Dark Secrets

9

The journey from Tosh to Triund where the other girls were and then eventually to Udaipur was emotionally claustrophobic for Shreshtha. On the one hand, she had understood things about her boyfriend which she shouldn't have, or so she felt, and on the other, whenever he called she had to pretend that everything was alright. She had promised herself she wouldn't confront him till she had solid answers to her many questions.

A day after she reached her institute, he found Shraddha trying out different dresses in the room. Some of the dresses weren't even hers.

"When did you buy all this?" Shreshtha asked.

"I borrowed them from a few of our batchmates."

"Why? Anything coming up?"

"Kartik is coming here. It's a date," Shraddha said with the kind of excitement which reminded her of the night when Yuvansh was about to come and she was getting ready in front of Sanam. The next instant, her eyes were moist. Shreshtha excused herself and went inside the washroom. She cried looking at her reflection in the mirror. Her fairy tale romance had started showing nightmarish traits. She hadn't kissed a beast who turned into a prince. She'd kissed a prince who was slowly turning into a beast. She tugged at her panties and sat on the toilet to relieve herself while Googling "how can we trace a person's location" on her phone. She went through the results meticulously till she reached a point in one of the articles. The article stated that if the person had a sim-based phone then his area, if not the exact location, could be traced via the network towers.

The moment Shreshtha came out, she stopped short, looking at Shraddha. She had never seen her hypochondriac roommate look more beautiful. And she knew it more than just the makeup. When a woman is in love, there's a certain kind of glow in her visage and a gleam in her eyes. Shreshtha went to Shraddha, "I really hope you two make it."

Shraddha understood why she said that.

"I hope whatever it is that's disturbing Yuvansh and your story, falls into place."

"I hope so too," Shreshtha  said, her voice lacking conviction.

She went and sat on her bed with a frown.

"Now what's troubling you?" Shraddha asked.

"How can I get someone's phone records?"

"That someone is Yuvansh?" Shraddha looked at her incredulously.

Shreshtha's look made her forgo waiting for an answer. "Didn't i ever tell you Kartik works in Airtel?"
"What? seriously? Why didn't you tell me before?" Shraddha was on her feet.

"I don't know why I didn't. Maybe there was no need to do so. And now you asked about phone records so...." Shraddha shrugged.

"Can he do this for me?"

"Of course, he can, and he will. Wait, I'll speak to him when I meet him for dinner tonight."

"Not tonight or not during the date. Don't spoil it. Ask him once you guys are done."

"As you say." Shraddha smiled.

Meanwhile, Dimpy lay awake on her bed after the daily grind scrolling through Facebook. Everything the Srivastavas and Akshat told her was going through her mind. She was making her own story. Yuvansh called them after their accident and yet he lied to her about the fact that he never met Shreshtha. Why would he do so? And who was this girl who said her name was Shreshtha Srivastava too? On an impulse, Dimpy typed the name on her Facebook search bar and checked the results. She found the girl's profile in no time. She started going through everything- her pictures, her "about me", her check ins, etc. Yuvansh wasn't on any social media. Dimpy saw the creator's cafe pictures in Tosh as well. She tapped on her message button and then drafted a message.

HI, I'M THE ONE YOU MET OUTSIDE YUVANSH'S HOUSE. CAN WE CHAT?

She sent the message. An hour later, a response came.

HI, I REMEMBER YOU, KISHORI. CHAT ABOUT?

YUVANSH. Dimpy replied immediately .

WHERE ARE YOU STATIONED?

DELHI.

LET'S MEET TOMORROW?

YOU HERE?

NO, I'M IN UDAIPUR. BUT I CAN TRAVEL.

If someone was willing to travel from Udaipur to Delhi at the mere notification of a person's name, there had to be something important, Dimpy knew that.

Later that night, Shraddha messaged Shreshtha.

WE DID IT. IT FELT SO GOOD AS HE FINALLY BEGAN TO CHANGE POSITIONS AS WELL.

HAPPY FOR YOU. Shreshtha replied.

ALSO, I HAD A TALK WITH HIM. HE SAID HE WILL GIVE YOU THE RECORDS BUT DOESN'T WANT TO BE NAMED FOR THIS.

THAT'S FINE. LET ME SHARE THE NUMBER WITH YOU. YOU FORWARD IT TO HIM.

COOL.

The next day, when Shreshtha was about to reach Delhi, Shraddha sent her the images of the phone records her boyfriend had dug out. They were of the past one year. As she started going through the records, her heart began to race, faster and faster. In the last one year, Yuvansh was more in Delhi and less in Lucknow. When Sanam was in Delhi , so was he. Or at least his phone was. Sanam's last message to her echoed in her mind: Do you know where your boyfriend is? Does that mean she had seen Yuvansh or knew he was in Delhi? And did they meet ? The questions were all legit but Shreshtha was scared to answer them.

When she reached the cafe where Dimpy and she had fixed their meeting, she whatsapped her:

I'M THERE IN THE CAFE. WHERE ARE YOU?

REACHING IN 5MINUTES. DELHI TRAFFIC!

A reply came.

SURE, NO PROBLEM.

The messages immediately appeared on Yuvansh's phone. He knew the other number was Dimpy's. And he understood they were meeting in Delhi where he too was.