One day I was working in my office, when the security guard informed me that a boy named Bablu had come to meet me. I tried to recall this name but couldn’t remember having met or known anyone with this name. I thought of meeting him to find out who he was.

I saw a man, about 30 years of age, waiting for me. When he saw me, he extended his hands and said,

“Hi Aarav. Myself Bablu.”

I was trying to remember if we had ever met earlier.

“What are you thinking?” he said.

“Have we met earlier? Sorry, I am not able to place you.” I said.

“No, we haven’t met before. But I know you.”

Now I was very eager to know, how he knew me.

“How do you know me?”

“You are Rihana’s boyfriend. I am her friend. She may not have told you about me, but she had told me about you.”

As soon as I knew that he was Rihana’s friend, my mood got off. I didn’t want to speak with him.

“Sorry, I am not interested in talking to any friend of Rihana.” I turned around to go inside the office.

“Aarav, I want to tell you something. There was one more person in your and Rihana’s love story.”

I didn’t want to listen to him, but somehow I stopped. What was he trying to tell me about this third person? I turned around.

“What do you want to tell me? Who was between us?”

“Aarav, you think only you loved her? Maybe you are right. But there was one more person who loved her, or actually showed her that he loved her, because she was rich.”

“Who was he?” I asked.

“Sahil Khan.”

When I heard the name of Sahil, I suddenly recalled that I had heard his name from Rihana’s mouth also when we were in central park. She had received a call, and had mentioned that it was of her friend Sahil. Now I was eager to know more.

“Tell me everything you know about Rihana and Sahil.” I said.

“Can we sit somewhere and talk?”

“Ok. There is a coffee shop nearby. We can go there.” I called an office friend and asked him to switch my computer off.

In the coffee shop Bablu ordered two cups, as we settled down.

“How do you know Sahil?” I asked.

“He was my friend.”

“What do you mean ‘he was’? Isn’t he your friend now?”

He paused for a while.

“No. He is my biggest enemy now. But about that, later. First listen to why I have come here for.”

“Ok.”

“Sahil had met Rihana about two years back in a common friend’s birthday party. Slowly they became friends. For Rihana, he was just a friend but when he came to know that she was the daughter of Delhi’s biggest publisher, Akbar Khan, who was very rich, he tried to entice her in his love. He increased his friendship with her, took her around and used to click his pictures with her. He would show us those pics, and tell us that she was his girlfriend. He would leave no chance to show that he was a very rich boy, though, in fact, he was very poor. He was able to convince Sultan Khan, a transporter, that Rihana was his girlfriend, and if he helped him financially, he would return all his money after his marriage with Rihana, and make him rich too, as he would get all her father’s wealth. Many a times he borrowed money from me too. There was no bad thing that Sahil did not do. He used to drink, smoke, visit prostitutes etc. He was a big liar. He was convinced that Rihana was also in love with her. But one day his friend Rizwan sent him your and Rihana’s pics from Nainital. Sahil realized that you had entered their love story. He met Rihana who told him that she was in love with you, and considered Sahil only as a friend. This broke his dream of becoming a rich person.”

Bablu was telling me about his friend Sahil, but I found it difficult to believe. Why was he telling me all these things?

“You were also lying to Rihana. Maybe you were also eyeing her wealth.” I said.

“It is true that I did not tell Rihana about Sahil’s reality, because he had bribed me. One day Sahil was gambling with a few friends, and had lost 50,000 rupees. He instigated me and I hit a boy sitting there on his head with a bottle. Unfortunately, some policemen were standing nearby who caught both of us. While we were being taken to the police station, our friend Rizwan saw us, and informed Sultan Khan. Sultan Khan is a known bad character of our area, and has good influence with police. He bribed the policemen and got Sahil released, shifting all the blame on me. He wanted to get Sahil married to Rihana at the earliest, so that he could recover 4 lakh rupees which he had already given to Sahil for befriending Rihana. Sahil never thought about me nor came to meet me in jail.

After two months when I came out of jail, I went to meet Sahil at the room, where I normally used to sleep with my girlfriends, and he with prostitutes. When I reached the room, I found it locked from outside. I thought maybe he had gone out somewhere. Then I saw a girl’s footwear outside the door. I had a suspicion that he might be inside with some girl, because whenever one of us used to get our girlfriend in the room, other friends would put a lock outside so that no one could suspect that there was a girl inside. 

I called Sahil on his phone and could hear the phone ringing inside. Sahil told me that he had gone out somewhere, and would meet me at night. But I knew he was inside, because I could hear his voice from inside. Now I only had to find out who was the girl inside. Was it Rihana? I went to the backside of the room, which had a window. I had been to the room several times, so knew that there was a hole in the window from which I could see who the girl was. When I peeped through that hole, it was as if earth had moved from under my feet. I got the biggest shock of my life. The girl inside the room, with Sahil, was none other than my own girlfriend Nisha. I could not believe that my friend was having sex with my girlfriend. Both of them had been cheating me. I wanted to kill both of them, but then decided to wait for the right moment. I decided to tell Rihana the reality of Sahil, so that she could save her life from this bastard. I met Rihana and told her everything about Sahil. That day Rihana told me about you, that you are a writer and that she loved you. You must be thinking, why I have come to meet you and telling you all these things?”

“Yes, I was thinking the same thing.” I said after a pause.

“Since the day Rihana died, Sultan Khan has been hunting Sahil. Two days back he has given ultimatum to Sahil that if he doesn’t return his money within 7 days, he would kill him. Sahil is a very crooked person, Aarav. He thinks you are the reason for Rihana’s suicide. He may try to take revenge on you. I have come here to tell you to take care of yourself. That bastard can go to any length,”

After hearing these details, I had begun to trust Bablu. But I still didn’t know the reason for Rihana’s suicide.

“Thanks for telling me all this. I will take care. I will leave now.” I said.

“Aarav, Rihana was a very decent girl. I have no idea why she committed suicide. I am very sorry for her death.”

I left without saying anything.