"Are you coming or not? We're gonna be late. Hurry!"
A young gentlemen in a tuxedo passed by me. He looks, 40....? I guess.
"I'm finally done with my novel. It'll be a great hit. Let's go. The treat is mine"
The lady who was shouting in the middle of the street finally shut up and went with him. Her agony was gone, replaced with happiness and energy. "Love, indeed a beautiful thing", I say in a small voice.
"Woah woah, look at you! Whatever you're smiling in the middle of the street for!" Samriddhi yelled.
As I turned to look right, the wind blew right on her side concealing that charming face with her blonde hair. "Gosh, she's beautiful", I thought. Catching up with her was a good idea. I had a terrific time.
"Melbourne, you say?"
"Yes. I'm not much excited though. I've always wanted to go to Switzerland for my further studies but things didn't turn out to be great at home either so this is what it'll be", she said.
There's something about her voice. It gives me a calming sensation. She sipped her americano as she proceeded telling me about her summer.
"Where do I start? It was THE best time of my life. Qatar was a heavenly experience. I have tons of picture which I'll forward all to you later.", she smiled.
She had a hard time back then so I was genuinely happy for her. She gently stroke her phone and checked the time. 2:30 it was.
"Shoot, we've been talking for two hours. I have an interview today at 3:00. I have to rush now. Let's do this again someday. I'll ring you" she said hurriedly.
"That sounds good. I wish you good luck for your interview. I hope you get the project. You've worked hard for it" "Okay, I'll get going. And one more thing, Thank you for 16th April", she chuckled. "16th April huh. Why?", I asked. "What do you mean? That was a great save. Stop pretending you don't remember it. Haha. See you around", she disappeared so quickly, like into thin air.
I stopped by the nearby cafe before returning to my apartment.
"One iced latte to go, please"
"It'll take just a minute Maa'm"
The waitress was surprisingly polite. I wondered why it took that long. As it was growing dark, the sun also set. I went to the kitchen to see what was happening. I gasped lightly. Before my eyes were two dead bodies lying behind the rack. I didn't freak out, neither did I scream. Working in the forensics, this wasn't any different from my daily life. I called the cops and they arrived at the scene. The cafe was marked within 'no entry' zone now. Two of my colleagues were also present at the scene. "Let's see what we got here. Desert eagle, USP, M500, Gb18- there's a lot of them. Why would a shooter leave their stash right at the place though? Did you notice anything strange?", he asked me. I told him exactly what happened and nothing came even near to strange.
"Hey listen, the only evidence we found is this teal colored pocket watch. There's blood in here. You should keep it safely for the time being. Boss won't let us work on a case after what happened with you and your friend that day. Here you go" He handed me that watch. The neatly wrapped thing went straight into my bag.
The clear sky filled with dark clouds and it started pouring. I suddenly remembered what Zelda mentioned earlier about "that day". Samriddhi said something about it too. It was driving me crazy. "This eidetic memory is of no good when a situation like this strikes. What were they talking about? I don't remember what happened that day!", I thought. I resumed walking again. "Hey!" She startled me. "Samriddhi? What brings you here in an hour this late?", I asked. She asked me if I can spare her a minute. We went in my apartment. As I was unpacking my bag, a clear bag came out too.
"Oh my god, That's my watch! I've been searching for it everywhere. I thought I wouldn't find it again. What a relief."
I took a deep breath and asked her, " What do you mean by 'my watch' ?"