It had been a long day. Forced to work from home despite having called in sick with a fever had already gotten to you, leaving you irritated and mentally exhausted. Why couldn’t Malhotra close the last bit of the project himself, even after all the late-nighters you had already pulled in over the last couple of days? But no, the e-mail should go only from your account – he insisted. It was already late night now, you’d been working nonstop, and had just hit send on the email. Now was the time to finally crash. Your stomach rumbled in agreement.
You fell back on the couch and sighed, staring blankly at the TV. The channel droned on about the new Mystery Meal by McB, delivered in 10 mins by Thinkit. Your thoughts were entirely elsewhere – on that that smug Malhotra in the office and how he would be now walking to DGMs cabin with your work, making a huge show of the fact how he had supervised the entire project and got the team to deliver even at this late hour.
Your stomach gave a low growl this time, pulling you out of your reverie and forcing your attention to the TV, which was now back to streaming Hathi Ram's travails in Delhi Police. You gave a quick search on the app for a Mystery Meal, but then decided to settle for the comfort of a home-cooked 2 minute Maggi instead. In 10 mins, you were already fast asleep and dreaming about punching Malhotra in the gut, when a sudden buzz jolted you from your slumber.
Groggily you went up and opened the door. A young man stood at your doorstep, holding a large bag with the Thinkit logo on it.
“Good evening, sir!” he said, smiling brightly. “Delivery for Rahul Sharma?”
You blinked in astonishment. You hadn’t ordered anything. “I didn’t order anything,” you muttered.
The delivery boy glanced at his phone, then back at you. “It’s been ordered for your location Sir, and already paid for in advance. I’m instructed to deliver it to you by the app.”
You felt a moment of confusion. This was strange. How could they have your address? Why hadn’t you received a notification?
“Have a nice day, Sir,” the boy added, handing you the package before, quickly turning around and walking away to pick-up the next order.
You stood at the door, staring after him for a moment with your feverish eyes. Something didn’t feel right, but well, a free meal was a free meal!
Back inside, you placed the bag on the counter. The meal seemed harmless enough, a standard delivery paper-bag containing a wrapped burger, French Fries, a diet coke and a Toy – the classic Mystery Meal. You absent mindedly started munching the burger. But there was something else—something unusual.
Tucked inside the bag, you found a small folded note.
With your greasy hands, you unfolded it with a frown, reading the handwritten message:
“You are the key. Find the blue box. It’s all here. Don’t trust anyone.”
Your eyes lingered on the note for a long moment. Was this some kind of joke? Did you deserve any more mind-games now after having dealt with Malhotra for the better part of the day?
Before you could process it any further, your phone buzzed. A whatsapp from an unknown number.
“Did you get it?” said the message.
“Excuse me?” you thought, trying to keep the voice in your head calm.
“The meal you just received. The blue box. Don’t trust anyone who comes looking for it. You need to find it before they do.”
The message sounded urgent, but also strange.
What was going on? You glanced down at the meal, but there was no blue box. No sign of anything other than the Burger and fries and the junk food stuff.
You felt a chill. Was this a prank? Or something else entirely?
The whatsapp left you rattled, but before you could shake off the unease, there was another knock at the door.
You opened it cautiously, but what you saw made your heart race. A bald man in a yellow T-shirt and jeans stood outside. He looked vaguely familiar, although you couldn’t quite put a finger on it.
“Good evening,” the man said, his voice smooth and confident. “I believe you have something that you need to give me.”
You frowned. “I’m sorry, I don’t know who you are.”
The man’s eyes flickered to the half-eaten burger in your hand, then back at you. “The blue box. I know it’s here. Hand it over.”
You stared at him, still trying to make sense of the situation. You didn’t know what he was talking about. There was no box.
“I don’t know what you mean,” you said, trying to stay calm.
The man’s expression didn’t change, but his eyes darkened slightly. “The blue box. It’s very important. You need to give it to me now.”
You shook your head, confused and frightened. What was this about? A mysterious note. A man showing up at your door, demanding something that didn’t even exist.
“I don’t have anything,” you said again, more firmly this time.
The man didn’t seem convinced. His eyes narrowed as he took a small step forward. In a low voice now, he said: “We can do this the easy way, or we can do it the hard way. But by God, you will give it to me. I’m not leaving until you do.”
You could feel the tension building. Something wasn’t right. With your heart pounding and your mind racing to think about an escape plan, your phone buzzed again.
It was another whatsapp. You glanced at the screen.
“Congratulations! You’ve unlocked a special reward with Thinkit! Use code BLUEBOX20 to get 20% off your next order!”
You looked up at the bald man in the Yellow Tshirt and Jeans who was now grinning ear-to-ear.
"Ah, i think you have it now" He said.
And suddenly it dawned on you where you had seen this guy earlier! Dammit Albino Pindsa and your spammy marketing team at Thinkit. So much for the Mystery Meal!
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