Suspense Short Story – This is how it ends
© Anand Vishnu Prakash, YourStoryClub.com
Sameer was standing on the bridge staring at the cold water. It was a cold winter night and there wasn’t a soul around as it was well past 2AM. His car was parked on the side of the road with the door still open. He had been standing there for over an hour lost in his thoughts. ‘How would it feel to fall into that icy cold water from this height’ he said to himself. His mind went into a rewind and the events that had transpired earlier during the day started to playback in his head.
It had started out as any other day. He woke up at 6AM as usual and finished his daily morning workout. Had his breakfast and got ready for office; called his girlfriend Neha, just before leaving from home to wake her up. He drove his car to the office never crossing the speed limit of 50Km/hr even though the road was pretty much empty. As usual he reached the office by 7.45 AM well before anyone else from his team.
He called Neha again to check if she was up or still sleeping. He had met Neha through a common friend and had been with her for over 2 years now. He loved her with all his heart and wanted to marry her. But she said that she needed some more time, to focus on her career. He wasn’t too happy with the idea of waiting but had to oblige to her wishes. His friends warned him that she was just using him and he should stop showering expensive gifts on her, but he wouldn’t listen to any of that. He knew her better than anyone else. The phone rang out but she didn’t answer. ‘She must be in the bath room ’ he thought to himself and started checking his emails.
As we was about to finish going through his emails, Sameer saw his boss Chogle enter the office. Chogle was a short stout man in his early 40s. Even though he looked pretty harmless, he was a very cunning man. He made all the people under him work overtime and took credit for all their hard work. Sameer always bore the brunt of this conniving jackal of a man. Chogle delegated all his work to Sameer and made him work on almost every weekend.
All the hard work Sameer had done and the sacrifices he made for his job could not even get him a single promotion in the last 5 years. Instead, two of the skimpily clad female associates in his team got all the awards and rewards. Everyone knew Chogle was a two faced womanizer. But nobody had the guts to question him as he was a very influential man in the company.
It was 10 AM and Sameer was busy working on an important presentation. Suddenly he got a call from Chogle asking him to come into his office. ‘Guess more work for this weekend’ Sameer said to himself as he entered Chogle’s office. Chogle was waiting for him with a half eaten Samosa in his hand. He asked Sameer to sit down.
‘Sameer have you sent me the Board meeting presentation’ asked Chogle with a strange look in his eyes, to which Sameer nodded ‘Yes’. ‘Hmm. You know Sameer how this last year has been. Our profits have gone down drastically and we are finding it difficult to get new projects’ said Chogle. ‘What is the matter with him today? He knows very well that I am much more aware about the company numbers than he is. Why the hell is he telling me all this ?’ Sameer wondered.
Chogle got up from his seat and walked towards his window. ‘We have to make some tough decisions Sameer. Trust me, doing this is very painful for me too. But I am sorry to say that we have to let you go. ‘
Chogle’s words hit Sameer like a lightning bolt. He wanted to scream and swear at that filthy human being, but words had abandoned him. All he could muster with was ‘But why me?’.
Chogle said ‘ It was not in my hands, completely Management’s decision’.
Sameer knew very well whose decision it was. But there was nothing more left to say. So he just walked out of Chogle’s cabin and went back to his desk.
Sameer collapsed on his chair. He couldn’t believe what had just happened. He was in a state of denial. This can’t be happening to me. ‘This is just a nightmare and when I wake up I will be at home in my bed’ he said to himself. Suddenly two security guards came and stood next to him. One of them said ‘ Sir you need to pack your belongings and leave the premises immediately. ’ The entire office stood up to see what was going on. Sameer had never been so embarrassed in his life. He gathered his personal belongings and started walking out. As he left, he saw Chogle inside his office with one of the female associates. He was staring at her and grinning like a fool.
Sameer opened his car door and sat inside. He never thought this would how his last day at this office would be ending. He could still feel all those pitiful eyes staring at him. He banged on his steering wheel and started shouting. Then he remembered his girlfriend. What if I lost my job. I still have her. He calmed himself down. He looked at his watch. It was 1 PM. Damn I have been sitting here for 2 hours ! He called Neha and asked her where she was. She said she was busy at work and would meet him in the evening. He drove home and went to bed.
Sameer was standing on the bridge trying to remember how he got there. He felt disoriented and couldn’t remember a thing after the point where he crawled into his bed in the afternoon. But then it started to come back to him. Neha called him around 7.30 PM and asked him to pick her up from her office. They went to a restaurant from there. That’s when he finally gathered the courage to tell her about how he got fired earlier in the day. She got very angry at him and abused him with the worst words he had ever heard from a girl’s mouth.
Another car just whizzed away on the bridge and brought Sameer back to the present. He stepped away from the bridge railing and walked towards his car. I am sure she will forgive me soon. He sat in the car and closed the door. Suddenly he realized he was in the opposite direction on the bridge. He had to take a U- turn to drive towards his home. Then it hit him. I was on my way to Neha’s house when I stopped on this bridge.
Neha had asked him to stop on the bridge as she wanted to say something to him. They both got out of the car. She was looking very beautiful in the red dress which he had gifted her on her birthday. She looked him in the eye and said ‘ I can’t do this anymore Sameer. I think we should stop seeing each other’. Those dreaded words almost gave him a heart attack. He could no longer feel his legs anymore. His brain went into hibernate mode.
The honking sound of another passing vehicle brought him back to reality. I must go back to Neha’s place and beg her to take me back’ he thought to himself. As he shut the door he noticed something below the passenger seat. ‘ Oh my God !! That’s Neha’s handbag’. How the hell did she leave without her handbag? Her cell phone too was still inside the handbag.
Sameer saw something on the footpath and immediately jumped out of the car. It was near the spot where he had been standing for over an hour. It was one of Neha’s shoes. At that moment he regained his complete memory. After Neha told her that she was dumping him, Sameer confronted her and asked her the reason. She smiled sarcastically and said that without his job he had no money. And without money he was of no use to her.
This blew his fuse and in a fit of rage Sameer just grabbed her, lifted her up and threw her over the bridge railings into the water. He watched her struggle to stay afloat and gasp for breath. He knew she couldn’t swim. Her life was slipping away and he just watched without blinking. He felt a sense of calm envelope him as he saw her motionless body sink into the bottom of the river. He continued to stare at the water for another hour.
Now he was standing on the same spot. He looked around to search for any of her other belongings. He threw her lone shoe along with her handbag into the river and walked back to his car. He looked at himself in the mirror. He couldn’t see any remorse on his face. He knew it wouldn’t be long before the cops found out what he had done. But tonight was not about thinking about consequences and repercussions. It was all about Vengeance and he wanted more of it. He started his car and started driving towards Chogle’s house. ‘You’re next Chogle!! ‘
__END__
