall in my town, but I was in there. Hiding in a room. With the phone on silent. We were all told to not answer any phones and stay silent, so I couldn't call you back. And the one time I answered, people around me made me hang up at once. It was for the best because we're pretty sure the gunman was outside our door. Anyway, it's all fine now. I am okay. I am just sitting in a police ambulance, while they check me out. But I am not hurt in any way. Just shaken. Talk to you soon. Will try calling again soon."
"2nd message, sent Saturday at 2:25 AM Hi Anar. Ummm haven't heard back from you. Maybe you're sleeping. Maybe you thought I bailed out again, so aren't answering my calls. Maybe you haven't heard about the gunman. Anyway, call me back as soon as you get this. And I promise, I am not bailing out of the trip. I will catch the next bus I can. I am supposed to talk to the police and their doctors yet. It's a big group."
"3rd message, sent Saturday 9:11 AM Hi honey, it's me again. I don't know why you haven't called me back yet. I wonder if you've lost your phone or something. Anyway, if you get this, I am at the Charlotte airport. I decided that surviving a crazy killer warrants spending money on air tickets instead of bus. My plane is boarding soon. I will be landing at Newark and will see you in a few hours. By the way, my phone is almost out of charge so it might not turn on when I land at Newark. If so, I'll just see you at home."
I sank on the bed in shock. My poor little baby had gone through such an ordeal. And I was..... oh my god! Suddenly the words from the previous night's phone call came back to me.
"Parag, where the fuck are you?" I had said. "I hope you're on your way."
"No, I am not. Listen Anar...." he had said in a low voice I could barely hear.
"What? You'll miss your bus. Where are you?" I had said angrily
"I am at...."
Then the soft female voice in the background
"Someone is coming! I hear footsteps..... who's on the phone?"
"It's my girlfriend."
"Hang up! Hang up!" the woman saying in a panicky voice.
It all made sense. It wasn't some floozie he was cheating on me with. It must have been one of the hostages asking him to hang up when the gunman was outside the door. And I had assumed he had....and then I had....oh god, what had I done!
That's when there was a knock on the door. I ran and opened it. Parag was standing there, with a suitcase in his hand. I flung myself at him and kissed him. He kissed me back hungrily.
"Oh sweetie, I am so so so sorry." I said, between kisses. "The phone was on silent and I didn't check it til a while back."
"I missed you! I love you!" Parag said in between kisses.
