Murder in Motel Mount

Chapter 3 - "Crush and crushed..."

The road is deserted. The Sun is ready to sink amidst the hills. Cold wind frequently gives shiver to every pore of Aliya. She takes out the scarf and wraps it around her head. The driver is carefully driving the taxi as he knows little carelessness on this hilly road can be dangerous.

"Ma'am, are you going to Motel Mount to see Manik and Cabir's performance?"

The driver asks innocently. Aliya shifts her eyes from outside to him and inquisitively asks,

"Manik and Cabir? Who are they? I heard that Micky Malhotra sings in Motel Mount."

She sounds a bit disheartened. The driver softly chuckles and replies,

"Madam, your Micky Malhotra is Manik Malhotra only. And Cabir Dhawan is known as Bir Dhawan. These names are given by their fans. You can't believe, Ma'am how the people of this town love them. They are one of the attractions of this hill station. But there is one more attraction in Motel Mount. Ms Rosalind. We call her Rose. You have taken a wise decision by coming over here on Saturday. Every Saturday night Rose and Micky perform together. They are the main attraction of the Motel Mount's Saturday nights."

Aliya frowns in annoyance and makes a face. As his line. 'Your Micky Malhotra' gave her happiness, the mention of Rose equally switched off her mood. She starts ruminating over how she came to know about this Motel Mount and Micky Malhotra. Actually, last month Harshad and she were discussing a fashion show and Harshad gave her some music CDs to choose the background music for the ramp walk. Those are random tracks but among them, there was a guitar piece and some lines of a song. The voice instantly mesmerized her and she asked Harshad about the male singer. However, he couldn't give any information as he collected the CD from a DJ. She was desperate to find out the name of the singer. So, she met the DJ and finally came to know about Micky Malhotra. He gave her another CD where she saw Micky performing in Motel Mount. His melodious baritone voice and charming mannerism were enough to make her fall in love with him then and there. Otherwise, who gets involved in a wild goose chase where she knows nothing about this Micky Malhotra except that he is worth chasing? Aliya chuckles inwardly. That's why she didn't tell Nandini about this in detail. She knew that Nandini is very practical and she would never have encouraged this matter. First, she wants to meet this guy and say how deeply she has been affected by him. Before coming over here, she even sent a card and rose to Micky. Of course, she had to do lots of hard work to find out his address but it is truly said, where there is a will there is a way and in love!...well, where is love there are so many ways to fulfil that will. Aliya bites her lower lip with a coy smile.

"Love? Can it be possible to love someone without meeting?"

She mumbles. The driver reacts to her indistinct words,

"Did you say anything, Ma'am?"

It breaks her reverie and she embarrassedly replies,

"Nothing! You drive carefully. How much time is left to arrive?"

The cab driver looks outside and assures,

"Only half an hour, Madam. Look at the hilltop. Those lights are coming from the Motel Mount. We are almost there."

Aliya follows his finger pointed towards a direction and observes some lights twinkling in the dark outside on an elevated place. Her every pore shivers with excitement. She crosses her fingers and whispers,

"Yes, I am almost there to meet him."

...................................................

Nandini is tossing and turning in her bed. Aliya called her after she reached her destination. However, since then, Nandini has called her a zillion times to know if she gets a proper hotel to stay. She doesn't even know how will she manage her food and safety in a totally unknown place. Now, Nandini is cursing herself for agreeing to this stupid plan of her stupid sister.