Feminine charm

It was past 8 pm and the sky was threatening to break into rain. The road was a bit desolate and the lights were few and far between. The office crowd had thinned out. There were not many on the road that had many sprawling IT offices in the interior of big IT park. Cars were of course whizzing past now and then at great speed. Amar had a meeting at one of the offices that should have been over by 6pm. But it started late and he was held up. His wife Ruchika had taken his car as Amar had agreed to come home in a taxi.

As he was walking with the brief case in one hand, he saw a young woman virtually running from another gate of the complex towards him. He could see that she was afraid of something as she was frequently looking behind her shoulders. About thirty yards behind her, he saw two young men trailing her and increasing their pace to close the gap. Amar wondered how this young lady dared to walk alone in lonely stretch without the security of numbers. As the distance between the woman and the young men reduced, she ran faster towards him.

When she was a few yards from him, she shouted “Raghav, how are you? How come you are here at this point of time?” Amar looked behind to see whether anyone else was behind him. When he saw none, he turned towards her wondering to whom she was talking.

By that time, she had clasped his hand with hers and whispered hurriedly, “Please save me. These fellows have been stalking me for quite some distance and keep whistling. I am sure they are wicked men and their intentions are not honourable. Please pretend that we are friends.”

Amar immediately forced a big smile on his face and shook her hands vigorously talking to her some meaningless nothings enthusiastically. The stalkers on seeing the big built Amar conversing animatedly with the young woman went past them possibly looking for another easy prey.

After they left, the young woman said, “I am Sonali.I have no words to thank you enough. I am sure but for you they would have ruined me. You are my saviour and I would be eternally grateful to you. Can I walk with you up to the auto stand?”

 She looked very attractive when she smiled. When they walked together, she actually snuggled close to him possibly as it gave a sense of security. Nevertheless, Amar relished the soft fragrance of her perfume and the feminine charm of her close proximity rubbing shoulders with him, though not without a guilty conscience. When they reached the auto stand, she gave him a hug with smiling eyes in gratitude for his help. She took a three wheeler and Amar took another one.

When he reached home, Ruchika was already there. He told her proudly how he saved a young woman from the clutches of rogues but did not mention how she walked with him rubbing shoulder to shoulder. When he changed his dress, he found to his great shock that his wallet was missing from the rear pocket of his trouser. He had kept Rs. 6000 in cash besides a few credit cards and ATM card. He notified immediately the banks about the loss. They then drove to the police station near the IT park to lodge a complaint.

The kindly Sub Inspector after listening to his woes sympathetically said “I will register the complaint, but you are the seventh loser this month. This is a new strategy. The woman and the two men are part of a gang and deprive gullible men of their belongings. The woman being good looking and well dressed, people fall for this trap. We are trying hard to catch them with a decoy walking daily in that stretch. They are clever and have not so far fallen into our snare. We are sure to get them. Don’t worry. We will get in touch with you.”

While they were returning, Ruchika said, “Do not mind this small loss. However, this incident of being cheated by a wily woman should not deter you from helping other genuine women in distress.”