The e-mail was short and simple but it made lesser sense with every read. Ravi looked away from the computer screen and wondered if he justified for being annoyed.
It was six-line invitation for a former friend’s wedding ceremony. He was a self-made man who had risen to the top very early in life. They had had some good times together but due to many reasons down the road, they had fallen apart. For Ravi, this wasn’t just another wedding invite, there was more to it. What shocked Ravi was that the sender was not only already married but was also seriously ailing. There was no cure for his ailment. The prognosis was clear: inevitable death within six to twelve years depending on how lucky he got.
‘But why invite me?’ wondered Ravi. He had good reasons to suspect that the sender held him responsible for his ailment. Frankly, he had anticipated with dread, that his ex-friend would send goons to have him mugged. He was about to give up reading when he noticed that it was not a bulk mail. It seemed like an earnest invitation. Ravi reckoned that his annoyance sprang from his inability to judge the man. He placed his forehead on his palms and began pressing with his fingers. Numbness slowly replaced the headache. Why? He couldn’t shake the paranoia of being set up. A sudden chill ran down his spine. Was this a ploy to draw him out of his hole? Was he laying a trap to secure his presence at an alien place, over a thousand miles away? Would he get him arrested there and sent to jail? Or murdered…? Despite the effective air-conditioning, Ravi broke into a sweat.
Shivani jutted up in her cushioned chair to bring herself closer to the monitor and re-read the mail. A thousand questions reeled through her head. She had almost accidently deleted it when she had first read it. The sender was a lady whom she barely knew. They had had only two interactions both telephonic. The first was around a month ago when she had called Shivani late night. She was looking for clues to her missing husband. The next day she had called again for help to illegally abort her seven-month pregnancy.
Now, there was an invitation from her to attend her wedding? Had this woman gone off the deep end? If not, what was she up to? What had happened to her child? Shivani rechecked the date of wedding. No, it wasn’t the first of April.
