The Booo...chronicles (redux - part 3)

One time in winter, several years ago, N stayed back in his office later than usual. He yawned and looked at the time. The clock read 1 AM. But he had to complete two sets of reports for the christmas season round the corner, and had to prepare requisitions for a whole lot of inventory and permissions for various vendors who'd set up their wares on the D day. He knew that the third floor of the 'complex' had a small one-room studio apartment kind of a guest room, which was reserved for his boss, when he flew in from Mumbai. He decided to spend the night there.

He called home, informed his wife and sat down to draft the reports.

An hour later, he stepped out of his office and trudged down the stairs. After a few steps, he thought he heard another set of footsteps, echoing his own. 'Clop, clop' and then immediately a 'clop'. He stopped and turned around. No one. He ignored the echoes and reached the ground floor, where the security guard sat.

The uniformed man sat outstretched in his chair, his eyes partially open and his mouth fully open. At a glance, you'd think he'd been stabbed or something. The snore gave him away. N woke him up and asked for the keys to the apartment. The guy hastily pulled out the keys from his pocket and handed it to him. As N turned to leave, the janitor, who was now woken by this brief exchange between the other two, woke up and peeped out of his blanket.

"Sir, you're still here?"

"Oh, yeah..I had some work, so I decided to sleep over at the Boss' apartment. Why?"

The small wiry guy quickly stood up and walked over to N.

"Please don't stay there sir. You better go home," he said, whispering. A huge clap of thunder couldn't wake the security guard who'd gone back to his snoring already. N wondered why the hush hush.

"But why?" N said and paused. Then he shook his head. "Don't tell me..."

The janitor nodded. "Yes, sir. They're there as well."

"Holy ghost," N muttered.

The janitor said. "And this guy is a tad more touchy than the other ones."

N waited for him to continue.

The janitor said, "You know I used to sleep there, on the 3rd floor, right outside the apartment, don't you?"

"Yeah, now that you mention it, I do remember that."

"Hmmm..and now I sleep here on the ground floor. Know why?"

"Enlighten me," N said, sleep slowly hovering over his eyes.

"Well, one night after my usual round of duties, I slept there, in front of the guest room. And in the morning, I found myself here, below these stairs."

N raised his eyebrows.

"Yes sir...and I don't walk in my sleep. Never have. I have been sleeping there for the last four years. And this happened about two months ago. That's when I suspect, the apartment might've had a new visitor."

N scratched his head. "Well, ok. We'll see. Maybe I'll find myself beside you here in the morning." He chuckled and climbed up the stairs to the guest room.

The next morning he woke up inside his locked car, in the basement parking lot.

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