Read if you dare to

“What the hell is going on between my husband and that bitch?' Maya's patience was at its lowest ebb and she was ready to burst.

Sanjay knew that she was serious. 'Look, Maya. There is nothing going on between the two of them. Just a little bit of healthy flirting, I'd say.'

'Flirting? Healthy flirting? Really Sanjay . . .' she rolled her eyes in disgust. 'That's what you men call it? There is nothing healthy about flirting, Sanjay, not for a married man.

Healthy flirting is a term introduced by perverted men who want to lend legitimacy to their extramarital dalliances. Flirting invariably has a sexual connotation to it.' She got up from her seat and walked around the room gesticulating and muttering something to herself. Suddenly she stopped, turned back, looked at Sanjay and asked, 'Did my husband sleep with her? You are his friend. Did he ever tell you anything about it?'”

“Maya !!!”

“Coming ma “

Tick. Tick.. tick… tick….

“Mayaa !!!”

“Just a minute maa”

Tick. Tick.. tick… tick….

 “Mayaaaaa !!! Enough of this, I can’t wait anymore, I have other things to finish and go to bed. Come and have your dinner”

“Oh!!! Maa, here I am, ummaaah… Sweet ma, don’t get angry.. I got deep into the book and could not get away.. Sorry , Sorry”

“Come On Maya, I am not saying you not to read, but everything has a time and even you need to feed your belly at correct time”

“Yes, Yes .. I understand, what have you made today.. mmm my favourite, great“

“That’s like my sweet heart, but why are you here, in dining table with your book??”

“Lets do this, I will be keep reading and you will be keep feeding as how we used to do during my school days“

“That’s so funny!!!.. let us do the same until you get a baby, Nothing doing, when you are eating, you just eat and may be we can talk together, no more multi-tasking”

“Maa… great, you are also getting to know computer terminologies.. , Ok OK, I keep the book down, keep me my plate and food “

“Good Girl !!”

Food was served and consumed

“By the way, what was so interesting about the book, that you forgot your favorite dish ??”

“Maa, this is a book written by Ravi Subramanian”

“Oh!! The same, who wrote Devil PinStripes”

“Yes !! the same author, this book is named as “The bestseller she wrote” – he talks lot about passion, ambition and more important, trust”

“mmm, so what did you find so interesting about the book”

“One of the characters in the book has my name” she told with a giggle

“And you are involved because of that ?”

“Not like that maa, as such, the book was very gripping and I was about to finish when you were repeatedly calling for dinner”

By the time she finished her dinner, her mom finished washing and cleaning.

“Maa, I am feeling very tired, I might over-sleep, can you wake me up sharp at 5:30 tomorrow morning. I need to complete the pending report and have to prepare the manuscript of the interview from my micro-recorder”

“Yeah sure, but for that you need to sleep now instead of reading the book”

“Yes !!! Yes !!! I am sleeping, But Amma, you forgot something”

“No Way, I never forget, you only sometimes, come lie down... Give me the book, until I sleep, I will read this”

Maya lied down on her mother’s lap and as she was were very tired, she dozed off. Maya’s mother started reading the book.

Clock stuck 2, which was enough for Maya’s mother to get distracted. She did not see Maya in her lap, thought she would have gone and slept in her room. Mom also went to her bed and slept.

Clock stuck 7, which was still not enough for Maya’s mother to wake up, when the minute hand moved 15 more steps, she woke up and realized that she missed waking up Maya. Rushing to Maya’s room, she found Maya not being there. She went and checked at other rooms and without finding her anywhere, checked the corridor, did not see the scooty zest. She was relaxed, but was also puzzled to see Maya’s micro recorder and her PC were still at her room. Assuming Maya would have gone for a morning walk or for some work, she began her work.

An hour later, Maya was back.

[NMo]“Hey Sorry Maya, when did you  get up ?? I slept out of my control and could not wake you up at 5:30”

[GMa]“Why 5:30?? Anyways, I kept alarm at 6’o clock, by the way, there was some problem with yesterday’s dinner....I had more than five calls from nature and this is troubling me a lot since I woke up”

[Nmo]“What!!! Problem with yesterday’s dinner?? You had your favorite dish and you relished when you ate the same??”

Maya did not respond, she went to the wash room again.

She came back dressed and was preparing to leave

[GMo]“Maya, Do you have any stomach upset ?? There was some problem with yesterday’s dinner....I had more than 5 calls from nature and this is troubling me a lot since I woke up “

[NMa]“What!!! Problem with yesterday’s dinner?? It was my favorite dish and I relished when I ate the same, You had the same that you gave me right ?“

Mom did not respond, she went to the wash room.

Maya was puzzled and as she has to rush to her office, she went out.

[NMo]“Maya, Maya , wait !!.. Uff, she went!!!! These days, girls don’t remember what they say 10 minutes before!!! She had stomach upset. Thought I will give her curd rice for lunch, but before I go and prepare, she pushed off.  I don’t know what’s the hurry in going to office. Mmmm hope she takes some mild food at outside”

Mom went inside

[NMa]“Mom !! Mom !!”, Maya came into the house in a hurry

[GMo]“What happened !!! Why are you shouting???”

[NMa]“Have this maaa, these digenes will get your stomach upset clean and these electrals will make you avoid dehydration – take care ma, don’t eat heavy food, just have normal curd rice”

[GMo]“What ??? What happened to you!! Why are you getting all these medicines, I have made Biriyani for today, come back fast, we will have together, I will wait for you for lunch”

Without expecting for a response, Mom went inside the kitchen

Maya, with confusion traces all around her face, moved out of the house towards her work.

All through the way, Maya was worried about her mother. Once she reached the office, she got involved and forgot about the morning drama.

During lunch, she picked up the plate and sat with her friend Sanjay.

[NMa]“Hey Sanjay, What a surprise, you are eating chicken biriyani ?? You are a big preacher of Vegan food and what happened to you suddenly”

Sanjay did not respond, started munching the food. Maya was also busy in her lunch and both of them opened their mouth only for eating. Sanjay finished the lunch, got up, kept the plate and went to the wash room. Maya was surprised about his silence. Maya was surprised about the continuous surprise that she is encountering that day

Sanjay came back and sat next to her.

[NSa]“Maya, you know, I bought a new book, ““The bestseller she wrote” and read the whole book yesterday, once I started, I could not keep down at all.”

[GMa]“So, what am I supposed to do” Maya responded and went away with her plate with food, half finished.

Sanjay did not understand her reaction.

Half Past Five, the office was draining out her employees. Maya stepped out, walked off, picked her bike, drove and reached her house.

[NMo]“Maya, the book was very good. Thanks for giving me the same, I completely finished -- but I am missing something, you told that the story in the book has a character in your name, I did not find any one with the character name Maya, in fact it had the Mrs Doubtfire wife character, with my name, Yamuna”

Maya just smiled and went inside her room.

Moon facing Earth spun and started facing Sun.

Morning newspaper front page read, “Three dead bodies found in their respective rooms at their houses. All three had knives near to them and a stab at two inches above their naval portion. The knife near the 58 year old Yamuna had the finger print of Sanjay, the male who died. Knife near his body has the finger print of another person who died, Maya, and the knife near the dead body of Maya was found to have the finger print of her mother Yamuna. FIR has been registered and investigation going on”

Inpector Sigamani, had a thorough search of both the houses (Maya’s and Sanjay’s). Everything was normal, which he felt is abnormal. He was tired and wanted to relax. He sat on the couch at the hall of Maya’s house. Just glancing through the magazines, he landed up on a book, ““The bestseller she wrote”. He just picked it up and scanned through. There was a tag at some page, he went to that page and started reading, 

'Flirting? Healthy flirting? Really Sigamani . . .' she rolled her eyes in disgust. 'That's what you men call it? There is nothing healthy about flirting, Sigamani, not for a married man.”

Note :

 [NMo] – Normal Mother

[GMo] – Ghost Mother

[NMa] – Normal Maya

[GMa] – Ghost Maya

[NSa] – Normal Sanjay