The Forgotten Night

"Aisha! This is the sixth time this month, and you are still not here in the office?" Aisha's boss was screaming in her ears through the phone. She finally got down from her bed and gave a glance at the wall clock. It was almost eleven-ish of the Monday, and she was still not completely awake.

Her boss, although was still ranting, "Are you even listening to me? Do you think it's some kind of restaurant, pub, or a bar where you are allowed to walk in and go out whenever you want to?"

Something in that sentence rang a bell in Aisha's mind. Now she was listening. "The Pub!!!" Aisha murmured.

"What?" her boss screamed yet again, this time really pissed of.

"Nothing, sir!" She finally replied, "I just woke up with a heavy head. Just give me an hour, and I will be there at the office. Won't happen again." Aisha spoke this in one breath and, without waiting for a further reply, disconnected.

She sat down on the edge of her bed. She could feel her temples throbbing. "The pub?" She repeated to no one. "Anya picked me, we went to the pub, and then..." She tailed off. She picked her phone and saw almost 30 missed calls from her friend. She called back.

"God! Aisha! Where have you been? You know I called you so many times? " Anya didn't give any chance for Aisha to say anything.

"You came to my house yesterday, and we went together to that place.... umm?" Aisha realized she couldn't remember a thing.

"My goodness!" Anya sighed. "That was the day before yesterday. We went out on Saturday. Today's Monday."

"What?" Aisha herself didn't know why she was so shocked.

"Yes, madam! You might have drunk so much after I had left that you were knocked off for the entire Sunday." Anya replied coldly.

"Okay, I will call you later, leaving for office." Aisha ended the call abruptly and kept staring at the wall. Blank.

"I Missed a day! An entire day! Wow." She murmured and finally got up to get ready for the office.

Half of the day was already over when Aisha reached the office. She was welcomed with a bag full of taunts and sarcasm. But she didn't hear a thing and pondered over her missing day and the forgotten night.

The day finally ended, and Aisha and her feeling of 'something's not right' finally receded. She put on her ear pods, hoping if Justin Bieber's melodies help her sleep.

Aisha woke up early the next day. She was in no mood for any more rants from her boss and was almost ready to leave for the office when her doorbell rang. It was a stranger.

"Yes?" Aisha asked.

"I am Vijay." That man showed the police badge and removed his sunglasses.

"Umm, okay! What do you want, officer?" Aisha asked nervously.

"Do you know this man?" Vijay took out his phone and showed a picture.

"No," she replied.

"You were the person last seen with him,"

"What? No! I don't even know him." Aisha spoke before Vijay had finished.

"Lemme finish! You met him on Saturday night, at Sunflower pub. We have the CCTV footage." Vijay said and took out something from his pocket.

"Is it yours?" It was a steel-colored stone-studded bracelet. It was Aisha's. She froze.

"But trust me, I don't know this guy." Aisha felt she would burst like a baby.

"The waiter there says you were drunk. You might not remember. Nothing new, anyway. These kids!" Vijay frowned while keeping his phone and the bracelet in his pocket.

"Some another girl was with you, right?" Vijay continued.

"Yes." Aisha's voice was hardly audible.

"We will get in touch with her as well. She might have a memory better than you. Please try to recall something or anything if you want to get yourself out of this. You are in both the witness and culprit lists." Vijay said and left.

Aisha closed the door and sat on her couch for how long she didn't remember. She needed to remember something about her forgotten night. She was out of her senses for the entire Sunday.

Aisha's phone rang. It was her boss. She didn't pick up. After a few minutes, she left a leave request mail and went out of the house.

She walked for almost an hour and found herself in front of Anya's house. Anya was a freelance graphic designer and worked from home and cafes. Anya was not surprised to see her best friend at her door in the odd hours.

"That inspector came here. Yes." She said before Aisha could speak of something.

Aisha looked at her feet. She felt the ground slipping away.

Anya held her arm tightly. "Come inside."

"Anya!" Aisha cleared her throat and started, "I was seen with the man who was murdered, and I don't even remember his name."

"His name was Vishal." Anya replied.

"You knew him?"

"No," Anya replied, "Of course not he had introduced himself. He came to us and offered you and me a drink."

"Okay." Aisha took a breath. "Anya! I have neither any energy and nor the patience to ask you in bits and pieces. I can't recall a thing. Please tell me everything that I don't remember." Frustration was taking the better of her but, Anya kept her cool.

"How much do you remember?" Anya asked. "Do you remember us entering that pub?"

Aisha nodded.

"Your continuous ranting about Amish?" Anya asked.

"I ranted about my ex again!" Aisha felt annoyed with her own self.

"That's not the point. Anyways," Anya continued, "So that means you had lost yourself in the first hour of that evening. You were cursing him as usual when Vishal came and joined us. He didn't ask or say anything, he just settled himself and ordered three drinks."

Aisha was listening to her intently, trying to recount. An effort to bring back that night.

"Then?" Aisha asked.

"I asked him, 'Do we know you? You are not invited!' I had said a little rudely but, he didn't seem to mind it. Instead, after a few minutes, he took your hand and asked, 'Can I dance with this beautiful lady?' You were not in yourself, and before I could have said anything, he had already dragged you, and he was...." Anya checked herself for the appropriate words, "You both were dancing."

"He was holding me by my waist!" Aisha completed the unsaid and clutched the glass in her hand tightly. Anya nodded silently.

"I felt a little comfort when I saw you both comfortable with each other. He didn't cross any line. At least till the time, I was there. It was almost 11 when I had asked you to get up and go home. But you held my hands and pleaded to stay for some more time. We had a friendly argument, and I had tried my best to drag you out. But then, Vishal said he would take care of you. I don't know Aisha, what came over me. I believed that guy and left you both."

There was a long silence. A tear rolled down Aisha's cheeks. "I had got you too in my mess. I am...." Aisha's voice cracked, "I am sorry, Anya. Please forgive me. I am trying, but I am fed up with myself for not moving on, and now this... All because of me!" Aisha started crying.

"No, Aisha we are all good. Trust me!" Anya hugged her.

"Anya!" Aisha sat straight and wiping her tears, "I promise, this would be the last, help me! I have to know what happened that night."

Anya promised that she would help, and Aisha left.

While she was on her way back home, her phone rang. It was an unknown number. She picked up, "What the hell Aisha!" She recognized it was Amish. "You killed a person, and now you are dragging me into all this crap of yours?" He screamed.

"I have done nothing. I had just met him for a few seconds in a pub, that's it. That was my only fault, and you better not conclude anything on your own. I can't control the police or whoever had killed that man." She took out her frustration and hung up.

Aisha didn't sleep the entire night. Her phone was flooded with texts and chats. "That inspector Vijay has already declared me the murderer. Oh God, help me!" She said to herself. She scanned a few of the messages and realized that Vijay had summoned almost everyone she knew. Her office colleagues, friends, her parents, her ex, ex's acquaintances. She wondered if anyone was spared.

She got up and mailed another leave request. She knew this time she might get terminated but, she didn't care. Her life was at stake.

She gained all her courage and called Vijay. He had left her number with Anya yesterday.

"Ms. Aisha!" There were no greetings from the other side. "So, did you recount anything?" Vijay asked.

"Can we meet?" She was surprised by her voice that suddenly got sharp.

"Yes, of course, we can. Come and meet me at the Hauz Khas police station. I hope you can google the address, right?" Vijay replied.

"So he was killed in Hauz Khas near the pub?" Aisha asked.

"Yes. And the rest we can discuss once you are here." Vijay disconnected and got Aisha in motion.

An hour and a half later, Aisha was at the police station, sitting in front of Vijay. She felt the sweat drops sliding down her neck. She tried keeping her calm.

"I only found what my friend Anya remembered and told you yesterday. I have nothing more to add. What did you find about me?" Aisha said without any hint of nervousness.

"Yes, we found out many things. You still haven't got over your ex. Sorry I made him annoyed a little more with you, but I had to do it. And that now it's a double murder case."

"Double murder? What do you mean?" Aisha had the same nauseous feeling.

Vijay took out a newspaper clipping from the drawer and threw it towards her. "Did you, by chance, go through this two weeks ago?"

Aisha picked up the clipping and started reading. It read that a girl, aged 24, was found dead in a posh colony of Gurgaon.

"I heard this news on TV, only for once, I think," Aisha replied.

"Her name is Tina, Tina Gonzalez. she was Vishal's girlfriend."

"I don't know her. I haven't met them before in my lifetime. I have got nothing to do." Aisha was going breathless.

"Hmm. Well, right now, you are the only inference we have. Do not leave this city and receive every call. You may go now." Vijay said and got busy with his work.

Aisha got up and started leaving. But she turned back and asked, "Where was Vishal killed?"

"In the lane next to the pub's, "Vijay said without looking up. Aisha left. She went to the area and stood there cluelessly for a while. She might have come with him, walking till there. And dropped her bracelet by mistake. It was possible, she thought.

Aisha returned home, opened her laptop, and started searching about Tina and Vishal. Nothing much was there to know. She went through their social media profiles. There she saw some pictures of them. But on Tina's Facebook profile, she noticed two relationship updates. Within a month. The second one was with Vishal. But the first one mentioned some Varun. She tapped on the tagged name. It was a deactivated account. No clue on other social media profiles as well.

"Aisha, you should go back to the office and work." Anya had called her in the evening while Aisha explained the entire day to her.

"But I am most probably already fired," Aisha said, disappointed.

"It's okay, Aisha. You can't escape like this. You don't have the option to do that. It will only increase your overthinking." Aisha listened to Anya for a while and then finally agreed to resume her work.

Aisha was finally able to get herself back on track and got her concentration on work. "Anya was right." She thought.

Weeks passed just like that. Aisha heard nothing. Neither from inspector Vijay nor any news of progress. But something else was awaiting her way.

Aisha collided with one of her neighbors while she was on her way to work.

"Hello, Ms. Aisha!" The neighbor said.

"Hello, Mr. Rifat." Aisha greeted.

"How are you now? Were you drunk that day? Or sick?" He asked.

"Which day?" Aisha got curious.

"A few weeks back. 14th Nov was the date, I guess!"

Some clue to the forgotten night, finally.

"How do you know, Mr. Rifat?" she asked.

"I went to Hauz Khas for a hang out with my old friends. I was returning home when I saw someone lying on the footpath. It was near that Sunflower pub. I picked you up and brought you home. It was all a coincidence, you see!" Rifat spoke more to himself than to her.

"Did you hear anything when you were passing by that street, any gunshot, any commotion, any noise, anything?" Aisha asked impatiently.

"No, it was almost 2 am, and there was pin-drop silence on the streets. The bars and pubs were closing." Rifat said.

A dead-end again. But Aisha at least knew how she had reached home.

"Can you tell me where exactly you had seen me that day?" Aisha got a little embarrassed at her misery of not remembering anything. Rifat showed the location on the map and left.

Aisha booked a cab and went there. She scanned the area minutely and finally got some luck. An ATM with a CCTV. She called Vijay, and with him, they got the footage of that night.

"You know this guy?" Vijay asked, pointing to a figure on the screen who was seen running on the street searching for something. But something occurred to Vijay at that moment. He took out his phone and called someone.

"That's it. He is Tina's previous boyfriend, Varun. You said you don't know him right?" Vijay asked again.

"I haven't seen this guy in my life. Like those two." Aisha said. Pieces were falling in place, and she was happy.

At least Aisha knew she didn't kill anyone. But the spaces of how and who was still blank.

The cops started investigating vigorously, and much to Aisha and Anya's despair, their names were there in the newspapers.

"When I came out clean, why did you disclose our names to the media?" Aisha was standing in the police station, screaming at Vijay.

"We didn't. They must have got in contact with our informers and framed their theories." Vijay replied coldly.

"The theory that I am the killer?" Aisha had no patience.

"Calm down, Ms. Aisha," Vijay replied without looking at her.

"I and my friend are struggling to come out of our houses, neighbors are cursing us..."

"Don't worry. I will ask constables to make sure there's no more chaos in front of your houses." Vijay said and continued being busy. Aisha sighed and left.

Aisha was again called by her boss in the meanwhile. "I can't put my company's reputation at stake. You either solve this mess soon or leave."

After one more such bitter argument in the office, instead of booking a cab, Aisha started walking in the dark streets. It was unusually silent. Then suddenly she heard footsteps. She turned back and saw no one. Now confusion got the better of her. It was an awkward place. The main road was still a little far, and she didn't feel like waiting for a car. She quickened her steps. Half walking, half running.

She was almost about to trip over when she heard a loud thud. Two screams reverberated. One was, of course, Aisha herself. The other one, she couldn't recognize. People slowly started crowding, and others came rushing out of nowhere.

Aisha felt it hard to breathe. She felt herself and tried coming back to the world. A hand pressed her shoulder, and a voice whispered in her ears, "Are you okay, Ms. Aisha?"

Aisha looked up. It was Vijay. She could only nod in a yes. Then she saw other cops dragging a man into their van. She saw his back.

"Who's he?" She asked Vijay.

"You too will have to come with us. I promise this would be the last time." Instead of answering, Vijay took Aisha to his car, and they drove to Hauz Khas police station.

Aisha saw unknown faces there. She assumed they might be the acquaintances of the deceased. Aisha and Vijay reached before the van. The man was brought inside.

"Varun!" Aisha spoke at the very first glance.

"Yes, Varun! It got so predictable after that ATM footage. But we needed bait to make him come out of his den. That's where the media came into the scene." Vijay said, lighting his cigarette.

"You killed my daughter!" A man screamed at Varun and punched him in the face but was held back by the cops there.

"No violence please," Vijay shouted, "Also, no noises please," He said, pointing to the ladies who had started sobbing.

"But why do you want to kill me?" Aisha asked, "I don't even know you?"

"Because you saw me killing Vishal. You are the only witness to my crime." Varun spoke for the first time in a while.

Aisha looked at Vijay for confirmation. Vijay nodded.

"Why did you kill them? You know you have to tell this now. And also repeat this every time everywhere." Vijay snapped.

"They both cheated on me. Tina pretended to love me because of my money, my wealth. When she had had enough, she dumped me over Facebook suddenly one day. I begged, cried, threatened, but nothing worked. I became a joke in my circle."

"And so you committed a bigger joke to be the ultimate joker. Lemme dictate the missing parts of that night." Vijay said, "Vishal was somehow carrying Aisha with her. He booked a cab and waited there. You somehow appeared, planned or unplanned. The rage took the better of you, and you got down and pointed your gun at him. Vishal immediately retreated his hands from Aisha in an attempt to stop you, and Aisha dropped her bracelet there due to those sudden actions. "Aisha! This is the sixth time this month, and you are still not here in the office?" Aisha's boss was screaming in her ears through the phone. She finally got down from her bed and gave a glance at the wall clock. It was almost eleven-ish of the Monday, and she was still not completely awake.

Her boss, although was still ranting, "Are you even listening to me? Do you think it's some kind of restaurant, pub, or a bar where you are allowed to walk in and go out whenever you want to?"

Something in that sentence rang a bell in Aisha's mind. Now she was listening. "The Pub!!!" Aisha murmured.

"What?" her boss screamed yet again, this time really pissed of.

"Nothing, sir!" She finally replied, "I just woke up with a heavy head. Just give me an hour, and I will be there at the office. Won't happen again." Aisha spoke this in one breath and, without waiting for a further reply, disconnected.

She sat down on the edge of her bed. She could feel her temples throbbing. "The pub?" She repeated to no one. "Anya picked me, we went to the pub, and then..." She tailed off. She picked her phone and saw almost 30 missed calls from her friend. She called back.

"God! Aisha! Where have you been? You know I called you so many times? " Anya didn't give any chance for Aisha to say anything.

"You came to my house yesterday, and we went together to that place.... umm?" Aisha realized she couldn't remember a thing.

"My goodness!" Anya sighed. "That was the day before yesterday. We went out on Saturday. Today's Monday."

"What?" Aisha herself didn't know why she was so shocked.

"Yes, madam! You might have drunk so much after I had left that you were knocked off for the entire Sunday." Anya replied coldly.

"Okay, I will call you later, leaving for office." Aisha ended the call abruptly and kept staring at the wall. Blank.

"I Missed a day! An entire day! Wow." She murmured and finally got up to get ready for the office.

Half of the day was already over when Aisha reached the office. She was welcomed with a bag full of taunts and sarcasm. But she didn't hear a thing and pondered over her missing day and the forgotten night.

The day finally ended, and Aisha and her feeling of 'something's not right' finally receded. She put on her ear pods, hoping if Justin Bieber's melodies help her sleep.

Aisha woke up early the next day. She was in no mood for any more rants from her boss and was almost ready to leave for the office when her doorbell rang. It was a stranger.

"Yes?" Aisha asked.

"I am Vijay." That man showed the police badge and removed his sunglasses.

"Umm, okay! What do you want, officer?" Aisha asked nervously.

"Do you know this man?" Vijay took out his phone and showed a picture.

"No," she replied.

"You were the person last seen with him,"

"What? No! I don't even know him." Aisha spoke before Vijay had finished.

"Lemme finish! You met him on Saturday night, at Sunflower pub. We have the CCTV footage." Vijay said and took out something from his pocket.

"Is it yours?" It was a steel-colored stone-studded bracelet. It was Aisha's. She froze.

"But trust me, I don't know this guy." Aisha felt she would burst like a baby.

"The waiter there says you were drunk. You might not remember. Nothing new, anyway. These kids!" Vijay frowned while keeping his phone and the bracelet in his pocket.

"Some another girl was with you, right?" Vijay continued.

"Yes." Aisha's voice was hardly audible.

"We will get in touch with her as well. She might have a memory better than you. Please try to recall something or anything if you want to get yourself out of this. You are in both the witness and culprit lists." Vijay said and left.

Aisha closed the door and sat on her couch for how long she didn't remember. She needed to remember something about her forgotten night. She was out of her senses for the entire Sunday.

Aisha's phone rang. It was her boss. She didn't pick up. After a few minutes, she left a leave request mail and went out of the house.

She walked for almost an hour and found herself in front of Anya's house. Anya was a freelance graphic designer and worked from home and cafes. Anya was not surprised to see her best friend at her door in the odd hours.

"That inspector came here. Yes." She said before Aisha could speak of something.

Aisha looked at her feet. She felt the ground slipping away.

Anya held her arm tightly. "Come inside."

"Anya!" Aisha cleared her throat and started, "I was seen with the man who was murdered, and I don't even remember his name."

"His name was Vishal." Anya replied.

"You knew him?"

"No," Anya replied, "Of course not he had introduced himself. He came to us and offered you and me a drink."

"Okay." Aisha took a breath. "Anya! I have neither any energy and nor the patience to ask you in bits and pieces. I can't recall a thing. Please tell me everything that I don't remember." Frustration was taking the better of her but, Anya kept her cool.

"How much do you remember?" Anya asked. "Do you remember us entering that pub?"

Aisha nodded.

"Your continuous ranting about Amish?" Anya asked.

"I ranted about my ex again!" Aisha felt annoyed with her own self.

"That's not the point. Anyways," Anya continued, "So that means you had lost yourself in the first hour of that evening. You were cursing him as usual when Vishal came and joined us. He didn't ask or say anything, he just settled himself and ordered three drinks."

Aisha was listening to her intently, trying to recount. An effort to bring back that night.

"Then?" Aisha asked.

"I asked him, 'Do we know you? You are not invited!' I had said a little rudely but, he didn't seem to mind it. Instead, after a few minutes, he took your hand and asked, 'Can I dance with this beautiful lady?' You were not in yourself, and before I could have said anything, he had already dragged you, and he was...." Anya checked herself for the appropriate words, "You both were dancing."

"He was holding me by my waist!" Aisha completed the unsaid and clutched the glass in her hand tightly. Anya nodded silently.

"I felt a little comfort when I saw you both comfortable with each other. He didn't cross any line. At least till the time, I was there. It was almost 11 when I had asked you to get up and go home. But you held my hands and pleaded to stay for some more time. We had a friendly argument, and I had tried my best to drag you out. But then, Vishal said he would take care of you. I don't know Aisha, what came over me. I believed that guy and left you both."

There was a long silence. A tear rolled down Aisha's cheeks. "I had got you too in my mess. I am...." Aisha's voice cracked, "I am sorry, Anya. Please forgive me. I am trying, but I am fed up with myself for not moving on, and now this... All because of me!" Aisha started crying.

"No, Aisha we are all good. Trust me!" Anya hugged her.

"Anya!" Aisha sat straight and wiping her tears, "I promise, this would be the last, help me! I have to know what happened that night."

Anya promised that she would help, and Aisha left.

While she was on her way back home, her phone rang. It was an unknown number. She picked up, "What the hell Aisha!" She recognized it was Amish. "You killed a person, and now you are dragging me into all this crap of yours?" He screamed.

"I have done nothing. I had just met him for a few seconds in a pub, that's it. That was my only fault, and you better not conclude anything on your own. I can't control the police or whoever had killed that man." She took out her frustration and hung up.

Aisha didn't sleep the entire night. Her phone was flooded with texts and chats. "That inspector Vijay has already declared me the murderer. Oh God, help me!" She said to herself. She scanned a few of the messages and realized that Vijay had summoned almost everyone she knew. Her office colleagues, friends, her parents, her ex, ex's acquaintances. She wondered if anyone was spared.

She got up and mailed another leave request. She knew this time she might get terminated but, she didn't care. Her life was at stake.

She gained all her courage and called Vijay. He had left her number with Anya yesterday.

"Ms. Aisha!" There were no greetings from the other side. "So, did you recount anything?" Vijay asked.

"Can we meet?" She was surprised by her voice that suddenly got sharp.

"Yes, of course, we can. Come and meet me at the Hauz Khas police station. I hope you can google the address, right?" Vijay replied.

"So he was killed in Hauz Khas near the pub?" Aisha asked.

"Yes. And the rest we can discuss once you are here." Vijay disconnected and got Aisha in motion.

An hour and a half later, Aisha was at the police station, sitting in front of Vijay. She felt the sweat drops sliding down her neck. She tried keeping her calm.

"I only found what my friend Anya remembered and told you yesterday. I have nothing more to add. What did you find about me?" Aisha said without any hint of nervousness.

"Yes, we found out many things. You still haven't got over your ex. Sorry I made him annoyed a little more with you, but I had to do it. And that now it's a double murder case."

"Double murder? What do you mean?" Aisha had the same nauseous feeling.

Vijay took out a newspaper clipping from the drawer and threw it towards her. "Did you, by chance, go through this two weeks ago?"

Aisha picked up the clipping and started reading. It read that a girl, aged 24, was found dead in a posh colony of Gurgaon.

"I heard this news on TV, only for once, I think," Aisha replied.

"Her name is Tina, Tina Gonzalez. she was Vishal's girlfriend."

"I don't know her. I haven't met them before in my lifetime. I have got nothing to do." Aisha was going breathless.

"Hmm. Well, right now, you are the only inference we have. Do not leave this city and receive every call. You may go now." Vijay said and got busy with his work.

Aisha got up and started leaving. But she turned back and asked, "Where was Vishal killed?"

"In the lane next to the pub's, "Vijay said without looking up. Aisha left. She went to the area and stood there cluelessly for a while. She might have come with him, walking till there. And dropped her bracelet by mistake. It was possible, she thought.

Aisha returned home, opened her laptop, and started searching about Tina and Vishal. Nothing much was there to know. She went through their social media profiles. There she saw some pictures of them. But on Tina's Facebook profile, she noticed two relationship updates. Within a month. The second one was with Vishal. But the first one mentioned some Varun. She tapped on the tagged name. It was a deactivated account. No clue on other social media profiles as well.

"Aisha, you should go back to the office and work." Anya had called her in the evening while Aisha explained the entire day to her.

"But I am most probably already fired," Aisha said, disappointed.

"It's okay, Aisha. You can't escape like this. You don't have the option to do that. It will only increase your overthinking." Aisha listened to Anya for a while and then finally agreed to resume her work.

Aisha was finally able to get herself back on track and got her concentration on work. "Anya was right." She thought.

Weeks passed just like that. Aisha heard nothing. Neither from inspector Vijay nor any news of progress. But something else was awaiting her way.

Aisha collided with one of her neighbors while she was on her way to work.

"Hello, Ms. Aisha!" The neighbor said.

"Hello, Mr. Rifat." Aisha greeted.

"How are you now? Were you drunk that day? Or sick?" He asked.

"Which day?" Aisha got curious.

"A few weeks back. 14th Nov was the date, I guess!"

Some clue to the forgotten night, finally.

"How do you know, Mr. Rifat?" she asked.

"I went to Hauz Khas for a hang out with my old friends. I was returning home when I saw someone lying on the footpath. It was near that Sunflower pub. I picked you up and brought you home. It was all a coincidence, you see!" Rifat spoke more to himself than to her.

"Did you hear anything when you were passing by that street, any gunshot, any commotion, any noise, anything?" Aisha asked impatiently.

"No, it was almost 2 am, and there was pin-drop silence on the streets. The bars and pubs were closing." Rifat said.

A dead-end again. But Aisha at least knew how she had reached home.

"Can you tell me where exactly you had seen me that day?" Aisha got a little embarrassed at her misery of not remembering anything. Rifat showed the location on the map and left.

Aisha booked a cab and went there. She scanned the area minutely and finally got some luck. An ATM with a CCTV. She called Vijay, and with him, they got the footage of that night.

"You know this guy?" Vijay asked, pointing to a figure on the screen who was seen running on the street searching for something. But something occurred to Vijay at that moment. He took out his phone and called someone.

"That's it. He is Tina's previous boyfriend, Varun. You said you don't know him right?" Vijay asked again.

"I haven't seen this guy in my life. Like those two." Aisha said. Pieces were falling in place, and she was happy.

At least Aisha knew she didn't kill anyone. But the spaces of how and who was still blank.

The cops started investigating vigorously, and much to Aisha and Anya's despair, their names were there in the newspapers.

"When I came out clean, why did you disclose our names to the media?" Aisha was standing in the police station, screaming at Vijay.

"We didn't. They must have got in contact with our informers and framed their theories." Vijay replied coldly.

"The theory that I am the killer?" Aisha had no patience.

"Calm down, Ms. Aisha," Vijay replied without looking at her.

"I and my friend are struggling to come out of our houses, neighbors are cursing us..."

"Don't worry. I will ask constables to make sure there's no more chaos in front of your houses." Vijay said and continued being busy. Aisha sighed and left.

Aisha was again called by her boss in the meanwhile. "I can't put my company's reputation at stake. You either solve this mess soon or leave."

After one more such bitter argument in the office, instead of booking a cab, Aisha started walking in the dark streets. It was unusually silent. Then suddenly she heard footsteps. She turned back and saw no one. Now confusion got the better of her. It was an awkward place. The main road was still a little far, and she didn't feel like waiting for a car. She quickened her steps. Half walking, half running.

She was almost about to trip over when she heard a loud thud. Two screams reverberated. One was, of course, Aisha herself. The other one, she couldn't recognize. People slowly started crowding, and others came rushing out of nowhere.

Aisha felt it hard to breathe. She felt herself and tried coming back to the world. A hand pressed her shoulder, and a voice whispered in her ears, "Are you okay, Ms. Aisha?"

Aisha looked up. It was Vijay. She could only nod in a yes. Then she saw other cops dragging a man into their van. She saw his back.

"Who's he?" She asked Vijay.

"You too will have to come with us. I promise this would be the last time." Instead of answering, Vijay took Aisha to his car, and they drove to Hauz Khas police station.

Aisha saw unknown faces there. She assumed they might be the acquaintances of the deceased. Aisha and Vijay reached before the van. The man was brought inside.

"Varun!" Aisha spoke at the very first glance.

"Yes, Varun! It got so predictable after that ATM footage. But we needed bait to make him come out of his den. That's where the media came into the scene." Vijay said, lighting his cigarette.

"You killed my daughter!" A man screamed at Varun and punched him in the face but was held back by the cops there.

"No violence please," Vijay shouted, "Also, no noises please," He said, pointing to the ladies who had started sobbing.

"But why do you want to kill me?" Aisha asked, "I don't even know you?"

"Because you saw me killing Vishal. You are the only witness to my crime." Varun spoke for the first time in a while.

Aisha looked at Vijay for confirmation. Vijay nodded.

"Why did you kill them? You know you have to tell this now. And also repeat this every time everywhere." Vijay snapped.

"They both cheated on me. Tina pretended to love me because of my money, my wealth. When she had had enough, she dumped me over Facebook suddenly one day. I begged, cried, threatened, but nothing worked. I became a joke in my circle."

"And so you committed a bigger joke to be the ultimate joker. Lemme dictate the missing parts of that night." Vijay said, "Vishal was somehow carrying Aisha with her. He booked a cab and waited there. You somehow appeared, planned or unplanned. The rage took the better of you, and you got down and pointed your gun at him. Vishal immediately retreated his hands from Aisha in an attempt to stop you, and Aisha dropped her bracelet there due to those sudden actions. Because she was not in her senses, she started walking and was later picked up by her good neighbor and gentleman Rifat. Stars favored you, lucky girl!" Vijay said, looking at Aisha.

"I didn't exactly plan to kill him, but he provoked me into a fight." Varun interrupted.

"So easy to blame my son since he isn't here to correct or prove himself." Vishal's father shouted.

Varun was taken into custody, and after few formalities, the rest were asked to leave.

"Only if I were in my senses, I could have returned with Anya and never got myself into this. Or only if I were a little less miserable, maybe I could have saved him." Aisha said to Vijay before leaving.

"Or you could have gotten yourself killed as well, just like today," Vijay replied.

Aisha smiled and left. Her mystery of the forgotten night was finally recited and recalled...

she was not in her senses, she started walking and was later picked up by her good neighbor and gentleman Rifat. Stars favored you, lucky girl!" Vijay said, looking at Aisha.

"I didn't exactly plan to kill him, but he provoked me into a fight." Varun interrupted.

"So easy to blame my son since he isn't here to correct or prove himself." Vishal's father shouted.

Varun was taken into custody, and after few formalities, the rest were asked to leave.

"Only if I were in my senses, I could have returned with Anya and never got myself into this. Or only if I were a little less miserable, maybe I could have saved him." Aisha said to Vijay before leaving.

"Or you could have gotten yourself killed as well, just like today," Vijay replied.

Aisha smiled and left. Her mystery of the forgotten night was finally recited and recalled...