The Man With The Fedora

“Have I been sleeping for ages?” Jake asked this to himself. “Why cant I breath properly?” He anxiously touched his nose and panicked “Wh- What the hell? Who put cotton in my nose.” He nervously took a look at his surroundings “Where the hell am I? And why is everything white in here?” Jake rose from the bed and went searching for an answer. His search ended up with finding a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. So he sat down on a white Sofa with some Gothic design in it and lit a cigarette. “Wait. This is’nt normal. Actually its quite the opposite. The cigarette was mostly filter with a pea-sized amount of tobacco.” Still he lit the

Cigarette. He inhaled an then exhaled the smoke. As he sat there It felt like he was finally complete, like something was missing in him for so many ages. As he sat there pensively, deep in his thoughts, the front door opened quietly and suddenly a giant white light blinded Jake. All

he could see was a 5ft 11inch dark figure in a suit with a fedora. It shut the door and gradually neared Jake  while he put out his cigarette. With the door closed the face became clearer. Looking at him ,Jake asked “can u tell me where am I?” Sitting opposite to him,the guy handed him a journal. “is it yours?”. “Yes , Y-Yes Its my journal. Where did u get that?.”

“its always with you. Do you even remember what exactly happened to you? Well I hope you don’t so why don’t you read it. Start from 14th November 2012 and I will help you with the rest”. Jake grabbed his diary and started reading-

14th November 2012 11:46am

Cindy called . She said we need to talk. Starbucks. 1pm.

14th November 2012 12:45pm

What’s happened to the crowd here? Why would they listen to all these crappy heartbreak songs. And Miss Taylor Swift , Please find someone loyal and who will never leave you so that people don’t have to listen your sad breakup songs.

14th November 2012 1:01am

Hah!… who is late now???

14th November 2012 1:25am

Cindy texted “Sorry. Had to go to the parlor. Got a date tonight. You know I wont date 2 people at a time. I don’t think this is going to work. ”

14th November 2012 1:55am

I didn’t know parlor chicks could be powerful enough to kick me out. Anyways

Cindy said “ITS NOT YOU . ITS ME.”

14th November 2012 2:48pm

I miss Scott now. I fought and broke contact with him ‘cause of Cindy. It will be really embarrassing if I called him right now. But I need a booze partner.

14th November 2012 3:36pm

People say liquor can help you forget your pain. So I asked the bartender to surprise me with his best scotch. (That awesome moment when u finally used a movie dialogue in real life.)

14th November 2012 4:55pm

Two  pegs of the surprise scotch but it’s just getting more and more painful to forget her.

14th November 2012 5:35pm

Am I that Drunk or did I just see Cindy kissing a tall guy on that  table on my left.

14th November 2012 5:40pm

Yes it is her. I know that cheekbone very well.

14th November 2012 5:45pm

The bartender directed me towards the smoking zone.. I just can’t sit here and watch her having a tongue circus in her throat .

14th November 2012 6:15pm

It has been long since the sun has set. The dim bulb above me hardly lights this page. The page which would be my last note.

I m Jake  and I too had a life , I  too had everything, A family, A girlfriend, A job. But today I am sitting here ,seeing the love of my life make out without that tall guy on that table. So good bye everyone. If anyone should find my journal, then all I have to say is that nobody is responsible for my death. Nobody except you, Cindy ”.   – Jake

“Wait…Am I Seriously Dead?” Jake asked breathlessly. “Answer me!!”

“I was waiting for you at the Bar. Well, you didn’t jump from the smoking area. You instead shouted that if you have to, you would rather die after killing that bastard. So you ran to your girlfriend’s table and tried to punch the guy. But u missed it and fell down unconscious after getting punched by that tall guy.”

“what! That’s…that’s Impossible”- Jake shouted.

“After that I took you to my home and you were bleeding through your nose, so I put in cotton to stem the bleeding.”

Jake was still having trouble  believing that this is what had actually happened when he realized something “wait…why were you waiting for me at the Bar ? How do you know me.? ”

“Here, have some water.” – the man said.

“Look losing someone doesn’t mean that it’s the end of everything. I just think it is important that you realize, that you’re the best in the world. It doesn’t matter what you are or what you do.. you are the best. And you should never forget that. And if and when somebody thinks that you are not, you just got to let them go”.”

Jake was amazed and in a way felt better about himself and his life. As he sat there listening he took a sip and suddenly fell unconscious on the sofa.

“Jake! Wake up! Wake up Jake.” – Scot shouted.

Jake slowly opened his eyes and suddenly rose sat up.

“How did I come home? Who took me here?”

“Nobody.! You have been here since yesterday” – Scot said.

“Bullshit!. Quick  hand me my journal.” – Jake pointing towards his diary

He feverishly turned the pages. To his surprise, this was the last entry in his journal –

14th November 2012 1:55am

I didn’t know parlor chicks could be powerful enough to kick me out. Anyways  Cindy said “ITS NOT YOU . ITS ME.”

Confused, he shut the diary. Then he saw what was written at the back and let out a silent gasp.

“ I just think it is important that you realize, that you’re the best in the world. It doesn’t matter what you are or what you do.. you are the best. And you should never forget that. And if and when somebody thinks that you are not, you just got to let them go”.”

__END__

-Arpan Nandi