Eye On You

  “Look out for someone who buys a tube of pure avocado hand cream. Hridi…I mean Poorna…” I pause for few seconds before I continue. “She has a bad flaky skin condition on her hands. She had tried everything and nothing worked. I used to get her the cream from Harrods. That worked and her flaky skin condition got cured.”

  Dipti has the cybercrime department working hard on this. She is confident Hridi aka Poorna will surface. Either to buy that cream or to pay for medical insurance.

  I’m not so sure. She had altered her life completely. Lost 30 kgs, trained herself to be fit, took up trekking, curled her smooth hair into curls, stayed away from her son…only for revenge. She had her eyes on me. Followed me relentlessly on social media and learnt everything about me and my life. She pretended to be my best friend for months. She planned every minute detail, to ruin me, to make me pay for what Rishi did.

  This is determination of a whole new level. It is insanity. Planned and premeditated madness. I don’t think she will make a mistake. But Dipti is confident she will.

  “She made the mistake of throwing the empty tube, which you found. They all make a mistake. Eventually.” Dipti said to me.

  I’m not holding my breath. I’m doing what she had once said — Revenge is a dish best never served. Forget about the bitch, like she never happened and live on.

  Sometimes, when I’m waiting for a flight, I look at the crowd and wonder. Where are you Hridi? What are you doing? What are you thinking right now? Do you think about me?

  Sometimes, I imagine meeting her. What would I say? It’s a different conversation in my head every time. I don’t let my thoughts go there often but sometimes I just can’t help but wonder. I tell myself, “Everything is fine. Back to normal. Stop thinking about her.”

  I’m living my life. Like before. Yes, everything is normal, well almost. I double check the front door lock at night. It’s not a smart door. I have two additional locks fitted on it. Sometimes I need a pill to fall asleep. I change the CCTV password often. I need that to be able to see Archie. I have deactivated all social media handles. No Twitter, Facebook or Instagram for me anymore.

  No one will have eyes on me if I can help it.

  THE END

  * * *

  Acknowledgement

  ‘This is a bad time for fiction.’ Fiction isn’t selling.’ Readers only want non-fiction.’ Such were the responses I received from editors in different publishing houses. They asked me to wait… wait for a year.

  Well, patience has never been a virtue with me and I didn’t want to wait till mid 2022 to get my third book out. Emboldened by the initiatives of my friends – Andaleeb Wajid, Milan Vohra and many others, I decided to fly solo. Self-publish the book on Kindle.

  Writing is a solitary activity. The writer works alone but it takes a village to put a book out and I have a really big village around me. There are so many people who have helped me and continue to help and support me in my book journey.

  I’m so grateful to all of them. They are indeed the wind behind my sails. Arjun Gaind: thank you for patiently hearing me grumble and offering words of encouragement. Andaleeb: don’t know how I would manage without your help. You’re always prompt with your replies to my constant pinging. I owe you big time. Harini: thank you for being my writing buddy. The endless discussions with you clears the cobwebs in my head and helps me write.

  Samarpita, thank you for being an amazing editor. Mishta Roy, thanks for the amazing cover; you captured the essence of the story.

  I would be unable to write without the love and support of my family; Sandeep and Rohan – thank you for just being there.

  About The Author

  Kanchana Banerjee

  Kanchana lives in Gurgaon with her husband, son, Casper and the memories of Archie. She is the author of A Forgotten Affair (2016) & Nobody’s Child (2019). This is her third book. When not writing, she likes to spend time tending to her plants, playing with Casper and going on cycling rides with her husband and son.

  Books By This Author

  NOBODY'S CHILD

  A young woman is found on the streets of Mumbai, dazed and covered in wounds. Her mind is clearly addled by drugs. She tells a TV journalist that she is the famous singer Asavri Bhattacharya, the winner of the 2016 reality TV show Indian Koel.But as far as the world knows, Asavri died in a car accident soon after her win. Her body was cremated; her death mourned by the whole nation.As news spreads like wildfire, the press and public begin clamouring for answers. How can Asavri be alive? And if this is indeed the real Asavri, then who was cremated three years ago? And who is behind what happened to her?Is it Tanya, the first runner-up who wore the victor's crown after Asavri was declared dead, or Rudra, Asavri's ex-husband? Or is it Kamini Devi - the glamorous MP with a sinister plan? Or Avniel, the film journalist who shot to fame by writing Asavri's biography soon after her death?And why does Asavri keep muttering the name Monty? Who is he?Nobody's Child Is An Exhilarating And Chilling Story About The Dark Side Of Fame.

  A FORGOTTEN AFFAIR

  Sometimes you need to forget everything to recognize what matters the most.

  11 July 2006, Mumbai. Sagarika Mehta walks out of her nine-year old marriage, meets with a near-fatal accident and goes into a deep coma: all on the same day. She wakes up with no memory of her past. After over a year in hospital, Rishab, her husband, whisks her away to Gurgaon to convalesce. There, in that plush apartment, with people waiting on her hand and foot, Sagarika feels a vague sense that something is wrong. Why does the scent of a particular cologne drive her into a frenzy? Why does the innocuous word 'cheeni' bother her? And why is Rishab so evasive to her queries about her past? As a desperate Sagarika searches for answers and learns to trust no one, she discovers that sometimes you need to forget everything to recognize what matters the most.