Misjudgement

She sat in the Starbucks cafe, sipping her coffee and staring out of the window. The blood stained knife lay next to her handbag, covered with her blue silk scarf. A solitary chair next to Jan awaited Dan's arrival. It was getting dark outside, dim lights lit the café, and there wasn't much of a crowd. Two men in the far corner of the café were talking softly as they sipped coffee. It was half past seven, as Dan entered the café. He immediately spotted her in a corner by the side of a large glass window, her face turned away from him. Dan strode hurriedly towards her and stood next to her. He gently placed his hands on her shoulder and softly called out her name. Jan turned around and revealed the blood stained knife under her scarf.

Dan froze for a moment and in split second placed his helmet on top of the scarf. Words failing him, he sat next to her, took her palms into his and he could feel her warmth. He moved his chair close to hers, almost whispering in her ears, he asked, "What happened, Jan"? Jan looked straight into his eyes and said, "I killed Maddy in the office today, with this paper knife". For a moment, Dan was speechless; he regained composure and asked, "But, Why"? She replied trembling, "I am pregnant; I carry his child, now he neither wants to marry me nor compensate me adequately". Dan went weak on his knees, mustered the strength to get up, tears welling in his eyes, he mumbled without looking at her, "But, I loved you Jan". "Yes, I know Dan, she replied", but you don't have the money I need, I am sorry, Dan," she concluded. Dan stood up and walked staggering to the door, he was dazed, it had started drizzling outside, and he wore his helmet and soon merged with the darkness.

Dan was lying on his bed staring emptily the ceiling above; he could feel the warm tears rolling out of his eyes, thoughts engulfing him. He could not fathom where he went wrong and how he could have misjudged a person like Jan, whom he had loved so dearly and wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. He could hardly digest that she had been two-timing him all along. He closed his eyes and allowed his thoughts to drift back in time.

It was a cold, misty January morning. Dan, a young man with a fair complexion, about 5'6", medium build, in his mid-twenties was seated comfortably in the reception area of a plush office, glancing through the day's copy of the Economic Times. The clock on the wall showed ten minutes past eight. The receptionist behind the desk appeared to be quite busy since arriving at her desk a few minutes before. Dan gave her a cursory glance and immersed his head between the pages of the E.T on hand.

A sudden whiff of cold breeze infused with Calvin Kline perfume made Dan look up. He saw a young lady of about 26 years walk in with a charming smile, as the automatic doors closed behind her. She was dark but radiant, about 5'5" tall and seemed to have a perfect body frame. She was wearing a blue hugging jeans trousers and a matching top. The wavy and shiny hairs fell and bounced off her shoulders as she took small strides into the corridor towards her work area. She gave a customary smile at the receptionist and did not seem to acknowledge the presence of Dan. His eyes followed her as she vanished into a cabin at the far end of the corridor. Dan was never able to take his mind off her, he felt she was quite pretty and looked very confident. Dan judged her to be holding an important position in the organization.

Dan looked at the clock, the hands showed 10 minutes to 9. The receptionist gave a curious glance at Dan as if, she was reading his mind. Dan shifted himself on the sofa, turned away from the probing eyes of the lady behind the desk, not willing to give away his thoughts.

At about five minutes past nine, a burly tall man of about fifty years, in a striped suit and a matching tie stomped in. He greeted loudly the lady behind the desk, handed over some covers to her, muttering a few instructions; he strode away into the corridor towards his cabin. The big man ignored the presence of Dan.